Sonic Racing CrossWorlds Coming Sep. 25, 2025

I know that we definitely have seen some iffy lighting, particularly around the whites of eyes, but this off-screen footage with no white balancing is not good evidence.

For comparison, the same level shows up here from 1:35 and looks a million times better. The colours are barely even comparable.


You just can't use a low-quality off-screen image as an accurate representation of a game's visuals.

 

fair enough, I guess I just had a kneejerk reaction since it reminded me of the Wisp's eye from the beta. Will be interesting to see how it's cleaned up before launch though.

 

I mean yeah, that does look off. And it's one of those things that really ought to be addressed. But honest question, how frequently did quirks like that present themselves? It's such a minor thing.

 

People will surely be normal about this line of dialogue

 

Is that Flynn's writing style?

 

It’s a reference to the comics which some are still trying to pretend aren’t canon.

 

I don't think anyone will read IDW Sonic one day just to get a reference.

 

I don't think that's how stuff like this is intended, but for people to find out that the comics exist and then read them for their own sake to see more Sonic adventures.

 

I think Starduster has a point, introducing the comic characters in a game like this that'll appeal to everyone will help the IDW branch thrive more.

 

How about people only play games and ignore the IDW comics?

 

Why are you making this an argument

 

Urgh. No. Don't do this.

Keep the comics out of the bloody games. Please don't make me feel like I'm missing out on elements of the Sonic video game franchise I've been a fan of for 30-odd years because I don't want to read a comic book.

 

It's because the IDW comics were mid, I dunno.

 

"Oh boy, I can't wait to see more Sonic adventures in this comic!"

"...who are all of these characters? Why do they keep crying??"

 

A throwaway line or two in a game that seemingly doesn't have a story is not that big a deal. This only becomes a problem via slippery slope arguments. And frankly, if your problem with a series is that you have to experience a part of it you don't want to to get the full story, there's about eight or nine dogshit games standing in your way that are way more exhausting to play than reading any comic book.

That said, I think if SEGA really wanted to get some comic story to the game fans, a voiced motion comic adaptation would be a good middle ground.

 

Y'know, comic books are notoriously fun to rip through, it wouldn't hurt to give it a go - especially now since IDW Sonic is in it's infancy, you get to actually witness the growth of all new characters and not miss out on too much context. :D

Though, I suppose if someone has a disdain for cute images, you can easily see to a block of text on a related wiki to catch up. Summaries are a helluva thing!

I have an aching suspicion this doesn't make deeper underlying problems one may hypothetically have any more appealing, mate..? ^^;;

 

I think it would! Everyone who plays a Sonic game is used to watching cutscenes, and turning the comics into a YouTube series or whatever would make them much closer to the medium of consuming Sonic story content that players are already familiar with.

...assuming the problem is with accessibility, and not that there's some innate issue with any supplementary material at all being part of canon, in which case that just kinda feels like poor sportsmanship. Sure, the series shouldn't become over reliant on those materials...but it shouldn't be that much more reliant on preexisting game material either, because eventually the required context is gonna start shutting people out, and that's just bad storytelling for an accessible episodic franchise in general.

 

Fatal Fury Special, which is largely regarded as the genesis of cross over appearances, had a unique intro for Ryo when he'd match up with certain characters. King of Fighters have had unique pre-match introductions since the first in KOF 94. SNK vs Capcom: Match of the Millenium on the Neo Geo Pocket Color has unique pre-match introductions. So does SvC Chaos. And Capcom vs SNK. and Capcom vs SNK 2. And Injustice 1 and 2 have unique introductions for their guest characters. So does MK vs DC. Marvel Vs series has had them since MvC: Infinite. Soul Calibur got them in later entries. DOA 2's single player sees Ryu Hyabusa having unique interactions with every character. It's pretty common in cross over fighting games. Really only a few that don't have unique interactions are stuff like Fighters Megamix or most of the smash brothers clones like DreamMix TV World. Within non-fighting game realm, stuff like Project X-Zone is built entirely around interactions, and Segagaga, THE sega cross-over game, is filled to the brim with characters from various series interacting.

Some examples of great cross-over character interactions: Terry Bogard and Ken having a rivalry over who is the "most legendary USA brawler" (Ken thinks it's terry by default), Sub-Zero being inspired by Batman to become his realm's vigilante protector, Alex Kidd complaining about Sonic the Hedgehog relegating him to a side character.





then there's this, which is like the most in your face interaction possible:



Ryu and Kyo having a personal grudge match, then being interrupted by their respective villains and taking on their cross-rival arch nemesis.

 

Having a reference to the comics is different than making a game that requires reading the comics to follow the plot. It's fine. The japanese line probably doesn't even have the reference at all! The comics are, I think "canon" in the sense that any Sonic game spin-off is "canon", in the sense that it can be referenced as a thing that exists instead of pretending it doesn't, but it's never going to be like "oh you HAVE to read it" and I don't think referencing it at all in a throwaway line makes it so. The comics are also designed so that character development, growth, and character-centric plotlines are mostly relegated to the comic-only characters, not the main game cast. If it really bothers anyone that much you can always just... read them. It's not really that much comic to read and you can always just skim through any parts you're finding uninteresting.

A motion comic "summing up the plot" would do good on Youtube but I think would cannibalize comic sales too. Sure, it'd make it easier for people to buy the new comics, but they're also selling the old ones via digital means and hard-covers. Remember that the comic isn't just SEGA but also IDW, who, if there isn't some sort of agreement going on, would get none of the revenue of SEGA doing something like that on their Youtube channel.

 

Sure, I'm not looking to gut sales or anything, but if they can post em for free on Webtoon it must not be THAT big a deal.