Sonic Racing CrossWorlds: Hands-on Preview
Despite the whole world seemingly fixated on a certain plumber’s return to racing, the fact is that there are a whole load of people who can’t get their kart racing fix on their system of choice. Think of those poor PC folk, the sad PS5ers and the disappointed Xbox community. They are watching on with a depressed stare, jealous of all those having a blast throwing blue shells, swearing at feather power-ups and powersliding through castles. But I am here to offer a ray of light to these underserved kart fans. Sonic Racing CrossWorlds is coming to save the day, and it seems to be doing it in style to boot.
Thanks to SEGA, I recently got the chance to spend a nice chunk of time with the Blue Hedgehog’s latest foray into the racing world. During my time, I got to play through three complete GP events, each consisting of four races, so I really got a feel for the driving and new things that the game is bringing to the arena. First things first, though, playing on a PS5, this is one good-looking kart racer. It ran beautifully without a single noticeable drop in framerate, even on this early build. The art style uses the typical Sonic palette, so there is a ton of bright colour and exciting backgrounds to race through. What’s more, the characters show a pile of personality, even at full speed, and while it may be a small thing, there is no doubt that it adds to the appeal of each race to see your character react with joy or taunt a rival.
But we all know how Team Sonic can make a fun-looking game, what you want to know about is the new stuff, right? Well, firstly, I love what CrossWorlds is doing with its vehicle classes. Each Car choice falls into a specific category that makes a genuine performance difference. Speed, Acceleration, Strength, Boost, and Handling are all represented, and your choice as to which you go with determines how you tackle the course. For example, the handling class is great for people who like to powerslide around the course, racking up turbo boosts with ease, while the Acceleration class might be the best bet for someone who is prone to bumping into the odd wall or two while racing. I found these choices to be much more meaningful than what is found in Mario Kart, and I really appreciated it.
The next new mechanic is the one that brings the CrossWorlds name into play. Here, the person in first position after lap one is presented with a choice of two different tracks on the fly. One, with a little bit of prior knowledge, can be identified while the other is random. In making this choice, the whole track shifts to a new course for lap 2 before returning to the original location in track three. Is it a little gimmicky? Well, sure, but it is also undeniably fun to be racing through a beach location one second and the next through a giant casino or lava planet. It also gives incentive for players to be in first position, which in this sort of game is a poisoned chalice (hello blue shell.)
The racing itself is tight and responsive, too. This is a great racing model that kart racing fans will have no problem slipping into. There is a range of visual cues to help improve your racing, from how the characters react to a helpful meter at the start of the race to help time your launch boost (which also changes depending on the car class you choose). This is something I think Sonic is doing much better than its competition, and I really appreciated the way it guided without holding my hand. I will also say that perhaps my biggest hate of these games, the first-place weapon duds, has been addressed, and it seems that when you are winning a race, your pickups are generally on the helpful side of things. Something that is certainly not true on the Ninty side of the fence.
Sonic Racing CrossWorlds is shaping up nicely, and I think it is going to be a great option for those who need to get their karting fix and don’t have access to Nintendo’s latest hardware. But I also want to point out this isn’t just a clone option; it is doing some very cool things that will help it stand out from the pack. The long and the short of it is, it is a great time to be a kart racing fan. As for who will come out on top, Mario or Sonic? I will leave that to the SNES and Mega Drive fanboys of old to duke out. For me? Well, I just think it is a cracking time to love this sort of game.
