Sonic Racing: Crossworlds review roundup: 'a thrilling, chaotic, and endlessly replayable racer'

Mario Kart World has stiff competition from the Blue Blur

(Credit: Sega)

• 👍 Sonic Racing: Crossworlds has a Metacritic score of 83 after 50 critic reviews

• 🤩 The game has 90% positive reviews, 10% mixed and 0% negative

• 🚗 It’s the fourth entry in the Sonic Racing series

• 📆 The game is out on September 25 for consoles and PC

Sonic and Mario are considered to be good friends these days, but the Blue Blur’s own spin on kart racing may have the Italian plumber sweating a little.

Reviews are in for Sonic Racing: Crossworlds, and it seems like a genuine alternative to Mario Kart World – with some critics even preferring it.

The game currently sits at a Metacritic score of 83 after 50 critic reviews. That’s a couple of points short of Mario Kart World, which achieved a score of 86, but still a strong result for Sega.

Here’s what reviewers had to say about Sonic Racing: Crossworlds. The game is out for consoles and PC on September 25.

IGN was full of praise for Sega’s kart racer, praising the roster of characters, track selection, and the racing itself in its 9/10 review.

“Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds fires on all cylinders with a fantastic roster of 24 of my favorite hedgehogs, foxes, echidnas, and more. The lineup of 24 main tracks and 15 Crossworld tracks is the best designed selection we've ever gotten in any Sonic racing game, and there is a generationally great soundtrack to accompany them. The racing itself feels fast, fantastic, and intuitive, with lots of options to tweak your stats to your preferred playstyle.

“There are plenty of modes that entertained my friends and me for hours, and CrossWorlds will probably be a regular staple of hangouts as more courses and characters are added over the coming months – though I do wish it had the option for splitscreen when playing online. The titular Crossworld mechanic is an awesome idea that keeps each race fresh, and a great way to potentially turn the tables on opponents thanks to a lengthy list of customization options. While I'm still speeding my way to complete all the challenges, Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is one that I know I'll enjoy playing plenty more of in the months to come, crossing the finish line as my new favorite kart racing game of all time.”

GamingBolt also thoroughly enjoyed Sonic Racing: Crossworlds, awarding the game 9/10 and saying:

“CrossWorlds is a thrilling, chaotic, and endlessly replayable racer that finally gives Sonic a karting identity of his own.”

VGC gave Sonic Racing: Crossworlds an 8/10, and called it a genuine alternative to Mario Kart World.

“CrossWorlds is a brilliant karting game with satisfying handling, a fun portal mechanic and useful customisation options. Its weapons aren't as punchy as we'd like and it's unclear how it's going to keep players' attention long-term but it's a genuine, more traditional alternative to Mario Kart now that Nintendo's pointed its series in new direction.”

GameSpot was less impressed with Sonic’s brand of kart racing, but still gave the game 7/10 and said:

“Altogether, Sonic Racing CrossWorlds is a solid package. The single-player modes, meta-goals like collecting gear and vehicle parts, and wealth of customization options to experiment with different play styles, make it easy to recommend for players who like their kart racing with a little more mechanical complexity. Even with slightly underwhelming online offerings, it's easy to see how Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds has plenty of road ahead of it.”

However, Sonic Racing: Crossworlds’ gameplay fell flat with TheSixthAxis, which gave it 6/10 in its review, and said it isn’t Sonic’s best karting game.

“While it gets plenty of the fundamentals of right, the dimension hopping, character roster and some of the extra modes don't quite stick the landing. Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds isn’t the best karting game out there, and thirteen years on from Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, it’s lopsided the best karting game with a blue hedgehog in it.”

If you’ve bounced off Mario Kart World but still have the desire for some frantic kart racing action, Sonic Racing: Crossworlds sounds like it should scratch that itch. Fans of previous entries might not enjoy every new change – however, there’s plenty of fun to be had for Sonic fans.

Check out the upcoming PS5 games and upcoming Xbox games lists to see what’s up next for Sony and Microsoft’s consoles.

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Adam Vjestica is The Shortcut’s Senior Editor. Formerly TechRadar’s Gaming Hardware Editor, Adam has also worked at Nintendo of Europe as a Content Marketing Editor, where he helped launch the Nintendo Switch. Follow him on X @ItsMrProducts.