Celebrating an exciting year of quality arcade racing games, Sonic Racing CrossWorlds drifts into the fast lane. Iconic SEGA All-Stars joining the roster, alongside a release date and exciting crossovers, are revealed!
Let’s break down all the exciting announcements!
The Ultimate Crossover – Summer Games Fest Trailer
Being part of the Summer Games Fest, Sonic Racing CrossWorlds had an exciting trailer. It featured the iconic Sonic cast racing around colorful tracks based on Sonic’s various adventures, like Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Forces.
The Babylon Rogues, rival racers introduced in Sonic Riders, ride on the Extreme Gear hoverboards. In CrossWorlds, they are the equivalent of bikes in recent Mario Kart titles, being faster and offering better handling.
The SEGA All Stars – SEGA Characters Join the Race!
But it’s not just Sonic and friends joining the race. SEGA All-Stars, including Persona 5‘s Joker, Yakuza‘s Ichiban, and Hatsune Miku join the race as post-launch content. They come with unique Cars or Extreme Gear to race with, and potentially even tracks to race on.
SEGA revealed that twelve characters from the company will join the roster. Considering SEGA’s treasure trove of IP to pull from, we can expect some classic characters to drift into the fast lane. And with major SEGA franchises coming back, some familiar faces could appear.
Crossing Over – Guest Racers
While SEGA All-Stars join the race, other legendary franchises join Sonic Racing CrossWorlds. They are part of the Season Pass, bundled with the Digital Deluxe Edition of the game.
Yearning for the Mines – Minecraft Coming to Sonic Racing CrossWorlds
Revealed at the Summer Games Fest trailer, Microsoft’s Minecraft franchise joins the race. They come with a track based on the game series, alongside three playable racers: Steve, Alex, and Creeper.
Considering SEGA’s strong relationship with Microsoft and the roaring success of the Minecraft Movie, seeing this series in CrossWorlds is exciting.
Nicktoons Uniting – SpongeBob, TMNT, and Avatar Coming to Sonic Racing CrossWorlds
The biggest surprise is Paramount franchises joining Sonic Racing CrossWorlds. Revealed at the Kids’ Choice Awards, SpongeBob and Patrick race through the crossroads after their karting misadventures. They come with the Patty Wagon car from The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie and a Bikini Bottom race track.
While the trailer didn’t reveal much of the track, cameos from Squidward and Plankton were present. But SpongeBob and friends aren’t alone, as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (based on Mutant Mayhem) and Avatar: The Last Airbender also join Sonic Racing CrossWorlds.
TMNT and Avatar will come to the game after the Minecraft and SpongeBob DLC packs. Sadly, like the SEGA guest racers, SpongeBob and Patrick will not speak during races. Instead, they use animations and sound effects to convey their personalities.
Going for Broke – Pricing Information and Release Date Reveal
This exciting race across dimensions will start September 25th across all platforms, with three days of early access through the Digital Deluxe Edition. Sonic Racing CrossWorlds is one of the first Sonic games to sell at the $70 price point on all platforms. The only exception is the Nintendo Switch, with that version releasing at $60, with an upgrade pack for the Switch 2 Edition releasing sometime after launch.
Standard Pre-Order
The standard Pre-Order gives racers access to Sonic the Werehog from Sonic Unleashed, alongside a unique car based on the character called the ‘Beast Spike’. He will also have his own unique Werehog Decal, which can be used on other vehicles in the game.
As a huge fan of Sonic Unleashed, seeing this form of Sonic return was a huge surprise following the Summer Games Fest trailer.
Digital Deluxe Edition
The content included in the Digital Deluxe Edition includes the following pieces of content:
- Base Game
- Pre-Order Bonus – Sonic the Werehog, ‘Beast Spike’ Car, & Werehog Decal
- Sonic Prime Character Pack – Tails Nine, Rusty Rose, & Knuckles the Dread Characters (Releases at Launch)
- Season Pass:
- Minecraft Pack – Steve, Alex, and Creeper Characters, ‘Minecart’ vehicle, Minecraft Race Track & music remix, six emotes per character
- SpongeBob Pack – SpongeBob & Patrick Characters, ‘Patty Wagon’ vehicle, Bikini Bottom race track & music remix, six emotes per character
- TMNT: Mutant Mayhem Pack
- Avatar Legends Pack
- Character Pack 5
- Character Pack 6
Gear vs Car
While the Lords didn’t play Sonic Racing CrossWorlds at Summer Games Fest, SEGA provided direct-feed footage to dissect and pick apart.
The main difference between this build and the Network Test is that the racing experience is substantially faster. In addition, item balance is fairer, ensuring the chaotic nature of races in the Network Test is improved. As someone who enjoyed the Network Test but felt things were somewhat unfair, seeing improved item balance shows that Sonic Team took the feedback players provided after the Network Test to heart.
We also get to see full races with characters using the Extreme Gear.
This returning vehicle from Sonic Riders was the most exciting inclusion revealed in CrossWorlds. Speed is key when using these boards, as continually boosting keeps your momentum. And with how snappy they appear in the footage, handling is a step up from racing behind the wheel.
The trade-off is an easier target, as cars have an easier time maintaining momentum when hit by items. When riding Extreme Gear, items seem to have more of an impact, so a mixture of defensive play and boosting past your rivals is the name of the game.
Rival vs Rival
Officially revealed by SEGA after Summer Games Fest and covered by eagle-eyed Sonic fans who played the game at the event, racers have beef with one another. Playing off the concept of that one eager AI racer giving you a hard time, every Grand Prix race in CrossWorlds has a rival to take down.
Each one has a unique dialogue for every member of the Sonic cast. In the above gameplay example, Cream the Rabbit’s rival is Shadow the Hedgehog. But another example could be Jet the Hawk trash-talking Zazz from Sonic Lost World.
As a huge fan of the series, seeing this level of attention and care given to character banter is a huge step up from what Sonic Team and Sumo Digital did in Team Sonic Racing. It’s a shame this attention to detail won’t extend to the SEGA guests or the Season Pass racers. The idea of Joker having beef with Shadow is a funny mental image.
Closing Thoughts
Seeing this upcoming Sonic racing adventure transform from a follow-up to Team Sonic Racing into what could potentially be a kart racing platform that could last multiple years is an exciting development. With a proper road-map of content to look forward to, gameplay continuing to look better, and SEGA charm bringing everything together, I can’t wait to race on these cross worlds this Fall.
Stay tuned for future updates on all things SEGA and Sonic, here at Lords of Gaming!
