Sonic Racing: Crossworlds

It's been 15 years since Sumo Digital released the insanely fun Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, which first let us race in kart format with Sega's iconic hedgehog. It never managed to surpass Nintendo's plumber's racing adventure in terms of popularity and quality, but it still led to two sequels from the developer. Now Sonic the Hedgehog is back behind the wheel, but this time it's Sonic Team who are responsible for the development and although there are many similarities, this is probably the best racing title to date with Sonic in the spotlight.

When Sega first showed off Sonic Racing: Crossworlds, the big news was, just as the game title suggests, being able to travel between different worlds during the same race. It's obviously inspired by Paramount Pictures' successful films, and at the same time a stroke of genius that definitely breathes new life into the kart genre. Mixing the different worlds creates a sense of unpredictability for each new map, where the driver who leads a race before the second lap, gets to choose which of two worlds the drivers will drift into for the next lap. At first, there are a couple of predetermined worlds to travel to, but when the player has won the gold trophy in each Grand Prix, the door to all worlds opens, where it is not only about so-called Crossworlds maps that take place between two worlds, but also regular maps.

Something that Sonic Team has taken advantage of recently is the mascot's long gaming history, not least Sonic X Shadow Generations being a sign of this. In Sonic Racing: Crossworlds, they have collected characters from a number of different games, including Sage from Sonic Frontiers, Jet from Sonic Riders and Omega from Sonic Heroes. Compared to Sonic Team Racing, which contained a modest 15 characters, this time it is packed with different drivers to choose from. But it's not just the characters that have been used in Sonic's history, but also the maps and music deserve a mention.

By competing to get the best time possible (Time Trials) on different maps, you can unlock new music in the game's jukebox. However, you are not destined to stare at the jukebox while it plays nostalgic hits, but you can create your own playlist with your favourites from Sonic's previous adventures. Personally, I quickly put together a list of songs from Sonic Mania, Sonic Free Riders, Sonic Colors, Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Frontiers that really made the racing even more enjoyable. All maps have an associated song of course, but to avoid it becoming repetitive, I highly recommend customizing your own playlist and then mixing up the order of the songs. This turned out to be a feature I didn't even know I needed, but I can't live without it now.

When it comes to the maps, Sonic Team hasn't forgotten any of the hedgehog's best (or worst) moments. In Sonic Racing: Crossworlds, we get to whizz through every conceivable location, such as the Greek Apotos from Sonic Unleashed, Kronos Island from Sonic Frontiers, Radical Highway from Sonic Adventure 2, Northstar Islands from Sonic Superstars and White Space from Sonic X Shadow Generations. While this is appreciated, there is also a great risk of forgetting a place and the fact is that I sometimes experienced several maps as anonymous. For example, I miss Green Hill Zone, Egg Planet Park or why not a medieval-inspired map from Sonic and the Black Knight? Some maps are completely unique but also lack a clear character, and this is not least evident in the so-called Crossworlds maps that I mentioned earlier.

You can already see that the biggest problem with Sonic Racing: Crossworlds is anonymity. I have already mentioned the sometimes uninspired maps, but there are also several other things to point out. First of all, I think the drivers are not expressive enough. When you race against rivals (more on that later) they can react to the course of events, but otherwise I miss the glimmers between the drivers during the races or any kind of encouragement that I choose them in the menu. The result is that I don't really care who I play as, which feels far from how I usually feel.

Another thing I criticized Team Sonic Racing for and which is once again a problem is the incredibly uninspired weapons. In the predecessor, they all consisted of wisps from Sonic Colors and this time too, a couple of the weapons are wisps. However, there are also other strange weapons that I think Sonic Team could have come up with a much better alternative to. For example, you can protect yourself with the help of a metal shield that does not originate from any game and could easily have been replaced by the bubble from the classic 2D games. Another example is the homing objects that consist of boxing gloves and in my world there should be examples of projectiles rather than boxing gloves? If you combine, to some extent, anonymous maps, weapons and lack of voice acting, it doesn't really feel like they had enough time to deliver as good a game as they could have.

Right from the start, all characters (with the exception of a couple of skins) are unlocked and personally I found it a bit disappointing not to be able to unlock any new characters. However, it's a minor quibble and could just as well be a positive in someone else's eyes. There's a lot more to unlock anyway. I mentioned earlier the ability to put together your own playlist, but the more you play, the more songs you'll unlock so you can eventually put together the ultimate playlist. In addition, you can decorate your own profile with new titles that you earn between races, but above all, the unlockable content is about the different vehicles.

A couple of different types of vehicles are available to choose from, all of which prioritize the different aspects of speed, acceleration, strength, control and boost. In addition, you can once again jump onto a hoverboard like in the horrible Kinect title Sonic Free Riders, which offers a lot of speed but at the expense of being able to handle sharp curves. New parts for the vehicles can be purchased for Donpa tickets that are earned after each race and by completing various challenges. Customizing your own vehicle certainly appeals to some, but personally I just find it boring after a while and frustrating when everyone has to modify their carts before the races in local multiplayer or in the online mode. I would have much rather seen the drivers have their own unique cars, with specific stats that suit different preferences.

However, it is not only the different vehicles that can have an impact on the characteristics of your particular vehicle. The more you play, the more gadgets you will also unlock that adjust the driving. They all have different meanings where one can increase your speed, while another improves acceleration. At most, you can activate six gadgets, but some of them take up more than one slot in your kit, which requires accuracy to emerge victorious in the end. You will actually have to take them into account as the different maps can become easier or more difficult if you use an unsuitable kit. A map with sharp curves doesn't really pay off to be the fastest, unless you want to lick the railing. Here again there is a bit too much focus on modifying the cars and I would have preferred to see options that disabled this completely, although it certainly has its charm in certain situations.

Eight races, consisting of three maps each, are available for all single-player enthusiasts to tackle. Like Mario Kart, there are now also different speeds to choose from and by collecting gold in all races, you unlock Super Sonic Speed, which is clearly the obvious way to play Sonic Racing Crossworlds. Here, the speed is turned up to eleven where it goes so fast that I almost don't have time to react to what's happening around me. Those who think Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is too slow at 200cc will have to buckle up to keep up here. Playing through the races will therefore not be the least bit boring, and neither will it be boring when the mirrored mode is unlocked.

What I miss is a pure story mode that the predecessor succeeded so well with. If you don't want to collect everything, there's a big risk that you'll get tired of the single-player mode. That said, there are a few other things to do in addition to the game's eight Grand Prix competitions. Sonic Racing: Crossworlds introduces a new concept where before each Grand Prix you are faced with a new rival who will do everything they can to sabotage you. This is therefore another reason to participate in the Grand Prix again as the entire rival system consists of 24 rivals (all standard characters). When you also defeat a rival, the difficulty of the next rival is turned up another level if you wish, which also increases the challenge as well as the reward it brings.

If you get tired of just driving Grand Prix or Time Trials, there is fortunately also Race Park to indulge in, which consists of six different options. In one of them, the drivers are divided into teams where, in addition to getting a good place in the race, you compete to collect as many rings as possible, while another mode involves driving into opponents to fill the team's common boost meter, which will give the whole team a real boost when the meter is maximized. This means that some of the cooperative elements from Team Sonic Racing are retained, which they absolutely deserve to do. Unfortunately, there is no pure mode offered where you play just like in the predecessor and share weapons.

Race Park is also based on the rival system but comes with a small twist. Here Sonic Team shows once again that they cherish Sonic's history and want to give us nostalgic kicks as the rivals this time are divided into trios and are initially based on Sonic Heroes. Here we get to compete against Team Sonic, Team Dark, Team Rose and Team Chaotix which personally made me childishly happy. For some reason, however, the rivals are presented here as holograms which I don't really understand why, but it also plays a very small role. Race Park works as a very good complement to playing regular Grand Prix and together with Time Trials the range of player modes for solo players is still completely acceptable.

In summary, Sonic Racing: Crossworlds is a good game that has something for everyone. But it also has its obvious problems that will be difficult for the developers to correct in retrospect. I appreciate that Sega is willing to invest in the game and really embrace the concept of cross-fertilizing different worlds, as we can soon welcome Aang from Avatar: The Last Airbender, Joker from Persona 5, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (to name a few). I'm sure I haven't burned enough rubber yet, but I plan to head out on the multidimensional roads right away.