Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds devs removed items that stressed players out and allowed for constant come-from-behind wins

Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds will release digitally and physically on September 25, 2025 for the Switch, and then a bit later on Switch 2. The game features a huge roster of everyone’s favorite characters from the Sonic universe, along with the addition of familiar faces from other SEGA franchises including Joker and Kasuga Ichiban, and even guest characters like Hatsune Miku, SpongeBob SquarePants and more. Without a doubt, Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is going to be one hectic ride!

Of course, and kart racer worth its salt will also include items to add to the action, and Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is no different. The game will offer a handful of goodies you can pick up on the track to either mess with other racers or give yourself a competitive edge. That said, the dev team spent a ton of time coming up with just the right items for the game, and they weeded out many others along the way.

In a chat with GamesRadar, SEGA’s Takashi Iizuka talked about the process of finding the perfect item selection for Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds. Hours upon hours of playtesting took place with a wide variety of items, and those were eventually whittled down into what you’ll see in the final game. According to Iizuka, playtesting data led the team to remove, “anything that was very stressful for players, (and) anything that always allowed people to come back from behind and win all the time.”

SEGA has made it clear that while Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is very much much a kart racing game, it’s aiming to offer a different and unique experience as compared to Mario Kart World. Racing fans should be able to enjoy both titles through their various quirks, features, gameplay hooks and more. There’s no doubt Mario Kart World has many years of success ahead of it, and let’s hope Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds can follow the same path.