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 Swap 2, nevertheless it gained’t be lengthy earlier than it will get some first rate competitors from SEGA. Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is the most recent recreation from the Blue Blur’s venerable racing sequence, and it actually seems like a return to type after the merely serviceable Workforce Sonic Racing from 2019. CrossWorlds is a notch above by way of presentation, gameplay, racer choice, and extra. Throughout Summer season Recreation Fest, we had been lucky sufficient to have the ability to sit down and provides the sport a check drive—buckle in to seek out out what we thought.
I raced by way of three completely different cups throughout my hands-on time with CrossWorlds. a demo is fairly good if you cease pondering of it as a demo and wish 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 Remodeled.
The roster boasts not simply the standard core solid of Sonic buddies and enemies, but in addition a number of the SEGA pantheon and different company. 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 good, 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 method to spice issues up if SEGA isn’t keen on bringing again the previous roster.
One factor that instantly stood out to me was the welcome return of auto transformations, which had 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 by way of the air and it turns into a aircraft. Not solely is it visually fascinating, nevertheless it additionally leads to extra diversified, partaking racetracks. What’s extra, the several types of automobiles deal with a little bit completely different based mostly 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 smart transfer.
The core mechanic of CrossWorlds is implied in its identify. Gamers will zip by way of Journey Rings that ship racers hurtling by way of dimensions throughout races. As there’s no possible way of figuring out the place a Journey Ring will result in, it makes races very unpredictable. In a means, each race turns into a little bit completely different due to the Journey Rings, which is a nice means of holding 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 observe.
As an illustration, a observe 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. Perhaps that’s an odd grievance, 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’d boil all the way down to style greater than something, however finally I’d relatively follow a single course. Perhaps I’ll really feel in another way 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 consists of the flexibility to combine up components of your automobile, like elements, powers, and skills. 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 sooner begin or improved efficiency of some form. I bought to experiment a bit with Devices throughout my play session, however not sufficient to actually get into the nitty gritty of how they’ll influence my racing over a number of races and cups. That mentioned, having the choice in any respect is loads higher than the extra stripped down automobile selections 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 believe the characters have a very energizing aesthetic that works nicely in a Sonic Racing recreation. 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 suppose we’ll simply have to seek out out at launch.
Initially introduced as a Nintendo Swap title, SEGA has confirmed that Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds can even be coming to Nintendo Swap 2, albeit at a later date. The Swap model will launch on September 25, 2025. There’s a normal bodily version, however there’s additionally a collector’s version coming from Restricted Run Video games. If you happen to’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 Cross
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 Remodeled. 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 maintain returning to for years to come back.
