Sonic Racing: Crossworlds Review

Sonic Racing: Crossworlds is the latest arcade racing title from Sonic Team and SEGA, continuing the legacy of Sonic Racing games that began on the Game Gear. Developed in collaboration with the renowned Initial D Arcade Team, this installment aims to deliver a fun and dynamic experience that can rival other party racers out in the market.

The game features a vibrant and diverse lineup of iconic characters from the Sonic universe, including Sonic the Hedgehog, Shadow the Hedgehog, Dr. Eggman, and his notorious minions. Longtime fans will appreciate the vast roster, while newcomers can enjoy familiar faces and exciting guest characters available through downloadable content.

Buckle up and prepare for high-speed action because Sonic Racing: Crossworlds could redefine what it means to go fast.

Gotta Go Real Fast!

Sonic Racing: Crossworlds distinguishes itself from other party racing titles with its vibrant visuals and dynamic environments. True to Sonic’s iconic tagline, “Gotta go fast,” the game’s tracks are designed to match the breakneck speed of the titular hedgehog, making the inclusion of vehicles not just thematic but essential. The result is an adrenaline-fueled experience that can feel intense and intimidating at first glance.

Despite its high-energy presentation, Sonic Racing: Crossworlds remains accessible and enjoyable for players of all skill levels. For those unfamiliar with racing games, a helpful tutorial video is available to ease the learning curve. While the game embodies the spirit of arcade party racing, it also incorporates more advanced racing mechanics that may initially seem daunting to newcomers.

To accommodate a wide range of players, the game offers three difficulty modes: Normal Speed, High Speed, and Sonic Speed. Beginners are encouraged to start with Normal Speed to get comfortable with core mechanics such as drifting, executing air tricks, and using items strategically. Should newcomers need more guidance, there are accessibility options such as turning on steering or trick assist to help them out.

As players progress, Sonic Racing: Crossworlds begins to reveal technical depth that fans seeking a more complex racer would appreciate. Tracks evolve from straightforward layouts to intricate courses filled with tight turns, narrow passages, and varied terrain that demand attention and skill to navigate.

Vehicles are designed to adapt to land, air, and water, transforming into all-terrain crafts that subtly alter the control scheme depending on where you are. Boosting through drifts and tricks also becomes essential for maintaining momentum and overtaking rivals.

Each vehicle type interacts differently with the environment. Hovercrafts can jump, allowing for mid-air tricks that provide quick boosts. Planes can navigate slipstream rings to accelerate descent, while ramps and boost platforms offer tactical advantages across all modes of travel.

Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds also features familiar racing mechanics such as gaining a boost when pressing the gas at the right time before the race starts, drifting, which rewards players with three levels of boosts depending on how long the drift lasts, and tricks, giving players a slight boost if they perform an airborne trick before touching the ground. These features are not purely for show, as they explicitly affect how well you perform on the track due to the added benefits.

Adding to the excitement are items that range from speed boosts and support items to offensive weapons, often carrying two at a time. These tools help level the playing field, especially for racers trailing behind. Powerful items like teleportation and drill dashes allow for dramatic comebacks, while world-altering effects can disrupt those in the lead.

Front-runners aren’t left defenseless as they receive strategic gadgets such as mines and magnets to fend off challengers. This balanced item system ensures that every race remains unpredictable and engaging, regardless of position.

Mid-race, tracks can shift into randomized stages, challenging even the most seasoned players who rely on memorization. Maintaining acceleration requires collecting rings, and collisions with racers or obstacles can deplete them, affecting momentum. This dynamic design ensures that no race ever feels static, making Sonic Racing: Crossworlds thrive on constant motion and surprise.

Future Proof

Sonic Racing: Crossworlds is clearly built with multiplayer in mind, supporting up to four players locally and twelve online. Yet for solo players, the game offers a surprisingly robust experience that keeps things fresh beyond the party setting.

Single-player racers can dive into the Grand Prix mode, which features seven Grand Prixs of three tracks each to choose from, resulting in 21 tracks available at launch. The fourth track in a Grand Prix will be a combination of the previous tracks, which is quite a nice idea. There’s also a secret Grand Prix with three more tracks, along with a couple of Crossover Grand Prixs that feature tracks from Minecraft, SpongeBob SquarePants, and more in the coming months.

Grand Prix mode allows you to sample most of the tracks of the game, which gives you an idea of what to expect. The E-Stadium, besides its glorious high-tech visuals, could be the most straightforward track you can experience due to its fairly standard path and straights. Other tracks may not be so forgiving, such as the Mystic Jungle, which provides a swamp path that turns your vehicle into a hovercraft, allowing you to traverse the waterways and jump to avoid obstacles. Sand Road, for example, slows down your progress with more friction from sandy platforms, where you would need to use your boosts to get back into the game.

With randomized track combinations enabled by the CrossWorlds mechanic, each race feels unique, offering a wealth of variety and replayability, and even more when you consider Time Trials and Mirror tracks.

The game also has a mode called Race Park, which offers a wild mix of races that are best played with a group. Race Park houses custom races like 4 vs 4 ring races, where you can face off against Friends or the AI rival teams to collect the most rings besides completing the race. In these custom races, just going fast will not be enough, as clinching the victory will depend on your performance with the special rules that add extra points.

One standout feature in the game is the inclusion of Rivals, where players face off against a designated character. This adds a narrative layer to the racing experience, creating a sense of progression and personal challenge. Defeating rivals and finishing tracks earns Donpa Tickets, which are used to unlock upgrades and cosmetics. Besting enough rivals also unlocks Super Sonic, a high-tier racer that serves as a rewarding, if slightly grind-heavy, goal.

While Rivals adds flavor, it could benefit from further development. After completing all tracks, Grand Prix can begin to feel repetitive, and future updates introducing dynamic rival events could elevate the experience. The developers could have certainly done more with the Rivals mechanic, so maybe there’s hope for future updates.

Multiplayer is definitely the name of the game. While we still do not have any new events, players can participate in World Matches where you will get paired from anybody with a Sonic Racing: Crossworlds copy from around the world or if you want to keep it local with friends, you can do Friends Match where you can play up to 11 other buddies to duke it out who’s the fastest of them all.

Customization plays a significant role in Sonic Racing: Crossworlds, allowing players to personalize their vehicles both cosmetically and functionally. Donpa Tickets earned through races can be spent on performance parts, race retries, and Friendship Points with Sonic characters, which unlock exclusive cosmetics. These upgrades aren’t just for show, as some directly impact vehicle and character attributes.

Each character type offers unique strengths. Speed types like Sonic maintain high velocity, while Power types like Knuckles absorb more damage and excel in aggressive playstyles. Victory can come through finesse or brute force, and both are equally valid playstyles that players can try for themselves.

With six slots to choose from, you can improve your stats with the right gadget. You can add more acceleration to your speed type by selecting an Acceleration Tune Up gadget, or really improve your top speed by adding Speed Tune Up to your already speedy car. Power types can get stronger with the proper tune-up, and Boost types can fly off the rails with the correct part.

There’s also the Gadget Board, which allows players to equip buffs that can influence how they play a game. Some examples of these are reaching your first level boost more easily, increasing the drop rate of offensive item pickups, adding more speed or traction if you need them, starting with a specific item for an early advantage, and more. Some of these Gadgets take up a single or multiple slots, and depending on how many slots you’ve unlocked on your Gadget Board, you can further customize your playstyle by equipping combinations of these Gadgets.

As players progress through Grand Prix mode in Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, they can unlock up to six slots on their Gadget Board to fine-tune their racer’s “build” and can amplify a character’s strengths or shore up their weaknesses, making Speedsters more durable or giving Power types a speed boost. The customization possibilities are extensive, allowing for tailored racing strategies that suit individual preferences.

As a live service title, Sonic Racing: Crossworlds launches with a solid foundation and room to grow. Many modes are well-conceived, but there’s clear potential for refinement and expansion. Having participated in both Closed and Open Beta tests, it’s evident that the developers have already made strides, streamlining the interface and reducing visual clutter for a more accessible experience.

DLC Characters in Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds can really make a world of difference, including Joker from Persona 5, Kasuga Ichiban from Like a Dragon, and SpongeBob, to name a few. They’re also not just for show, with Hatsune Miku being the only Boost-type character that has her own style of racing, which can be a dark horse in your upcoming matches.

When not racing, kick back with some of the extras in the game, such as testing out the jukebox to listen to all the fantastic tracks from Sonic Racing: Crossworlds, as well as additional ones from the added DLCs. The gallery featuring unique art can also be a terrific way to spend your downtime.

It would be interesting to see how the developers continue to support Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds post-launch. Apart from the already announced DLC characters, we can only imagine that the plan is to add more tracks, characters, and maybe even modes down the line. For now, the game is undoubtedly a fun romp.

Verdict: Buy It!

Sonic Racing: Crossworlds has proven to be a pleasant surprise, offering a fun and accessible experience, along with enough depth to satisfy kart racing enthusiasts. With a lineup of engaging DLC characters on the horizon, the game shows strong potential as a live service title with lasting appeal.

As a party game, Sonic Racing: Crossworlds excels. Designed with multiplayer at its core, it offers both competitive and casual modes for a chaotic experience when everything comes together.. Whether you’re diving into intense rivalries or enjoying laid-back races with friends, the game delivers a dynamic and entertaining experience. Its current build already rivals some of the genre’s most popular titles, and with continued support, it’s poised to become a standout in the party racing space.

*Sonic Racing Crossworlds was reviewed on a PC and Steam Deck with review codes provided by the publisher.