For a series known for speed, it’s amazing that we aren’t always guaranteed that the Sonic the Hedgehog racing games are great. (I mean, consider what happened with entries like Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity!) Sega’s been doing better in recent years, with Sonic & All-Stars Racing kart racing line being very solid and even Team Sonic Racinghaving its moments. With Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, we get another solid kart racer that feels like it prioritizes offering a wide range of characters and carts.
As a kart racer, Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds features the sorts of single and multiplayer modes folks might expect from this type of game. The Grand Prix is best compared to the same one found in Mario Kart entries, with each of the seven Cups consisting of four races, and people able to play alone or in local co-op. Also like Mario Kart, selecting the speed is setting the difficulty. A Rival will appear during these, tasking you with “besting” them. Time Trials are also available, to set records on specific runs. You can also head to the Race Park to complete specific Double Team and Triple Team challenges that help with unlocking stuff. As for multiplayer traditional races, there is the ranked World Match and a more casual online Friend Match. Cross-platform racing is present here, which is appreciated.
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds starts with a strong impression. While the first run walls you off from selections, Sega made the decision to ensure everything is just there for you right away. Considering a major focus is being able to choose the character, customize the cart, and choose a loadout of boosts, it’s very welcome. Seeing 23 folks right away is handy. Also, while the Season Pass does mean there are about 20 more characters and additional carts, emotes, and tracks, and extras, I appreciate that many of those are crossover ones. So if you don’t care about Mega Man, Minecraft, Spongebob, or Pac-Man and are here for the Sonic and Sega/Atlus series characters, it’s no big loss.
Once you select who you want to be, selecting what you want to drive comes up. While characters fall into categories like Acceleration, Boost, Handling, Power, and Speed, the vehicle you select also influences your performance. While these also fall into categories, you can also adjust front parts, rear parts, and tires to further influence things. Paint, decals, different horns, and aura can also be added. (Some of these do need to be acquired via tickets, which you can earn.) So this is both about altering what it is like when you race and visual preferences.
There’s also the Gadget Plate. You can use this to apply certain buffs or bonuses as you race, with additional slots unlocking as you play. You can equip panels that do things like help with charging, keeps you from dropping items, lets you hold more items, get boost support, and other perks. It can help you compensate for things you feel you do better or worse as you race, or let you lean into your strengths, in a way that doesn’t feel like you’re making things too easy for yourself. However, the downside is that the playing field doesn’t feel as level if someone has six Gadget Plate slots open and someone locally comes up and needs to make do with two. It’s a fun concept, but I worry it can make things a little more uneven when you aren’t against AI.
Once you’re in a race, there are certain elements that set Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds apart from other kart racers. At its core, it involves traditional car-like vehicles going around courses and using drift mechanics and collected items to hamper enemies and help yourself. This is changed up a bit by Travel Ring portals appearing on courses that briefly take you to other locations from the Sonic the Hedgehog series. (Or, if you get DLC, other games.) It changes things up in a way that’s typically fun and visually impressive! However, the current leader decides whether you go to a predetermined place or random one, and I wish there was more of an opportunity for others to weigh in or more variety there.
Another downside is that I sort of feel like the opportunities that take us into the sky or through the water don’t feel as consistently fun as ones on solid land. These excursions aren’t like the airborne segments in Mario Kart that happen for a few seconds. You can be going for a few minutes and it involves a whole different type of skillset and sense of nuance to do well on water or in the air. If they were shorter, I’d think they add to the idea of exploring other levels. But it would really throw me off, even after hours of playing, to suddenly need to adapt to flying through the air or on top of waves.
The Rivals system is the other unique feature in Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, and I find someone’s mileage may vary when experiencing it. This is a situation in which rubber-banding can hit you hard and you can be exceptionally skilled, but still lose due to that virtual opponent getting “lucky.” At least if you can manage to beat the rival, you’re also pretty much guaranteed to get first place. The nature of it meant that even if I didn’t, I was still far ahead of the other NPC racers in Grand Prix.
Finally, I will say that, while I enjoyed Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, those playing on handheld gaming PCs might need to fiddle with the settings to get it looking and running well. I played on a Lenovo Legion Go and, while it definitely runs fine, the nature of the system and game meant it didn’t look as good as it would on a more powerful desktop or laptop. But like Sega said, it is Steam Deck verified and does work well! It just might need a bit of finessing to look as good as possible on your system.
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is a solid kart racer that I feel I enjoyed as much as recent Sonic & All-Stars Racing games. There’s a great selection of characters and tons of vehicle customization options, which are great. The nature of the Rivals and Travel Rings systems also makes it feel different than similar titles such as Mario Kart World. I do worry the Gadget Plate unlocking element might make it a little unfair when playing co-op locally, and some of the water and air racing might not feel as fantastic as the standard racing. It’s still quite impressive and leaves a great impression.
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is available on the Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC, and it will also eventually appear on the Switch 2.
Sonic Racing: Crosswords
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is a solid kart racer that I feel I enjoyed as much as recent Sonic & All-Stars Racing games.