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This new review finds us living life on the fast lane, and Super Sonic Racing! That’s right, we’re reviewing SEGA’s Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds. Before we begin the review, a friendly reminder that you can read my past reviews at this link.
SEGA’s Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is one of those games you just can’t put down. I’ve already spent hours drifting through corners, boosting down straights, and ramming karts out of the way on some really well-designed tracks that pay great homage to Sonic’s 35-year history. Not gonna lie though — most of my time has gone into improving my skills and testing different gadget setups to do better in Grand Prix mode and Online mode. Choosing between this and Mario Kart World, I’ve actually been playing CrossWorlds more. I’ll still review Mario Kart World when I get the chance. The game starts with around 23-24 base characters, but it jumps up to 56 with all the DLC, free updates, pre-order bonuses, and the Deluxe Edition. I was also impressed by the variety of unique vehicles and gadgets available — they actually make a difference when racing.
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What I really like about Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is how easy it is to pick up and play. The controls are simple and intuitive — basically just accelerate, drift, brake, and use items. Yet the racing itself feels incredible. Whether you’re hunting for shortcuts, landing trick combos for big boosts, or nailing a tight drift that forces you to switch paths on the fly, it keeps things exciting.SEGA and Sonic Team did a great job with how the vehicles handle. Even when the action shifts between land, air, or water, the transitions feel smooth. You can chain drifts into jumps into boosts and keep the flow going — as long as you don’t get hit by someone’s surprise attack.Another great addition is the rival system. In each Grand Prix, you’re assigned a random rival to compete against. As you progress, you can eventually challenge higher-level rivals, which helps you work toward a meta-goal with a reward that’s revealed only after completing all the Grand Prix races.
Speaking of racers and vehicles, there are four main types: Speed, Acceleration, Power, and Handling. You can customize them with tons of parts, paint jobs, and decals, which you mostly unlock by earning Donpa tickets through racing. It does get expensive if you want to collect everything, but the economy is clearly built for long-term play — you’ll need to race a lot if you’re a completionist. This review is based on the Nintendo Switch version. Even though the game looks good most of the time, the hardware struggles in chaotic moments. During big races with lots of racers and sharp turns, the frame rate can drop into the upper teens and I even glitched into walls a couple times. Still, outside of those issues, it’s a solid competitor to Mario Kart.
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In conclusion, Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is a really fun and captivating arcade-style kart racer that any Sonic fan should check out. Despite some performance hiccups on the Switch, it’s still a great family-friendly racer and a solid addition to what’s already out there. It beautifully honors Sonic’s 35-year history and even includes some neat DLC characters from the IDW comics, Minecraft, Persona 5, Hatsune Miku, and more. I’ve genuinely enjoyed my time with it and I’ve been reaching for CrossWorlds more than Mario Kart World lately. It’s available now on Nintendo Switch, Switch 2, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC. If you want more Sonic content, the Optimistic Sonic Fan puts out some great videos — definitely check it out on YouTube.
Final Grade:
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