What a year it’s been for the kart racing genre. First, we got to explore the open roads of Mario Kart World, then we zipped around on machines in Kirby Air Riders and now we get to jump between universes in Sonic Racing CrossWorlds Nintendo Switch 2 Edition. All have been an absolute blast, but it feels as though the best has been saved for last.
On the surface, CrossWorlds looks like your pretty typical racer (and to a small degree that’s sort of the case). After all, you select your favourite character, deck out your ride and speed around an assortment of wacky tracks whilst drifting and unleashing a flurry of weapons at your opponents. However, look under the hood, and the game has plenty more in store both radical and more subtle.
For starters, the game turns to fan favourite Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed by bringing back morphing vehicles, your ride switching between car, plane and boat often numerous times across a race. While still sporting the same arcade-like feel, each has its own unique aspects, boats able to leap in the air for a potential trick and planes of course moving upwards and downwards. Much like Transformed, the three vehicles add a nice feeling of variety and energy to the mix with each getting their fair share of usage over the game’s track lineup.
As far as handling goes, vehicles definitely have a rather weighty feel to them, drifting less of an option and more a must in order to take corners without grinding along the walls. Drifting is handled similarly to Mario Kart World in that the longer you’re able to hold one the more powerful the rewarding boost will be. Essentially, kart racing fans will fall right into a comfortable groove with the game, while newcomers to the genre should pick things up pretty swiftly.
So, what about the titular ‘CrossWorlds’ element then? Well, this comes into play during lap two of each race, the racer in pole position chosen between two options as to where things head to next. Blasting through a portal, the group then instantly winds up transported to a completely different environment doing their second lap there before zapping back to the original track for the final lap (which may have some slight alterations to it such as boosting pad placement or even shifts in route). This bouncing between of worlds features in every race making every one unpredictable as you’re never quite sure, where lap two will take you. Whatsmore, even some fifty hours in, I still found myself wowed by the sheer spectacle of it all, the instantaneous nature in which a race will launch you into an entirely new location with nary a single load in sight. It’s damn impressive to say the least.
One of my biggest gripes with Sonic’s previous kart racer (Team Sonic Racing) was its rather limited track variety (not to mention quantity). The same definitely can’t be said here with twenty-four main circuits and fifteen crossworld tracks (point to point sprints) and nary a single repeated environment. In fact, when you throw in the various combinations you may come up against in a race, you’re looking at mixes in the hundreds.
The game offers a welcome mix of original, remixed and returning locales with all looking truly eye catching. Fans will no doubt get a kick out of seeing the likes of Sonic Colour’s Sweet Mountain or Sonic Unleashed’s Santorini-inspired Apotos make the list while more obscure choices including Sonic and the Secret Rings’ Kraken Bay and Sonic Lost World’s Hidden World will send them into a frenzy. Even the original tracks have plenty to excite, everything from museums and shopping malls to theme parks and an Eggman expo stuffed with Easter Eggs and surprises.
Items play a key role in any kart racer and the selection available in Sonic Racing CrossWorlds feels familiar yet also offers some cool surprises too. While you’ll have your usual assortment of homing projectiles and banana peel-like mines to use, more unique additions involving zapping lasers, monster trucks and car slicing blades add some much-appreciated freshness to the mix. I will also say, I think I actually prefer the balance of items here over Mario Kart World’s often overly chaotic smorgasbord. Here, even the most powerful weapons don’t feel too much so with counter measures for nearly everything meaning first place doesn’t feel like you’re anxiously awaiting an unavoidable Spiky Shell.
There is a surprising amount of customisation available in Sonic Racing CrossWorlds starting off with the vehicles, these split into speed, handling, acceleration, power and boosting types. When you’ve selected your type, you’re free to select a combination of wheels with the back and front of the car (or in the case of the hoverboard-like Extreme Gear, front and back components). While your choices will impact your ride’s stats, what will have even more impact is your choice in gadgets. These add-ons essentially offer perks affecting everything from your ring cap to trick speed and more. With six slots to fill and certain gadgets taking up more slots, you’ll have a blast simply experimenting with the different combinations.
The game has a good amount to do whether you’re playing with others or racing alone. Grand Prix is straight out the racing game 101 handbook, but with the added CrossWorld mechanic thrown in, it means that even if you repeat a cup, you likely won’t get the same combination of tracks. Another neat twist is that each cup will feature three circuits while a fourth race will then have you perform one lap on each. Time trial again is very much expected in this type of game, but with grades given based on performance and songs to unlock it gives incentive to actually dedicate some time into mastering the game’s tracks.
Race Park meanwhile is where you are able to compete in modified versions of races either in teams or alone. For teams, points are accumulated based on finishing position and additional points awarded to the team who is able to perform a task such as most tricks or most rings. Again, if playing alone, you’ll go up against weird computerised versions of characters with vehicles earned for besting teams three times.
Online has been an absolute blast over the past few months, competing with others and gradually unlocking new gadgets and cosmetics. This has been accompanied by weekend long festivals, each one themed after a newly added character or series to the game, races turned into team affairs with focus placed on different skills like performing tricks or nailing others with items. So far, we’ve seen the likes of Joker from Persona 5 and Ichiban Kasuga from the Like a Dragon series but there’s plenty more to come later down the road.
Sonic Racing CrossWorlds Nintendo Switch 2 Edition is a truly awesome experience, one whose track-switching gimmick never tires and manages to inject some surprise into a pretty well-worn genre. Inventive, exhilarating and a stellar presentation means the hedgehog’s hot streak of quality releases continues with what may be his best outing in some time. For me, Mario and Kirby can battle it out for second place when it comes to king of the kart racers this year.
Version Tested: Nintendo Switch 2
Review Copy Provided by SEGA
