“Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds” Review

If you were looking for a review of Sonic Racing that doesn’t talk about Mario Kart, sorry. We just got it out of the way in the first sentence. That failure aside, there is no single game that we’ve covered…

If you were looking for a review of Sonic Racing that doesn’t talk about Mario Kart, sorry. We just got it out of the way in the first sentence. That failure aside, there is no single game that we’ve covered more than Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds. Every time we played the game, we got more excited for it, and now that it’s here, it’s not quite what I thought it was.

That isn’t to say the game isn’t good. The game as a whole is a lot of fun, and I had plenty of enjoyable moments and plan to have even more as event and DLC content is released in the coming months, but this is also specifically one of my issues.

When the game was shown at Summer Game Fest this year, the trailer showed the likes of Hatsune Miku, Joker from Persona, and Ichiban Kasuga from Like a Dragon. I was there in person, and I absolutely popped for Ichiban and Joker, but I expressed slight disappointment when I got my hands on it at the event. A couple months later, I was invited to a preview behind closed doors, and I was able to play as Ichiban and Hatsune, which definitely brought me some joy.

So you can imagine my disappointment when I installed the game to find that Ichiban and Joker were locked until October and November. Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed had characters like Vyse (Skies of Arcadia) and Joe Musashi (Shinobi) available from the get-go as unlockables, so seeing such beloved characters behind a timed gate is a tough pill to swallow. To make matters worse, you can also see Minecraft characters that’ll be available… as paid DLC. Right out of the gate, if you’re getting the vanilla version of this game, you’re definitely getting the vanilla from a character perspective if you were looking forward to the crossovers.

Hatsune Miku was available to us shortly before the embargo lifted, and even though I’ve never played one of her games, using her was awesome. I tried her out and played on a hoverboard, and it was just awesome seeing her different mannerisms when you do tricks, boost, get hurt by an item, and everything. As someone who’s more of a Sega fan than a Sonic fan, I can’t stress enough about how excited I am to be using the crossover characters when they do come.

My issue with the crossover characters aside, if you’re a pure Sonic fan, you can easily look past that. CrossWorlds features 25 characters on its base roster going all the way up to Sonic Frontiers, and unlocking everybody as you learn the game’s nuances is a treat.

The bulk of time will be spent in the game’s Grand Prix mode where you really see the “CrossWorlds” feature take effect. Grand Prix itself isn’t unlike Mario Kart‘s. It’s all about doing the best you can in the four races that make up each circuit, but there are all sorts of twists and turns along the way.

The first of which is the fact that while there are four races in each circuit, they only actually consist of three unique tracks, followed by a fourth race that combines these three courses into one action-packed race that’ll award its victor with 18 points, which is 1.5x the usual first place finish. This makes the last race even more intense.

Adding to the experience is that the second lap of each course is always randomized thanks to a warp ring mechanic that forces the leader to pick another world to race in for that lap. It’ll be the leader’s choice to pick a chosen track, or a completely randomized one, and from there the course seamlessly transforms like the rifts found in Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. It’s both a visually impressive gimmick as well as a strategic wrinkle that’ll keep players on their feet because there’s no telling what obstacles or hazards each second lap will throw at you.

The game also borrows from the vehicle interchangeability from Sonic All-Stars Racing Transformed. You’ll primarily be kart racing, but you’ll also find yourself racing by land and sea. When you’re in the air, you’ll be flying and relying on reverse analog controls to stay ahead. When you’re at sea, your vehicle becomes a boat and instead of using the right trigger to drift, you’ll have this boost-charging mechanism that also makes you jump as you boost before getting back into kart-racing form. Even after more than 10 hours of play, it’s easy to become overwhelmed by the hectic nature of everything, but I was also feeling triumphant when that second lap was the reason why I could pull ahead long enough to get a victory.

That’s where the last twist comes in. In Grand Prix mode, you also are randomly assigned a Rival, and this rival is pretty much designed to be a menace in your races. At the end of the day, all you want to do or even strive for is to win a race, and that way, the rival has no impact. But when you lose, especially to your rival, it just feels bad. It’s purely a psychological thing too. You don’t really lose anything when you lose. The game even lets you retry any race that you lose to your rival in exchange for the tickets you get for literally doing anything in the game.The other big mode people will play offline is Race Park, which is designed to cater to party play more than competitive play. That said, while the game features seven different modes—at the end of the day, they were still races. It doesn’t matter if it’s Triple Team Ring Grab or Dash Panel, you’re still racing and the things you have to do here act more like bonuses than actual requirements. If it weren’t for the vehicles and other rewards you get for beating the various teams in Race Park, I’d call the entire mode useless. It’s not the draw that Mario Kart’s battle mode is, and I’m not even a big fan of that mode.

So why keep racing? Aside from unlocking characters and maps, you’re also opening up more options for your vehicle loadout. As you continue to play CrossWorlds, you’ll gain access to equip certain power-ups to your car that’ll give you a greater advantage as you play. Whether it be an extra boost, or an extra drift counter, you’ll constantly be rewarded with ways to continue to be fast and stay fast. Gotta go fast, like Sonic always says, right?

So let’s bring it all in and talk about the main differences Sonic Racing has with Mario Kart that’ll make Sonic more than just an alternative. The most obvious is the fact that Sonic Racing is available on every platform and it supports cross-play while you absolutely need a Switch 2 to play Mario Kart World.

This makes Sonic easily the more accessible game, and it’s also the more customizable game. This is actually a factor where I prefer Mario Kart, because you get into the action faster, but if Minecraft and Roblox are any indication—the young gamers these days love the flexibility of customizations, and Sonic Racing has no shortage of them. Both the characters and vehicles in the game have varied speed, acceleration, handling, power, and boost, and all of that absolutely matters because of the unpredictable nature of every second lap in every race. You can even spray paint graphics just about anywhere on the vehicle for full customization, which should lead to cool stuff to share online too. I haven’t even talked about the items, which in my mind are actually a weak point because almost every weapon feels like a red or blue shell.

Don’t just take my word for it. I played a few circuits with both my brother and my girlfriend, and while they both enjoyed it, they also expressed some displeasure over its harder difficulty. My brother thought the theme song was cringe, but he also came away impressed by how the game handled in addition to how the courses looked. My girlfriend really enjoyed how much more colorful Sonic seemed to be, but also noticed how pixelated the chaos in the audience appeared. At the end of the day, they’d choose Mario Kart World, primarily because of familiarity. Me? Despite how “down” I might be in this review, today I’d choose Sonic Racing just based on how fresh everything feels. The question is can it stand the test of time?

Despite its shortcomings, primarily in timed crossover character selection, I’m very impressed with what I’ve played out of Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds and while I think it’s a bit of a detriment, I also think the fact that we’re getting events with new characters is a solid way to keep people invested. Mario Kart World has been out for months and we don’t have confirmed DLC yet despite an $80 asking price while Sonic Racing has at least some version of a roadmap laid out. Taking its $70 price for the base version alone, Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is definitely worth it as more than just a Mario Kart alternative, and should definitely be a welcome addition to any home leading up to the holidays.