Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is a fantastic arcade kart racer. In true blue hedgehog fashion, players are greeted with a high-octane racer that doesn’t waste a second of the player’s time when it comes to chasing for first place. The high speed nature of the game is further complimented by the mixed CrossWorld tracks, item variety, and vehicle and gadget customization, allowing for hours of competitive entertainment. The fun also extends to the online features and modes, which provide a stable and equally enjoyable experience for racers around the world.
When Takashi Iizuka–the current head of Sonic Team–fired verbal shots at Nintendo’s Mario Kart World after announcing Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds at this year’s Summer Game Fest, I wasn’t sure what to think of the game at first. I felt it was low-hanging fruit to punch up at a competing kart racer with the added flex of crossplay and collaborations with other IP. Needless to say, after playing the game in the Open Network Test this weekend, I now recognize that Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is absolutely more than “just” another kart racer; it may very well be the best racing game of the year so far.
The gameplay is very similar to other kart racers (yes, even that one that came out recently), but adds some interesting new twists. One of the features that stood out to me was right before the race starts. In other kart racers, often times you can just floor the gas pedal at a specific moment to get a boost at the start of the race. In Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds however, you have to time your button press with a gauge on screen to achieve that speed boost, or risk spinning out at the start of the race.
It’s a small detail in the grand scheme of things, but it’s one of those nice touches that makes this game feel more unique to me.
One thing I enjoy about Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is the customization of your vehicle. You have several karts to pick from, some of which are earned by playing more races. Each of these default karts specializes in one of five stats: speed, acceleration, handling, power, and boost.
What makes this even more important though is the ability to switch around different parts of other karts.
By spending tickets gained from winning races, players can unlock different segments of the kart to further modify their build. This allows drivers to choose a front half that has more handling, but change the tires to bump up the speed, among other changes. This is a really cool concept that can turn the tides on the racetrack with the right build.
Another unique feature is present in the title itself: CrossWorlds. At the end of the first lap, you’ll encounter a lane with two sides, each with a ring portal at the end. Whoever is in first place chooses which ring to jump in, and all the players are transported to a completely different track for the second lap! This is such a cool idea, and adds a new layer of strategy for maneuvering around the course to snag first place.
Since this is a network test, naturally I had to test out how stable the online was. I can safely say that the online experience is relatively seamless, as I only had a handful of times where my connection dropped in the span of a few hours. Crossplay with other racers also works completely fine, but you can disable crossplay in the game’s settings if you would like.
Festival Mode
As part of the Open Network Test, players were given the opportunity to try out the Festival mode, which unlocks Joker from Persona 5 as a playable racer. As a big fan of Persona 5, I was naturally excited about this crossover.
In Festival Mode, you play against special rulesets and conditions in a 4v4v4 format. For the Joker Festival, players could participate in 2 modes which cycled every half hour: Ring Grab and Tap Boost. Ring Grab requires players to, as the name implies, gather as many rings as possible and hit enemy players with items to snatch their rings. Meanwhile Tap Boost involves players having to collide into each other to gain speed boosts as often as possible.
During Festival events, sometimes rental gadget plates are available for use, and contain abilities and buffs that are specifically effective in the Festival mode in rotation. For Ring Grab, a rental plate was made available which allowed players to collect more rings from colliding into fellow racers.
I’ve gotta say, Festival mode is a great time as an addition to the main game. Having these special rulesets and win conditions spices things up on the racetrack, and makes an already energetic racing experience even more intense. I’m looking forward to seeing what other events SEGA has in store for Festival mode!
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds will be available on September 25, 2025 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store. The Nintendo Switch 2 digital version will be available this holiday season, with the physical version available in Q1 2026.
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is a fantastic arcade kart racer. In true blue hedgehog fashion, players are greeted with a high-octane racer that doesn’t waste a second of the player’s time when it comes to chasing for first place. The high…
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is a fantastic arcade kart racer. In true blue hedgehog fashion, players are greeted with a high-octane racer that doesn’t waste a second of the player’s time when it comes to chasing for first place. The high speed nature of the game is further complimented by the mixed CrossWorld tracks, item variety, and vehicle and gadget customization, allowing for hours of competitive entertainment. The fun also extends to the online features and modes, which provide a stable and equally enjoyable experience for racers around the world.
When Takashi Iizuka–the current head of Sonic Team–fired verbal shots at Nintendo’s Mario Kart World after announcing Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds at this year’s Summer Game Fest, I wasn’t sure what to think of the game at first. I felt it was low-hanging fruit to punch up at a competing kart racer with the added flex of crossplay and collaborations with other IP. Needless to say, after playing the game in the Open Network Test this weekend, I now recognize that Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is absolutely more than “just” another kart racer; it may very well be the best racing game of the year so far.
The gameplay is very similar to other kart racers (yes, even that one that came out recently), but adds some interesting new twists. One of the features that stood out to me was right before the race starts. In other kart racers, often times you can just floor the gas pedal at a specific moment to get a boost at the start of the race. In Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds however, you have to time your button press with a gauge on screen to achieve that speed boost, or risk spinning out at the start of the race.
It’s a small detail in the grand scheme of things, but it’s one of those nice touches that makes this game feel more unique to me.
One thing I enjoy about Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is the customization of your vehicle. You have several karts to pick from, some of which are earned by playing more races. Each of these default karts specializes in one of five stats: speed, acceleration, handling, power, and boost.
What makes this even more important though is the ability to switch around different parts of other karts.
By spending tickets gained from winning races, players can unlock different segments of the kart to further modify their build. This allows drivers to choose a front half that has more handling, but change the tires to bump up the speed, among other changes. This is a really cool concept that can turn the tides on the racetrack with the right build.
Another unique feature is present in the title itself: CrossWorlds. At the end of the first lap, you’ll encounter a lane with two sides, each with a ring portal at the end. Whoever is in first place chooses which ring to jump in, and all the players are transported to a completely different track for the second lap! This is such a cool idea, and adds a new layer of strategy for maneuvering around the course to snag first place.
Since this is a network test, naturally I had to test out how stable the online was. I can safely say that the online experience is relatively seamless, as I only had a handful of times where my connection dropped in the span of a few hours. Crossplay with other racers also works completely fine, but you can disable crossplay in the game’s settings if you would like.
Festival Mode
As part of the Open Network Test, players were given the opportunity to try out the Festival mode, which unlocks Joker from Persona 5 as a playable racer. As a big fan of Persona 5, I was naturally excited about this crossover.
In Festival Mode, you play against special rulesets and conditions in a 4v4v4 format. For the Joker Festival, players could participate in 2 modes which cycled every half hour: Ring Grab and Tap Boost. Ring Grab requires players to, as the name implies, gather as many rings as possible and hit enemy players with items to snatch their rings. Meanwhile Tap Boost involves players having to collide into each other to gain speed boosts as often as possible.
During Festival events, sometimes rental gadget plates are available for use, and contain abilities and buffs that are specifically effective in the Festival mode in rotation. For Ring Grab, a rental plate was made available which allowed players to collect more rings from colliding into fellow racers.
I’ve gotta say, Festival mode is a great time as an addition to the main game. Having these special rulesets and win conditions spices things up on the racetrack, and makes an already energetic racing experience even more intense. I’m looking forward to seeing what other events SEGA has in store for Festival mode!
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds will be available on September 25, 2025 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store. The Nintendo Switch 2 digital version will be available this holiday season, with the physical version available in Q1 2026.
by Michael Fertitta
