Fans ofSonicracing games have quite a big day ahead of them with a new kart racer coming soon that aims to blend the best of everything together into one incredibly fast experience. The buzz aroundSonic Racing: CrossWorldsmakes sense considering thatTeam Sonic Racingwas the lastSonicracerthat was released. Not only have fans of the blue blur been without a title like this for a while, butCrossWorldsbrings backSonic Riders' EX gears, has teased a large roster of Sega andSoniccharacters, and promises a wide variety of famous levels turned into tracks when the announcements forCrossWorldshave only just begun.
Indeed, the future ofSonicracing games does look rather bright, but the era ofTeam Sonic Racingisn’t over just yet. In fact, the multiplayer-focused title may be the best game to play while waiting forCrossWorlds' launch. Following the Closed Network Test on PS5, it’s easy to see how both titles compare. There are a number of improvements made toCrossWorldsthat fixed some of the frustrations players had withTeam Sonic Racing, butCrossWorldskeepsTeam Sonic Racing’s control scheme so fans with experience can hit the ground running.
How Team Sonic Racing is the Perfect Game to Use as a Warm-Up For CrossWorlds
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds Highlights the Importance of Controls
When it comes to favorite games and genres, the controls are one of the most important parts to easing a player into a new experience. TheSonicseries in particular changes things up every so often, butwithSonic Generationstaking notes fromFrontiers' control scheme, it seems that there’s a standard fans can rely on for the titles going forward.Sonic Racing: CrossWorldsis keeping this trend going by giving fans the option to useTeam Sonic Racing’s button mapping. This feature was shown off and announced before the Closed Network Test in the online manual fans could read to study the controls ahead of time.
The option to useTSR’s button placement seems to have helped a few players make it across a million finish lines collectively, according to stats from Sega. There’s a strong chance this option will remain in the game at launch because of this, making it so those willing to return toTeam Sonic Racingwill be able to have as many practice rounds as they want before the game fully releases.CrossWorldsis different fromTSRin many ways, though.Team Sonic Racinglimits players to practice with cars only rather than EX Gears, for one, butTeam Sonic Racing’s flawsmay lead to unexpected skills on the new, improved racetracks.
Just as the title implies,Team Sonic Racinghas a heavy emphasis on earning boosts and items from other players, AI or otherwise. Some fans have felt that the team mechanics left behind an unbalanced solo-player experience, and part of that comes from how anything can take speed away from a player inTSR. If someone gets hit by an item, especially multiple, they lose any momentum and have to build it up again. The same can be said if a player hits a wall only slightly. Both ofthese issues don’t exist anymore inSonic Racing: CrossWorlds. In the upcoming kart racer, fans can have their car cut in half and use what little speed they keep to hit a dash panel to regain the momentum with ease. Hitting walls only takes rings away from players, which lowers acceleration, but they keep all of their speed beyond that.
CrossWorlds' improvements may make it seem likeTeam Sonic Racingis a bad choice to practice with, but the way that these flaws were dealt with might make it the perfect challenge to take on ahead of the newer title. Players can use the tougher collisions and harsher item punishment to improve for the next racer, where there’s more to take advantage of in these moments. Fans who manage to make a comeback inTeam Sonic Racingwill surely be in the winner’s circle inCrossWorldsbecause they’ll know how to drive their car, leaving only the courses and Cross Worlds to master.
