If there’s one thing 2025 will likely be remembered for among video game circles, it would be the abundance of cart racers. From Nintendo alone there’s Mario Kart World and soon Kirby Air Riders, not to mention Sega jumping in with Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds. It seems almost fitting for Sonic to try and one-up Mario with his own racing game given their rivalry, but apparently this wasn’t intentional. In fact, a recent interview reveals that the team didn’t even know that Mario Kart World was around the corner while working on CrossWorlds.
The latest entry in the Sonic Racing series, Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, is releasing across multiple platforms later this month, including the Nintendo Switch itself. This puts it in direct competition with the Switch 2’s premier launch title, Mario Kart World. According to series producer Takashi Iizuka, this coincidental release schedule didn’t have any influence on their plans with the game however. In an interview with Traxion, Iizuka mentioned that while the team was expecting a new Mario Kart sometime in the near future, the release of Mario Kart World so soon caught them by surprise.
“Of course, we don’t know the road map of Mario Kart titles. So, when it was announced, the dev team was surprised about it. However, typically when Nintendo releases new hardware, it’s pretty common that they also release a new karting title. So, the dev team was somewhat expecting a new Mario Kart to be released soon. Whether or not Mario Kart was going to be released, our goal was to develop the best kind of Sonic racing title. That hasn’t changed – Mario Kart World won’t have any influence.”
Despite the unexpected competition, Iizuka feels as if CrossWorlds has a lot going for it to set it apart from Mario Kart World. For one, the game features crossplay across multiple platforms, including PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch – meanwhile Mario Kart World is a Switch 2 exclusive. Beyond just that though, CrossWorlds’ new feature of Travel Rings allowing for more dynamic races and easier inclusion of crossover characters is another key distinction from similar titles. For all of these reasons and more, Iizuka and the team feel confident that CrossWorlds would stand out among other racing games even with such close release dates.
While it is a fun coincidence to see Sonic and Mario’s rivalry continue even to this day, there’s really no need to settle on one side. Both Mario Kart World and Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds have a lot going for them, and if anything it’s more fun to have both to go between for even more variety. Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds comes out officially on September 25th, so be sure to check the game out once the time rolls around!
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Written by Abbie Maxwell
Lifelong Nintendo fangirl, Abbie holds a special place in her heart for video games. She has always strived to provide tips and tricks to make the experiences of those who share her passions that much better.
