Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds Review

I’ve dabbled with many arcade kart racing games over the years, including a certain Italian plumber series on the Nintendo Switch. None of them have really gotten me hooked…until now!

Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is by far the best kart racing game I’ve ever played! Admittedly, this is actually my first Sonic racing game, so maybe I don’t know what I was missing from before; however, as of right now on modern consoles, this is easily the best.

It’s not really that hard of a genre of game to get right: bombastic arcade kart racing mixed with interesting tracks, fantastic audio, and great gameplay. Not only does Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds do this, but it also adds so much more. A robust customization, a rivals feature to make the single-player aspects that much spicier, but most importantly, the thing that separates this racer from others is in the title, the CrossWorlds mechanic. 

Each race, be it single-player or online, is over three laps. At the end of lap one, the player in first place gets to choose, by driving left or right through a hoop, whether the second lap of a race is going to be the expected second track or a random one. The last lap is a repeat of where you drove lap 1. Because of this choice mid-race, no two races are the same.

In single-player mode, you also have 6 other team racing modes to play, as well as the cup campaign. There is also a time trial mode, in which you can compete and improve your times not only against yourself but in online leaderboards too. 

Each race and track, no matter the type, has collectibles to find, various routes around them, and are interactive. You’ll be avoiding stomping dinosaurs or barrels being rolled down the track towards you, as well as the other racers.

There are 23 base game characters to choose from and five types of machines to race over 15 different tracks/worlds. Each character and machine is specialized in either Speed, Acceleration, Handing, Power or Boost. You can mix and match the drivers with the types of cars, as well as customize each car too. 

As you race, you pick up tickets that can be spent in the in-game shop to upgrade your car’s appearance and its baseline stats the way you want. It’s not terribly difficult or GT7 deep, but it’s enough to encourage even myself to go look online at what builds work best with what cars on what tracks.

Added to all of this is another RPG element of your gadget slot. Gadget slots open up the more you race. These have character-specific traits you can take from to car to car. For example, two blocks of your 6 slots could be taken up with having double boost available from the start. There is a big variety to the different player perks, which again, getting the right build for the right character is something I’m looking into to maximize the potential to win. 

The different handling of the cars per class is subtle but certainly noticeable. It’s fun to find the right type of car for your playstyle, but this can and should differ per track, as each track has their own characteristics as well. Some tracks are suited to speed, while others have many jumps so suited to players who perform mid-air tricks to get boosts on landing.

The handling of the cars is excellent. As well as driving, your cars will also, at times, transform instantly into boats on water or aircraft through the air. On land, you can pick the driving line, but if you learn to drift around a corner, you get a speed boost when the drift is over. The mechanics in water differ in that instead of drifting, you jump up (to reach objects), but you can also drift your aircraft in the air too. 

The stars of the show are undoubtedly the tracks. They are wild, varied, colourful, entertaining and full of excitement. Hidden paths, collectibles, speed boosts, it’s all there. As you race, you will be able to pick up items to use to either help you or hinder your opponents, such as speed boosts or bombs. If you press the right stick back towards yourself, these objects can be thrown directly behind you.

The track also has gold rings to collect. The more rings you collect, the faster your vehicle will go. As you collect them, they make the familiar “Sonic the Hedgehog ring grab” noise, which is deeply satisfying.

The game’s audio is also fantastic. Vehicle noises, enemy attacks, alongside catchy music and the drivers making comments themselves. It’s all incredibly entertaining. 

Online mode has worked flawlessly. I can’t remember the last time I played a game online day one and not have one iota of lag or any disconnections. Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds has performed flawlessly online to the point where you wouldn’t even know if you were! I’ve never had any screen slow down, frame rate drops, disconnections, nothing.

This is all the more incredible when you realize that the matchmaking is cross-platform, and additionally, I’ve waited, at most, 30 seconds to find a lobby and be connected to it. Not only that, each race/online match has been a full 12-participant lobby every time. I really appreciate the speed at which I find lobbies and get into the racing action, and the functionality of this online game is outstanding. 

The game is set up superbly well for solo, co-op or online play. Each part of the game, as mentioned above, can be played all three ways. The only thing I would have liked to have seen would be the 6 team games as options to play online. Online is just a three-lap race, nothing more.

I was a little concerned that there may have been some online balancing issues. However, throughout my playthrough so far, I have seen some very low-level players finish high up the order still, so I think it’s possible. The online game does have ranks, and each lobby is sorted between your ranking, not your level. So, I think, under the hood, the game is trying to level the field to each player’s ranking, but this is hard to confirm or deny.

The graphics are superb. The game ran silky smooth in every mode, both online and offline, even when there was a lot happening on the screen all at once. Details, character models, definitions and excellent artwork wherever you look. The only possible downgrade in the visuals is that, at times, the game seems to be less defined due to, I think, motion blur to enhance the effect of speed. I wasn’t entirely sure this was intentional, but either way, it’s pretty much the only possible flaw I could see in the game or its presentation.

So, when you put this all together, you have one incredible racing experience. I have to admit, at first, with so much action, noise and things to keep in mind, it initially felt a little overwhelming taking part in a race. There is so much going on when you start, especially visually, that it’s hard to keep up. 

Eventually, however, you learn what audio cues are what, where the track is going, and what is around the corner so that you can focus on racing and using your abilities with what is going on around you at the right times and enjoy the race.

The bottom line is that the racing is adrenaline-fueled, fantastic fun. It’s fun because the racing is interesting, varied, bombastic and works so well. It’s deeper than you would expect with the track knowledge, the timing of the abilities, as well as your car builds and gadget loadouts to consider too.  

There’s great satisfaction to be found when falling behind and then clawing your way back through abilities and items to take a win. The entertainment factor of each race and the game’s flawless workings cannot be understated. Where this game takes it to a higher level is that it also has the hook of a progression system to get better equipment to suit your style. It’s similar to how Call of Duty has that addictive quality to keep you playing to get better items for your gun, so you want to keep playing.

Not since last year’s Astro Bot have I had so much fun playing a new game. I’ve smiled from ear to ear playing Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds; it’s simply just so much fun. It’s how karting games should be. It has that wonderful pick up and play quality that easily turns five minutes into a couple of hours. SEGA has released an absolute banger of a game that I highly recommend.

 

Summary 

Absolutely flawless. This game is the first ever arcade kart racing game I’ve been totally hooked on. I can’t find fault in any aspect of the game either online or offline. Solo, couch co-op, online, it has something for everyone, and it all works perfectly. It’s visually stunning, has breathtakingly exciting racing, and with a tip of the hat to Mario, should now be considered the king of console kart racing. All hail Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds. 

Developer: Sonic Team

Publisher: SEGA

Platforms: Steam/PC, PlayStation 4&5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch

Release Date: 25th September 2025

Gaming Respawn’s copy of Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds was provided by the publisher.