Sonic Racing CrossWorlds Coming Sep. 25, 2025

Game looks far better too

 

Let me guess, it has graphic fidelity that Switch (and maybe Switch 2) lacks?

 

Mario Kart and Sonic Racing are clearly trying to do two different things now, it's fine.

 

It's really funny I suggested this and Mario kart seems to be delivering that idea.
Not exactly as I suggested, but I think some version of my idea is there.

 

Mario Kart World is a single platform, open world-ish kart racer releasing this summer for a new system based on the juggernaut Mario franchise.

Crossworlds is a mulitplatform, course-based kart racer releasing later this year based on the decidedly more modest Sonic franchise.

Crossworlds won't make a dent in Mario Kart, but SEGA aren't seriously trying to outdo Mario Kart here either. There's room for both. As long as they don't pit it directly against MKW at release (as with Superstars and SMBWonder) and don't overprice Crossworlds (again, as with Superstars and SMBWonder), there's room enough for both games.

 

In the end, the real winner is GTA online.

 

I'll be getting both as a fan of kart racers. Mario Kart World looks great and I like they are doing new things with the open worldish design philosophy.

 

I'd be really, really funny if Sega low-balls the game as $40.

 

I’m expecting sega to attempt to cut its own niche alongside MKW either via low pricing or consistent post launch support which nintendo rarely does.

Like @Laura I’ll be getting both as someone who likes both of these series and I think they’ll both have their places within my rotation of games, I’m just kinda worried at if Sega will be able to make all the right moves to make sure this doesn’t flop under the weight of MK. Which they usually don’t, but at least here compared to Superstars they’ll have more time to adjust their pricing and marketing strategies.

 

2023: Sega released a 2D Sonic platformer the same time Nintendo releases theirs
2025: Sega releases a Sonic kart racer with the word “World” in the title and Nintendo does the same
Funny how Sega’s had the worst timing lately

 

I guess Sonic will always have the advantage that the games are generally cheaper and available on every console that isn't Nintendo (unless SEGA decides they want to start making consoles again for some mad reason)

 

We didn't got a date for CrossWorlds anyway, they maybe could delay the game.

 

Probably coming out during the holiday period like they always do. I really don't see anything to worry about here.

 

Those are fighting words sonic, I can't believe they made a jab at them like that

 

For real, if they dropped a price, that would actually start a war lmao.

 

It was wild seeing the new Mario Kart with ASRT-esque boat and flying sections. Mario ate Sonic's lunch so thoroughly you could post the trailer on Mukbang. Granted, I'll still probably get both, but it sure will be funny if World ends up doing the vehicle modes better than Crossworlds.

 

Very late with this but...



My video review/impressions is up... huge thanks to @Blue Blood for his footage from that final race which really shows how 1 race can be VERY different for two players.

A few elaborations on some points I bring up...

Flying

Flying in this game sort of sucks, but as I was playing, I constantly kept thinking "I've done this before..." and sure enough, I figured out what the flying is based on.


This is the Deluxo from GTA Online. It's basically the grand theft auto version of the Delorean from Back to the Future.

How it works is that you can be driving along, push a button and it transforms into plane mode allowing you to fly!

Sounds cool right?

Well no. It"s quite bad. The vehicle itself is VERY slow, even in flight mode, it doesn't pitch well and it also has poor turning.

It also feels very different to fly compared to the planes, part of the reason seems to be the lift is generated from below the body of the car so it feels like the vehicle is balancing on a stick and... .. .. This sounds a lot like the jets in crossworlds?

Because it IS like that! There's a small clip on my vid where I place the two vehicles side by side and how they handle looks so similar.

And this is where I think the jets differ from crossworlds to Transformed. In transformed. Your vehicle transforms into a jet to give you a "gamey" sense of flying a jet, no it's not real world accurate, but it's pretty much how you imagine a jet would handle.

Whereas in CrossWorlds, the vehicles become a hover car, so how it handles is VERY different to how even a '"gamey" jet would feel to handle.

My guess is that the boating also has a similar design mentality behind it, but I couldn't find or even think of a similar other game vehicle counterpart to compare it to.

Track Designs/The Theming

In terms of the layout, I think the courses are 'fine', maybe some are too narrow given the weapons, but in terms of their layout, I think they're fine.

The theming however is where I think they're let down.

If this is supposed to be a Sonic or Sega branded IP, why are they so lacking in that?

Take the dinosaur section, I know that these dinosaurs are themed on Secret Rings, but if you're not a Sonic fan, or thag clued in... it just boils down to dinosaurs.

Same can be said for the Kraken segment, yeah its a cool set piece, but really it's just generic 'pirates' theming.

Museum is a similar story, there's a few references sure, but the majority of it is generic museum, why is it not themed on old sega games or even the old racing games?

Sega even have an IP set in a museum but there's no representation here.

Metal Harbor is another one, it's so lacking in anything related to Sonic Adventure 2 it feels like it could be from any military aircraft type game.

Say what you like about Ocean View and Casino/Bingo... Road(?) At least when you drive around those it feels like you're driving around a racecourse version of those stages.

Gameplay/Balancing

There's a very oblivious unfair design flaw with this game that... kinda bugs me.

Your top speed is determined by how many rings you have, and this can be VERY crucial for the final straights, tons of times I've lost or gained positions based on my top speed....

Sooooo, it sort of feels amazingly unfair then that the following combination can happen.

1: Player gets hit by a weapon.

2: player stalls + loses rings.

3: Player can't use their own weapons until their stall is over.

4: Player is unable to travel at top speed even if they instantly use a "boost" item because their top speed is reduced due to the ring decrease from the weapon hit.

This feels too punishing, that a players recovery from a weapon hit isn't just a stall or loss of control, but also a literal cap on their top speed to recover from the attack.

Not to mention the obvious double or even triple weapons hit you can have, further capping your ability to recover.


Anyway, on my mobile and have to pop out, please give the vid a look since I address a few other points like how the defensive play could be improved if they fix the "escape boost" mechanic...

And also... what can happen when for some reason, the Drills and monster trucks don't drop in a race. No really I had a few races where I never saw any of the over powered items and... Holy crap it REALLY changed the game!

 

Honestly I think a delay to 2026 might be for the best. Appreciating that these two games will offer different experiences and that Team Sonic Racing had its own specific issues, I feel like a factor in TSR flopping so hard was the proximity to Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled in which it released. It's important to remember we're just not representative of wider audiences, who will only have the budget/appetite for one racing game. Ultimately Mario's is looking a hell of a lot more impressive in its content offering and I think in the gaming space Mario is a much safer bet on brand recognition and association with quality gaming. Even with the price bump, I think Mario Kart World will slaughter Sonic Racing CrossWorlds, racking up more sales on Switch 2 than CrossWorlds can across all platforms (bolstered even further by the value proposition of the launch bundle). At least if CrossWorlds moves to 2026 it'll have a bit more room to breathe on release.

I think this just isn't really true anymore. Nintendo has settled into a pattern of up to 18-24 months of post-launch support for significant new titles. ARMS, Splatoon 2 and 3, Kirby Star Allies and Smash Ultimate all got this consecutive to launch, while Mario Kart 8 Deluxe did get it much later, but I think you can make the argument that this is an outlier due to it being a Wii U port that already had that game's DLC included, and that it was drawing on content that had already been made for Tour. And really this decision was made because Mario Kart 8 Deluxe did absolute gangbusters, even without being a launch title.

 

I'm perplexed how people believe Sega expects or cares to literally outsell Mario Kart. This will never happen, and does not need to happen for CrossWorlds to be a success and further improve the Sonic brand.

Mario Kart could be shit and it would still outsell 99% of games. Sega isn't worried about that. If CrossWorlds sells 2-3 million, then for all intents and purposes, the games are equally successful.

Mario Kart being exclusive to one console, extremely expensive, and eschewing the traditional and straight-forward kart racing elements for open world makes an extremely comfortable niche for CrossWorlds Sega can fill in with good marketing and not releasing it in June (this part is extremely important)

 

Don't just discard what @Starduster says. Sonic Racing Crossworlds is in big trouble. Mario Kart World looks far better. It is very expensive. Its on an expensive new console. A lot of people will only want to buy one kart racing game that year for that much money. Or even one family friendly game full stop. They will buy Mario Kart.

Denying this is a problem is delusional. @Starduster is correct that TSR got beaten by CTR. Those two games were also trying to do very different things. Doesn't matter. For most casual gamers, kart racers are their own breed of genre. Regardless of minor differences. A lot of people can only afford to buy one game a month never mind a game of the same genre. Even I make tactical choices about what to buy each month.

I will buy both because I'm relatively income rich and am a hardcore kart racing fan. But not everyone meets those criteria. I hope Sonic Racing does really well. But frankly it does have very stiff competition here.

There is still much to learn about Mario Kart. Is it fun to play? Does the ambitious design actually work? But frankly Sonic Racing has some proving to do with its game balance too.