For a party racing game like Team Sonic Racing Cross Worlds, Autumn 2025 is definitely not a perfect release window. The phrase "wolves ahead, tigers behind" seems tailor-made for it.
First, it must face a direct challenge from the latest work of the "ancestor" of party racing, Mario Kart World. Looking back, Kirby's Air Riders, personally supervised by Masahiro Sakurai and with an unknown release date, is closing in. One misstep, even if the game itself is of good quality, could lead to it being labeled a "clumsy imitator," becoming a stepping stone for other contemporary titles, and eventually being dug up by enthusiasts over a decade later with sighs of "bad timing..."
Doesn't this feel familiar? Stories like this have played out more than once in previous "Sonic Racing" titles. Even the best-received entry, Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, repeatedly fell into the trap of being "critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful," trapped within the niche of "fan-service games" and unable to break through further.
It can be said that the challenges facing the "Sonic Racing" IP are severe. It must be mature enough so that its core gameplay doesn't show weakness due to lack of accumulation; it must also be innovative enough to stand out in the extremely competitive party racing sector. Furthermore, Sonic's own characteristics impose higher requirements on the game—Sonic is already fast and cool, so putting him in a car means he must be twice as cool and twice as fast... No joke, this is hell difficulty.
But surprisingly, this installment, Team Sonic Racing Cross Worlds, seems well-prepared.
On July 10th, at a SEGA offline salon event held before Bilibili World, I was lucky enough to get early access to Team Sonic Racing Cross Worlds. I even teamed up with one of the producers, Mr. Taki, to battle against another producer, Mr. Kobayakawa. Later, at the Bilibili World exhibition, I coincidentally got another chance to play on stage. After more than an hour of total playtime, I formed my initial impressions of the game.
Overall, Team Sonic Racing Cross Worlds adopts the framework common to many party racing games—no throttle control, emphasis on drifting over racing lines, fighting for items and acceleration rings hidden in item boxes, with leaders under pressure and chasers having advantages... At first glance, it seems not much different from Mario Kart, but in reality, their "specialized roles" within similar frameworks are vastly different.
The most visually obvious element distinguishing Mario Kart from Sonic Racing is the "sense of speed." You know, in Super Smash Bros., Sonic runs significantly faster than Mario. At standard "Sonic Speed" (comparable to 150cc), the sense of speed in Team Sonic Racing Cross Worlds far surpasses any similar title. The scenery rapidly left behind, combined with exaggerated motion blur and tracks with noticeable banking angles, brings Sonic's wind-like speed to its extreme.
In the bottom right corner of the screen, the speedometer, absent from party racing games for several generations, has finally returned (last seen in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and early Sonic Riders). Although it's unclear whether the numbers represent km/h, mph, or another unit, seeing the large digits on the speedometer climb as rings accumulate, breaking limits with every precise drift boost, genuinely triggers a visceral sense of satisfaction.
Speaking of rings, this iconic element of the "Sonic" series holds a crucial position in this game. They are widely distributed across the tracks, often denser on the "main paths" that require slight detours. By sacrificing some shortcut opportunities, you can relatively easily collect up to the cap of 100 rings, gaining an immediate and significant speed boost.
However, just like in the original "Sonic" games, rings come quickly and go quickly. Getting hit by items, scraping walls, or colliding with others will cause you to lose a large number of rings. Once your rings are depleted, your car becomes essentially scrap metal, suffering a massive speed drop, leaving you vulnerable to being overtaken by vehicles behind you.
Therefore, to gain an advantage in Team Sonic Racing Cross Worlds, besides relying on luck with item boxes, precise cornering angles are required. You need to strike a delicate balance between minimizing turning radius and maximizing ring collection, while avoiding scrapes and collisions as much as possible.
This sounds tricky, and it truly isn't simple—remember the "sense of speed" we just mentioned? As everyone knows, at the same tire slip angle, the faster you go, the larger your turning radius becomes. At "Sonic Speed," cars can hardly control their direction through normal turns.
Even high-speed corners that look like they can be taken at full throttle often require drifting to navigate properly in this game. This high-speed drifting places even stricter demands on handling precision... In other words, you can't easily achieve the "man and machine as one" harmony found in Mario Kart. Instead, "battling" with your vehicle will become the norm. Only by taming your ride can you make it an asset rather than a burden.
Therefore, compared to the formulaic car setups in Mario Kart, which mindlessly stack acceleration and speed while sparing a little for steering, Team Sonic Racing Cross Worlds' higher handling demands have spawned a broader customization space. In this game, both characters and cars are divided into several distinct types: "Speed" represented by Sonic, "Acceleration" by Tails, "Power" by Dr. Eggman and Knuckles, and "Driving" including characters like Amy. Each driver has their default vehicle, but they can also choose other drivers' cars to mix and match attributes.
Meanwhile, the Extreme Gear from Sonic Free Riders returns as "Boost-Type Vehicles." You can roughly compare them to motorcycles in Mario Kart. In terms of handling, board-type vehicles differ subtly from standard cars, offering better boost performance when hitting acceleration pads and slightly different aerial trick mechanics.
The demo version offers up to five selectable car types for each category, with significant differences in stats between vehicles. Speed-type cars gain maximum velocity when rings are fully charged, but their poor handling and acceleration make accumulating rings a painful process. However, pairing them with a Driving-type driver can compensate for these weaknesses. Of course, you can opt for more extreme builds, such as maxing out Power to physically knock all rings off opponents during collisions... In short, there is no single optimal build, only the one that suits you best.
The aforementioned build construction is just the tip of the iceberg regarding customization in Team Sonic Racing Cross Worlds. Beyond character and car combinations, the game provides players with 6 selectable "part slots." By freely combining over 70 types of parts, even identical character/car combos can exhibit vastly different capabilities. Players who enjoy item battles can specialize in offensive items like "Giant Rocket Punch" and pair it with an "Extra Item Slot" to store a third item for late-game comebacks. Those hoping to take an early lead can choose "Start with Double Boost Item" or "Start with Off-Road Capability," supplemented by "Increase Ring Cap," to create distance in the clean air at the front.
However, compared to those gimmicks, I personally prefer the ability to "steal rings via collision." Paired with Power-type cars and an aggressive driving style, you can elbow all opponents off the track—after all, as an old saying goes, you have to be alive to cross the finish line.
Tell it to my dump truck.
It's clear that, unlike similar party racing titles that generally emphasize maps and items while neglecting the cars themselves, Team Sonic Racing Cross Worlds largely returns to the "original intent" of racing games: achieving optimal "human-machine ergonomics" through the best tuning to attain the fastest speeds.
Of course, emphasizing the "racing" element doesn't mean the "tracks" will suffer. On the contrary, to highlight the diverse tuning possibilities of the cars in this title, tracks with distinct characteristics and dynamic changes are essential.
First, the "Transformation System" and multi-terrain elements missing from the previous title, Team Sonic Racing, officially return in this installment. "Sonic Racing" finally returns to comprehensive land, sea, and air racing. Coupled with the newly upgraded graphics engine, the visual effects of the tracks have reached the pinnacle of the genre.
The classic aircraft carrier map also returns.
Additionally, at the end of the first lap of each race, the player currently in first place gets a choice: two portals appear before them, transporting all players temporarily to a completely different track. This is the origin of the "Cross Worlds" in the game's title.
Thanks to this, players can experience elements from two different tracks in a single race. One moment you're in a bizarre cyberpunk city, and the next you're in a tropical rainforest overrun by T-Rexes... Incidentally, the track connection design in Mario Kart World aims for the same thing: injecting fresh, non-repetitive excitement into each match by mixing different track elements.
Perhaps this is a case of "great minds think alike" among party racing games.
When the race reaches the final lap and players return to the "home" track through the portals, the entire home track gets "enhanced" as the finale approaches. This isn't just about the background music speeding up—the number of item boxes and rings on the track increases significantly, with super ring sets of 100 appearing to instantly "heal" players in逆境 (adversity). Various acceleration pads on the map also change; blue "Super Acceleration Pads" will spawn randomly, providing powerful boosts to players with better racing lines (or better luck), keeping the suspense alive until the very last second.
If I had to point out one dissatisfaction or regret from this demo, it would be that the various crossover characters featured in the promotional videos did not appear in this playable version.
Indeed, in previous promotional videos, the driver lineup included not only members of the "Sonic" family but also major IPs from SEGA. Virtual diva Hatsune Miku, Ichiban Kasuga from Yakuza, Joker from Persona 5, even Microsoft's Minecraft protagonist Steve, and SpongeBob SquarePants from his pineapple under the sea, all joined the fray with their respective vehicles... Unfortunately, they did not appear in this demo. We will likely have to wait for the full release to witness these crossover drivers in action.
There's a Switch game where you can see Steve fighting Joker; you know which one I'm talking about.
Based on this demo experience, Team Sonic Racing Cross Worlds is undoubtedly a title that boldly charts its own course while fully inheriting the essence of its genre. Both its fundamental "hard power" and the innovative distinctions built upon it are enough to make it a formidable challenger in the field. Let's hope that this time, "Sonic Racing" can escape the fate of being "born at the wrong time."