Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is revving up for a busy autumn as it kicks off its second year with new DLC packs — also available as part of Season Pass 2 — alongside a free update. At Tokyo Game Show, we were fortunate enough to check out some of the new content early, from courses themed around iconic franchises like Godzilla and Neon Genesis Evangelion to superstar entrants like Aigis from Persona 3 Reload and Bayonetta from, well, Bayonetta!
Here’s the rundown.
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds Season 2 DLC Hands-On Preview
The free update for Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds will bring a new Rival Duel mode, where you race one-on-one against a rival AI or, if you’re playing online, a friend. You earn rewards the first time you clear a set of three tracks, which is how we ended up unlocking Bayonetta.
As expected, she feels great to control; I had a great time cruising along tracks with her butterfly glider, and her representation in the game is quite accurate to what you would expect from the witch!
The Godzilla and Evangelion DLCs will be available to purchase separately or as part of Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds Season Pass 2. We made sure to try the new courses included with each pack — Godzilla Escape and Evangelion’s Tokyo-III — and, surprisingly, came away with mixed feelings.
The former track lived up to my expectations, with Godzilla wreaking havoc in what looks like the classic City Escape stage from Sonic Adventure 2. I found myself repeatedly coming back to this track for the thrill of weaving around debris and dodging the iconic kaiju’s atomic breath. While it would have been nice to have Godzilla be a “bigger” factor with how the track changes, it was sufficient.
In contrast, Tokyo-III feels like it leaves a lot on the table. The track just feels a lot more… ordinary than it could be, and I found myself wanting for more callbacks and fanservice, especially since Evangelion is such a beloved Anime IP. It does save its strongest spectacle for the last lap, during which Shinji’s Unit-01 runs up alongside you to fend off the angel Ramiel, but, as it is a race, that too quickly passes.
Naturally, each Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds DLC pack also brings new racers and vehicles. With the Godzilla pack, you get the Godzilla Cruiser, King Ghidorah Coupe and Mothra Surf vehicles, while the Evangelion DLC nets you the EVA-00, EVA-01, and EVA-02 vehicles, as well as the fan favorites Rei Ayanami and Asuka Langley Shikinami. The karts and character models are quite well ported to the game, so kudos to SEGA for that!
Sadly, Shinji doesn’t get into the robot kart this time around.
The first collaboration racers in Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds Year 2 will include McLaren Sonic, who drives an open-wheel single-seater and is clad in orange racing gear. The other is, of course, Persona 3 Reload’s Aigis, who also comes with her own vehicle.
Retro enthusiasts might get a kick out of the purchase bonus for Season Pass 2: three vehicles themed after Sega’s Dreamcast (EU), Saturn (JP), and Genesis (US) consoles. The Genesis one even comes with the famous Tower of Power. As a dual purchase bonus for Season Pass 1 and 2, you get Super Shadow and the Super Dark Flare vehicle.
And that’s that for our preview of Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds’ Season 2. At its core, it’s basically more of what players love and expect from the game, and it’s safe to say it continues to deliver in terms of fanservice and off-the-wall crossovers, so take my word into consideration when you’re weighing a purchase this autumn across the PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.
