Sonic Racing CrossWorlds Coming Sep. 25, 2025

Tbh I thought we learned not to tie game mechanics to what could be considered to be cosmetics so it'll be disappointing if that's a thing they do. Insomniac's Spider-Man nicely seperated abilities suits give you from what you're actually wearing and then later expanded that into a perks system.

I've also never liked different characters having different stats just because they were that character. What if I don't like how my favorite plays? (Looking at Zavok in TSR... Why did they make power characters suck so bad?) So If there's gonna be any differences it would at least be nice to have it be with car bodies only.

 

This makes me wonder how many of the assets in CrossWorlds will be re-used, especially in comparison to Frontiers and Shadow Gens. While my expectations are not exactly high, I expect the re-used/original asset ratio to be similar to previous games, it would be amusing if a racing spin-off had more original assets than the last two mainline games.

 

It's not a universally agreed opinion that characters should not be tied to stats. I'd actually find it lame if the characters are not tied to stats and that is the norm in the industry.

 

Tying characters, vehicles and load-outs to stats in games like this makes a lot of sense for a variety of reasons. It gives players the opportunity to really understand and remember how different stats feel by association, and particularly in multiplayer it allows you to read and understand your opponents clearly. In single player games, like fine, whatever. Separating cosmetics and stats can be fine. But a game like this isn't the place for it. Not a multiplayer racer wherein the characters have known attributes that are supposed to contribute their play styles.

If certain characters and/or classes either suck or just overshadow the competition (like Funky Kong in Mario Kart Wii) then hopefully that's the sort of thing that would be addressed overtime in patches. SEGA seem to be very committed to this game. My expectations have been thoroughly blown out of the water already.

 

Dunno if this has been posted yet

I don't recognize this water ruin level. Is it from Storybook games?

 

It's supposed to be Water Palace from Rush, which is pretty cool. The music isnt sounding familiar to me though.

 

The main tracks confirmed so far are E Stadium, Rainbow Garden, Wonder Museum, Water Palace (Rush), Metal Harbour (SA2). I'm not sure if E Stadium and Rainbow Garden are just new. Also is Chao Park a separate stage?

The crossworld confirmed are Roulette Road (Heroes), Sky Road (the Unleashed Rooftoop Run one in TSR), Lava Cave, Kraken Bay and Dinosaur Jungle (Secret Rings).

 

Roulette Road is from the original All Stars Racing and reappeared in TSR. And there's also Ocean View, appearing as one of the main race tracks instead of a crossworld. It's from Transformed, and also reappeared in TSR without its boating section. It'll have now appeared in 3 games in a row.

 

Rainbow Garden could be Kronos but I'm not sure

 

The Water Palace racetrack doesn't really look like Water Palace from Rush. If anything it looks more like Panzer Dragoon's first stage - though the architecture also isn't a total match.

 

If it is Water Palace and aint Naganuma-certified 'Funky Fresh' then it's an immediate F-Tier of a stage section in my book.
... At the very least, I certainly wouldn't want to play it back to back.

 

I at first thought it was the Seaside Hill/Ocean Palace ruins but without the red marks on them plus some Sky Sanctuary/Temple Trouble/Dragon Canyon assets.

 

My first thought was that it looked like Sky Sanctuary but partially submerged. The hanging vines in particular look almost identical to the ones in SC. But there are some elements that look Water Palace-ey like the gold at the base of the arch at the very start of the clip and the blue domed buildings at the end. On the music side I really ain't got a clue.

 

The stage kinda reminds me of Jungle Joyride from Unleashed.

Spoiler: Jungle Joyride

 

There's still no confirmation that Water Palace is the same location as the zone from Rush... there are stages which share the same name in different games and are unrelated to each other, so it's still a possibility (Team Sonic Racing had Ice Mountain which is called like a Sonic Advance 1 zone but doesn't seem to be related at all, even though it's so much a generic snow level that it could be; there are other cases, such as Metropolis in Sonic Forces)... but Water Palace in this game does look a bit like the Water Palace from Rush when you see it from the world map, so it could be. The ruins section also kind of look like the boss arena in Rush, and there's a section of the track that's less ruined and they didn't show it yet outside of one screenshot.

I doubt this... it's reminiscent but seems to be a totally different place. There are no ancients' buildings either. There's another screenshot somewhere, of a rocky section of the track which looks a bit like Adabat from Unleashed, but I also think it's not Adabat, it's just similar.

Nothing is known so far (I think), but it looks like a separate track to me. Maybe a crossworld? I hope it is a base track (mostly so that there's an additional free slot in the crossworlds for some sick obscure reference to a less represented game or something, since the crossworlds seem to be more wild in the choice of locations).

 

Well, the network test sign-up window closes soon. I've never been interested in getting into closed beta test servers before, but I seriously cannot wait to give this game a shot. I hope I get in!

 

Yeah I hope I get in too. Maybe us Brits may both get in! I'm a big fan of the Sonic racing games and I just hope it lives up to Transformed. I don't have insane expectations. It's a kart racing game. But I love kart racing games and Transformed was one of the GOATS.

 

I'm a huge fan of the final lap vocals

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Me, the third Brit, who doesn't have a PS5:

I think I need to hear the soundtrack in isolation first or at least with a volume mix that makes it more present than what's currently available (or maybe I just need to listen with headphones on). From what I can make it, the soundtrack doesn't go in as hard on the guitar as Senoue's TSR soundtrack did, which is a little disappointing. I also think it's a MASSIVE missed opportunity to not make the final lap of Ocean View a full-on lyrical remake of You Can Do Anything, even if that might lose a bit of punch for anyone who isn't playing as Sonic.

Still, the game continues to impress and I can't wait to be able to play it. The voice acting also sounds pretty rad with Sonic, Tails and Knuckles sounding genuinely joyful to be here, though there could stand to be more variety in the voice line flags (Tails saying perfect four times in a single stint of tricks is rather grating), and it's crushing to hear that Sonic's "highest" voice line for tricks is Jammin', was really hoping he'd go through the entire list of SA2 point ratings.