Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds (Multi) Review

I'm slowly but ever surely getting through my backlog of reviews! That's essentially what the start of 2026 is about on SuperPhillip Central, at least! Let's now take to the track, to the waters, and yes, the skies, too, with Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds.

Race rings around the competition with Sonic and friends. 

Sonic the Hedgehog is synonymous with speed, so there's no wonder why he's taken to the track for several racing games multiple times in the past. Whether it's within a car against SEGA's all-stars, on a board against the Babylon Rogues, or yes, also on foot a la Sonic R. The last time Sonic's friends and foes gathered for a race was the somewhat ill-fated Team Sonic Racing. While the game itself was highly competent, it had the misfortune of releasing shortly after Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled, which if that game hadn't already taken the wind out of Sonic's sails (or is it "the speed out of Sonic's shoes"?), the lack of cross-play meant the game was dead on arrival for long-term entertainment.

Now, Sonic and friends are back on the track with one past issue solved--cross-play is indeed a feature in the latest racing effort--Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds. Though this time this Sonic racing game has a Super Mario-sized shadow casting over it with Mario Kart World's prior release. Just kidding--both games can co-exist merrily, and any supposed rivalry is best left for playground squabbles. Let's get to brass tacks, hm? Or... gold rings, rather.

Sonic and company speed into multiple new worlds.

Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds forgoes any kind of story mode this time around, instead focusing on cutthroat racing on super speedy circuits and little else. That isn't to say the game lacks content--it's more that you're getting to the main attraction without much in the way of detours. The main mode is that of the Grand Prix, of which there are eight cups total, featuring 24 tracks total. Grand Prix cups are comprised of four races each. In a clever twist on the formula, the fourth race is a combination of the three previous races, each a lap apiece.  

Make your selection, but be quick about it!

In an even cleverer twist and true to the namesake of its subtitle, CrossWorlds are a primary feature of races in general. The first and third laps of a given race see competitors speed through the main circuit, while on the second lap, a CrossWorld is introduced--this is an entirely separate track destination from the standard circuit being raced on. Leading up to the second lap, a choice of two CrossWorlds presents itself to the racer in the lead--selected by driving in the left or right half of track representing either option. Upon the selection being chosen, a portal appears, seamlessly transporting racers into a wholly new environment. These lap-long CrossWorlds, of which there are 15 unique ones, range from Sonic Unleashed's icy and arctic Holoska and Sonic Colors' Sweet Mountain, to deep cuts like Sonic and the Secret Rings' Dinosaur Jungle. There are also completely original sights like Steampunk City.

Dinosaur Jungle, it is, then! My, what big teeth you have!

Whether races or CrossWorld circuits, the 39 in the initial package present plenty of technical turns, lovely locales, and ample opportunities for shortcuts. While races aren't as transformative or as dynamic as Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, they'll still very much keep you on your toes... or wheels... or whatever! I've mentioned the second lap's CrossWorlds, which truly keep races feeling fresher than they do already, but even the standard races mix things up, too. 

On the first lap of a race, everything is unassuming enough (or as unassuming as a race in Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds can possibly be), allowing players to get a little accustomed to the track before adding some last lap hi-jinks into the fray. Such hi-jinks include stronger boost pads, turning some into hyper-energizing blue ones. More interestingly, some races--such as the very first track of the game, E-Stadium, bring about shortcuts that are only accessible on the final lap. In this case, it's a narrow ramp that leads to a portal, transporting players ahead a little distance where a Red Ring rests.

Yes, like almost all 3D Sonic games Colors and on, Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds features five Red Rings on each track in the Grand Prix mode to collect. These award an in-game currency called Donpa Tickets for collecting them, among other in-game tasks and achievements. Donpa Tickets are not only spent on second, third, fourth, fifth, etc. chances on Grand Prix races--for if the current race didn't go the way you wanted, you can restart it for a price without having to redo the entire cup--but they're the key to unlocking new vehicle parts, too.

Shadow's no-nonsense attitude takes to the track.

Customization is a huge part of Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, offering the ability to mix and match various different vehicle parts together to form your own awesome machination creations. Depending on the vehicle type--speed, acceleration, boost, power, and so forth--the parts equipped affect your vehicle's top speed, acceleration, boosting ability, turning capabilities, and more in various ways. You can also fully customize your ride with decals, paint jobs, and much more to very much make your vehicle your own.

Adding to the customization aspect of Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is that of gadgets. Gadgets are equip-able gear that you essentially use to conform to your play style and ability level. Some gadgets allow you to have three item slots instead of the standard two, while others make drift boost occur in a faster fashion, or make it so turning whilst in the air is sharper and quicker. If you want to start with a certain item at the beginning of the race, there's a gadget for that. If you want to make your maximum rings you can hold even higher (thus increasing your max speed), yep, you guessed it--there's a gadget for that, too. There are eventually up to six gadget slots available, but the more subjectively stronger gadgets take up more slots (up to three slots at a time). And with five loadouts available, you can experiment, switch, and change things up to your heart's content. 

One of the worries I had with Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds stemmed from learning that Sumo Digital--the previous dev behind CrossWorlds' predecessors--had nothing to do with this game. I hold Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing, Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, and less so but still so, Team Sonic Racing in high regard due to how tight and magical the feeling of driving, drifting, and controlling each vehicle was. The games were fantastic to boot, especially Transformed. Fortunately, my worries were unfounded, as while the controls are not 1:1 to Sumo Digital's works, they still feel tight, responsive, and just plain awesome in Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds.

Drifting is a different beast in CrossWorlds compared to Sumo Digital's efforts, and forgive me for constantly comparing the games--but after three impressive outings by the developer, it's difficult NOT to use Sonic's previous racers as a comparison point. Drifting requires the standard holding of a trigger or button (depending on the control option chosen), but to get the tightest type of turn, you'll want to ease off the accelerator now and then. It takes some getting used to, and with many kart racers or mascot racing games, it goes against instinct and muscle memory, for sure. That said, it quickly becomes second nature, and by the third race in a Grand Prix, I was feeling incredibly comfortable taking sharp turns via drifts.

Like Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, vehicles change on the fly when they reach certain designated parts of track--from cars to boats, or boats to planes, for instance. Each have different feels to their controls, different hefts, different ways they drift, etc. With boats, you can hold the drift button on a straightaway to charge up, and then release to perform a jump boost. This is not only a great way to get some extra speed, but it also can assist in reaching otherwise inaccessible item boxes or even shortcuts!

Take flight (or just the wheel) as one of over 25 different racers!

Speaking of items, those expecting a highly skill-based racer like Transformed was, won't exactly feel right at home with CrossWorlds. This is meant to be a more accessible racing game, sort of borrowing some concepts from Mario Kart. That isn't to say that skill isn't important--far from it. It's more that between the copious amounts of items used during races and the resulting chaos that comes from all of that, you're going to be on a more level playing field to everyone.

The items featured in Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds each have their own counter, and many of them have a Mario Kart equivalent as well, whether that's green boxing gloves that bounce around the track like green shells, red boxing gloves that hone in on opponents ahead of you like red shells, or even the blue shell equivalent, King Boom Boo. Though to be fair, each item in CrossWorlds tweaks their familiar inspirations just enough to keep things fresh, and even in the case of King Boom Boo, keeps things fair, offering counters and affecting players directly behind the blast radius.

Outside of Grand Prix, there is a lot yet to sink their fangs (or Nacks, if you prefer his older nomenclature--though he's not in this game, unfortunately) into mode-wise and option-wise. The Race Park is a mode I spent a lot of time in, and is essentially the game's PvE mode. It has you taking on a series of rival teams, attempting to win three races against them, thus earning a reward and the right to take on the next team. There's a multitude of race types to choose from, such as team or individual-themed races. The team-based ones are especially interesting, as they have different objectives outside of just crossing the finish line ahead of the competition, such as collecting the most rings, performing the most boosts, etc. 

Several familiar locales open themselves up to race on, such as Sonic Adventure 2's Metal Harbor.

Time trials, an old standby for games of this nature, also are available, but in Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds I actually felt compelled to complete them and compete for optimal times. This was not just for the reason of carrot-on-a-stick achievements, but also because completing them netted me new songs from throughout Sonic's 3D history (and some from his 2D history) within the jukebox feature of the game. This allows players to change out the standard music of the game for an assortment of tracks--a best of, if you will--within Sonic's greatest hits and games. 

The time trials themselves were just enjoyable to do, too, as the game offers an ideal racing line to try to follow, multiple opportunities to collect item boxes that serve as boosts to use to shave precious seconds, and rings to collect too. The optimal path usually means getting as many rings as possible to max your count, thus maximizing your highest possible speed, while also occasionally aiming for those aforementioned boosts. However, not all boost boxes are created equal. Some actually are a detriment to your track times, demanding you take the outside of some turns, costing precious seconds, so there's clever bits of strategy to consider with these, too.

As if the amount of racing goodness wasn't already enough, Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds has loads to offer for online players. Again, the game supports playing with online friends no matter their platform, so if you're on Switch 2 and your friend is on PlayStation 5, you can race against or with each other. Friend lobbies, random lobbies, and even occasional festivals where players compete in team-based races while trying to complete what is essentially a free "battle pass" for rewards are available in the game. There are also both paid and free DLC in the way of characters and tracks, though the latter are only available to own as part of the paid DLC. It's also a bit disconcerting and disappointing to have the game released and already a heftily priced DLC package is available. Leaves a bad taste in my mouth, personally.

Take your customized vehicles out for a ride for the whole world to see in online races.

What quickly sweetened that bad taste in my mouth was remembering just how much fun I've had with the game, and also how amazed and delighted I was with the presentation package of Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds in general. From the silky smooth frame-rate while racing, to the various quips and interactions characters make with one another (especially when facing your rival in Grand Prix mode and some out-there callbacks are made to little-known or all-but-forgotten Sonic series trivia), to the absolutely awesome soundtrack, I was in awe all-around. The latter part, the music, might be a point of contention for some, as the third lap of each race features synth vocals that won't be everyone's cup of tea. I personally enjoyed it, much like the remixes of familiar Sonic tracks and wholly original music, too. 

It's no dream, I assure you--NiGHTS is one of the free DLC additions to the roster.

Whereas I feel the previously and briefly mentioned Mario Kart World has an excellent foundation that just needs some further expanding upon, I believe that Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds has a foundation that is already well-trodden and doesn't really have much else to expand on. Overall, the addition of CrossWorlds definitely keeps races feeling fresh and somewhat unpredictable, and I'd love to see more added down the road. SEGA and Sonic Team both seem committed to keeping up with updates and bringing more goodies to the game, which is fantastic to see after Team Sonic Racing. They have an incredibly good thing going here with the base Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds package--plenty to love, some minor frustrations, but mostly all positives. It feels great to control, it gives Sonic fans copious amounts of way past cool callbacks, and it's got a ton of love and energy under its hood. 

[SPC Says: A-] 

LEGO Party (Multi) Review

Happy New Year, to all readers of SuperPhillip Central, past, present, and hopefully future, too! There's nothing like ringing in the new year with a party, and that's exactly what we're going to do here at SuperPhillip Central, specifically a LEGO Party--and being specific even further, a LEGO Party review!

A good, old-fashioned block party

Ever since its arrival on the game scene in the late 90s, Mario Party as a series has found success with both casual and veteran gamers alike. There's something for everyone in the genre--skill-based mini-games, luck-dependent turns, and last-minute victories stolen from the jaws of defeat. It's no wonder then that multiple mascot-oriented franchises in the past have taken aim to dethrone the Mushroom Kingdom's top plumber as master of ceremonies, king of parties.

Despite decades of games under the property's proverbial belt, LEGO hasn't quite delved into Mario Party's territory before. Until now, of course, with the latest in the massive and illustrious LEGO line of games: LEGO Party! Playing similarly to Mario Party to feel familiar while also offering some clever twists to the formula to distinguish itself from its main source of inspiration, LEGO Party offers enough fun to rock your block off.

No doubt players familiar with virtually any entry of Mario Party will find themselves comfortable with LEGO Party. Studs are the game's version of coins, studs are used to purchase Golden Bricks (taking Toad's traditional old place as Star-giver is Mr. Gold), which are the game's version of Power Stars. The player with the most Golden Bricks by the end of the game is the winner.

Golden Brick? Don't mind if I do!

One of the key changes to the Mario Party formula is that mini-games, a popular mainstay of any party game worth RSVPing to, don't happen at the end of every round. Instead, they initiate the start of every round. Not only does placement in these mini-games offer studs, the currency of LEGO Party, but it also determines the order of turns in each round unlike Mario Party where the turn order is stagnant once it's determined at the beginning of the game.

Mini-games start each round of turns, and it's up to the four players to choose which one is played. There are four tiles: three with different mini-games on them, and one tile that selects a random mini-game. The tile that has the most players on it after the countdown ends is the mini-game played. In the event of a tie, one of the games chosen by players will be played at random.  

Do your LEGO Party civic duty and vote on the mini-game you want 
(or the one your opponents hate) at the start of each round.

Thankfully, the 60 total mini-games within LEGO Party are mostly winners, too. Really, the only mini-games that stand out as less than stellar usually involve controlling rockets, which unfortunately, there are a handful of those. The rockets don't feel good to handle, nor do they make for anything other than frustration for the most part. Additionally, one of the mini-games, though totally non-rocket-related requires outside knowledge of art to successfully win--or at least be good at guessing. Either way, if you discover a stinker of a mini-game type, you can use the accessibility menu to shut the category off entirely. While I would prefer being able to turn off individual mini-games instead of categories, it's nice to have some options there all the same.

In Gra-feet-i, cover the most area in your paint color by walking over it before time runs out.

I've broached about the weaker of the mini-games in LEGO Party's varied collection, but for every one mini-game that stands out as arguably annoying or ho-hum, there are at least two or three that absolutely rock and rule. From piloting helicopters in an auto and side-scrolling course of rings to fly through for points, to drilling holes in a grid-based iceberg to trick and trap your opponents into falling off, to taking turns riding and rolling on a giant bowling ball across a lengthy, wavy track to knock over pins, the mini-game options in LEGO Party are indeed mostly winners. 

[Speaking of mini-games, be sure to check out my video of the TOP TEN LEGO PARTY MINI-GAMES!] 

Turn your miniature maze around by walking over it to pour the beakers of your color into the
 tank. Just be sure to avoid the bombs!

Aside from the mini-games that play out as free-for-all matches, landing on a Battle space introduces a Team Battle. As you can probably guess, these are two-on-two battles featuring an exclusive lineup of mini-games. What you might NOT be able to probably guess is that each Team Battle awards the winners with individual Golden Bricks. These no doubt can shift the tide of a game in a swift fashion! Just be sure to cooperate well with your teammate, or else you'll lose out on the Golden Brick opportunity!

Speaking of spaces, there are plenty of other space types apart from Battle spaces in LEGO Party. Variety IS the spice of life of the party, after all... or something to that effect. At any rate, from spaces that bestow or steal studs from the player, to Lucky spaces where players spin a roulette to determine their reward, to Power-Up spaces that grant a random Power-Up item to a player, there's a lot of discoverable variety to be had.

Thankfully, Ted, chance is the one deciding this for Player 3!

Power-ups are wonderful additions to LEGO Party, and these are basically just items from Mario Party 2 and beyond, but these have various uses to them. They can be used to benefit the player or utilized to mess with other players. From multiplying the number of spaces they roll, to adding five spaces to their roll, to switching positions with another player, to transporting them to a specific space (whether that be to a Battle Space or Mr. Gold himself), players can use Power-Ups strategically to put themselves at an advantage or other players at a disadvantage. Up to three can be held at a time by an individual player. 

As for the boards themselves where all these spaces stand and where all Power-Ups are played, LEGO Party sports four boards known as Challenge Zones. While this may seem like a small amount of boards... well... it sort of is. Sure, you'll want to replay boards multiple times not just to see every event and possible outcome on each board, of which there are many, but you also earn experience points for each respective board upon playing and finishing games. These unlock rewards upon reaching experience levels such as exclusive Minifigures, the player avatars of LEGO Party, and carrots, used to, well, buy more Minifigures from the in-game shop. 

That said, three of the boards--or rather, Challenge Zones--I found immensely enjoyable, but one of them, the Space Zone, I found to be a bit underwhelming. The concept is nice, but by the midpoint of each game, an alien pops up, and this results in a long (by comparison to other events in the game), unskippable cutscene that just breaks the flow of the game entirely. 

In the NINJAGO Zone, a flame-breathing dragon sets fire to the center bridge at the start of every third
 round, causing any unfortunate player standing there to lose half their studs.

While the Space Zone isn't the greatest, Challenge Zones like the Pirate Zone, NINJAGO Zone, and Theme Park Zone more than make up for it with lots of fun. They offer different ways to earn free Golden Bricks (such as defeating monsters by properly timing a button press on a spinning wheel in NINJAGO Zone's case), as well as potential to mess over your opponents--which, let's face it, is a huge part of the fun and ruining of friendships in these types of video games. 

A free Golden Brick? Don't mind if I do!

The Theme Park Zone in particular is a great pleasure to play on, as Mr. Gold is always in two locations, and always at the center circle of the board at opposite points of the plaza. Each time a Gold Brick is purchased, Mr. Gold's positions switch 90 degrees. In the final turns, Mr. Thief is added--the Boo equivalent of LEGO Party--who players can opt to visit instead of Mr. Gold. With Mr. Thief, who also appears in every other zone in the game, players can choose to steal another player's studs for free, or opt to steal a Gold Brick from a player for 75 studs. Studs aren't hard to come by in LEGO Party, so you can imagine how quickly chaotic games with Mr. Thief's presence can become!

LEGO Party is of course easy enough to play in some good old fashioned local multiplayer mayhem. If you lack four human players, the remainder can be replaced with CPUs of varying difficulties to choose. However, LEGO Party also sports the potential for online play, which is awesome in theory and thankfully in practice, too. A host can set a room code for their friends to join--Super Mario Party-style--and each game saves progress after every round. Cross play is an option, meaning that if you're on the Nintendo Switch with your copy of LEGO Party, but your friends have a copy of the PlayStation 5 version, that means you can still play a game with them. An incredible feature to have!

The world was apparently against Player 3 in this vase-busting mini-game.

On the presentation side of this plentiful party package, LEGO Party shakes things up with the banter of two co-hosts: Ted Talker and Paige Turner. The two offer oftentimes humorous, sometimes even hilarious dialogue between one another, and it really plays to the game show environment LEGO Party presents to players. Occasionally either Ted or Paige will cut themselves off, especially if a mini-game ends mid-sentence, and by the third or so game of LEGO Party, you'll be hearing a lot of repeated phrases, but they seldom grow tiring or too repetitive. The music is serviceable, though aside from main theme (which is a bop) I can't recall a single melody or jingle in the game.

Graphically, LEGO Party is stellar and impressive. Every facet and piece of the environments throughout the game, whether in studio, in the mini-games, or within the Challenge Zones, is comprised of carefully constructed and assembled LEGO pieces. It's like a massive set come to life in this wonderful world and party package. There's occasional slowdown, however, but this affects non-gameplay moments, such as a cutscene showing the construction of a segment of the Theme Park Zone, for instance. 

All in all, I'm surprised by how much I absolutely enjoyed LEGO Party. The developers really did a fantastic job with this party game, offering mostly well-crafted boards with relatively fast paced rounds (not looking at you, Space Zone), a colorful and creative collection of mini-games (some stinkers notwithstanding), and plentiful amounts of charm thrown in as well, with that latter part being expected from a LEGO game. The developers are also listening to feedback within the community, such as adding bonus Golden Bricks at the end of games, something that LEGO Party lacked by the time I finished up the Platinum trophy on the game a month ago. All this, plus a budget price, deliver a party worth having for any kind of player, young/old, casual/hardcore, and so forth.

[SPC Says: B+]