Sonic: Origins Plus Edition

I've spent a solid chunk of evenings with controllers in hand trying to convince friends that Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds deserves a spot next to the usual Saturday night rotation, and honestly, it didn't take much convincing. This is a kart racer that earns its place by doing the fundamentals right first: the drifting is tight, the air tricks feed directly into boost, and vehicles transform between kart, boat, and plane depending on the terrain under your wheels. That transformation system, borrowed from the beloved Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed lineage, keeps every lap feeling kinetic rather than repetitive. The headline mechanic is the CrossWorlds warp system, and it genuinely delivers. On a race's second lap, the leader picks between two Travel Ring portals, which pulls the whole pack into an entirely different dimensional track, then snaps everyone back to the main course for the final lap. In practice this means no two Grand Prix races play identically, and the 24 base tracks plus 15 CrossWorlds destinations give the whole package serious staying power. The track design pulls from classic Sonic history, with reimagined courses from Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Rush sitting alongside fresh originals, and the roster of 23 characters is the largest ever assembled for a Sonic racing title, with free DLC characters already confirmed and rolling out post-launch. From a multiplayer-first perspective, this is where CrossWorlds really earns its recommendation. Four-player local split-screen is fully supported in both Grand Prix and the party mode Race Park, which bundles six distinct race formats with granular rule customisation covering speed, team size, item loadouts, AI difficulty, and Frenzy Gates. Team modes add a shared Team Gauge mechanic that triggers a synchronised Super Team Boost when filled, which means even the friend who usually finishes last has something to fight for. Online goes up to 12 players with full cross-platform matchmaking, so PC friends can queue with console friends without any extra setup. One legitimate gripe worth flagging: local split-screen does not extend into online lobbies on PC, meaning your couch crew stays offline. It is a real gap that the Steam community has flagged loudly, and Sega would do well to patch it. Customisation runs deep, with 45 vehicles and 70 Gadget Plates to mix and match, and the kart upgrade loop gives you a genuine reason to replay cups rather than just burning through them once. The Rival System, which assigns you a random rival who trash-talks you across all four Grand Prix races, is a small touch that lands well in a group setting. Complaints are real but minor: track count at launch felt slim to some reviewers, certain items skew overpowered in later cups, and a few moments of visual chaos make it hard to track your kart at speed. Accessibility options are solid, with adjustable difficulty, custom volume controls, and full subtitle support, though the lack of a colorblind mode is a notable omission. If your measuring stick is whether four slightly chaotic friends on a Friday night will have a great time, the answer is yes, without much hesitation. If you are a solo player chasing leaderboard supremacy in Time Trial, this still holds up. The 93% Steam rating from over 16,000 reviewers and an 84 on Metacritic are not accidents; this is a kart racer that got the basics right and then layered something genuinely fresh on top.

Riley · Scout Team

Sports & racing

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