Having had the chance to get an early hands-on experience with Sonic Racing: Crossworlds, I can say with confidence that Sega’s chosen strategy when competing with Nintendo’s kart racing mainstay is one that could well pay off. Mario Kart World is ostensibly a great game and gives Nintendo gamers more of what they loved about Mario Kart 8 Deluxe but doesn’t really innovate past the realm of what made its predecessor so great beyond more advanced AI and an increased grid size.
Sonic Racing: Crossworlds, on the other hand, feels fresh and exciting, taking a leaf out of the super smash series’ playbook and including a wealth of third party characters as well as redefining some of the strategy aspects of the kart racer genre. Each character feels unique and has their own individual personality.
The introduction of rivals to the Grand Prix format gives players a target AI to beat over the rest of the field and these rivals are often much more challenging to compete with. To add an extra bit of polish, there’s a short interaction at the beginning of each race to goad the player a little. I played as Amy for most of the preview and at one point I recall the rival asking if I was going to be okay without having Sonic there to save me. I then proceeded to wipe the floor with said rival.
Speaking of the Grand Prix format, I found that this is where the Crossworlds element of the game is really allowed to shine. Not only is the lead player allowed to choose between two tracks to warp to during each race but, for the last race of each GP, racers are teleported between each of the tracks featured so far to create this great amalgamation of circuits and really take full advantage of the fast storage of modern consoles. It really did make every race feel fresh in the admittedly relatively short time I got to spend with the game.
Chief among the revisions to strategy is the introduction of the new Gadget Panel which allows players to customize and tailor their experience to complement their play style. One can choose from a multitude of starting upgrades from usable items to stat boosts and multipliers. Different levels of specific upgrade types take up different amounts of space on one’s Gadget Panel so players have to choose between having a broad range of boosts or focusing the space on a specific area of their kart’s performance.
My personal favourites were ring and trick based perks which would allow me to carry a larger number of rings such that my poor driving skill had less of an impact on kart performance as I lost rings from impacts with players and/or walls. The trick multiplier would allow me to perform air tricks at a higher rate and hit the ground with massive boosts which proved effective with the long airtime experienced on most circuits.
There are offensive and single-use options to fill your Gadget Panel with too. One such upgrade gives you the chance to transform into a great monster truck to give you an early advantage in the race and another gives you a speed boost each time you collide with another racer, encouraging some truly devious tactics.
Speaking of transformations though, much like later iterations of Mario Kart, a big part of Sonic Racing: Crossworlds’ craziness are the transitions between land, air and water craft. Each of which handles very differently and has different characteristics for boosts and turns. While in a standard kart, drifting and air tricks will garner you speed boosts on completion, boat form changes the drift button into one that surges you forward for a short boost which proved very useful for punting other players out of the way.
All in then, there was a lot to try at the Sonic Racing: Crossworlds preview. So much so that there was no way I would be able to give everything a go. I only got to give two characters in Amy and Hatsune Miku (of course) a go as well as the same number of modes in Grand Prix and Time Trials. Seeing a preview as fleshed out as this at the time I did was definitely a boost in confidence to how the end product will turn out and the parts I did get to try were performant and most importantly, a lot of fun. Only the top players were in with a chance of trying local multiplayer but watching from the sidelines and chatting with them afterwards, Sonic Racing: Crossworlds looks very promising indeed.
Will Sonic be able to keep up with Mario this time? Well the blue blur is the fastest of them all so he definitely has the pace. The rest is up to the players.
Sonic Racing: Crossworlds launches fully on 25 September, with a final chance to preview the game coming in mid-September. Keep an eye on your games marketplace of choice for details.
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