There’s something about the Sonic Games. There, I’m just guarding down and enjoying what they are. And I’m glad that I really enjoyed my time at Sonic Racing: Crossworlds. It’s a kart racer and in my short time nailing the core doctrines of a good kart racer. Fast and intense races, power-ups that change the current and leave a salty flavor, and the good atmosphere of celebrating the characters from the sauce ingredients. You can’t really ask for anything more than that, but you still have to bite things you’ve never seen in previous Sonic racing games.
Start with CrossWorld mechanics that change each race. The first lap begins on the selected track, and anyone in first place at that moment chooses where the entire race is distorted on the second lap. This ranges from an icy world with Aurora Borealis in the Skybox to a stormy sea among the ship’s wreckage, or a volcanic area with laser grids as obstacles. And the third lap goes back to the normal track. It’s a novelty you may get used to over time, but it offers some dynamism from race to race and adds a bit of unpredictability to keep things fresh.
In those intersecting worlds, depending on where you are distorted, you will fly, hover and surf. Therefore, there is a great variety in your car, as you are not just on the ground floating with your cart. I really like the flight section because your aircraft controls well and brings a surprising certain verticality for the kart racer. If anything, Sonic Race: Crossworlds is blowing up an eyeball where chaos occurs on the screen. Impossible that. That’s not to say that the big complaint I have with it, but this is a very visually busy game and not at the point where it’s difficult to tell what’s actually going on. And I think these moments are useful for the spectacle rather than for serious competitive racers.
But it’s competitive as how you equip your cart. You can customize parts such as the body, tires, and boosters to adjust statistics such as top speed, acceleration, handling, and more. What’s more, you can attach perks to your cart, as if it were a loadout. The attachment has six slots, with some attachments occupying multiple slots. For example, I used a 3-slot acceleration booster and a 2-slot perk to improve recovery time after hitting an item. And these things actually affected my performance in a meaningful way. I hit with a rocket on lap 3 with another racer, but after hitting for both of the perks I equipped, I was able to pull in front of them significantly. So, if you’re really serious about kart racing, I think there’s room for you to be a real pee about it.
I only had access to Grand Prix mode. This pits you in a series of four races, awarding points to your position, and by the end of the series you have decided the winner. It’s pretty standard with a few quirks along the way. I don’t know if this is embedded in Sonic’s lore, but one racer is declared a rival mid-grand prix, acting more aggressively against you and staying more competitive throughout the series. In the fourth final race, you will reward more points in first place, so if you are a few points behind, you can turn the tide at the last minute. But I’ll find out how other game modes in Sonic Race work. Cross-world is as fun and dynamic as normal race, so longevity depends on the Sonic team being able to exploit its potential in other creative ways.
Perhaps part of that will come from that crossover character. This is not only a celebration of Sonic as a whole, but also a celebration of Sega’s recent history. During the summer Game Fest, Sega revealed that my precious yakuza boy, Kasuga Ichiban, characters like Joker in Persona 5, like Dragon, and my Vocaloid Queen Hatsune Miku, will all be part of the roster. It’s adorable to see him relive the era of Dragon Cart from the 2020 RPG, and just watching him watch Miku on a hovering board that runs through Sonic’s world, while still a welcome extension of his character, I’m sure there’s Miku in more games. It appears that the crossover characters are not new to the Sonic Racing Game. In other words, please look wild Sonic and Sega All-Star Race lineup. However, Sega’s catalogue has grown so much since then, so perhaps this new character era can make things more rational.
Sonic Racing: Crossworlds doesn’t have to revolutionize the Kart Racing genre. I think he’s betting his claim that he’s a fun and carefree racer celebrating Sonic and the bigger Sega Pantheon. It’s the atmosphere, something I enjoyed and look forward to drifting away on the past two PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo consoles and PC this year on September 25th.
