Team Sonic Racing review

Developed by Sumo Digital, Team Sonic Racing is available for Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It combines arcade and fast-paced competitive racing all into one package. With a heavy focus on racing as a team, you play with family and friends in multiplayer racing.

Take control of one of 15 characters from the Sonic The Hedgehog universe while you drift, collect power-ups and trick your way across the finish line. Let’s take a look at what sets Team Sonic Racing apart from other traditional kart racing games.

Team Sonic Racing Details

Platform: Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One
Reviewed on: Nintendo Switch & PlayStation 4 Pro
Developer: Sumo Digital
Publisher: Sega
Genre: Kart racing
Modes: Single-player, multiplayer
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)

Team racing

When it comes to traditional kart racing games, Team Sonic Racing has it covered. Though, Team Sonic Racing introduces a new twist into the mix, a focus on racing as a team. There is a total of 3 drivers per team and a total of 12 drivers in each race.

Winning the race doesn’t necessarily mean finishing first. In fact, the winners are the team with the most points. So, in order to win, you must work together with your teammates. Things such as trading items between each other and driving by a teammate who has spun out to give them a boost all factor in to determining the winning team.

The player on your team who is furthest ahead leaves behind them a yellow trail. When either or both of the other teammates drives in your trail, it helps to build up the Team Ultimate Metre. When full, you can give your teammates a boost and slingshot them ahead. When everyone passes the finish line, all the teams’ points are tallied up and the team with the most points wins.

Character classes, power ups and mods

As I mentioned earlier, there are a total of 15 playable characters in Team Sonic Racing from the Sonic universe ranging from Sonic, to Big the Cat, all the way to Zavok. Each are part of one of the three-character types: Speed, Technique, and Power.

As you might have guessed, characters in the speed class have the highest top-speeds in the game. Technique class characters have quick response times and can avoid obstacles that will slow them down. Finally, Power class characters can open up new paths on courses by breaking through obstacles. Generally, I stuck with Speed class characters as I love drifting and taking tight turns.

Power ups are in the form of Wisps, from Sonic Colours, and can be found in Item Boxes across the courses. There are a total of 14 different offensive and defensive items. Some of my favourite power-ups include bombs, rockets, and an eagle that chases down opponents before attacking them.

Furthermore, you can customize your vehicles via buying Mod Pods using in-game currency. Purchasing a Mod Pod will net you a random car part such as paint jobs, armour, rims and horns for any one of the 15 characters in the game. The Credits are easily earned by winning races and relatively cheap, 10 credits each.

Bright colourful graphics with a fantastic soundtrack

Visually, Team Sonic Racing is bright, colourful and has smooth frame rates. While the graphics won’t knock your socks off, they are a great fit for the game. Many of the tracks have animated backgrounds such as huge whales jumping across the track, gigantic pool balls rolling around and fireworks going off.

Having played the game on both Switch and PlayStation 4 Pro, I can tell you they look virtually identical. The Switch runs at 30 fps and the PlayStation 4 Pro at 60 fps, both with little to no dips in performance at all.

The game’s soundtrack includes a fantastic mix of music from previous games in the series. It does a really good job of getting your juices flowing when racing around the tracks. There is a total of 21 tracks, 12 of them new for Team Sonic Racing. All are designed well with a variety of jumps, boost pads and unique elements.

Story mode

While Team Sonic Racing‘s main focus is on team racing it does also offer traditional single racer racing. In addition to local and online play, the game has a Team Adventure Mode. This is a story driven mode and gives you the back story behind each of the characters and why they are racing.

Team Adventure Mode is split up into several chapters across different tracks. You have a series of tasks that you must complete as you make you way through the story. Some of which include collecting as many rings as possible and avoiding as many robots as you can scattered across the track.

You come across some areas, which require a certain number of stars to continue. There are a variety of ways to earn stars such as winning races etc. In all honesty, I wasn’t really expecting much for this mode. I found that it works as great way to learn the basics of racing for those new to the series.

Team Sonic Racing is a fun kart racing game with a unique twist

While Team Sonic Racing isn’t the best kart racing game out there, it is still fun to play. The team-based gameplay adds a new and unique twist to gameplay that helps freshen things up. The controls are tight, responsive and I always felt that I was in complete control. The track designs are great and I love the game’s soundtrack.

The Team Adventure mode is nothing to write home about and I recommend those new to the series to play this mode before others. If you are a looking for a kart racing game that breaks the mold of traditional games in this genre and love Sonic, you’ll enjoy Team Sonic Racing.

+ Bright colourful graphics
+ Fantastic soundtrack
+ Well designed tracks
+ Unique Team-based gameplay

– Team Adventure mode is nothing special
– Unlocking mods for your car can be cumbersome

OVERALL ASSESSMENT OF TEAM SONIC RACING

Gameplay: 3.5/5
Graphics: 4/5
Sound: 4/5
Lasting Appeal/Replayability: 4/5

Overall Rating 3.9/5 (78%)

Get Team Sonic Racing for PlayStation 4
Buy Team Sonic Racing for Nintendo Switch
Purchase Team Sonic Racing for for Xbox One

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