REVIEW: ‘Sonic Racing: Crossworlds’ Is A Chaotic Blast

Sonic Racing Crossworlds, the new kart racing game developed by Sonic Team and published by SEGA, is an absolute blast. It fundamentally understands what makes a good kart racer good, but even more so, what makes one great. Each course is a visual chaotic feast, bringing together stages from Sonic’s lengthy history, with the dimension-hopping elements elevating them even further. The driving feels tight and responsive, the characters are excellent, and there’s so much customization to engage with. It’s handily the best kart racer this year.

Sonic Racing Crossworlds brings together Sonic, Shadow, Tails, and plenty of other characters to find the best racer there is. While the lack of a dedicated story mode is a disappointment, there are still plenty of things to do. The Grand Prix is the focus here, as you pick races across three main maps, with the final race being a realm-jumping ruckus across all three. Each second lap takes the racers to another dimension entirely through Transformation Gates, letting the racer in the lead choose between two options for where to hop for the middle lap. 

There are a whopping 39 tracks in the base game, with 24 main tracks, and 15 of them are exclusively dedicated to the middle lap warp. These elements make each Grand Prix feel fresh and exciting every time you play them, never knowing where you could end up for the second lap on each race. Each level is intricately designed, packed with twists, turns, shortcuts, and red rings to find and collect.

Sonic Racing Crossworlds offers tons of customization to fit your playstyle.

From the icy waters of Holoska to the roads of Radical Highway, each level is an absolute blast to race across. They’re colorful visual feasts, and while they can be a bit too much the first time around just because of how much is on screen at any given time, you quickly settle into the chaos. It’s not just racing on land either, as some levels toss the player into the skies, flying through rings to boost speed, or across water, where you can build the boost gauge at any time.

The racers and karts are split up by types, with each having pros and cons. Speed types like Sonic have a higher top speed at the cost of low acceleration and boost, while characters like Big the Cat are Power types, making them stronger against obstacles but lower acceleration and handling. Each one is completely viable, providing something that other racers or karts don’t have. You can mix and match racers and karts of different types, trying to find the ideal race feel for the player. 

After you pick a racer and kart, the next step is picking gadgets, modifiers that can totally change the approach to a race. One gadget may give you a wisp item as you start a race, while others can give you stat bonuses. You start with only a few open slots, but as you race, you unlock more. They add a significant layer of customizability to each race, letting the player pick whatever gadgets support their play style. You unlock more as you play, along with being able to save multiple loadouts for quick swaps. 

Racing feels immediately familiar and satisfying in Soinc Racing Crossworlds.

Once you hit the track, Sonic Racing Crossworlds feels immediately familiar. You can drive, brake, use items, and drift, building a boost meter when you do. Crossworlds’ take on drifting feels fantastic, as there is about a second delay after you stop drifting.

Doing nothing uses the accumulated boost, but you can also start another drift in the opposite direction, continuing to build the boost. It feels really fluid, and snaking across maps is so satisfying. You can also do tricks in the air for speed boosts. The longer the trick, the higher the resulting boost. Racing feels tight and responsive, never too light or heavy, making each race a white knuckle endeavor.

The items here are standard fare, as well as some unique takes. Wisps boost the player forward, Omochaos create rings in front of the player to collect, and different coloured boxing gloves can hit other racers. Tornadoes and monster trucks are highlights, where tornadoes can hit nearby enemies but also defend against incoming attacks. Monster trucks turn the kart into a huge monster truck, crushing enemies unlucky enough to get caught in their wake. 

Challenges and time trials help ensure there’s always something to do and unlock.

There’s more to do outside of Grand Prix, with Race Park and Time Trials each packing different challenges. Race Parks add unique challenges and modifiers, like team races, extreme matches that modify items, and totally custom matches to play locally with friends. The modes are fun changes to the formula, where bumping into teammates can net you free boosts, or a race to see which team can collect the most rings.

You can win karts from these challenges, making it worthwhile. Time trials are the third major mode in which racers compete for the top times. You can try for a new personal best or aim for the world ranking, competing in leaderboards globally. For those who can get A ranks, new music tracks await. 

As you compete across the modes, Sonic Racing Crossworlds has some unique mechanics that make it even more engrossing. At the beginning of a race, a rival CPU will be selected to challenge the player. They’ll trash-talk you throughout the race, goading the player to do better when behind, or bemoaning their performance when you can take them down.

Max out rivalries and friendship levels for even more rewards.

The rivals have different challenge ratings, getting tougher as you take them down. Rivals make each race feel more personal, bringing a local multiplayer-like component to single-player matches. It’s one of my favorite features, with memorable races that reminded me of being on a couch with my brother as we battled it out, even though we were cities apart. 

The other major reward for just playing the game is Donpa tickets, used for unlocking new kart pieces, decals, and raising friendship levels. You get Donpa tickets by playing races, collecting the 5 red rings hidden on the main tracks, or even doing specific things in a race, like being in first place the longest.

You then spend the tickets on kart customization, building totally custom karts from disparate pieces, decorating with decals, and even customizing the horn. There’s a wealth of options to choose from, giving players who love to piece together their own ride plenty to invest in. 

Friendship is another space you can use Donpa tickets. You can build friendships with each racer by spending tickets, and as you do, you can unlock titles, stickers, and even skins. Between kart customization and the friendship for each racer, there’s a lot to spend tickets on. Some pieces are quite expensive, though, making the grind very real if you’re out for collecting everything. 

Sonic Racing Crossworlds is everything a kart racer should be.

The only real letdown in Sonic Racing Crossworlds is how it treats its DLC characters. Living up to the dimension-hopping madness of the races, different characters from other worlds join the fray. The first is the ultra-popular Hatsune Miku, with the likes of Joker from Persona 5, Ichiban Kasuga from the Like a Dragon series, and even SpongeBob SquarePants on the way.

These inclusions, with some being free and others being paid, are awesome, but the lack of voice lines for them is not. They lack the personality of the core cast, as they can’t quip and banter the same way. It’s a disappointing exclusion that makes them feel entirely lifeless, feeling more like skins than actual characters.

Sonic Racing Crossworlds is everything a kart racer should be. It has plenty of unique tracks, with the Transformation Rings adding another layer of chaotic fun on top of tight controls and map design. There’s so much to customize and engage with, keeping players locked in as they build their own karts and raise friendship with characters. While the lack of DLC voice-overs is disappointing, the rest of the package is stellar. It’s the best kart racer this year; each race is a white-knuckled sprint across worlds.

Sonic Racing: Crossworlds is out now on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and Windows.