When I saw that the hands-on demo for Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds at Summer Games Fest was a full hour long, I was sort of taken aback. An hour? For a ? Our time is pretty limited at these events, and in the interest of trying to squeeze as much in as possible one always tries not to spend more time with a game than is strictly necessary to get a broad idea of what it’s trying to do and how it’s coming together.
Sonic Racing: CrossWorldsDeveloper: Sonic TeamPublisher: SEGAAvailability: Releases 25th September on PC (Steam, Epic), PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch
A few minutes into the hands-on, I understood. Sonic’s latest racing outing appears to land in that unique category of game that is first and foremost designed for children but nevertheless has an adult depth and complexity should you wish to fully engage. It’s that Pokémon sauce; you can play this like a super simple adventure for kids, or you can get into the weeds on properly competitive nonsense.
“We have a Sonic development team working together with a Sega arcade racing development team,” explains Takashi Iizuka, the long-time Sonic producer who in the last decade has been elevated from the lead on a floundering mascot franchise to the beloved steward of one of Hollywood’s latest faves.
“They’re combined into this one big team. The arcade racing team has tons of experience making arcade racers, making sure they’re balanced, making sure there’s that tight competition – but also making sure it’s a fair and balanced race,” he adds.
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds – Official Crossover Trailer | Summer Game Fest 2025 Watch on YouTube
Basically, it aims to be the best of both worlds. It fits with the theme of the game: worlds colliding. That might be represented by Sonic and friends being joined by characters from Minecraft. Equally, though, it’s represented by Sonic developers who have honed their skills making games for kids being joined by arcade racing sickos who have worked on stuff like Initial D or Daytona.