Sonic Racing CrossWorlds: Sega’s Ultimate Racing Game
SEGA manages to differentiate its arcade racing game from Mario Kart World in several ways, achieving a super fun experience with unique mechanics, only falling short in content scarcity and constant resolution drops.
Sonic Racing CrossWorlds is without a doubt the best racing game produced by Sega in the universe of its blue hedgehog, the result of efforts and learnings over decades. From Sonic Drift in 1994, through Sonic Riders in 2006, and of course, Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing in 2010, for over 30 years the company has been exploring experiences in which these characters drive vehicles at high speeds, but now we are faced with the pinnacle of their efforts.
Motivated by the “crossing between worlds” as the main hook for the main design of its new experience, Team Sonic effectively takes all the ideas explored in the past in various games of several sub-series to unite them in Sonic Racing CrossWorlds. This is an arcade racing game with karts, just like in the Drift and Racing games, but also with the boards of the Riders sub-series, along with illustrious guests from other Sega series.
Sonic Racing CrossWorlds is an amalgamation of ideas explored over decades, brought together in one game to invite you to speed through tracks built in scenarios that fans will recognize, while feeling a high dose of adrenaline in these frantic acrobatic races.
Gameplay: A Kart Racer with its Own Personality
Unlike the first 3 games in the Sonic Racing series, CrossWorlds was not produced by Sumo Digital, but rather by Sonic Team, so it is practically impossible not to play it and feel that its personality fully reveals Japanese irreverence. As the name suggests, the main mechanic is the crossing between worlds, which means that after finishing the first lap of each race, you will jump from the world in which that track takes place to a crossed world, before returning to the original track world for the third lap.
This is the basic concept of Sonic Racing CrossWorlds and it energetically enhances the experience, not forgetting that it will serve as a strong point of differentiation from Mario Kart World or Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the top of the arcade racing genre. After so many years looking at Sonic Racing as a kind of “Sega’s Mario Kart”, the Sonic Team endeavoured in CrossWorlds to differentiate it and succeeded in valid and fun ways, even if the foundations are inevitably very similar.
Sonic Racing CrossWorlds is an experience of mind-blowing contours, from the first to the last second of each race on the circuits. Whether it’s the speed of the game, visual effects, abilities, constant jumps and stunts, collecting coins to increase maximum speed, and of course, the transitions between land, sea, and water, Team Sonic does not want you to feel at any moment that the energy has run out. It’s a frantic and tireless pace.
The Device System Leading the Customization
In addition to differentiating Sonic Racing CrossWorlds from Mario Kart with a much more frenetic tone, it’s basically Sonic Racing in turbocharged version, Team Sonic also gives its game its own tone by deepening the customization system, be it cosmetic or in gameplay through the device system and its boards.
Mario Kart relies on variable statistics by combining a character of a certain weight class with a vehicle, Sonic Racing CrossWorlds deepens this mechanic by allowing teams to have buffs. The device system allows you to equip benefits such as starting with turbo, gaining turbo faster, resisting certain attacks or conditions like preventing the vehicle from sliding on ice, or even improving a vehicle’s speed. There are countless possibilities that you can equip to your liking, to deepen the strategic dose of races.
You can choose from various boards before starting one of the 7 Grand Prix available initially, strategically designed by yourself thinking about what will be most useful for that specific competition. In addition, you can also buy new parts for vehicles and boards, swap the front independently of the rear, choose various color schemes, and enjoy a good dose of customization.
Soundtrack: A Winning Bet
One area where Sega hit the mark is in the soundtrack of Sonic Racing CrossWorlds, highly energetic and that helps make each race more fun. The soundtrack is so memorable that I found myself choosing circuits and tracks just to listen to a certain music. More than that, I went to the menu that allows you to listen to the music and put the soundtrack to play just to listen.
Electronic Sound: Reinforcing Sonic’s Personality
The bet on a multifaceted electronic sound is more than a winning bet, especially because the sounds adjust according to the lap and transitions between worlds. It is a well-crafted way to reinforce the highly frenetic personality of Sonic Racing CrossWorlds.
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