Sonic’s kart racing series should have usurped that red dungaree-wearing handyman years ago. This is a character whose very reason for existing is to go fast, while Nintendo’s portly plumber would only really be rushing to deal with a nasty water leak. However, that’s not the case. While Mario Kart is a literal system seller, the Sonic Racing series tends to drift into second place, a valiant effort, but one which can’t make its speedy hero quite fast enough. Can Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds be different?
Sonic Racing: Crossworlds feels as though someone saw Ratchet & Clank’s dimension-hopping mechanic and decided to borrow it for a racing game. After the first lap of each race the leader can choose the CrossWorlds track, shifting the action to a completely different zone and introducing a random element into the mix. You might be zipping along through one of Sonic’s casino tracks when suddenly you’re transported to a watery pirate world, or flying through the air above a glorious technicolour meadow.
In theory, it’s an interesting idea, but in practice, it doesn’t give you the same sense of wonder that you might expect, serving instead to take away from the sense of racing on a single track, perfecting the racing line or finding shortcuts, and besting your opponent. It’s just… a bit random, and this is a racing game that already has a lot going on. That’s compounded by many of the tracks just not being all that engaging, and for all that they’re drawing on Sonic’s back catalogue, they might just show that Sonic’s levels aren’t all that interesting…
There’s multiple mechanics at work in Sonic Racing: Crossworlds, and the Gadget Plate gives you a level of customisation to tailor your kart to your particular preferences. Each Gadget alters your kart’s performance in some way, giving you additional boosts or upgrading specific weaponry to give you an edge against the cavalcade of characters that fill out the game’s roster. They introduce an element of customisation that’s clearly a bit unbalanced, with Gadgets turned off for online modes just days before the game released, but they certainly add something interesting to your offline loadout.
That customisation extends to your vehicle as well. Having definitely looked over the fence into Mario’s garage, you can now select different front and rear parts and alternate tyres for your kart. These also alter your kart’s performance, as well as giving you a dose of visual flair to play around with, letting you customise the colour scheme and add decals too.
It’s an odd mix of decals, filled with gaming partners like ROG and MSI, but then with Air Asia and Beyblade ones too. It’s nice to have the option, but it feels a bit half-baked, with decals unable to be stacked or placed on the side of your car, and if you change any of the parts, it completely resets the decals for that section. The result? You’ll probably give up on decals.
Like its predecessor, the shift from Sonic and Sega All-Stars to Sonic Racing means that this is a character roster largely made up of the hedgehog’s pals, rather than from the wider Sega lineup, and it’s a real shame. Sure, we’ve got Hatsune Miku at launch, with Joker and Ichiban coming in a month or two, but the other external characters from Minecraft and SpongeBob – and their associated tracks – are only available as paid DLC, and it’s not out yet.
Fundamentally, beyond Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Robotnik this is a bunch of characters that will probably raise little more than a shrug, even for Sonic fans. OK, I’ll give you Big the Cat, but who wants to play as Charmy the Bee?
That contributes to an overall lack of charm. Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is certainly bright and colourful, and there’s the odd cheesy Sonic song, backtalking between rivals, and the occasional track that really stands out, but it feels relatively lifeless next to Mario’s last two karting outings. Sonic Racing Transformed was a real celebration of Sonic and the Sega brand, but this just lacks the same soul.
It does at least provide a fairly decent dose of karting. Drifting for speed boosts, performing rapid tricks and flips in the air, and battling it out with rivals can easily have you on the edge of your seat, and as you’d hope, playing with others in multiplayer only makes that stronger. It is chaotic though, and there’s a sense of unfairness that lurks in each corner. The overall lack of identity extends to the weaponry too, and there’s nothing here that’s as iconic as you’ll find in Mario’s series, or even earlier Sonic racing games.
Besides the regular Grand Prix modes, and the selection of speed classes, there’s also the option of Time Trials and the Race Park, a collection of different racing challenges that’s ideally set up for multiplayer, but can be played solo with an AI team if you want. They mostly mess with the formula a bit, so you can race in a team where hitting your teammates gives you both a burst of speed, or a multiplayer battle race where your team have to get the most item hits in. They’re an OK diversion, but they only really serve to emphasise the chaos of the races. I soon headed back to the regular Grand Prix.
There’s elements here that do work really well, from the customisation of the Gadget Plate and your kart to the Jukebox that lets you mix and match your racing soundtrack. Fundamentally though, Sonic Racing CrossWorlds biggest problem is that it doesn’t feel like it rewards you for racing well. Rivals shoot off into the distance, never to be seen again, while rubber banding keeps everyone bunched up behind you. That’s not fun, it’s frustrating, and no amount of dimension hopping and DLC characters can cover that up.