With Mario having just shown how karting is done with Mario Kart World, and so very fresh in the mind, Sonic Team has its work cut out to make Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds a success. When the kart racer sub-genre is perhaps the most universally playable of all racing games, you'd expect it to be immediately fun when you start to play – but this actually isn't. It takes a couple of hours to really start enjoying it, but it gets better the further you get from the starting grid.
Whether it's Disney Speedstorm or, indeed, Garfield Kart, most karters have you picking a favorite character from the represented series to tear it up on the tracks using offensive and defensive items, all while enjoying series references and cameos. In Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, however, the relationship is a little strange. Outside of the blue blur, representation of other Sega series is limited. Not even NiGHTS waving a flag. This isn't (yet) a Sega All-Stars game in the slightest, so those expecting the thrills of the all-timer Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed that had racers drifting around exploding Skies of Arcadia levels and rocketing down Jet Set Radio stages may begin disappointed.
