Sonic Racing CrossWorlds – Review

Sonic Racing CrossWorlds is a recent addition to our collection of Switch games. We’ve had lots of fun playing Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Team Sonic Racing and a few other racing game so we decided to try this one. We loved it so much and in my post you’ll find out why.

Why Sonic Racing CrossWorlds?

Sonic Racing CrossWorlds isn’t just another kart racer—it’s a full-on celebration of Sega’s history, packed with clever track design, transforming vehicles, and a roster of characters pulled from across the company’s franchises and some cross-overs too. Released after Team Sonic Racing, this sequel raised the bar and is often known as one of the best Sonic racing games ever made.

Your car morphs seamlessly into a boat or plane mid-race as tracks change, forcing you to adapt to shifting terrain and hazards. Each form feels distinct—boats have to deal with rough water currents, while planes emphasize aerial control and dodging. This constant variety keeps races dynamic and exciting, rewarding players who can adjust on the fly.

The racing mechanics themselves are tight and satisfying, with solid drifting, boosting, and item use. The roster of items feel like Mario’ Kart’s. With the Monster Truck being a mega mushroom, drill being a bullet bill, slime being a blooper and king boom boo being a blue shell. Team racing isn’t the focus here (like in Team Sonic Racing), so victory depends entirely on your own skill in the Grand Prix Mode however in Race Park Team Work is the focus.

Tracks are the highlight: Courses are brand new with some refences to Sonic games, PAC-MAN and more. Once on the second lap you cross into another track and then by the third back to the first lap’s track! The dynamic track design makes each lap feel fresh and keeps you on your toes.

The roster is equally charming, pulling in characters from across Sega’s history and other franchises too. Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy of course but Minecraft, PAC-MAN and so many more appeared, adding quirky fun. They also have Cream playable who before this game hasn’t been playable on one single switch game, can you believe that?

The visuals hold up well, with vibrant colors, creative transformations, and lots of background detail that may sometime make it hard to see where you are but still it’s nice. The soundtrack remixes classic Sonic tunes to fit high-speed racing, which longtime fans will especially appreciate.

There’s plenty of content: single-player Grand Prix, Friend Match, Custom Match, Race Park, Time Trial and competitive online multiplayer with World Match. Local split-screen adds replay value for friends, and difficulty scaling makes it accessible for newcomers but challenging for veterans.

Like I said before, Race Park is about team work. In that mode you can chose from different types of challenges like you need to collet lots of rings, beat opponents, help boost each other or just a normal race.

How We Test Games

For testing games we use a Nintendo Switch firmware version 2H. Hardware includes Joy-con and Pro controller on a large screen TV. Tests are done with up to 5 players. We take turns playing and evaluating games.

Whenever possible we play multiple players. We also use a Nintendo 2DS, DS XL, and for PC games we use a Ryzen 7 1700x CPU, AMD RX580, running on Win 10. This game is up to 4-players on Xbox, PC and Nintendo Switch.

Pros

Transforming vehicles add variety and excitement.

Dynamic, cross world tracks based on Sonic and other franchises too.

Large and charming roster.

Strong single-player and multiplayer content.

Fantastic soundtrack full of Sonic remixes.

Cons

Can be hard to see where you’re at because the course are a bit busy.

Steeper learning curve with planes and boats.

Summary

Overall, Sonic Racing CrossWorlds stands out as one of the best kart racers not named Mario Kart. Its transforming vehicles, dynamic tracks, and Worlds other than Sonic or Sega nostalgia gives it a unique identity. While it has a lot of similarities to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, it offers depth, creativity, and a celebration of Sega that makes it unique.