Sonic Racing CrossWorlds Coming Sep. 25, 2025

I could see Dodon Pa being more of a mascot for the racing games now, popping on menus and stuff, assuming there's no story mode.

In addition to the DLC graphic, the following free update graphic has also been shared on the socials now:

Suggests there are at least ten more characters to come rather than the seven initially expected. While the six slots of DLC of course represents the first season pass, the inconsistency in free racer numbers leads me to believe we're not going to get a hard limit on those and they're probably just going to keep cranking them out over the next year or two.

 

The game is being played at demos and there are previews out:

TheGamer: Sonic Racing: Crossworlds Is Closer To Stealing Mario Kart World’s Crown Than You Might Think

Game Informer: Rolling Around At The Speed Of Sound

GamerBraves: Deep Dive into Customization and Item Systems

Tails Channel also has a few off-camera gameplay videos of the new content.

And it seems Race Park is another party mode, so unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a dedicated single-player mode outside of Grand Prix, that's a shame.

https://x.com/TailsChannel/status/1931435111733481506

 

https://xcancel.com/TBAA73/status/1931455807532433838?s=19
You can beef with children in this game

 

Spoiler: This is actually canon now

 

Really interesting 4Gamer interview, where most English sources seem to be ignoring the actual content in favour of all the new screenshots (one of which showing 56 character slots) and footage. Rams home how integral the arcade game development team at Division 2, both in terms of the Initial D personnel and those who come more from the rhythm game side of things on Maimai, has been in creating it alongside Sonic Team.

(I genuinely do kind of hope it gets a stripped back, proper arcade release like All-Stars Racing did via Sega Amusements way back when. Would probably mean no chance of encountering random seven year olds playing as the DLC cartoon characters, and offer a way to get some quick plays in for people who don't want to drop so much on the full price base release)

 

I think this is the actual link you meant to post.

 

Fixed, thanks

 

Oh, interesting, my 4Gamer link is different from yours. Guess that means there's even more to pore over.

 

Personally i am glad they just went with a simple name this time, always disliked how mouthful the titles for ASR games were

THAT'S how you do a character select screen, the one in Mario Kart World is a total joke, and having each outfit as it's own slot is putting salt into injury

 

Even accounting for all the leaked DLC, the game is still predominantly Sonic’s cast, so it being Sonic Racing branded makes sense, and I’d like it to stay that way honestly. I’m hoping for a balance like what Riders had: very much Sonic-focused with additional guests, just on a larger scale.

 

Wait this grand prix mode is actually really cool,. with rivals and a race through all the tracks

 

So I admit I'm trying to do the math on how we get to 56. The word has always been "23 characters at launch", which they seem to be sticking to in all of the press material. Add Werehog and the three Prime characters, that's 27. We know there's exactly 15 in the Season Pass, so that's 42. And then the website has 10 total slots for update characters, but that's only 52. And I know there's that other graphic that implies 13 total update characters instead of 10, so that potentially raises it to 55, but then where does the last one come in?

...unless those are placeholders for a second season?

EDIT: Okay, the site updated to have 13 total update slots, and we now know that Super Sonic is unlockable, so that explains that.

 

The Grand Prix mode does look fun, and I like the idea of having one racer in particular giving you shit that fits the context of the characters. I wonder if they'll do something like that for the DLC...even though I have no idea who the characters that don't have pairs would rival with.

It's still no replacement for a proper story, but it's something at least.

EDIT: oh, you pick rivals from a limited pool. That's how it works.

 

Opening for the game.

Spoiler

Can't believe they have Amy kill Vector like that

Probably my least favorite opening of the series.

 

What's rather interesting to me is that everyone else here is using pre-existing renders from past media / games

Except for Blaze...who is using the render that was in the leaked assets for Sonic Blitz



Oh also the end of the opening grew on me as I kept rewatching it.

 

Not really feeling the theme song, but I've also never been a fan of themes that straight up say the name of the game. Feels a little too on the nose for my tastes.

 

Having flashbacks of Fist Bump, but the song ended growing on me anyway and many people too.

Th opening itself is fire, tho'.

 

I feel like the video and audio quality make me not want to judge the OP just yet, though like with Sonic Heroes any song that just says the game it's in is going 100% off the cheesy-scale.

 

Oof this is a rough one.
I'm not even a big fan of the visuals but the bad video recording might be making things look worse than they are.

 

Poor Jet, racing was like his one personality trait and he’s jobbing so hard that he isn’t even presented as serious competition for Sonic in the final sprint.

VGC asked Iizuka about the leaks:
https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/sonic-team-head-warns-leaks-can-ruin-plans-and-deals/

Makes me feel bad for him honestly, I feel like Iizuka’s one of those series producers who really cares a lot about what he’s working with so while, of course, he’s very savvy with diplomatic media responses at times, this one feels a bit personal to me.

Also, the article confirms at the bottom that an upgrade path will be available for Switch 1 owners to the Switch 2 version, so that may an economical option. Hopefully they’ve had the foresight to give this version uncapped framerates and the upgrades will be resolution and geometry bumps.