Don’t put it past Sega to try and one-up its rival in the karting scene. Mascot kart racers have become increasingly more popular over the years as developers and publishers attempt to cash-grab against the success of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe…except Sega has been stuffing the fastest thing alive into a kart for decades, now, to varying levels of adequacy. Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds attempts to rival the porky plumber’s latest outing, but can it surpass it?
It is hard to write a review about Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds that doesn’t constantly keep comparing and contrasting against what is seen to be the leading game in that genre; in this case, Mario Kart World. There is good reason for this. The Mario Kart series in general is seen as the pedigree and upper echelon of kart racers, not only in sales but in the hearts of the public too. Suffice to say that Mario Kart World hasn’t really hit it out of the park, nor has it grabbed the hearts and minds of fans in the way that Nintendo was really hoping for. Why, though? Perhaps a lack of imagination, innovation, or intensity has somewhat hampered Mario Kart World against a fervent fan base that was just hoping for something else. It wouldn’t be at odds to say that there is a gap in the kart racing market more so than ever before.
The biggest change in gameplay versus other Sonic racing games of the past is the titular CrossWorlds feature that allows the second lap of the race to take part on a completely different course altogether. Instead of three laps on the same track, the race leader at the end of the first lap can choose between one of two options: either to go through to a random track or go to one that has already been pre-selected. This leads to numerous options and permutations of courses that can be selected to travel to, each drawing on levels and themes from previous Sonic the Hedgehog titles.
There are 24 courses in the game alongside six purchasable DLC courses. The standard courses are great throwbacks to Sonic’s past, and they are varied and diverse enough to stand out. Courses have branching paths that will utilise land, air and sea portions that make each portion unique, especially as some courses will have a slightly different set path on their third lap compared to the first lap. Unfortunately, the water and air sections can be some of the weaker parts of the racing. It is true that these offer a change in gameplay, but that isn’t necessarily for the best, with the drift functionality being finicky in these sections.
To help remedy this, there are a number of customisation options to vehicles that are unlocked as players progress. All players are given a license plate that acts as a customisable palette to drop in gadgets, acting as modifiers that can be added to their kart. The Master Plate will be unlocked after about an hour of gameplay, which can allow for six distinct items to be added to the palette. There are many arrangements that can result from this level of customisation, and options include increased rings, tighter drifting, stat upgrades, item control, and more. During the review process, the plate of gadgets that were used included: holding three weapons at once, an increase of kart performance based on ring count, and an increased chance of Wisp items. However, there are any number of combinations that can be customised, which makes this infinitely more playable both in single-player modes and online, allowing for a level of depth not seen in other kart racers.
On top of this is an ever-growing character selection, which is currently at 30 racers, with three more to come by the end of April 2026, plus nine DLC characters. Whilst most of the roster is Sonic characters, there are additional Sega mascots within the selection, including NiGHTS, Joker, AiAi and Hatsune Miku, alongside third party characters in the DLC. Racers lend themselves to different classes – Speed, Boost, Power, Handling, and Acceleration – to then be paired or juxtaposed with kart types from the same classes.
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds released on Nintendo Switch 2 a few months after its counterparts on other consoles, then months later with a physical game card version releasing late March 2026. The physical cart may have caused some ire amongst Nintendo physical collectors due to an Upgrade Pack needing to be installed to the system storage rather than reading the majority of the data from the card.
Performance across the board is fairly good, with a 60fps 1440p output in docked mode, but there are a few oddities when it comes to firing off certain weapons, with obstacles or background elements being a much lower frame rate. This is a minor nitpick as it does somewhat cause a distraction, but doesn’t impact the playability of the race itself, unlike local multiplayer, which does unfortunately drop down to a 30fps output. Whilst it is playable in this mode, it can get a bit hectic given the franticness of the game. Nonetheless, if it is a choice between Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2, then it is obvious to choose the latter as the place to play Sonic Racing: Crossworlds.
