There’s one thing about Sonic video games the place I sort of let my guard down and simply get pleasure from them for what they’re. And I’m comfortable to say that I’ve genuinely loved my time with Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, which I performed an hour of throughout Summer time Recreation Fest. It’s a kart racer that, in my brief time with, nails the core tenets of kart racer – quick and intense races, powerups that flip the tide and go away you salty, and vibe that celebrates the characters from its supply materials. I can’t actually ask for far more than that, but there’s nonetheless extra to chew on that we haven’t seen in earlier Sonic racing video games.
Let’s begin with the CrossWorld mechanic, which varies up every race – the primary lap begins on the chosen monitor, then whoever’s in first place within the second chooses the place the complete race warps to for the second lap. This could vary from an icy world with aurora borealis within the skybox, to a storming sea amongst a ship’s wreckage, or a volcanic zone with laser grids as obstacles. After which the third lap returns to the conventional monitor. It’s a novelty that you could be get used to over time, but it surely does present some degree of dynamism from race to race and provides a little bit of unpredictability to maintain issues contemporary.
In these crossing worlds, you’ll be flying, hovering, and browsing relying on the place you warp to, and so there’s an awesome sense of selection to your autos because you’re not simply on the bottom drifting along with your karts. I fairly just like the flying sections since your plane controls effectively and brings a sure verticality that’s shocking for a kart racer. If something, Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is blasting your eyeballs with chaos occurring on display screen, and possibly overdoing it. Not that it’s a serious grievance I maintain towards it, however this can be a very visually busy sport to the purpose the place it’s typically exhausting to inform what’s actually occurring – and I believe these moments are extra in service of the spectacle slightly than being a severe aggressive racer.
Nevertheless, it does have that aggressive edge with the way you outfit your kart. You’ll be able to customise elements just like the physique, tires, and boosters to tweak stats similar to high pace, acceleration, and dealing with. What’s extra is that you would be able to connect perks to your kart as if it’s a loadout. You get six slots for attachments, and a few attachments take up a couple of slot – for instance, I used a three-slot acceleration booster and a two-slot perk that improved my restoration time after getting hit by an merchandise. And this stuff really affected my efficiency in a significant method. I bought hit with a rocket in lap three alongside one other racer, however was in a position to pull forward of them considerably after getting hit due to each of these perks I outfitted. So, in the event you’re actually severe about kart racing, I believe there’s room for being an actual sicko about it.
I solely had entry to the Grand Prix modes, which pits you in a collection of 4 races, awarding factors to your place and figuring out a winner by the top of the collection. It’s fairly commonplace stuff with just a few quirks alongside the way in which. I’m unsure if that is embedded in Sonic lore, however one racer shall be declared a rival mid-Grand Prix and can act extra aggressive towards you and keep extra aggressive all through the collection. The fourth and last race will even reward extra factors for first place, so you may flip the tide on the final minute in the event you’re just a few factors behind. Nevertheless, I’m interested by how the opposite sport modes in Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds will play out, as a result of as enjoyable and dynamic as regular races are, longevity will depend on Sonic Workforce having the ability to capitalize on its potential in different artistic methods.
Maybe a few of that can come from its crossover characters – not solely is that this about Sonic as an entire, it’s a celebration of Sega’s current historical past as effectively. Throughout Summer time Recreation Fest, Sega revealed that characters like my treasured boy Kasuga Ichiban from Yakuza / Like A Dragon, Joker from Persona 5, and my vocaloid queen Hatsune Miku will all be a part of the roster. Seeing Ichiban relive his days of Dragon Kart from the 2020 RPG is cute and a welcome extension of his character, whereas seeing Miku on a hovering board racing via Sonic worlds is sufficient to get me purchased in (and we should always have Miku in additional video games, to be sincere, shout out to Fortnite). It’s not like crossover characters are a brand new factor for a Sonic racing sport – I imply, take a look at the wild lineup for Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing. However Sega’s catalog has grown quite a bit since then, so maybe this new period of characters can spice issues up in a method that makes extra sense.
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds doesn’t should revolutionize the kart racing style, and I believe it’s staking its declare on being a enjoyable and carefree racer that celebrates Sonic and the bigger Sega pantheon. It’s a vibe, and one which I’ve loved and can stay up for drifting via when it launches on September 25 of this yr on the final two PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo consoles, in addition to PC.
