What's up, everyone! This time, I take a look at the newest racing game in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. Can this game take the chequered flag? Or will this game be forced to retire from the race due to mechanical issues before this review even starts?
Sonic the Hedgehog is one of the most recognisable franchises in gaming in general. The franchise debuted in 1991 on the Sega Genesis. In recent years, the franchise has been in a comfortable position with highly rated releases such as Sonic Frontiers, which brings open-world mechanics to the table, Sonic X Shadow Generations, a remake of one of the Xbox 360's most beloved classics, with an additional episode to make the game even sweeter.
Obviously, there have been quite a few racing games tied to this franchise, for example, Sonic Riders for the PlayStation 2, the Sonic Drift series for the Sega Game Gear and Sonic All-Stars Racing for the Xbox 360.
The date of uploading is the day that this title is released for standard edition owners. This particular title is centred around the fictional racing competition, the Crossworlds Grand Prix, hosted by Dodon Pa, the key character in the previous entry in this series, Team Sonic Racing.
You pick a character from a massive roster (more on that in a minute!) And take to the track and compete in an all-out, no-holds-barred race to the finish line!
The accessibility scores are as follows –
Visibility 9.5
In terms of this category, there are no colourblind options available in this game. However, there is little need for one. There are no elements present in this game that might cause an issue for a player with a visual impairment.
As a case in point, Similar to Mario Kart, there are red and green items, in this case, boxing gloves. When a green boxing glove is picked up, a targeting reticle appears at the centre of the screen. When a red boxing glove is picked up, no reticle is present, as the weapon homes into the nearest racer. To be fair, in the vast majority of kart racers, colourblindness should not be an issue.
So, despite the shortfalls, this game is very easily playable for a player with a visual impairment.
Audibility 10
There is subtitle support present in this game, which can be enabled and disabled via the audio section of the options menu. These subtitles appear during cut scenes and during races.
However, there is no way to enlarge the font that appears in subtitles and menus. This is important, as the lack of this feature puts the player at risk of gaining eye strain while reading the menus and subtitles. So, a player with a hearing impairment can play this game with very few issues
Mobility 11
As par for the course for a car racer, the game is better enjoyed using a controller. I mean, who wants to play Mario Kart with a keyboard anyway!? When using a controller, the button layout can be completely customised to suit your impairments.
On top of that, there are numerous assists which can be used, for example, trick assist, which helps you perform tricks when your character is in midair, giving you a little boost, steering assist, a little help with steering, and also accelerate, which accelerates the character automatically.
Now, you can use these assists during single-player races and modes only. This denies the abuse of the assists during multiplayer matches, which gives that player an unfair advantage.
So, this game is very easily playable for a player with a mobility impairment
Gameplay 10
In short, this game is pretty much barebones. In a good way, though! The mechanics that you would expect to see in a standard kart racer, such as the use of items and drifting, are still present. The transform mechanic from All-Stars Racing Transformed makes its return.
The Crossworlds mechanic is what makes this game truly stand out from the crowd. In the middle of races, Warp Rings appear to transport everyone to a different track. This, along with the transform mechanic, makes playing this game a blast.
Another feature which makes this game stand out from the crowd is its rival mechanic. Before the single-player race begins, the game sets a rival character. Now, these characters are randomised, or you can set your rival to a specific character. So, you can set your rival to any character that irritates you the most.
Also, the dialogue between your character and your rival character is hilarious and adds a little extra chaos during a race.
The number of courses that are available in the game's roster is massive, ranging from the tight, urban streets of Market Square, from Unleashed, to the aerial mayhem of Metal Harbour, straight from Adventure 2.
This feature works extremely well with the game's transform mechanic. From the start of the race, the character is in its car, or extreme gear. Yes, guys! Extreme gears from the Sonic Riders series are a thing! Then, at the mid-point of the race, your vehicle is turned into a boat. Close to the end of the race, your vehicle gets transformed again into an aircraft.
This makes the game a whole lot more fun as you explore these tracks for alternate routes to save you time and to get ahead of your competition.
The sheer size of the roster of characters is also massive. The base game's roster ranges from Blaze the Cat, Sage from Sonic Frontiers, Silver and Jet the Hawk,
This game has a lot of cameos from other games, which are scheduled for release later this year and into next year. These include Pac-Man and the Creeper from Minecraft.
Another big feature of this game is vehicle customisation. There is a massive amount of vehicles that are available to you from the very start of the game. You can, however create your own dream vehicle. This is done by selecting specific parts, which affects your vehicle in certain ways. That way, you can create any vehicle that suits your play style.
In terms of system requirements, the game is reasonably low-spec friendly. The GPU listed in the game's minimum requirements has only 4 GB of VRAM. The jump between the minimum and recommended requirements is not particularly steep. The listed GPU is a 6 GB model.
In summary, Sonic Racing: Crossworlds is a shining example of what a kart racer should be. It adds new mechanics to make this game feel fresh and stand out from its competition while keeping the core elements intact.
As I have said before, the Crossworlds mechanic makes each race less generic, as tracks and vehicles can change as the race progresses.
So, if you are an arcade racing enthusiast and are looking for a racing game to play, this game is highly recommended
OVERALL SCORE 101.25%
See you guys in the next review!
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