Sonic Racing CrossWorlds And Bringing Drama Back to the Mascot Racer

In a year where its direct competition is the flagship launch title on a brand-new Nintendo system, you’d think that Sonic Racing CrossWorlds’ sense of rivalry would start and end with a strong, Italian moustache buffeted by the wind rushing past at 150cc speeds.

Thing is, if you’ve experienced SEGA’s series of arcade “kart” racers in the past, you might hopefully recognise that Sonic and crew have always raced to the hum of their own engines, happy to leave their occasional Olympic opponents on the road more-travelled. It surprised me, then, to learn that rivalry is at the heart of the Sonic Racing CrossWorlds experience, just not in the way you’d expect.

Much has been made of this upcoming entry’s titular new idea, the introduction of portals (or “Travel Rings”) that allow for races to take place seamlessly across two distinct courses, alternating between them with each new lap. This means the course you pick up front won’t be the only one you drive on, and the semi-random nature of the second location ensures you never really know where else you’ll go. 

Much has been made of this upcoming entry’s titular new idea, the introduction of portals (or “Travel Rings”) that allow for races to take place seamlessly across two distinct courses, alternating between them with each new lap.

After getting my hands on a preview build of the game recently thanks to SEGA, I can vouch for how much more dynamic races become as a result of these Travel Rings. It recalls SEGA & Sonic All-Stars Racing Transformed’s shifting tracks, which meant no two laps were the same, only now the changes are far more drastic. At one point I found myself driving along the long neck of an enormous dinosaur, only to fly through a portal on its head and drop ceremoniously into a futuristic stadium full of cheering fans. Later on I sped past shopping mall storefronts to powerslide onto the icy roads of an aurora-soaked arctic shoreline, as ethereal whales danced in the frigid waters. It’s a vibe.

But as cool as that all is, I want to go back to that idea of rivalry, and another new concept in CrossWorlds that I could argue is even more impactful to the moment-to-moment action than the game’s mid-race portals.

Sonic rivals

In an unexpected twist during my hands-on, jumping into any of the Grand Prix events would see the game assign a “Rival” to my driver of choice. This Rival would then become a constant fixture in the four races that make up the Grand Prix, acting as a particularly aggressive or skilled opponent with a single-minded goal to stand above me on the podium. The level to which this happens depends on the Rival’s rank, with the game sometimes offering the choice of an especially tough Rival for those brave enough, but even at the lower tanks they’re a persistent presence with a surprising breadth of situational voice work to remind you of your current nemesis.

There are a number of reasons that this Rivals system feels almost revolutionary in Sonic Racing CrossWorlds. Firstly, it adds a ton of theatre to proceedings, flavouring the white-knuckle spectacle with the kind of character drama that makes something like Drive to Survive or just about any sports anime so compelling. It’s a reminder of how powerful storytelling can be in just about any context, even as incidental as it is here. Where other mascot racers treat their stars like virtual Funko Pops, non-verbal toys to throw around their worlds adapted as theme park rides, CrossWorlds’ competitors are active and enthusiastic participants that have their own reasons to burn rubber besides being avatars to a night of pizza and bevvies around the TV.

There are a number of reasons that this Rivals system feels almost revolutionary in Sonic Racing CrossWorlds.

This novel system also mitigates a common issue on the single-player side of arcade racers, where playing just slightly ahead of the difficulty curve can make for long stretches of uneventful first-place driving. Rivals fix that by lingering like bad chilli dog breath, constantly pressing your lead and taking advantage of their weapons and your mistakes.

There was a moment during one of my races where I was rivalled by Shadow (I’m a boring Sonic main), who I’d cleared past fairly early but who managed to catch my slipstream and pull out ahead just as it came time for the first-place racer to pick between the two Travel Rings that determined the next lap. For the few seconds before, I’d been excited to cross over into the iconic Casino Zone, but because Shadow had passed me the choice became his and we ended up elsewhere. In game, Shadow slung some bespoke barb at Sonic as the Casino Travel Ring faded out of view. In the real world, in a small room at a PR agency office in Sydney, I yelled something unsavoury about Shadow’s daddy issues. This is what it’s all about.

Everybody's here

I’m not sure if it’s the intent, but I can also see a spark of genius in the way this system contextualises the extensive roster that exists here. I’ll only compare the two this once, but it’s fair to say that the Mario Kart games have reaped the benefit of a cast of evergreen, universally known characters, where Sonic has remained largely the realm of SEGA sickos. The recent Hollywood films have no doubt re-introduced a lot of the world to these anthropomorphic alien animal-likes, but the even the Sonic dabblers among us shouldn’t be expected to know who the fuck Jet the Hawk or Cream the Rabbit are.

But when these underrepresented weirdos are actively engaging with you in the heat of a race, when you’re trading positions, targeting one another with power-ups and both characters are throwing out bespoke banter that suits their specific match-ups, suddenly they matter a whole lot more. You’d expect to have fun seeing Sonic and Shadow locked in feverish contention with each other, but giving added screen time to the folks on the fringes of the roster could go a long way to keeping them in the mix.

But when these underrepresented weirdos are actively engaging with you in the heat of a race, when you’re trading positions, targeting one another with power-ups and both characters are throwing out bespoke banter that suits their specific match-ups, suddenly they matter a whole lot more.

After playing for just a couple of hours it’s clear that there’s so much more to Sonic Racing CrossWorlds than even its world-hopping gimmick and the Rivals system. There’s a whole lot of game here with hugely customisable vehicles, a plethora of slottable Gadgets that further augment the driving to your own playstyle, tons of unlockables and challenges, persistent player ranking and who knows what else. There are plenty of multiplayer options, naturally, but it’s looking just as good for solo players.

It’s all stuff that I’m itching to dive into once I have the full game in my hands this September, but even without the rest of it, there are some key top-level ideas in Sonic Racing CrossWorlds that could quietly make it the most interesting arcade racer of the year. What was that old adage about SEGA doing what Nintendon’t?