Journey Rings, Devices, and a return to land, sea, and sky are making this into an actual return to type for Sonic’s racing video games!
Mario Kart World is (rightfully so) impressing followers because the marquee launch title for Nintendo Change 2, but it surely gained’t be lengthy earlier than it will get some respectable competitors from SEGA. Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is the most recent sport from the Blue Blur’s venerable racing sequence, and it actually appears like a return to type after the merely serviceable Workforce Sonic Racing from 2019. CrossWorlds is a notch above when it comes to presentation, gameplay, racer choice, and extra. Throughout Summer season Recreation Fest, we have been lucky sufficient to have the ability to sit down and provides the sport a take a look at drive—buckle in to search out out what we thought.
I raced via three completely different cups throughout my hands-on time with CrossWorlds. You recognize a demo is fairly good while you cease pondering of it as a demo and need to simply carry on taking part in, and that was the case right here. I discovered myself swept up within the pace and exquisite visuals of CrossWorlds. The Sonic Racing video games play in the identical kart racing sandbox of the Mario Kart sequence, however SEGA’s take stays distinct owing to its personal tackle energy sliding/drifting and a few different options—together with the land, sea, air strategy launched in Sonic & All-Stars Racing Reworked.
The roster boasts not simply the same old core solid of Sonic buddies and enemies, but additionally a few of the SEGA pantheon and different visitors. Amongst these which have been revealed are Ichigo of Like a Dragon, Hatsune Miku, Joker from Persona 5, and Steve, Alex, and Creeper from Minecraft. It’s an eclectic combine, which is sweet, however stays a far cry from the large roster of SEGA stalwarts within the Sonic & All-Stars Racing video games. Regardless, I used to be proud of these choices and assume the visitor racers are a pleasant solution to spice issues up if SEGA isn’t excited by bringing again the previous roster.
One factor that instantly stood out to me was the welcome return of auto transformations, which have been jettisoned from Workforce Sonic Racing. In CrossWorlds, a racer’s automobile will remodel relying on the terrain; hit some water and it turns into a ship, soar via the air and it turns into a airplane. Not solely is it visually fascinating, but it surely additionally ends in extra assorted, partaking racetracks. What’s extra, the several types of autos deal with slightly completely different primarily based on the terrain, which is one other enjoyable side. Why automobile transformations the place ever dropped within the first place is a thriller to me, however bringing them again for CrossWorlds was a clever transfer.
The core mechanic of CrossWorlds is implied in its identify. Gamers will zip via Journey Rings that ship racers hurtling via dimensions throughout races. As there’s no possible way of realizing the place a Journey Ring will result in, it makes races very unpredictable. In a method, each race turns into slightly completely different due to the Journey Rings, which is a advantageous method of protecting issues contemporary for gamers. Nonetheless, whereas I didn’t hate the Journey Rings, I did assume they took away, if solely barely, from the expertise on every monitor.
As an example, a monitor like Apotos has a completely completely different vibe and really feel than Colourful Mall, and I don’t know that I loved having to go away one solely to briefly cruise round on one other. Possibly that’s an odd criticism, however think about being on the sandy shores of Koopa Seaside in Mario Kart World, for instance, solely to randomly be pulled from it to another locale. It would boil all the way down to style greater than something, however in the end I’d moderately stick with a single course. Possibly I’ll really feel otherwise as soon as the sport launches.
Not like the aforementioned Mario Kart World, CrossWorlds is blissful to supply gamers a bevy of customization choices. This contains the flexibility to combine up parts of your automobile, like elements, powers, and talents. However you may go a step additional with the brand new Devices system. With Devices you’re capable of give your automobile completely different perks, like a quicker begin or improved efficiency of some variety. I acquired to experiment a bit with Devices throughout my play session, however not sufficient to actually get into the nitty gritty of how they’ll impression my racing over a number of races and cups. That mentioned, having the choice in any respect is rather a lot higher than the extra stripped down automobile decisions in Mario Kart World, so it’s already a feather in CrossWorld’s cap that the mustachioed one doesn’t have.
One enjoyable little element that I loved was the presence of the Sonic Riders characters like Jet the Hawk and Wave the Swallow. I feel the characters have a very energizing aesthetic that works properly in a Sonic Racing sport. I used to be additionally blissful that Excessive Gear, the hoverboards that Jet and firm race round on, additionally made the leap to CrossWorlds. Given the land/sea/air transitions all through every race, Excessive Gear are an ideal match—and look fairly dang cool, too. I didn’t get an opportunity to see if different characters can hop onto Excessive Gear or if it’s restricted to the Sonic Riders crew. I assume we’ll simply have to search out out at launch.
Initially introduced as a Nintendo Change title, SEGA has confirmed that Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds may even be coming to Nintendo Change 2, albeit at a later date. The Change model will launch on September 25, 2025. There’s a typical bodily version, however there’s additionally a collector’s version coming from Restricted Run Video games. For those who’re , you may snag a pre-order proper right here earlier than LRG shuts them down. There’s additionally a Digital Deluxe Version which accommodates:
Season Go
Play the sport three days early (September 22, 2025)
Sonic Prime Playable Characters
Knuckles the Dread
Rusty Rose
Tails 9
*PRE-ORDER BONUS – Sonic Unleashed Sonic the Werehog character + automobile + decal
As I famous above, Workforce Sonic Racing felt like a little bit of a misstep after the wonderful Sonic & All-Stars Racing Reworked. With CrossWorlds, it’s a return to type. Throw in new options like Journey Rings and Devices, and this could possibly be a racing gem that followers hold returning to for years to return.
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