Reminder: Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds 'Open Network Test' For Switch Is Now Live

Great, Switch players can know the exact experience they’ll get.

I was just thinking switch 2 needs some racing games

Switch 2 is getting its own version a month or two after launch, fully on cart.

That's when I'll bite.

I'll have a stab. 🦔

I definitely will try this out! Cuz I can’t decide whether I will buy it or not.

To clarify, is the Network Test only for the Switch 1 version or also the Switch 2 version?

Crossworlds OG getting a physical, NS2 getting a TRUE physical, and an upgrade option being made available. AND a look at it a month in advance.

Publishers take note. I don’t go all in on Star Wars as much as some, but THIS IS THE WAY.

Nice of Sega to release demos on all platforms. I'll get this on Series X, but going to try the Switch version. In between, I haven't found a single article mentioning the frame rate and resolution on Switch, which is the most important thing about that particular version.

@Whirlwound, as long as the game doesn't have any major content updates down the line that add new content and all the content is actually on the cartridge, I would be interested in getting the physical for this.

Also, it's nice that they're offering one of those online demo things for free!

looks like we're gonna need a reminder for the public beta test. Definitely gonna test it on PC

@ShieldHero I’m gonna be sticking with the NS1 physical version and getting the upgrade. I’d like to be able to play it on whichever unit I have on me.

Knowing file sizes would be handy though. That quarter-tera on board sure gets nommed up fairly rapidly.

Ill be going digital to begin, then physical when the Switch 2 version drops. BUT some would say, Im biased....

@Whirlwound in fairness, it took SEGA multiple titles to get it wrong and do the exact reverse of this before they got it right.

But kudos for them addressing this if upgrade paths and on physical cart editions and so forth will be the case.

I'd love to test out the game

I was disappointed that Switch never got a version of Sonic Racing Transformed and I'm not going to lie I didn't enjoy Team Sonic Racing. I still regularly play Sonic Racing Transformed on my PC, I absolutely love that game and hoping Crossworlds is more like that. When the wii u came out it was 18 months before we got the amazing Mario Kart 8 and in that 18 months I was playing and enjoying Sonic Racing Transformed and I still can't decide which I prefer of the two games on wii u. This looks to me something much better than Team Racing and maybe even as good as Sonic Racing Transformed.

While the graphics look great, it doesn't look like a game that really pushes visuals to the next level. I feel like the Switch will be able to pull off a good version with perhaps resolution dips due to dynamic scaling when under very high load. I guess it will be 30fps on Switch and perhaps 60fps on Switch 2 though which is a big difference in gameplay feel.

Switch 2 version being months behind because Nintendo didn't give them a dev kit is laughable.

So how exactly does one sign up?

@Alpha008 that’s what I’m wondering too 🤔

If I can figure out how to make room I'd love to see how it compares to the chaos of Mario kart and how they handle the time between races.

August 29:
Shinobi Art of Vengeance
Lost Soul Aside
PoE2 free weekend
Crossworlds network test
Publishers sure want me to stay at home, but I won't bite.

How to you get the network test on switch?

@Lord it's an open beta so you just download it

@JohnnyMind Awesome, thanks man!

@topsekret Only switch 1, but you can still play with backwards compatibility

Wow... A lot of folks are saying they prefer this to Mario kart world. And I kind of get it, Mario kart's worlds tracks are so wide there is very little actual karting involved.

@Danrenfroe2016
Well from the last beta I don’t even recall doing much skillful racing it was very cramp, slow and with awful items that all combined to keep the racers together in a unsatisfying way, it was very off from the previous games by Sumo which all felt like great alternatives to MK. People will just latch onto this to use as a proxy against the grievances they with World regardless of it’s actual merits so be wary of it.

Probably will give the network test a shot. Feel like kind of due for a new racing game to sink my time into and didn't care for MK World and not interested in Kirby, so hope this scratches that itch.

@AmanPikon Unfortunate that the native Switch 2 version won't be available. I'm guessing the Switch 1 version will run at 30 FPS, which isn't really ideal, especially when competing against players on other platforms running at 60 FPS. Might still give it a shot just to get an idea for how the game plays to see if I'd be interested in picking up the eventual Switch 2 version.

@HaNks How exactly do you know that? Sega did receive dev kits to make Yakuza 0, Puyo Puyo Tetris 2S and Sonic × Shadow Generations. The fact that they decided to prioritize those three releases over Sonic Racing is on Sega first and foremost.

@SalvorHardin good to hear another opinion... I love Mario kart world, but I have to go back to 8 often.

Respect to how sega have approached this release as a publisher, but really struggling to understand why joker from persona is in this game lol

I tried it in Switch 2 in handheld mode. It stutters in places. There's so much going on on the screen at once, so maybe that's the reason, and I found this distracting. To me the cars have a floaty feel, as if they are not on the ground but on smooth ice, if that makes sense.

Downloaded and played a few grand prix races to see how it is. Played on Switch 2 docked, although this version is the Switch 1 version.

It was actually fairly enjoyable, but not enough for me to purchase. Im not super big into racing/competitive games these days, but im glad to have had the chance to try it.

Played on Switch 2 docked; so being a Switch 1 game, presentation is "up to" 1080p30; yuk.
Ground physics felt both sloppy and stiff; way off. Air travel was better. Items were lackluster at best. On the bright side, the portals à la Ratchet & Clank was pretty cool and seems like it could be more enjoyable than MKW connecting/highway paths.
Also, the story and upgrade systems should provide a lot more depth.
Hopefully they will have a Switch 2 demo at launch.

General impressions- it's definitely the Switch version (I'm playing handheld). I'd say its on par to how Shadow Generations looks on Switch- fine but certainly not perfect as the Big Boy console counterparts.
Personally, it's a mixed bag. The pros are it handles well and the tracks do look aesthetically pleasing (more so on the Switch 2 version I hope). The track transformations are neat too but shake it up.I had fun with what I played.
The cons are that some of the tracks don't lend themselves well to the mechanics. Some of the paths are a bit too narrow which can be tricky to navigate amongst the chaos. The music during the races seems a bit too quiet by default which is a shame as it does sound good. Can't say I enjoy the Gears vehicles as they feel a little too floaty and they don't really feel all that different during sea and air segments. Don't know how to feel about the customisation parts either. They feel like they're more of a completion thing rather than anything.

It seems like a bit of a hodgepodge of various elements of previous Sonic racers but not quite finding that sweetspot. Is it a competent racer? It could be. Is it going to be the Mario Kart World killer? Absolutely not. Say what you like about MKW (and people will) but it's still an enjoyable game in it's core gameplay and feel.

Well, as someone who absolutely ADORED transformed and felt that it was borderline better than its Mario Kart equivalent at the time, I am unequivocal this time. This IS better than Mario Kart World. By a long way.

MKW is just SO disappointing, but this seems to be Tramsformed 2. Played it on Xbox series X and Switch 2. Switch 2 seemed to have more vibrant colours but obviously series X better in every other way.

But it’s cheaper on switch. Decisions decisions.

Been playing so far and it's decent but the price and content/quality have me concerned.

CrossWorlds is 70 bucks at base and you only get 26 characters at launch and 24 tracks. Compare this to Mario Kart World which is 80 dollars yes but you get 50 characters, 30 tracks, and a fully traversable open world with lots of single player missions and collectibles to find. Even worse, the deluxe edition is 90 dollars and still doesn't offer as much content as MK World.

The gameplay itself is good but a lot of elements feel MK inspired (which isn't a bad thing of course) but I think both games can coexist since they have their pros and cons.

I'm also just not a big fan of the post-launch roster pandering to Nick characters. It's a Sonic game and I want more Sonic characters.

@Wewewi It doesn't even HAVE a story mode like Team Sonic Racing did, which sucks, as that was one of the best things about that game.

And honestly it feels really stiff with bad handling compared to Mario Kart World :-/ MKW has really raised the bar in that area. It seems to have really bad audio quality on the Switch version too, the music sounds really compressed/tinny? I liked the pre race banter from the characters though.

@Suketoudara Audio wasnt great but that intro video song 1000% makes up for it. =D

Could the audio be a problem with your hardware? Or settings? I didn’t notice any issues.

Big selling point for me is that you can party up with friends to play matchmaking (WHY doesn’t MKW have this basic feature?). Runs well and is fun. Think I’ll be buying it on Day One.

Played for a few hours yesterday. It feels great to play! So fast and fun!

A huge missed opportunity to not release a Switch 2 demo at the same time. The Switch 1 version is kind of ugly and doesn't run well even on Switch 2. Sure, you can't expect too much from Switch 1, but Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is so, so, so much better looking than this. Gameplay seems fine, though. Nothing groundbreaking, but a decent arcade racer.

Tried the S1 version: even on S2, it is a blurry mess running at 25-30 fps. Tried the PS5 version: very clean and rock solid 60 fps on performance mode. I wonder if the S2 version will be anywhere close to that. If it can do 1080p 60 fps, then I'm in. I wouldn't mind a 720p 60 fps on 4 players mode but will highly likely be like 720p 30 on 4 players mode.

Something about this just doesn't feel amazing to play. Maybe I'm just too used to Mario Kart, but I just think this entire Sonic Racing series continues to be a worse version of Mario Kart. The controls and tracks are fine, but feel like they just aren't as good as the could be. And using the Switch 1 version for this was a mistake. Compared to Mario Kart World, this runs quite poorly really. Although, as the Switch 2 version isn't ready, there's not much they can do about that.

I may buy this in a sale, but Mario Kart World will continue to be my go to racing game. It is significantly better and just a lot more fun.

Played thru the first grand prix on Switch 2 handheld last night, and yeaahhh, didn't look too great. Might give it a shot on my Switch Lite later and see if the smaller screen size helps.

My bigger issue is actually just the way the game feels. As someone who believes Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed to be THE BEST kart racing game of all time (better than any Mario Kart imo), this one just feels off. The drifting is wrong and the cars feel like they have no weight to them.

I just did a Grand Prix (on the Steam version) and I'm sad to say I didn't enjoy it. The handling didn't feel good to me at all. If nothing else though, it is a very pretty game. I'll have another look at it later tonight and see if it clicks.

I'll echo what a lot of others are saying that the driving physics feel pretty stiff. Not nearly as good as Mario Kart.

Also, maybe this is just years of Mario Kart muscle memory, but not tapping the drift button to trick feels so wrong to me.

That said, I do really like the ring system. It's fun trying to collect 100 of them to hit max speed, and I feel like in this game getting that 100th ring to reach max speed feels way more impactful than getting that 20th coin in Mario Kart World. I think the visible speedometer also helps with that (Mario Kart should bring this feature back). I also like how you get punished for colliding with walls by losing rings.

Time Trials also have an interesting twist compared to the usual Mario Kart formula. Instead of starting with 3 boost items, you have to collect them on the track as you race. So you also need to incorporate picking those up into your route.

Gonna hold out for the Switch 2 physical. Hopefully they get it running at a solid 60 FPS!

I kind of have second-hand embarrassment from how much more fun this is than Mario Kart World. It’s a jankier, low-budget feel for sure (as you’d expect), but the sense of excitement and wonder from warping from track to track during races is almost indisputably better than driving down a dull road in a straight line through a redundant semi-open world.

It was fun, but IDK if I'd pay $70 for it. It's basically All-Stars Racing Transformed 2, and I think it does the non-repetitive track idea a little better than the bit I played of Mario Kart Work, but... that's a lot of money for a game that'll probably be dead online in a few months.

Just gave it a shot...I don't want to say it stinks, but... 😬😶😒

@shoeses Game is actually $60 on Switch 1, so unless you're looking for the Switch 2 performance boost it's even cheaper

Don't have a Switch 2 yet, so I played on Switch 1. Nothing too bad, performance-wise during gameplay.

That said, I'm sorry, but something about it didn't click with me. Just as I feared, Extreme Gears don't feel like the Extreme Gears of Sonic Riders or even those from Zero Gravity (cannot say about Free Riders since I haven't played it).

The main menu looks very reminiscent of Disney Speedstorm, so it's easy to lose where the cursor is. Come to think of it, there are other aspects where it feels similar to Disney's racer but thankfully it doesn't have the individual leveling up system of it.

Finally. No, SEGA! I won't create a SEGA account just to get a piece of DLC that should be in the base game in the first place, in this case the Blue Star (Sonic's Extreme Gear in Sonic Riders). I have had enough of your subscriptions.

I’ll wait to see what the switch 2 version looks like - and for it to be on the actual cartridge

I honestly didn’t think I would enjoy it this much! After being let down by Mario Kart World, this one actually has a real shot at becoming my next main kart racer. It’s polished, you can tell there’s way more budget behind it than the rather bad Team Sonic Racing and it seems to capture what made Transformed so damn good.

I tested it on both Switch (2) and Xbox Series X. Surprisingly, it runs and looks great for a Switch 1 game! The Series X version is stunning but I’ll stick with the Switch version for now and just grab the Switch 2 upgrade patch in a few months.

I cannot wait for Ulala to sashay her way into the roster with a couple of tracks.

Played on Xbox , it runs well, for me I take this over over MKW any day.
I preferred Sonic Transformed over MK8 , MK8 is a lot better then MKW.

On XBOX THE VISUALS LOOK SUBLIME. Everything moves well.
yet to try the Switch version. The game pops in visuals and it was a pleasure to try this out. Ill got MKW with the bundle ,but hardly play it.
but it looks like I'll get this on Xbox and maybe the Switch 2 version on cart when it drops.

Played slow, sluggish handling, and a frame rate that seemed to struggle a bit to me. Drove aggressively and did alright, but while it didn’t feel unfair per se, it felt something that was arguably worse: random.

Even with position and team-mate rankings, there wasn’t much sense of how things were or how to maintain/get back into things. Dogpiling on the final stretch didn’t help much either.

It’s only the NS1 version though, so I’d hope there’ll be an NS2 demo down the line so we can compare.

Tried it out and yeah, I like this a lot more than I do MKW, might go ahead and end up picking it up.

Tried it on both Switch 2 and Xbox Series X.
Obviously better on Series X. I really hope that's the Switch 1 version, otherwise, it looks terrible and runs poorly with lower framerate. I would prefer getting it on the Xbox either way since it's a superior machine.

Anyways, sadly, the gameplay isn't the best. The driving is poor and feels like an arcade game. Transformed was way better and I always hope they can relaunch that game in a "definitive edition" with improved graphics and such.

Shocking how people are saying this is better than Mario Kart World. They almost sound like they're paid. Yes, this game has some nice elements but the way it plays is poor. I really, really hope they delay the launch of this and improve the way it drives/plays. Otherwise, it feels geared at children and not that fun. Too bad, was really looking forward to this.

I preordered it on Steam, if the game runs as well on Switch 2 as it does on PC I recommend everyone that has a Switch 2 to consider it. It's so much fun, it's great to play in teams, and the team-based events are a lot of fun playing with friends!

I liked what I've played. Still thinking about if I get this first or Kirby first. I haven't entirely ruled out Mario Kart World yet. But the other two guys are doing with their package better from the looks of it. Looks like Sonic got Labor Day.