Sonic Racing Crossworlds is a kart racing stadium that celebrates Sega's history
Blog Andrew Joseph 14 Jun , 2025 0
Regarding sound games, I kind of make me feel guarded and just enjoy them for them. I'm happy to say, I really like Sonic Racing: Crossworlds time, I played for an hour during the summer game festival. It's a kart racer, and in my short time it nails a core principle of a good kart racer – fast and intense races, turning the trend around and keeping you salty motivation, and a good atmosphere to celebrate the character from its original material. I really can't ask for more, but haven't seen more chews in previous Sonic racing races.
Let's start with Crossworld Mechanic, which changes every race – the first lap starts with the selected track and then selects the entire race at the twisted position on the second lap in the moment. From Aurora Borealis in the sky box to an icy world, to the violent sea in the wreckage of ships, or the flaming mountains with laser grids as obstacles. Then the third lap returns to normal track. You may get used to this novelty over time, but it does provide a certain level of vitality from race to race and adds some unpredictable ability to keep things fresh.
In those worlds you travel, you fly, circle and surf according to your warping position, so your vehicle has a very diverse feeling as you are not only floating along the ground with the kart. I really like the flying part because your plane is well controlled and brings a certain perpendicularity which is surprising for kart racers. If anything, Sonic Racing: Crossworlds is having mess on the screen, maybe over it. This is not the main complaint I object to, but it's a very busy game and it's hard to say what's really going on at times – I think these moments are more of a service to the wonder than being a competitive racer.
However, it does have a competitive advantage in how you equip your kart. You can customize parts like body, tires, and boosters to adjust statistics like top speed, acceleration, and handling. More importantly, you can attach the privilege to the kart as if it were a load. You get six slots for attachments, and some attachments take up more than one slot – for example, I used a three-slot acceleration booster and a two-slot revitalization, which improved my recovery time after being hit by an item. These things actually influenced my performance in a meaningful way. I was hit by a rocket on lap 3 with another racer, but since I was equipped with both allowances, I was able to lead a big way after hitting it. So if you're really serious about kart racing, I think there's a real patient space.
I only have access to Grand Prix mode, which gives you points for you in a series of four matches and determines the winner at the end of the series. It's a very standard thing with a few quirks along the way. I'm not sure if this is embedded in Sonic Lore, but a racer will be declared a competitor's Midland Grand Prix and will be more aggressive against you and stay more competitive throughout the series. The fourth and final game will also reward the first place with more points, so if you are a few points behind, you can turn the trend at the last minute. However, I'm curious about other game modes in Sonic Racing: Crossworlds will work, as fun and energetic as normal races, Longevity will depend on the ability of the Sonic team to tap into its potential in other creative ways.
Maybe some of them will come from its crossover characters – it's not only about Sonic, but also celebrates Sega's recent history. During the summer game festival, Sega revealed characters like Precial Boy Kasuga Ichiban from Yakuza, such as Dragon, Joker from Persona 5, my Vocaloid Queen Hatsune Miku will all be part of the roster. Seeing Ichiban relive the Dragon Kart era of 2020 RPG is so cute and a welcome extension of his character, and seeing Miku on a board car hovering through Sonic Worlds is enough for me to buy it (we should have Miku in more games, honestly shouting Fortnite). That's not to say that crossover characters are new to sound racing games – I mean, look this wilderness Sonic and Sega All-Star Games Lineup. But Sega's catalog has grown a lot since then, so this new era of character might be able to add fun to things in a more meaningful way.
Sonic Racing: Crossworlds doesn't have to completely change the kart racing genre, and I think its proposition is to celebrate the fun and carefree racers of Sonic and the bigger Sega Pantheon. It's an atmosphere and one I really like and look forward to it launching on September 25 this year on the last two PlayStations (Xbox and Nintendo Consoles) as well as on PC.