Sonic returns to the kart-racing genre with Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds. In the new entry, Sonic and all his pals cross over against space, time, and even the multiverse. CrossWorlds packs multiple vehicle types, tracks, and a roster of familiar and multiversal faces. With  content featuring characters from Sega, Paramount, and presumably Warner Bros. the racer has a long shelf life.

Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is a 2025 kart racing game; it is developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega. It’s currently available on PC, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Switch 2.

Editor’s Note: A review code for Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds was provided by Sega to support this review.

Shadow shares the spotlight with Sonic in a wave of good games.

The last Sonic Racing game came out in 2019, and with the franchise finding a surge of success in both TV & Film, as well as video games, it wouldn’t take long for Sega to get the itch to try spinoff titles again. Crossworlds also has the allure of taking advantage of the ever-popular, though admittedly fatiguing, crossover gimmick. The TV & film rights to Sonic are more or less owned by Paramount Skydance at the moment, which just acquired Warner Bros., which owns DC Studios among an array of others. So if you’ve for whatever reason wanted to see Sonic, SpongeBob, and Batman share a screen together, you now realistically can. In addition to its roster, CrossWorlds also has a gameplay mechanic named CrossWorlds, which changes up the map and terrain mid-race to shake things up.

Race across dimensions in Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds.

THE GOOD: Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds opts to remove any traditional campaign or story mode by going full speed ahead with competitive play with friends or online randoms. Basic gameplay for races has you battling your way across an eleven-player course with a three-lap run to get to the finish line. Throughout the race, the environment changes with the CrossWorld mechanic, sending players to different terrains within alternate dimensions that open upon certain course triggers. You have two options to choose from in a vote of sorts where the most players traveling to one portal wins.

Across the tracks are boost pads that give you a speed meter to drift and gain additional speed. Weaponry capsules are spread throughout the map, ranging from missiles to stopping enemy racers in their tracks. In addition to the boost pads, you can increase your speed by performing aerial tricks after ramp jumps. Rings gathered across the course can also contribute to player speed. Getting hit by a wall, items, or enemy racers will cause you to lose rings and speed to a degree. Vehicles this time around are based on classes focusing on speed, power, acceleration, handling, and boost, which is locked to extreme gear. Certain environment triggers will also change your vehicle to boats, planes, and hoverboards, making a return from Sonic Riders.

I think the dimensional stuff is a fun way to keep races interesting without feeling too repetitive. Carrying over some vehicle mechanics from past titles is a smart move. It presented CrossWorlds as if it were more of a compilation game celebrating the franchise in a complementary way, as many of them worked well with the more modern touches in the game. Returning mechanics ultimately gave a feeling of freedom in regard to replayability and player choice, giving curiosity to experimenting with different builds and vehicles.

Multiple vehicle types can be used across different course scenarios.

The rivals mechanic is something that also keeps races interesting over time. Basically, it’s something that’s triggered by the player mid-race, like screwing a certain character out of winning with a last-minute weapon use or drift. A cutscene will trigger, indicating that this character is now your character’s rival. When a rival is activated, they become much more difficult as an opposing racer versus the other characters and even get stat increases if in a race with you. A double-edged situation happens where you’ll be personally targeted by your rival, but if you beat them, you’ll get additional rewards for it.

DLC is the biggest appeal of the title, with a crazy roster of Sonic, Sega, and Paramount characters. From Yakuza and Persona to SpongeBob and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, including free characters, there’s plenty to play with. There are over 50 characters to play with as of this writing, and half of that is DLC on top of a rather sizable Sonic-based roster of 24 characters. Courses will be added over time, but most of the focus is based on the crossover content on the Sega side of things, which may disappoint some.

Unique weapons and power-ups let you get ahead of the competition.

THE BAD: There’s no dedicated story or campaign mode, which means you’re just limited to playing offline or with friends and randoms. Grand Prix mode needs a bit of tweaking to reduce repetition in course selection. While Sega-based DLC for characters is great, there’s a shockingly limited amount of courses themed around the same characters. I understand the main draw of the game is the bigger picture surrounding the crossover content, but you’d think they would get some creative juices flowing to expand a bit more for homegrown IP.

Multiple characters are available in CrossWorlds from major franchises.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds kickstarts the series into a new era of quality as a premium kart racer. With forthcoming access to the WBD library for future content, the game could be a viable competitor and alternative to Mario Kart. Additional modes and DLC will be a heavy factor in keeping players invested long enough to jump back in with the next entry, and Sega is already promising an impressive year two for the title.