As someone who likes a good ol’ racing sim, there’s nothing quite like the cartoon-style violence that a kart racer can provide. While Mario Kart remains locked to Nintendo consoles, and the recent World entry being a bit disappointing for a Switch 2 exclusive, Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds delivers that heart-pumping goodness to all platforms, and by bringing together the blue hedgehog’s best friends, as well as Minecraft, Persona, and Yakuza, along for the ride, it’s a great experience. Now, you gotta go fast in order to get it at its lowest price yet.
While Mario Kart World embraces the ‘bigger is better’ philosophy, with more racers around the track and long laps that take you through the world itself, Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds puts a focus on intense, with you and 11 other racers breaking the sound barrier around tightly-designed levels, with a realm-hopping mechanic that takes you to a different area, keeping up the variety match after match.
There are 23 characters to choose from, ranging from fan favorites like Sonic and Shadow to lesser-known faces like Zavok and Jet. If you’re willing to pay a little extra for the season pass, you can even get Steve and Alex from Minecraft or SpongeBob and Patrick from… well, SpongeBob Squarepants. That’s not including the free collaboration racers, which offer Joker from Persona 5 and Hatsune Miku, to name just a couple.
Each race feels like a spectacle; the rushing of winds as you drive at light speed, the visuals popping with vibrance and chaos. However, the parts in between each race are just as important, allowing you to outfit your vehicle and use gadgets to perfect your driving style. It keeps things interesting after hours of driving, and with more collaborations on the way, the game has yet to cross the finish line.
Sonic Racing: Crossworlds, admittedly, was a huge surprise for me – I didn’t expect it to be as good as it is. If you’re looking to give it a try, you can grab it at an extremely low price at Fanatical, for just $38.14 / £35.41. That’s a 46% discount (which is 6% higher than Steam’s all-time low for the game), so now’s definitely the time to play it. There’s a reason why it’s sitting at 94% rated on Steam, so I can’t be wrong.
Hopefully, I’ll see you on the track soon – but just so you’re aware, I can be the only Shadow player. He doesn’t have his guns anymore, but I can still enjoy the edgiest hedgehog around.
