Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds review – great ideas with questionable execution

My first Sonic game was Sonic Advance 2 for the Game Boy Advance, and I remember sinking hours into it. Immediately, the franchise was cemented as one of my all-time favorites, as I ran the loops, crashed into many a spike, and spring boarded between platforms. Any Sonic game I’ve played since both brings to mind comparisons to the classic game, and makes me yearn for it. Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds was no different.

As soon as I booted up the game on my Nintendo Switch and heard the familiar sound effects, I knew I was going to have at least some fun – it’s a new Sonic game, after all. I grew up on Mario Kart and was obsessed with Donkey Kong Barrel Blast for a period, so racing games are my bread and butter in many ways – I was excited to see the franchise’s take on it. I wasn’t prepared for the sheer chaos of what I found, and I’m not just talking about the craziness of the items. I’ll start with the good.

Fundamentally, this is a fun racing game for people who enjoy the genre. It has all the basics of a good racing game – great kart customization, varied tracks, multiplayer, a variety of modes, and of course, satisfying speed – and it also provides absolute trickery on the road. The items are wild, and you don’t get an obvious guide as to how they work, so it’s partly about learning as you go. The CPU racers are also kind of… good? That may be a stretch, but some level of challenge was provided to me, which was surprising.

I love the art in this game, and the track design is gorgeous. While every genre and concept of track has already been done by the Mario Kart franchise, Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds found a way to keep its track design fresh and beautiful. Part of this is the mechanic that the game is named after – the portals that allow you to cross worlds for one lap of the map before returning to tough out the final lap. More on that later.

The game ran well on my Switch, and there was never an issue with lagging, despite the insane numbers of racers and item effects that were often appearing on my screen throughout the race, particularly in some of the alternative team-based modes in Race Park. I can only assume it will look magical on the Switch 2’s improved hardware – and multiplayer will support crossplay between all the game’s different hosts, which is exciting and pretty impressive.

The soundtrack is varied and fits both the game and IP well, in my opinion. Sonic music has a tendency to be a bit grandiose compared to Mario, and this is well-executed in this game. Hype moments in races feel hype-ier because of the music, and that’s what you want out of your standard racing game soundtrack. Likewise, the sound effects are enjoyable. I wish there were more voice acting, as there’s a huge cast of Sonic characters to pick from and an opportunity to have them interact more, but the acting was well-done when it appeared, too.

I also think the additions of gadgets and rivals are both good ideas. Rivals give you an easy target to focus on in races, which boosts your desire to win. Gadgets add something slightly different and can give you an advantage over your friends that sits outside of the usual RNG of items and brain-scratching kart meta. Configuring them and working out what’s best for your playstyle is really enjoyable, but there are problems with these features that indicate more of the game’s problems in general.

Gadgets, if you don’t know, require gadget slots in order to use. I discovered quickly that these are unlocked through races. My first thought was: fine, that’ll be worth it to uncover my slots. Then I saw how many races I had to complete to unlock my gadget slots. 12 races just for a third slot? I dread to think how many it would take for the sixth and final slot. I immediately became less interested.

At one point, I also had to beat Team Sonic three times to unlock a new cosmetic for my kart, and it wasn’t always doable, especially if I had other goals to complete in a race (like learning the maps properly). When I lost once, the game condescendingly asked me if I’d like to make my rival team a lower level, but I refused, naturally. Where’s the fun in that? When in a Grand Prix, the same lines kept playing over and over as my rival and I passed each other. I might never want to hear Sage’s voice again.

The game’s interface is quite slow when I’m outside of a race. I felt like I was waiting long periods of time for a race to start, what with loading times, the cutscenes pre-race, and post-race results seemingly being fixed in place for a while. To be fair to the game, I’ve had this gripe with other racers for a while, but if I’m playing a high-octane, super-speedy, get-ready-to-go kind of game, I need to be able to input my options within a few seconds and jump right in. My brain’s already geared up.

Item oversaturation is another issue in this game, particularly when it comes to the team games in Race Park. Mario Kart World saw people lost and confused as they went from first to 24th in a matter of seconds, and this happened to me a ton in this game, too. Is this a ‘get good’ angle? Well, it didn’t always feel like it. The items are sometimes too punishing for those in leading positions, and what do the players who are in first get in return? Uh, the CrossWorlds mechanic, I guess.

The mechanic is a great way to vary the game, but ultimately provides no advantage to the person who selects the location of the next lap, despite the game trying to tell me it was a privilege to do so. Sometimes, it’s even punishing, as you can’t see what’s coming up as far away as other racers can. I’d bag it if I saw a portal coming up and I was in first, desperate to have some warning.

Another thing I dislike about the portal mechanic is that it leads to an underwhelming race series finale. If you don’t know, there are four races in a Grand Prix, and Sonic Racing: Crossworlds only gives you three of them in the map selection menu. That’s because the final race is made up of a lap on each of the previous courses, which is a neat gimmick, but ultimately falls flat for me, as it doesn’t make me feel like I’ve achieved anything new. There didn’t feel like a grand finale.

All good things have their problems, and for the insane $70 price tag, Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds’ flaws are just a little too large for me personally. However, if you’re looking for an alternative to Mario Kart World because you hated the open-world system or because you can’t afford to buy a Switch 2, this is an option to consider. If you ignore some of the half-baked ideas and focus on the idea that this is a satisfying and fast racing game, there’s a winner here somewhere.

For more Switch suggestions, head to our guide to the best Switch games, and, if your wallet hurts after buying this game, check out the best free Switch games.