Hedgehog on a Roll – Sonic Racing CrossRoads Info Breakdown

Following its reveal at the 2024 VGA’s, Sonic Racing CrossRoads got a proper trailer during the recent Sony State of Play.

Join me, Lord Sonic, as I discuss everything revealed about this exciting successor to Sonic All-Stars Racing Transformed.

Sonic Racing CrossRoads – Trailer Breakdown

The trailer begins with Sonic and friends appearing out of Warp Rings, landing on a colorful race track. Starting out riding in cars, the racers eventually come across a large Warp Ring, landing in a new area completely.

Spanning multiple locations, including Sonic & the Secret Rings Dinosaur Jungle and Sonic Adventure 2‘s Metal Harbor, we see the transforming mechanics from Racing Transformed return in full force. And to everyone’s shock, the Extreme Gear Hoverboards from Sonic Riders return as one of the many vehicle options racers can use.

Also worth noting is the leading racer in Lap 2 can pick which CrossRoad everyone has to race on. And new items, like a Monster Truck transformation, and returning items, like boxing gloves, were also on display.

The trailer ended with an announcement for a Closed Network Test, running through February 21-23rd on PlayStation 5.

Legendary Wind Master – Return of Extreme Gear

Teased during the 2024 VGA reveal, Sonic Riders Extreme Gear makes a proud return to the Sonic racing series. These hoverboards let Sonic and company ride the wind, hovering above the ground and pulling off Tony Hawk-style tricks to maintain their boost gauge.

Mechanically, it appears from the trailer and leaked screenshots, that the Extreme Gear will play similar to how they functioned in Zero Gravity. In that game, players had a streamlined control system and were always on the board, regardless if their meter ran out. Unlike Zero Gravity though, the Sonic Riders trick system is returning.

Based on the released gameplay from the official Sonic Racing CrossRoads Twitter account, racers can pull off insane tricks even when behind the wheel, with the degree of how players land popping up (the footage showed 1080 for example). It’s similar to how the original Sonic Riders handled its trick system.

On the official PlayStation Blog, SEGA PR Manager Thalia Piedra stated that the full reveal of how Extreme Gear plays will happen after the Closed Network Test, so stay tuned for updates on that side of the racing experience.

Land, Sea, and Air! – Return of the Transform Mechanic

As an avid fan of the Transform Mechanic from Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, I lost it when I saw it return during the gameplay reveal. In Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, Sonic and other racers had vehicles that could transform.

One moment you were racing Mario Kart-meets-Outrun feeling cars, driving motorboats that could jump off dynamically moving waves, and then finishing the race flying actual planes and opening up new abilities like barrel rolling away from items and obstacles.

Compared to the more streamlined Mario Kart 7 and Mario Kart 8, I loved SEGA and Sumo Digital’s approach. It created race tracks that were far more dynamic and made every race feel fresh.

Apparent Differences from Past Sonic Racers

Watching footage released from outlets like IGN reveals that Sonic Racing CrossRoads core gameplay appears more open than Racing Transformed. Though standard driving mirrors Team Sonic Racing, the Boat and Plane transformations appear are different when compared to All-Stars Racing Transformed

When racing in Boat Form, your racer could freely jump. This means carefully timing and leveraging incoming waves racers can get pull-off tricks and boost forward. Regarding your Plane form, while it appears barrel rolling is removed, the actual flight path is far more open.

Screenshots and gameplay demonstrate race courses are more open, letting racers remain in Plane and Boat form far longer than in Racing Transformed. It also builds on the multiple-path approach the Sonic series built its name on, with each path offering Rings (which build up your top speed) and Red Rings.

Expect impressions from yours truly during the Close Network Test if I manage to get in, as I spent many hours playing Racing Transformed across PS3, 360, and PS Vita.

Confirmed Tracks & CrossRoads

Part of a great racing game is its amazing tracks to speed through. Sonic Racing CrossRoads promises an initial lineup of twenty-four main tracks and fifteen CrossRoads to race across. The CrossRoads are the Lap 2 tracks players in the lead can select mid-race.

Tracks

• Metal Harbor (Sonic Adventure 2)
• Ocean View (Sonic Heroes – Returning Track from Sonic All-Star Racing Transformed & Team Sonic Racing)
• Rainbow Garden (Original to Sonic CrossRoads)
• E-Stadium (Original to Sonic Racing CrossRoads)
• Wonder Museum (Seemingly Inspired by Sonic Frontiers & Sonic & the Secret Rings)
• Water Palace (Sonic Rush)
• Chao Park (Original to Sonic CrossRoads – Seemingly Inspired by Sonic Adventure’s Chao Garden)

CrossRoads

• Roulette Road (Sonic Heroes – Returning Track from SEGA All-Stars Racing, All-Stars Racing Transformed, and Team Sonic Racing)
• Sky Road (Sonic Unleashed & Sonic Lost World – Returning Track from Team Sonic Racing)
• Kraken Bay (Seemingly Sonic & the Secret Rings Inspired)
• Dinosaur Jungle (Sonic & the Secret Rings)
• Lava Cave (SEGA IP – Galaxy Force)

One track set for the game, though it’s unconfirmed if it’ll be a CrossRoad or standard course, is Sonic Adventure 2’s Radical Highway. SEGA also confirmed that non-Sonic franchises appear in the game, so I could see returning SEGA courses from All-Stars Racing Transformed return.

SEGA Franchises That Could Appear

Franchises I think could appear as racers/tracks include the following:

• Shinboi – A new game on the way (Shinobi: Art of Vengence), Joe Musashi was playable in All-Stars Racing Transformed and had a course in All-Stars Racing Transformed, etc
• Yakuza/Like a Dragon – Pillar series for SEGA, new game on the horizon (Like a Dragon: Pirate in Hawaii)
• Persona – Pillar IP for SEGA/Atlus, the franchise is no stranger to crossovers, Joker’s costume was DLC for Sonic Forces, etc
• Metaphor ReFantazio – Newest SEGA/Atlus franchise, the game was a GOTY contender in 2024, Atlus wants to make it a new pillar franchise for them, etc
• Streets of Rage – New game on the way, Streets of Rage 4 was a major success, etc
• Golden Axe – A new game is on the way, franchise appeared in All-Stars Racing Transformed with Gilius Thunderhead playable and Adders Lair being a course, etc
• Super Monkey Ball – Ongoing series for SEGA (Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble release on Switch in 2024), series appeared in every SEGA All-Stars release, etc
• Crazy Taxi – New game on the way, series appeared in every SEGA All-Stars racing title with B.D. Joe as a racer
• Virtua Fighter – A new game announced (Virtual Fighter), Akira Yuki & Jacky Bryant were playable races in SEGA All-Stars Racing driving an Outrun-inspired car.
• NiGHTS into Dreams – An iconic Sonic Team title from the SEGA Saturn era, NiGHTS appeared in every SEGA All-Stars title, was a playable racer in All-Stars Racing Transformed

The Colorful Cast of Sonic Racing CrossRoads

Matching the impressive roster of courses revealed thus far, Sonic Racing CrossRoads boasts a large roster filled with iconic Sonic characters.

• Sonic the Hedgehog
• Tails ‘Miles’ Prower
• Knuckles the Echidna
• Shadow the Hedgehog
• Rouge the Bat
• E-103 Omega
• Amy Rose
• Cream the Rabbit
• Big the Cat
• Blaze the Cat
• Silver the Hedgehog
• Vector the Crocodile
• Espio the Chameleon
• Charmy Bee
• Dr. Eggman
• Metal Sonic
• Eggpawn
• Sage
• Jet the Hawk
• Storm the Albatross
• Wave the Swallow
• Zavok
• Zazz

SEGA stated that over twenty-three racers are confirmed for the base roster, with Sonic Prime characters coming to the game through the Digital Deluxe Edition. Also worth noting is that the Digital Deluxe Edition includes a Season Pass. It is very likely the Sonic Movie universe and the IDW Comic cast will join the fun, alongside iconic SEGA characters, in the future.

Gear Change – Gadgets and Vehicle Customization Options in Sonic Racing CrossRoads

The PlayStation Blog post released after the Sonic Racing CrossRoads gameplay trailer revealed two additional features. One is a ‘Gadget’ mechanic, where racers can select various perks to help with the race. The PS blog describes it with the following comment:

Not enough items? Looking to get some extra boost? There’s a Gadget for those and more. Powerful Gadgets require more Gadget slots, so make sure you’re optimizing your collection and increasing your inventory as you play through the game. As you progress, the more slots, and even stronger Gadgets you’ll unlock to make the game that much more exciting. Selecting the perfect combination of Gadgets for your gameplay style just might be the edge you need to come out in first place every time.

Another feature is to customize your vehicle. This returns from Team Sonic Racing expanding options racers have for decking out their rides. The official CrossRoads Twitter account shared the following clip demonstrating how it works.

Every racer can use, well, everything! There are no limits for the car customization, with Extreme Gear options being disclosed closer to launch. That being said, the gameplay trailer showed Sonic riding Storm’s Extreme Gear, so similar options likely will be present for the various boards and E-Bikes racers can drive.

Feeling the Sunshine – Developers & Engine of Sonic Racing CrossRoads

One mystery for Sonic Racing CrossRoads was the game’s developer. When speculating about the title, I suggested it could be either Sumo Digital (makers of prior Sonic racing titles) or SEGA HARDlight (the Sonic mobile game studio and makers of Sonic Dream Team).

Following the gameplay reveal, SEGA came out and stated it was one of the divisions within Sonic Team, being the first in-house Sonic racing project since Sonic Riders. Specifically, the combination of the Mario & Sonic Olympics team and developers that worked on Initial D, a classic SEGA arcade racing game.

Alongside this information, it appears that Unreal Engine 5 powers Sonic’s latest racing effort. Digital Foundry discussed this recently, pointing out that the engine’s modern lighting and SSR tools offer impressive visuals, even if character models aren’t as detailed when compared to other UE5 titles.

It’s worth noting that this is the first Sonic project from Sonic Team not using the in-house Hedgehog Engine 2. Could it be that it’s an easier engine to downscale for lower-end hardware? Recent Sonic titles like Sonic Frontiers and Sonic X Shadow Generations struggled on Nintendo’s underpowered Switch and this could potentially remedy those issues for the Switch version of CrossRoads.

Sonic Racing CrossRoads Network Test Details

A Closed Network Test for CrossRoads will be playable on PS5 February 21st-23rd, with the cut-off point for sign-ups being February 19th. During the Network Test, only a handful of racers will be playable. However, a majority of the courses and minor customization options are accessible.

Sadly, Extreme Gear can’t be used during this Network Test. If yours truly gets access to the Network Test, expect impressions on Sonic’s latest adventure when it concludes.

Closing Thoughts

As a huge fan of kart racers, I always loved Sonic’s spin on the genre. While the joke usually is ‘Why isn’t he running’, Sonic’s racing efforts speak for themselves. Racing on foot with friends to iconic 90’s music, racing on hoverboards in futuristic cities, and even having fun racing behind the wheel.

The Sonic Racing series is always willing to try new things. And with Mario Kart 9 on the horizon, it’s a wonderful time for fans of karting and arcade racers! Expect coverage of this racing adventure as we get closer to its release sometime in 2025.