There’s no shortage of Sonic the Hedgehog spinoffs in general. Ranging from exceptional (The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic Battle) to regrettable (Sonic Shuffle, Knuckles’ Chaotix), that polarization extends pretty evenly to past racing games. Sega’s last attempt at that particular genre, Team Sonic Racing, left a lot to be desired across both its gameplay and its approach to the series’ cast. Having spent an hour with a fresh build of Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds at Summer Game Fest, I’m confident that it’s not only righting those wrongs, but positioning itself to be a Sonic spinoff fans have dreamed of.
After the game’s closed beta earlier this year, I knew what I was getting myself into and won’t bore with those details. I encourage you to read our coverage of that to get a sense of the game’s customization and unique “CrossWorld” approach to laps. What I will say is that Sega seems to have taken feedback of the game’s bombardment of items to heart — while things could still get hectic, there was never a sense of being overwhelmed by the number of items or minor collisions going on in a race.
With the amount of slowdown those hits could cause, I was able to really savor the game’s driving, which has found a great sense of speed. A lot of that comes down to the drifting and handling, allowing drivers to really accumulate boosts and keep the velocity high. As a big advocate of Sonic & All-Stars Racing: Transformed, I can’t overstate how smooth this latest Sonic racer feels.
Like that title, the car-plane-boat approach adds some variety to a given race. Returning to CrossWorlds is the star of the Sonic Riders sub-series, Extreme Gear. This hands-on was the first public showing of the hoverboards, and while I found them to be my vehicle of choice (a Sega rep told me they’re particularly good at drifting and boosting, though that also comes down to the game’s myriad customization options), they also weren’t exactly distinct from the different cars. That makes sense from a balance perspective, but I’d have liked to see some of Riders’ unique mechanics make a comeback.
That said, those games’ three newcomers are back in CrossWorlds for the first time in a long while. The Babylon Rogues were playable and carried the same kind of polish the rest of the cast does in their animations and voiced lines. If you’ve always wanted to see Sonic characters interact with each other, particularly if a main game wouldn’t really have a “good reason” for them to, this game is absolutely for you.
During a Grand Prix you’ll be assigned a rival. Playing as Jet the Hawk I was stacked against Sonic himself, with some interactions happening between the two ahead of and during races. For the next Grand Prix I went with Wave the Swallow expecting to be matched against Tails (her designated rival from Riders). Instead the game gave me a choice between two characters: killer robot E-123 Omega and Cream the Rabbit. Interestingly, Cream was a “higher level” rival, which I took to mean her AI might be more difficult but also seemed to indicate I was progressing in some way in the game overall as a player.
Not only were there specific, unique interactions between Wave and Cream — again, two characters with pretty much zero connection in any past Sonic game — it seems that there could be at least some level of fanservice across the board. Storm the Albatross bantering with Shadow? Sure, why not. Whether or not this’ll extend to the guest characters like Hatsune Miku or Minecraft Steve is up in the air, but for Sonic fans this paves the way for an unprecedented level of character moments.
That all of that is happening in a well made and visually impressive racing game makes this all the more compelling as a pickup. The tracks, many of them pulling from past Sonic games, have all been gorgeous so far. Much like Mario Kart World, there’s a non-standard lap structure that keeps variety going strong. During a Grand Prix you can occasionally be served up the same CrossWorld two races in a row, which can run contrary to the overall intent. Still, the music and track design come together to make every race a spectacle.
Look forward to more on Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds as we race towards its September 25th release date on Switch and other platforms, with the Nintendo Switch 2 version coming at a later date.
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Written by Ricky Berg
When he isn’t writing for Nintendo Wire, Ricky’s anticipating the next Kirby, Fire Emblem, or if the stars ever align, Mother 3 to be released. Till then he’ll have the warm comfort of Super Smash Bros. to keep him going.
