Sonic Racing CrossWorlds Coming Sep. 25, 2025

Assuming I get my act together and manage to get decent footage.

I'm doing a full Badnik Mechanic deep dive analysis style video on this.

Whilst I'm excited... I do have a few concerns about a few things... mainly a few of the items seem a bit over-powered.

 

I'm always interested to hear your thoughts seeing as you actually worked on Transformed!

 

Can someone post some Extreme Gears already?

 

They're not in this beta *crying emoji*

 

Sega cant erase our long faced boy from our memories no matter how hard they try

 

7 Characters x 4 Rows = 28 Characters Minimum

 

So uh my initial impressions aren't great. Is it just me? Feels very cheap. Like a knock off of Transformed. I'd actually see TSR is better...

 

First thought after a single race: "This feels like I'm driving through molasses." Not sure what is up with the driving model, drifting does not feel enjoyable. Music is drowned out by all the sound effects.

Will have to play more to form a proper opinion, but the first impression was more 'meh' than I wanted it to be.

 

Graphically it is flat and ugly but I can overlook that seeing as it is early in development. The driving is terrible. It controls exactly like the power characters in TSR but for all characters on all vehicle types. The music is horrendous. The flying and boat sections are very short (no more than 5 seconds each?). The tracks are very cheap and one roady This is easily the worst Sonic racing game after Sonic R and the lack of SUMO is felt hard. This is a game made on the cheap.

TSR is better in almost every way other than roster and this game doesn't hold a candle to Mario Kart or Transformed.

I'm disappointed but I could tell from the gameplay trailers it wasn't looking good.

 

I know this place is hyper critical and I haven't played the game myself (I hope everyone who has a PS5 and got a code get a pebble in their shoe) but the only throughline I see from here to elsewhere is that the game definitely plays differently.

Calling it "the worst Sonic Racing game after Sonic R" is definitely new, though. Most people seem to love it.

 

Trust me I want to like this game but it plays absolutely appallingly. A good comparison is Chocobo GP.

 

Is it me or is every single music track in this game is a recording of a choir singing or an "epic" remix of memorable sonic tunes

 

...well those aren't great impressions to hear from a game I was excited about. I wonder if they'll consider feedback from the network test.

 

To put some positives. I think the game has nailed the community spirit angle (which TSR failed miserably to do). The drifting is very weird but may become OK (???). I think this game could be dumb fun if it leans into celebrating all things Sonic and pushing the community angle. But it's dumb fun.

 

Have fun, you lucky ones! I don't have a PS5, so I'm looking forward to hearing your impressions.

Regarding the music, I'm so glad they're trying something new. Choirs in a Sonic game? Heck yes! Personally, what the main theme reminds me the most of is Reach for the Stars and the Olympic games. Not a huge fan of the bahs either (guess I'm more of a lalala kind of person), but I like the key changes in the melody and the almost "ecstatic" energy of it all.

As for the network test (@Laura) I'd like to know if you can identify any deliberate changes to the gameplay between this and SASRT on Sonic Team's part.

 

The driving and kart collision is giving me the same vibes that Sonic Racing on the Apple Arcade gave me (Though I can't go check as I no longer have a subscription and I'm not bothering for this). Like the game is trying to auto-assist and adjust for some non-existent motion controls. Everything just feels clunky.

 

The biggest change is the way the boating and plane sections are handled. In Transforned the plane and boat sections are usually a single lap and quite involved. Here the boat and plane sections are very short at around five seconds a piece. I'd say a good parallel is Mario Kart 8s flying sections. Obviously it's more involved here but not that much more.

The other difference is the tracks and speed. This game feels much slower and the tracks feel smaller. The tracks do have stuff going on in Lap 3 (I was fairly impressed by Wonder Museum) but not as impressive as Transformed where all kinds of things were happening. But this respect is better than TSR.

I'd say the biggest change is the terrible handling. It plays exactly like the Power characters in TSR. Turning without drifting is basically impossible. You just barely steer and keep propelling in one direction. The drifting also feels nothing like TSR or Transformed. I think it's more Mario Karty but badly. It feels janky but serviceable.

In good news the game is fast paced. The items hit you but you recover very quickly. Way better than TSR. And it doesn't have TSRs insane online end screen where you wait ages.

I'd say the biggest innovation is the community aspect. Fun emotes for characters in the lobby, loads of customisation for vehicles, bots for when there aren't enough players, really quick match queues. Honestly big props for this angle of the game.

 

Goddamn power characters.

 

It's immediately obvious just how different this game feels previous three titles. It's very clearly by an entirely different studio in an entirely student engine. The gameplay is very, very, item-forward, to a detriment honestly. But after a few races, I'm getting used to it. It's Mario Kart than the previous games. Vehicles are a lighter, there's a lot less focus on drifting for long stretches of of the race and the courses also feel significantly shorter overall. Boosting and flying stretches are over in a flash too. You may have noticed that the layouts of returning tracks are significantly different this time around, and it's because this game doesn't really play anything like it's predecessors.

It's good. But it's different. It's very, very different and will take some getting used to. And there are kinks to iron out.

 

Do different characters/cars handle differently or are they all the same?