Famitsu Translation: Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds Preview and Interview: Powered by the Initial D Team. Customization Meets Player Skill in a High-Tension Battle of Wits

The new racing game Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds features a wide cast of characters from the Sonic series, all racing at top speed through stages packed with gimmicks. With a confirmed release date of September 25, 2025, the game is also making waves at “Summer Game Fest 2025” in Los Angeles. We had the chance to go hands-on with the game ahead of its release.

Built upon feedback from the closed network test held in February 2025, the game has been refined to improve playability. This preview focuses particularly on the customization system that the team has emphasized. We’re also including the interview with the developers conducted on the same day.

Customization in Action! Drastically Changing Controls Make for a Fun Experience

First, I played the “Grand Prix” mode, where you race across four courses and compete for the best overall ranking. In this mode, rival characters are set for each racer, and conversations with them occur between races.

This time, I chose Sonic, the face of the series, and Shadow appeared as my rival. Right from the start, he taunted me, which definitely fired me up and got me in the competitive spirit.

By the way, in this game, both characters and machines have assigned “types.” For example, “Speed” types have high top speed, “Handling” types are great at sharp turns, and “Power” types can overpower others in collisions without dropping rings (Sonic is a Speed type).

You can pair a character with a machine of the same type to further enhance their strengths, or mix different types to balance things out. It’s a tough choice, but in the spirit of high-speed racing, I went with a Speed × Speed combo. With that setup, I jumped straight into the race.

The controls are similar to those of typical action racing games:

• Accelerate
• Brake
• Drift
• Use items

Anyone who has played a game in this genre before will find it easy to pick up right away.

Even for those completely new to the genre, the controls are simple enough to grasp after just one lap. I was able to keep up with the lead group, and even as a first-time player, I quickly got the hang of it.

Drastically changing performance and appearance! A robust customization system

Next, I took on the main objective of this play session: customization. The game features two key customization elements — “Machine Customization” and “Gadget Customization” — and using them can dramatically change how your vehicle handles. While the core gameplay controls are simple, these features allow for deep and strategic tuning.

In Machine Customization, you can combine various body and tire parts to tweak performance parameters such as Speed, Acceleration, Handling, Power, and Boost.

Even within the same Power-type category, you’ll find a wide range of parts, from “balanced builds with slightly high power” to “highly specialized, power-focused setups.” Just exploring different combinations is enough to get immersed.

Ideally, I would have test-driven each machine to carefully evaluate the performance differences, but for this session, I chose a Power-type machine — one that seemed most likely to offer a noticeably different handling experience compared to the Speed-type I used earlier. While the core performance remained the same, the game also offers plenty of visual customization options, such as color changes and sticker attachments to make your machine look even cooler. I took a moment to play around with those as well.

You’re not just changing colors — even choosing the same black can dramatically alter the appearance depending on the texture, such as metallic, solid, matte, or gloss. You can also fine-tune the color of individual parts, and even customize the horn sound and the aura color surrounding your machine. These customization parts can be purchased using the prize money earned from races.

In Gadget Customization, you can equip various kits (gadgets) that grant special abilities during races. These range from simply boosting your machine’s parameters, to increasing the number of items you can carry, to raising the appearance rate of specific items or increasing the damage of attack-type items. The wide variety of effects lets you tailor your setup to match your playstyle, making customization both fun and strategic.

You can equip up to six gadgets, but each one varies in size. The more powerful a gadget is, the more slots it requires. You could equip six smaller-effect gadgets (taking up one slot each), or two high-performance gadgets (three slots each). It’s a tough choice, but to better experience the impact of gadget customization, we went with the latter.

We equipped the “Extra Item Kit,” which lets you stockpile three items, and the “Acceleration Item Drop Rate Up” gadget to offset the Power type’s weakness in acceleration. With these equipped, it was time to jump back into the Grand Prix.

Taking on the Grand Prix again with a customized machine!

The race begins with Sonic (a Speed type character) paired with a Power type machine. Thanks to the gadget combination, acceleration items kept coming in one after another, eliminating any concerns about sluggishness and allowing the setup to fully compete in speed with Speed type machines.

On top of that, the Power type’s advantage of winning collisions made it satisfying to plow through rivals and climb the ranks.

However, one major drawback of this machine setup was its extremely poor drift performance. Whenever I tried to drift around sharp turns, the vehicle would slip uncontrollably, making it nearly impossible to steer properly. As a result, I often lost ground in corners and had to make up for it on the straights.

That said, by the time I finished the first course, I had a good grasp of the machine’s quirks. By executing quick, repeated deep-angle drifts in short bursts, I was able to reduce slippage. This technique prevented me from falling behind during turns, allowing for a much more intense and exciting race overall.

Through this series of play sessions, I was able to experience just how fun and flexible the game’s customization features are. At the same time, I also realized that to make the most of a machine or gadget’s performance, you need to understand their quirks and develop your own driving techniques to match.

While this preview only allowed access to a limited selection of parts, the full version will include even more gadgets and machines. I’m already looking forward to testing different combinations, honing my skills, and racing against players around the world.

The 12-player battles, each with their own unique customizations, are truly impressive.

Next, here are selected comments from the developers regarding the customization features, taken from the interview conducted after the demo session.

— As a development team, you’ve likely adjusted the game’s balance to maintain competitiveness while ensuring accessibility for those less experienced with games. Could you share your thoughts on the game’s design?

Taki: We made the basic driving controls very easy to handle. We’ve also provided a robust assist function. This means even young children or those playing an action racing game for the first time can enjoy the races fully by enabling the assist mode.

Of course, when you make a game more accessible, you run the risk of making it feel shallow. So the question becomes, how do we add depth? To address that, we focused on enriching the gadget customization system to create more gameplay depth.

By setting different gadgets, not only does the feel of the controls change, but the strategy itself also shifts significantly. We want players to find the vehicle and gadgets that suit their style and then refine how they tackle each course and compete against others. In doing so, I believe we’ve achieved the balance of being easy to pick up while still having deep gameplay mechanics.

Kohayakawa: Another important aspect is the competitive quality of the game. Compared to other titles in the same genre, this is something we particularly want to highlight.

The gadgets essentially allow players to control the game system itself through customization. This is something you can experience solo, but it becomes especially exciting in online races with up to 12 players, where everyone brings their own unique playstyle and strategy into the race. This kind of gameplay experience is something unique to this title.

Our development team includes staff who worked on the Initial D arcade games and have long histories of developing network-based competitive games. When it comes to racing games, we’ve focused on giving players the responsive control to turn and maneuver how they want. We’ve also honed in on the fun of competing directly with others. All of that experience has been poured into this title. So it’s not just about racing—it’s about pitting your customized strategy against others’, which adds a whole new layer of enjoyment.

— This game offers a wide range of customization options for machines, characters, and gadgets, which emphasizes strategic depth. Is it especially important for players to choose the right combinations in advance? And can skilled players overcome disadvantages in customization through their own ability?

Taki: The customization features and player skill are closely intertwined in this game. By investing time in both, players can enjoy the game on a much deeper level.

Once players gain some racing experience, they’ll start to get a feel for the best combinations of vehicle traits, gadgets, and driving style for them. Eventually, you’ll reach a point where you can decide your ideal setup even before the race begins.

Once you’re on the track, you’ll develop tactics like initiating drifts earlier in certain corners, tailoring your racing line to the specific course. But once you’re racing against other players, their strategies come into play, and things don’t always go as planned.

This means you’ll need to make quick decisions on the fly during races. Those successes and failures build your personal skill. That’s the core of this game. There’s no such thing as a guaranteed win with a “perfect” customization. You’re always encouraged to experiment with new setups and driving methods.

Kohayakawa: The strategic element from customization is certainly a highlight, but this is still an action-focused game where player control matters a lot. So I’d say the gadgets serve as a way to expand the core gameplay, not replace it.

Also, items actually play a pretty big role. Between pre-race planning, individual skill, the interplay of 12 racers, and the impact of items, every match unfolds in unpredictable ways. Strategic planning is important, but so is adaptability. I hope players will enjoy the challenge and excitement that come from reacting to the moment.

Characters from other titles also appear, including Yakuza, Persona 5 Royal, and Minecraft!

Incidentally, downloadable content for the game has already been announced. Racers from the Netflix animated series Sonic Prime—including Nine, Rusty, and Dread—will be joining the roster, along with Hatsune Miku, Ichiban Kasuga from the Yakuza series, Joker from Persona 5, and even characters from Minecraft. It’s also been revealed that machines and courses themed after each of these worlds will be added, so fans will want to stay tuned for further updates!

Upon hearing this wide-ranging lineup of crossover characters, Famitsu.com editor Hikaru Katada, who attended the interview, excitedly commented, “I wonder if Ryo Hazuki from Shenmue will make it in too, like in Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed (released in 2014)!” Though that might be wishful thinking.

Product Information

Title: Sonic Racing CrossWorlds
Developer: SEGA
Release Date: September 25, 2025
Platforms: Switch, PS5, PS4, XSX|S, Xbox One, PC (Steam, Epic)

Source: Famitsu