Round Up: The First Impressions Of Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds ‘Closed Network Test’ Are In – Nintendo Life
GuestGuestLogin | Sign UpNintendo LifeGuestLogin or Sign UpHere are some thought so far…Sega is this weekend running a limited-time Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds ‘closed network test’ for the PlayStation 5 and the first impressions are now rolling in.There’s obviously no feedback about the Switch version at this stage, but there’s still enough commentary doing the rounds online to give Sonic fans an idea about what they can expect when this new racing outing does eventually show up on Nintendo’s system. Keep in mind as well this is technically a ‘closed network test’, so nothing is necessarily finalised yet.Take your place at the starting line!
Sign up before February 19th at 4PM PT for a chance to participate in the Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds Closed Network Test on PlayStation 5!
bit.ly/CrossWorldsC…So, here are some thoughts so far starting with the YouTube channel Good Vibes Gaming:”There’s a solid base here, the racing feels good, the drifting is great, the track designs are great, it looks great, it sounds great, but then there is that major drawback element of the items being way too much and interfering with the racing, so much throughout every race…the air trick is a bit disappointing, and of course the fact you can definitely tell it’s a beta… There’s a solid base here and if you’re a fan of Transformed…I think you should be excited, cautiously optimistic… it’s definitely already a farsight better than Team Sonic Racing”Following on with some fan impressions on social media:Ham: “first impressions of Sonic Racing CrossWorlds: Way too chaotic. Courses feel too narrow, and items are too common. I feel like they could remove half the item sets and it would feel better.”@blueaizu.blue: “I played the Sonic Racing CrossWorlds beta! I wasn’t sure if I’m allowed to actually livestream it, but the terms didn’t say I couldn’t share my impressions. It’s fun and definitely has potential, but it’s a bit too chaotic in its current state.”@annachicky.bsky.social “thoughts on the Sonic Racing Crossworlds beta: super fun and chaotic! there’s no telling who’ll win, you go from 1st place to 7th in mere seconds. I easily spend an hour in the garage customizing my cars, it’s easy to get lost in there”Here are some thoughts from Sonic players over on ResetEra:A Ream of Paper: “Just finished up an almost 2 hour session and I had a blast (I haven’t played any of the other Sonic racing games fwiw). Finished in the top 3 a few times and made it to rank C-. I exclusively used the speed kart and I think I’ll try the other kart types tomorrow.”BlueStarEXSF: “I’ve played a good 2 hours now. Some random thoughts…The tracks and the crossworld mechanic are the highlight imo…The handling took a while to get used to. Honestly, I had to make sure to get parts with handling stats for my car. Despite that, I would still improve base handling for every car across the board.”DynamicSushy: “This game makes Mario Kart seem like a slow methodical racer. So chaotic and noisy. I didn’t play Racing Transformed for the online play anyway though, so I am looking forward to whatever career mode equivalent they have planned. If the plan is to go all in on the online though, I may not get this. Races seem way too quick, cross world lap is too quick so it’s hard to appreciate the eye candy. This is pure Sega though and I imagine it looking beautiful on an arcade cabinet.”And then some comments by fans on the Sonic subreddit:KrispyBaconator: “I’m having an absolute blast so far. I will say I feel like it hews a lot closer to Mario Kart than the Sega All Stars Racing games, especially with the cars here feeling a bit less weighty, but it still feels great once you get used to it. Item Balance is suuuuuper wacky at the moment, to the point that I’d compare it to Mario Kart Wii. I feel like the Monster Truck should last longer. Also, the game looks absolutely GORGEOUS. Switching to Unreal was the right call imo.”Burtzman: “My biggest complaint is there’s a bit of sensory overload. Too many items in play at once with fancy effects, having to worry about ring management, the frenzy boosts, and the weird sound mixing. I was trying to form an opinion on the soundtrack, but you can’t hear it half the time. A lot of these need to be toned down, and in the case of items, balanced better. Making the items and rings more sparse to better focus on just driving would greatly improve the experience for me.”shrimp-parm: “Too many items. It feels like I’m getting hit the entire race unless I’m front running. The controls feel pretty good honestly. I think if they can balance items better it would heighten my enjoyment of the game.”Website Game8 has also published a review of the closed network test:”The game may still be in its early stages, but there’s already a lot to be excited about. The beta currently offers just nine characters, but the official website teases that we’ll have 23 racers at launch, with many more potentially joining the roster…With more tracks, CrossWorlds, vehicles, and customization options on the horizon, there’s plenty to look forward to. Add in modes like Grand Prix, Race Park, and Time Attack, and Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds has the makings of something truly special. If it can deliver on all of its promises, it might just become the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate of kart racing.”Every Sonic and SEGA character on the wayUpdate: IGN has an exclusive preview upThe announcement follows rumours and leaksHave you tried out this beta? How are you feeling about this game based on what’s been showcased so far? Let us know in the comments.About Liam DoolanLiam is a news writer and reviewer for Nintendo Life and Pure Xbox. He’s been writing about games for more than 15 years and is a lifelong fan of Mario and Master Chief.Comments 44Too many items. Got it.Been playing it as much as I can this weekend, and it’s great fun. But like everyone’s been saying, it’s way unbalanced at the moment. Too many chances to get and store items, and items are over powered. The races are insanely chaotic. SEGA are really coming up something great here though. Despite being very different to the trilogy of Sumo Digital racers, Crossword is shaping up to be a fantastic continuation of the series. It’s just different.I love Transformed, but this is weighed down by too many customisations and weapons. It all seems more zoomed in than Transformed, meaning you hardly notice any of the cool stuff around the tracks, it doesnt give you chance to enjoy anything. The resolution looks quite low and blurry. As it stands I won’t be getting it.I also agree with Ash’s take from GVG in his review where he said there should be punishment for not landing a trick correctly.Man it sure is hot right now to dunk on TSR whenever possible. That game still controls a lot better than Cross Worlds and has much better balancing. Cross Worlds is incredibly stiff, drifting is necessary for literally any turn which makes boats very cumbersome to control since they can’t drift.Hopefully Sega can dial in the various elements here, by the sounds of it. Every kart racer ever made over the decades has the same set of tweaks to make to give the game a good sense of flow despite the hazards, Would be a shame if Sega shoots the bed on this oneThe track portal jumping thing looks too jarring to me. I’m not sure Crossworlds is going to get out of the shadow or All-Stars Racing Transformed.Maybe I’m a freak, but I ended up playing up playing Meow Motors and Mini Motor Racing X more than I did Sonic Team Racing. I guess I don’t like sega? I’d LOVE a Crash Team Racing sequel. I’m definitely dying to see more of Mario Kart 9.Sorry, but the “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate of kart racing” is Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.It’s absolutely off topic but, by seeing the hour this article was posted at, I just realised that 12 a.m. = midnight (anglo-saxon I am not)What hour is noon, then ?@LXP8 funny way to say Crash Team Racing Nitro-FueledNone of these things sound good to me. I wish it was more like Transformed.Sonic Racing Transformed was an outstanding game, so I’m looking forward to this. Hope it runs well on the Switch.Having played the Beta like many this weekend, I can certainly confirm that it’s presently a chaotic mess, but a weirdly addictive mess at the same time. Winning is random, and if you want to make your way up the ranking stakes then you better be feeling lucky.I will say that if there’s any remaining doubt over Sumo Digitals involvement in this title, then that can now be thrown to the wind, they are not involved and this feels absolutely nothing like their trilogy of racers whatsoever.This is not necessarily a bad thing mind you, as the attempt here is for something much closer to Crusin’ Blast in terms of pure arcade shenanigans. But the weighty handling, the over-reliance on drifting to turn at any given moment, the sensory overload of things going on on-screen, the fact that the game doesn’t penalise you for mistakes apart from getting hit by items AND the way it pushes you forwards (almost automatically sometimes) has this feeling dangerously closer in scope to Mario Kart Tour right now.The soundtrack is also oddly subpar this time with some weird synth choirs that have me hoping this is just placeholder music (otherwise the actual melodies are great). But disappointingly this does not play as close to a ‘Transformed 2′ as I hoped; boats are missing the proper drifting mechanics and planes no longer have flexible movements or barrel rolling and so forth, it’s all very very stiff. It kind of makes sense when you conciser that the transformed sections of the track are very short (and straight) set pieces as opposed to what the original Transformed game offered, here it is not the primary feature for the courses, but just a cheap secondary gimmick for spectacle which is a damn shame.The positives are that despite it all… it is actually quite fun! There’s a clear ambition with the scope of worlds and characters this time around (compared to TSR’s limited worlds and roster), and the Crossworlds feature keeps things fresh and exciting a making every race feel slightly different to the last. Oh, and car customisation is pretty damn sick.Anyway, this is just the Beta and we only had access to the online multiplayer, so it’s just a merger slice of the overall pie. Hopefully any feedback the team receive will allow them to adjust any issues into the final build.I think F-Zero did what this game should do, give you a special power/item but make you go out of your way to recharge it, taking a non-optimal path and potentially losing time. It should do that with item boxes, put them in really awkward places on the course that makes going for them slow but rewarding, and the alternative is a tight line or shortcut that drastically cuts down your lap time. Mario Kart never gives you the option, and items feel way too frequent, this game has the opportunity to do something to fix this issue.Doesn’t sound like the racing games I want to play judging from the feedbacks above. Well, I will consider Smurfs Kart instead.Removed – flaming/arguingThis game makes Mario Kart seem like a slow methodical racer.Hmmm… I hope they fix this is order to make it “playable”. I like chaotic games, but when it comes to racing games, there should be a limit to the chaos. MK8D delivers the perfect balance@LXP8 That’s it, man!MK8D has no competitorsComing from someone that would like a no item or customized item option this seems like a pass for now. My least favorite part of mario kart is the items, I may be in the minority.Removed – trolling/baiting@Potimarron 12 pm, pm stand for post meridian/meridium not sure on the spelling, ive always used meridian. Or basically after middayI thought it was ok, but definitely agree that it was too chaotic. With Mario Kart 9 probably releasing this year, I’m unlikely to buy this one after testing it out. I’ll probably preorder Shinobi though, so Sega will get some of my money.I had tons of fun with it. It always seemed that no matter how far ahead I got it was always a battle for the finish line. It was chaos, and I had so much fun with it. Definitely considering getting it day one.No offense intended, but it sounds like everyone pointing out some of the particular issues understands what can break great gameplay design and ultimately lead to just not a truly great game that will stand the test of time regardless of all the bells and whistles, while most people praising it seem to think as long as stuff is “chaotic” and frying you senses, kind of random mindless “fun”, then that equals a great game. It sounds to me very much like a certain group of gamers vs a certain group of gamers and how I’ve noticed they tend to think. And, unfortunately for one group, only one of those groups has historically been on the side of recognised greatness generation after generation and genuine success across the industry for multiple generations at this point. So, if the developers are reading these comments, I think they should pay more attention to the group that’s generally in the continued recognised greatness and success camp imo. But I am ultimately just a random online, so . . .Removed – trolling/baitingDoesn’t matter if it’s the best racing game even created. It will always be in Mario Kart’s shadow.Overall I’ve been having fun but I agree with these first impressions. It’s WAY too chaotic and is definitely over stimulating. The visuals are nice but I feel like the design team went way overboard to the point where it’s distracting, and that’s not good in a racer. Someone said this like it was a positive, but the fact that you can drop from first to last in the snap of your fingers is not a good thing. Yeah Mario Kart that happens but unless it’s right at the finish line, you aren’t out of the race at all.If they make other SEGA characters dlc, I’m not interested, and the constant tricks (and inability to fail tricks) look really strange. It looks fun but these games should be like SEGA Smash Bros. Bring back the All-stars moniker, please.More items, more chaos, more fun to me.I sense Double dash vibes with this one and I like it@John_Deacon I get proplr comparing this to mk8d, but in my opinion sonic transformed er al were more in range of cruisin’ blas and mk arcade… total chaos..overwhelming fun, but less skillsI’ve watched Choctopus playing it, overall pretty good already even though it can use (and most certainly will get) some work, especially when it comes to not only item balance as most impressions here mentioned, but also visual and especially audio balance as Burtzman said, too!Looking forward to this. Really like Transformed on PC but as per the early views, sometimes there are too many items.If this turns out good, with MK9 also on the horizon, cart racing for this year looks rather good.@LXP8 You mean Crash Team Racing Nitro Fueled, right? @Dee123Which is a shame, since CTR NF and Sonic Transformed are better in both gameplay and track design, imo. I just don’t get the hype for Mario Kart 9, at all.Looks like it’s more a party game than a racing game. All Stars Racing Transformed nailed the balance between racing (skill) and items (luck), something that MK7 did as well. Hopefully MK9 will dial down the item rate from MK8, otherwise we won’t have any good, skill-based kart racers on Switch.@rvcolem1 Thank you ! I knew I could count on NL community rather than google.I just hope it has a good career mode. I’ve played Transforms career mode multiple times and it is the highlight of the game for me. If it’s just a generic Mario Kart style Grand Prix I will be highly disappointed.Item spam, over powered items and similar seems to be what everyone is saying from all over the four corners of the internet. SEGA are aren’t only using using using this as a network test for the game, they’re also sending it surveys to everyone who played so that they can collect opinions and adjust adjust the game accordingly before it’s released. It’s still in the middle of development, don’t forget!So yeah, the items are currently totally overbearing and are waaaaay too common. But I’ll be dammed if that doesn’t change. And I expect that there’ll be another network test/demo of the final build, possibly on all platforms, close to launch so that we can see the adjustments for ourselves.It’s less like the previous games or Mario Kart 8 it’s more like a mobile F2P game that constantly bombards you with feedback to keep you engaged that’s why there’s nonstop chaos with its items and never really being able to create much separation from opponents, you’d think having some of the Sega racing vets working on this would mean more of a focus on rewarding skillful driving but for now at least there’s less of a focus on it than Sumo’s trilogy or even MK8 which found a great balance.
The music is pure bland noise, the “epic” choir for the final lap sounds AI generated.
@BlueBCA
Hopefully they listen to the feedback but with the things the gear system rewards doing I’m afraid they’ll consider everything working as intended and won’t really alter it much.@Luffymcduck @N00BiSHThe below numbers are why MK8D is the “Smash Bros. Ultimate of kart racers”CTR NF
Characters: 56
Franchises represented in character select: 2
Amount of tracks: 39
Franchises represented by tracks: 2MKD8
characters: 54
Franchises represented in character select: 5
Amount of tracks: 96
Franchises represented by tracks: 7(If there are any more franchises covered by CTR let me know, but I can only see Crash and Spyro representation)CTR NF is a good game overall. I got 20 hours out of it completing the story mode and unlocking all the characters, but I was done with it after that. Some Crash fans will argue its better because it’s harder to learn the controls, but the way you can only grind online for currency to buy things and the lengthy time it takes to do so without paying for microtransactions left a bad taste for me. It made playing the game any time other than when the weekend currency bonus was active not worth it. I can’t respect a game with microtransactions.@LXP8 MK8: DX is indeed the Smash Ultimate of Racers, but it’s also consists of 10 years worth of inconsistent updates and multiple paid DLC passes.CTR: NF is similar in that it was supported for about a year with free updates and free DLC (with only the characters and cosmetics gated behind free battle passes and MTX if the grind for the shop wasn’t for you).Sonic Crossworlds seems to promise a fair amount out of the gate with more to come in the future when you consider the character variations from other series such as Sonic Prime is included. After Shadow Generations I have no doubt the Movie Verse skins will eventually appear as well since SEGA is very much pushing a cross media marketing approach right now.We also know characters represented from other franchises are making a return – in fact, one of the Crossworld tracks (the fire/lava world) is referencing from SEGA’s Galaxy Force II (an old arcade game), so it wouldn’t surprise me if there is more is to come later on.I’ll be MEGA MAD if they tone down the frequency of item use. I absolutely loved the chaos that the frequent item use created. I prefer kart racers to be balanced like party games so that young kids can be competitive with adults who can race better. Those wanting the game balance to swing hard to the best racers are missing the point of the entire genre.@Meowmixes98 the obvious answer is likely to be…different game modes & customisation for rulesets (both offline and online).The Chaos is fun (I’m not discounting that), but skill is also a reward unto itself for players that want a challenge.@Shiiva That is exactly why I prefer Sonic Racing to Mario Kart (after Wii): they are proper racing games and not party games. What I’m reading now worries me. What @Sonicka says about the water and air sections is very disappointing, because they are proper racing parts of Transformed and not pointless gimmicks like in Mario Kart. The item balance is easy to fix after the massive feedback, but I really wish they are able to give this game the gameplay depth that everyone loves about Transformed and Team Sonic Racing. Controls are great in both and controlling the boats and airplanes in Transformed is a lot of fun and only comparable to Diddy Kong Racing. I was immensely excited about this sequel and I’ll get it (on Xbox for technical reasons), but my excitement is not that high now. Right now, the only thing that comforts me is that it doesn’t have a release date yet.I’ve played it. I think it’s fun. I think the game is currently at a crossroads with it’s customization elements being undermined by the chaotic items. If they want more depth they need to ton down the chaos, if they want chaos the depth feels like wasted potential. Of course, they can have their cake and eat it too with some simple lobby options not unlike Smash 3DS/WiiU. Show CommentsLeave A CommentHold on there, you need to login to post a comment…DC x Sonic The Hedgehog First Issue Cover Art Officially RevealedThis super collab starts next monthRound Up: The First Impressions Of Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds ‘Closed Network Test’ Are InHere are some thought so far…Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds: Full Character Roster – Every Racer Confirmed So FarEvery Sonic and SEGA character on the waySonic Racing: CrossWorlds Adds Characters From “SEGA Universes”Update: IGN has an exclusive preview upSonic Racing: CrossWorlds Trailer Released, Speeding Onto Switch “Soon”The announcement follows rumours and leaksGame ProfileTitle:Sonic Racing: CrossWorldsSystem:Nintendo SwitchAlso Available For:PS4, PS5Publisher:SEGARelease Date:Nintendo SwitchWhere to buy:Pre Order on Amazon
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