SEGA’s Sonic the Hedgehog franchise has had a somewhat mixed history with racing games. For every gem, such as 2010’s Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, there was one or two games, like the Kinect-exclusive Sonic Free Riders, which didn’t reach the peak they could have. No longer partnering with Sumo Digital and instead bringing all development in-house, SEGA’s Sonic Team has branched out to once again bring the franchise’s “Gotta Go Fast” mantra to the racing experience. While Nintendo changed direction with their latest kart-racing action offering, Mario Kart World, it left a gaping void for a traditional kart racing game that could be filled by another game, such as the one we are discussing today – Sonic Racing: Crossworlds. Did SEGA hit the mark? Read on to find out!
Sonic Racing: Crossworlds thrives as an arcade kart racer that prioritises speed, player autonomy, and the satisfying rhythm of drift, boost, trick, and repeat – the core experience that any core racer should offer. Cars and hoverboards respond crisply, and the five archetypes do more than nudge stats; they change how I approach a corner or a shortcut. Rings act as a risk-reward meter, raising top speed when you hoard them, but they can be taken away very easily, not only for the barrage of attacks that are hurled your way, but also for even the smallest amount of sloppy driving. The track designs are a mix of rather generic-looking environments, but fitting homages to both iconic levels (and some surprise inclusions) of past games, particularly the 3D Sonic platformers released over the years.
The headline twist arrives at the end of lap one, when the leader steers the field through a Travel Ring to a different CrossWorld for the second lap – either one of the game’s offerings unveiled to the leader or a completely random level, which may or may not have some twists to it through a frenzy modifier – the name sometimes not underselling how chaotic things can get. This simple fork forces players to plan their builds and adapt on the fly, as terrain, transformations, and hazards can shift priorities between speed, handling, and boost economy. This is where gadgets can also be helpful. Gadgets are new, fully customisable perks arranged on a six-slot plate; they tune your machine’s stats and behaviour, things like faster drift charge, an extra item slot, or quicker recovery after a spill, and you can save multiple plates to swap between races.
On the action side, Sonic Racing: Crossworlds leans into a broad yet stereotypical set of items that support both aggression and defence. Boxes dish out Wisps and tools that cover most situations: short, clean boosts that let racers boost out in-front or recover, piercing lasers down long straights, drills that chew through hazards, bombs that swell in size if held before release, sticky slime and crushing weights to disrupt pursuers, a brief Monster Truck form that flattens rivals and ignores rough ground, and a swirling Tornado that turns close‑quarters racing to a racer’s advantage. Players carry two items by default, can earn a third with the right Gadget, and can flick shots forward or drop them behind with simple inputs; timing and track awareness matter more than hoarding. It is your normal kart racing fare.
As for customisation and progression, this is where the game both thrives and is somewhat hampered. You are given a range of different vehicles to tinker with, from more traditional karts to hoverboards – each of which can be customised to nudge or overhaul the distribution of each vehicle’s alignments to the game’s five core stats: Speed, Acceleration, Handling, Power and Boost. While accessible, I would be remiss to say that how far you can go with aesthetic customisation is anything but limited. These, and the aforementioned gadgets, can be acquired through Donpa Tickets, acquired by completing races and fulfilling objectives – if you don’t use them all on retrying a single race without resetting the whole Grand Prix.
If you are tackling Sonic Racing: Crossworlds as a lone hedgehog, then there is a range of different game modes at your disposal. A brisk Grand Prix loop anchors the offerings: three standard races capped by a finale that stitches one lap from each course into a single sprint. The mash-up cleverly stress-tests adaptability, switching from road to flight to water in quick succession, complemented by a rival that genuinely puts up a decent fight, even at the lower levels. These rivals ultimately run cleaner lines, stash defensive items until they truly need them, and needle the player with situational taunts – although, like the player, they are not immune to the abuse hurled at them from other NPC racers. The AI is ultimately assertive at lower difficulties, and at higher levels, I found myself rarely cruising to a win. Yet it doesn’t feel unfair, although I don’t know how much rubber banding is implemented in the game for faux difficulty.
Time Trials are the other pillar of solo play, and they’re far better than an afterthought: racing at Sonic and Super Sonic speeds with ghosts turns courses into routing puzzles where build, boost timing, and trick placement meaningfully change outcomes. Chasing A-ranks pays out with music and other unlocks, and it’s an easy way to sharpen fundamentals without item clutter.
Multiplayer comes in a couple of different flavours. There is World Match, a ranked queue for up to 12 players with full cross-play across PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, and PC. Matchmaking has been quick in my sessions, and my performance has been solid. The ranked points system, combined with a fair-play score that drops if you leave mid-race, helps keep lobbies honest. Meanwhile, if you want control over specifics, Friend Match lets players create custom lobbies and tune almost everything: speed tier, AI presence and difficulty, item pool, rule sets, and even the track list, including which CrossWorlds are eligible for lap two. The one notable limitation is that only one player per console can go online, so there is no online split-screen.
Race Park supplies the party modes. Triple Team Ring Grab has three teams of four banking rings to fuel a shared boost, Double Team Shoot-Out scores hits with items, Triple-Team Tap Boost rewards bumping team-mates for bursts of speed, Double Team Dash Panel tracks who hits the most pads, and an Extreme ruleset turns every item up to eleven. Ultimately, the problem with any racing game is whether the more traditional and quirky modes alike manage to keep player interest. If they do, there is certainly a lot here to keep the competition going – especially with post-launch DLC releases slated to continue until at least Q3 2026. Should it dip considerably post-launch, however, then no matter what the intentions are, we could be looking at another single-player racer in the future. Time will tell.
Design, visuals, and UI continue to focus on speed, which means that the tracks – both standard and CrossWorld – are well-built, but not the most inspired; they are solid when you whiz through them. Load times are short and frame delivery is smooth in solo play and split‑screen, so the action reads well even when the screen is busy. There are blemishes, including occasional softness from motion blur and a few cosmetic and camera hiccups here and there, but nothing that The HUD keeps attention on the road: a clear three‑stage drift meter, tidy item slots with an optional swap indicator, lap‑aware musical cues, and a readable minimap that adds context without clutter.
Music is a standout. The soundtrack blends Eurobeat, electronic, and rock remixes with new compositions across dozens of cues, utilising lap-aware transitions with seamless cross-fades during warps to maintain high momentum. A jukebox and custom lap playlists unlock over time, with iconic tracks locked behind Time Trial achievements. Meanwhile, the classic ring chime and punchy boost effects deliver instant Sonic nostalgia.
Voice acting supports the pace rather than fighting it. The core cast delivers energetic reads and short in‑race barks that reflect position and rival state. At the same time, rival‑specific taunts give each cup and character pairing a little personality – and show that the developers really care about some of those niche character moments that may not have been explored for a decade or two. The mix favours clarity at speed, allowing quips to land without trampling the music or key audio cues.
Sonic Racing: Crossworlds essentially delivers on SEGA’s in-house gamble and credibly fills the space left by Nintendo’s shift in direction. It pairs crisp, high‑speed handling with meaningful class differences, a flexible Gadget system and a clever CrossWorlds warp that keeps races lively without losing coherence. The soundtrack is joyous, online cross‑play is robust, and the tuning tools invite long‑term tinkering. Granted, the caveats are clear, namely that this is a gameplay-first experience with no extended story mode to keep hooked – not that I’d expect that. For players seeking a modern, speed‑first kart racer with genuine buildcraft and a competitive spine, this is an easy recommendation; for those craving campaign structure or richer unlocks, expectations should be tempered, but the quality of the racing nevertheless makes Crossworlds a fitting experience for such a long-lived franchise.
Final Score for Sonic Racing: Crossworlds
This review was conducted on a PlayStation 5 digital copy of Sonic Racing: Crossworlds, tested on a PlayStation 5 Pro retail unit. A review code was kindly provided by Australian distributor Five Star Games to facilitate this review.
Sonic Racing: Crossworlds is now available to purchase on PC, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch. A Nintendo Switch 2 native version is expected in the future.
