The rhythm of a perfect drift and the timely explosion of a boost are as fundamental to kart racers as rings and Chaos Emeralds are to Sonic the Hedgehog. The Blue Blur’s history in kart racing has been a journey of thrilling highs and questionable detours, but with Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds we’re looking at more than just another kart racer padding out 2025; Sega has delivered an experience that rivals the genre’s best. Sonic Team has refined its racing strategy, building a brilliant, hyper-fast fusion of engaging mechanics and aggressive strategy all paved in dizzying multiversal routes. CrossWorlds manages to feel simultaneously classic and revolutionary, lifting and evolving much from the likes of Team Sonic Racing and Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed.
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is immediately satisfying, as the wealth of content is presented to the player. 39 tracks, 24 racers, and countless songs pulled from all eras of the iconic hedgehog’s history. It’s a fair bit of content to tear through, ensuring players are buckled in for countless miles of digital roadways. These winding thoroughfares weave through multiple game modes, including a classic Grand Prix offering, a customizable Race Park experience and Time Trials. Each of the eight Grand Prix events consist of four races, and within each of them is the titular CrossWorlds system. The first lap is standard fare, but when the second lap comes around the racer in first place must choose between two portals: a fixed destination or a randomized mystery track—15 of the aforementioned 39 tracks are these . Leveraging transitions not dissimilar to Ratchet & Clank: A Rift Apart, all racers are transported to a new track thanks to the power of multiversal travel. As the third and final lap begins, everyone is returned to the original track but with some added twists and modifications. The constant change-up lap to lap keeps the entire experience feeling fresh, and that’s not even accounting for the other switch-ups between car, boat and plane forms during the races.
Multiversal Masterpiece
CrossWorlds are not just a gimmick; they are the design philosophy behind the game’s array of unique tracks. Each track is a masterful blend of two distinct Sonic dimension or timeline elements, leading to genuinely inventive environments. The ‘Green Hill Zone: Legacy Loop’ starts in the familiar, vibrant checkerboard hills of the classic era before a dimensional rift throws your kart onto the metallic, treacherous floating platforms of Sonic Adventure 2’s Metal Harbor. Similarly, ‘Casino Night Galaxy’ mashes the pinball mechanics of Sonic 2 with the swirling neon vortexes of Sonic Colors’ Starlight Carnival. The constant shifts ensure that each track is as fun to navigate as it is to pore over every carefully crafted detail of the exceptionally designed environmental mash-ups brimming with verticality, branching routes, and hazards.
As expected of any good mascot racer, every race is punctuated by secret shortcuts, boosting pads, and liberal item use. To further stand out, Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds throws in a rival system, which sees a specific character designated as the player’s rival. These rival racers are more aggressive than the rest, and they dish out unique lines of dialogue depending on the selected character. Villains commonly antagonize the player, whereas the series’ heroes are usually more playful with each other. It’s not a transformative element, but it does further immerse the player in the sense of competition. And it makes those final stretch grudge matches, full of last-minute item use, all the more satisfying as the finish line rapidly approaches.
The races at the heart of these rivalries promote raw speed, fluid movement, fine-tuned vehicles and strategic selection of gadgets. Maneuvers like drifting are more than tightly nailing corners; they are the lifeblood of the boost meter, keeping racers moving at breakneck speed. Its use is made easier depending on the type of vehicle selected. There are multiple characteristics tied to each car archetype: Speed, Acceleration, Handling, Power and Boost. While preset vehicles exist, modifiable options exist to tailor the experience to the player’s preferred racing style. So whether you want to bulldoze the competition in a Power selection or more easily hold the lead in a Speed option, the tools are there. This is all further augmented by a Gadget system that allows players to slot in perks, which range from granting items at the start of a race to extending the max ring cap (thus increasing the max speed). There are no shortage of ways to modify Sonic’s latest racing experience.
High Speed and High Skill
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is overflowing with content, but there are some points to note. While the racer is easy to pick up, high level play has a steep learning curve. There’s much track knowledge, car/gadget combos and more to understand to remain competitive. Not having a maxed out set of gadget slots is an immediate handicap in the online environment. It can be punishing at times, but it also remains rewarding in its progression; moving through each of the four speed tiers, which are essentially the CCs found in Mario Kart, feels like an immense accomplishment. Perhaps the biggest complaint is borne from the substantial grind underlining it all. The Donpa tickets accrued from races and completed challenges buy everything—decals, titles and other character cosmetics require this currency. Although hundreds of tickets are easily accumulated without much investment, the in-game costs rise into the thousands quickly. Given that each character has its own progression, labeled as Friendship, the amount of tickets needed to unlock everything is a daunting task only the most diehard will bother chasing.
Yet, these demands do little to mar an otherwise phenomenal package. Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds achieves something truly special, managing to rival the red plumber’s longstanding dominance in the space. The tracks are stunning, the speed is intoxicating, and the strategic layers provide exhilarating thrills that few games in the genre can match. It honors the entire history of the Sonic franchise while pushing its racing sub-genre into an exciting future. If you are a fan of Sonic, competitive racing, or simply brilliant game design, CrossWorlds is a must-buy. It’s fast. It’s furious. And it’s the best Sonic racer we’ve played to date.
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds Review Verdict
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds: is the best Sonic racer we’ve played to date. It delivers a breathtakingly fast, visually spectacular, and strategically deep experience. There's virtually no downside to this expansive package, and it's only going to grow from here, with plenty of DLC on the horizon. CrossWorlds is more than worth detouring from Mario Kart for countless laps. – Joshua
[Editor’s Note: Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds was reviewed on PS5, and a copy was provided to us for review purposes.]
