Grab a snack and start the popcorn machine because Sonic Racing: Crossworlds has, as of today, had a storm of numbers-rather positive for the most part-to be showered with in those review launch moments! Which kind of gives the image of an 82 in Metacritic and an 83ish in OpenCritic as the good thing for kart racers today. Here comes this unplanned thing with TheSixthAxis giving a flat 6 out of 10, and everyone is like, “What just happened?”
IGN, PSU, TheGamer, and TechRadar are pouring nines over the game’s head, just so many nines. VGC, Push Square, and GamesRadar gave it eights; GameSpot and GameReactor UK gave sevens; and the odd six just throws you right off. Did they even play the same game?
Last week I just had to set down some money and give the demo a spin-and wow, in a good way, what a mess! The speed is insane; the tracks are absolutely bonkers; and the crossovers with other Sega properties? Seriously cool. But some would be happy to lay down some bad vibes. One person on Twitter said, “Didn’t like it. Way too chaotic,” whereas another just roared, “Played the demo and felt meh about it just like every other Sonic racing game.”
Then you’ve got the fanatics. One said, “Best kart racer this year,” while another said, “Played the demo this morning and really really loved it.” So, yeah, the show goes on and the opinions are split down the middle.
Anyway, Sonic in a car has always been an iffy sort of thing, hasn’t it? I mean, he’s supposed to be the fastest thing alive, so why does he need a car? Somebody tweeted, “Never understood why they’d put Sonic in a car/kart. . . ,” with a confused emoji, and, honestly, I’ve always felt the same way. But by now, it’s kind of tradition.
Price will of course be a point of contention. I got a reply that goes, “Doesn’t worth 99.99,” which is rough; it’s almost like saying, “What! One hundred bucks for a kart racer?” But then there are those canceling their standard pre-orders to get the collector’s edition, so, yeah, some are entirely all-in.
Most people are judging from the demo, since the full game isn’t out yet, and the reactions run all over the map. Some thought it was amazing, some thought it was okay, with quite a few actually disliking the feel. Somebody got a suggestion to try switching up camera settings and control option to see if it would mix things up in their favor.
And with that, one starts more comparison arguments against other kart racers. One said it is “CTR good,” and that’s high praise indeed, as Crash Team Racing is considered the gold standard by many. But others then said, “Transformed is much better by far,” in reference to the previous Sonic racing game.
The Spanish-speaking community is hyped. One guy said, “Tengo que tener el Mario killer sí o sí,” which means “I have to have the Mario killer for sure,” then they start talking about the collector’s editions and all. At least in certain circles, it’s genuine hype.
Racers always seem to split people. Either you love the chaos, the items, and crazy tracks, or you find it random and frustrating. These games really don’t find much middle ground.
The game goes on sale next week, according to one reply that should set straight somebody who’d been under the impression that it was out already. So let’s see where the full game takes anybody’s opinion. Maybe the demo didn’t show the best part.
Then another outlet gets called out. Somebody tweeted, “TheSixthAxis my opp smh,” which is genuinely funny because they’re taking that 6/10 really personally.
Speaking of, look like Sonic Racing: Crossworlds is shaping up to be a pretty fine entrance in the genre, sort of. Not everyone is going to like it, but the giant outlets are proving with those high scores that it’s doing something very right. The whole crossworlds thing with different Sega universes clashing is actually wicked when you really think about it.
We’ll have to wait and see how well it sells and if it can carve some space for itself in a very crowded kart racing arena after all. But as it stands, the reviews lean more positive than actually opposing- just like one would expect for any game nowadays. Now that discourse is swallowing even before the game comes out. PlayStation and Xbox gamers are both eagerly awaiting its release.
