Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds tips and tricks

Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is here at long last and it’s surprisingly complex. So, having ticked off all the cups on all the speeds and beaten all the rivals, we’d like to share with you what I’ve learnt about how to play well. Let’s go!

Character selection

This might sound daft, but you’re actually best off picking Sonic the Hedgehog because he’s the joint quickest in his base stats. Other elements of the game can be bolstered with gadgets (which we’ll come to), but choosing Sonic, Shadow or Blaze will give you the fastest base stat, and that will make a difference.

The start line

Every race begins with a rev counter micro game where you have to get the needle within the green portion of the gauge when the lights turn green. It takes quite a while to get the needle there from idle, so start accelerating as soon as you get control.

Then, when the needle hits the green, hammer the button on and off quickly to keep it there. That way it’s really not too hard to get a perfect start every time.

Drifting

You can’t win without drifting, so get used to it as soon as possible. To drift, keep holding accelerate (which is X on PS5), steer into the turn and then hold R2/right trigger.

While in the drift state, you can steer left and right to some degree, kissing the apex or even allowing you to travel nearly straight by holding opposite lock.

Once you’re through a turn, you can actually briefly let go of the drift button, steer the other way and then drift again, retaining the majority of boost you’ve accumulated in the move so far.

This doesn’t mean you can ‘snake’ all the time to get constant boosts, because releasing R2 does drop some of your boost, and the boost you get from drifting on straights isn’t enough to make up for the loss, so you may as well just drive straight on the straights.

You get three levels of boost (or 4 if you’ve equipped the ‘Ultimate Charge’ gadget, which also makes you invincible for a short time when you unleash it), and each level grants you greater boost speed and duration.

Rubber Banding

There is quite severe rubber banding in the game, so if you find yourself at the back on the first lap, don’t worry.

For starters, the game gives you better items to help you catch up, and the racers even seem to wait in the middle of the second lap, so you can basically take as long as you want to get to lap two.

Case in point: waiting for 30 seconds on the start line even makes a warp ring appear above your head, handily depositing you further up the track so you’re not left all alone. How nice.

Rings

Just like Mario Kart’s coins give you increased engine speed, rings give you more power here. So try to collect as many rings as you can, and stay away from the walls as touching them loses you a few rings and therefore top speed.

You can equip a gadget for holding up to 200 rings, but it’s not really necessary.

Wisp item

This gives you a boost of speed like a mushroom in Mario Kart, but its effects are pretty modest. They’re far more useful for cutting over grass, because grass otherwise slows you down like treacle, so save them for that.

Jump tricks

You’ll get a boost upon landing if you perform an air trick, so basically, any time you get any air at all, nudge the left stick in any direction.

You’ll do a quick twist and carry on with a speed boost when you land. While more tricks equal more boost, just doing one is enough to make the main difference, so don’t ever feel it’s too late to start.

Brakes

The game has a brake button (who knew?), which is circle on PS5 by default. Using this can help you cut back towards the inside of a corner, which genuinely saves you loads of time instead of hurtling around the long route on the outside.

Getting used to using the brake will help a lot, especially when you’re in boat form, because the boats just don’t want to turn around sharp corners. Use the brakes a little and suddenly you’ll be rotating your boat just fine and zooming away in no time at all.

Chicanes

There are a couple of big chicanes in the game – Sand Road has one such chicane, as does Blizzard Valley – that you’ll find yourself cutting by mistake and ending up trundling through the slow trackside grass or sand.

The trick is simply to drift and steer longer than you’d normally expect through the first turn, continuing to steer away from the next apex (and it really doesn’t feel normal – it’s a bit like Sega Rally 2 in this regard), and then drift immediately the other way to hit the apex. Most of the other corners are fine. Most odd.

Progression

There is no penalty for using 20 Donpa Tickets to retry any race in Grand Prix mode, so you may as well keep trying until you beat your rival and win the cup. That said, the Grand Prix select screen does remember when you’ve used a ticket, so to fully complete the game, you’ll have to win without using one.

Not that it gives you anything for doing that (grumble).

It’s also worth noting that you can win the Grand Prix but not get handles on the golden cup icon. It’s not clear exactly what the criteria is for getting the handles, since a fourth-place finish still clinched it for me with three other wins. It could be winning by a clear point or more, as finishing tied on points still classes it as a win for you.

On that note, winning a Grand Prix on a higher speed level automatically ticks it off on the preceding speed level(s). So better to get used to the game on Sonic Speed and use Donpa Tickets to get the wins.

Clear 7 on Sonic Speed and you unlock Super Sonic Speed, which can then clear 4 cups at a time across the speed levels, so do that on low rival difficulty with Super Sonic and you’ll get a perfect Grand Prix screen easily.

Super Sonic can’t be damaged by items, so you can just tick off anything you’ve got left to do. A bit game-breaking, perhaps, but it certainly works.

There is one more speed: Mirror Mode Sonic Speed that unlocks when you win all the Grands Prix, which needs completing again by itself.

Secret Grand Prix simply opens up once you’ve won all the others, and the remaining two Grands Prix are locked at launch, due to unlock as a real-world timed event.

Friendships

If you complete all seven main Grand Prix, you unlock friendships. This will keep you going for absolutely months if you want to unlock everything the game has to offer, as it requires you to give your hard-earned Donpa Tickets to a character of your choice, in exchange for displayable mottos, new decals for your vehicle and other such bonuses.

It doesn’t appear to have any impact on how they treat you in the races, and you could spend thousands of tickets here.

Beating rivals

As the rivals get harder, they start to zoom away from you at the start. You need to stay fixated on them, and try to get hold of a boxing glove or slicer item. Try to get to second place or at least wait until second or third place is off screen and the lock-on reticle appears over your rival, then fire.

If you can get them back close to the pack, they will start to get swallowed up. Let them get away and you might never catch them.

Gadgets

Gadgets are perks that help you in races. Your ‘Gadget Plate’ is very small at first, and your selection of gadgets is limited. Just keep completing races to unlock higher levels of the Gadget Plate and unlock more Gadgets. It keeps you informed as to how you’re progressing towards each unlock upon successfully completing a Grand Prix.

Some gadgets take up more than one slot on your Gadget Plate, and they tend to give the best effects. There are some very useful ones for beating rivals, notably the ‘Monster Truck Starter’ which uses three slots but lets you steamroll your way towards the front of the pack at the start of each race, which is invaluable when trying to beat a tough rival.

Using the Attack Item Chance Up is also useful as it makes it far more likely you’ll get a slicer or boxing glove, even if you’re out in front.

Item Keeper is also useful, taking up two slots but allowing you to keep hold of your item instead of dropping it when hit with the slicer. It doesn’t protect you from the Dark Chao, but it can be very helpful if you find yourself at the back and get the drill item, as the game has some rubber banding anyway, so by the last lap, you should be near the front anyway, so using this will give you a massive advantage.

Great if you can pull it off.

Red Star Tokens

Five Red Star Tokens hidden in each level is a common trope in Modern Sonic’s universe and it’s no different here. You can get a Donpa Ticket bonus for collecting all five in one race, but keep in mind that they don’t appear to unlock anything right now if you collect them all.

That might change when the final two Grands Prix appear in a few weeks. The lack of a trophy for collecting them all suggests there’s something more to come with these.

In terms of collecting them, keep in mind that the main tracks tend to change for the final lap, so look out for Crossworld-esque portals opening up. Finding your way to these usually rewards you with a Red Star Token.

Also, look out for perilous shortcuts over bottomless pits on the inside of corners. As for the Colorful Mall track, there’s one hidden behind black chevrons.

To unlock this, you need to cut the corner on the highest floor to hit the suspended bonus ring. This will propel you back onto the floor where you’ll find the chevron is gone, rewarding you not only with the Red Star Token but also a sweet shortcut.

Very few Red Star Tokens are truly hidden, they just require some memorisation and occasional joypad dexterity to reach them.

For more on Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, check out our review.