Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is sweet validation for Nintendo Switch 2 avoiders

When we weren’t touring the McLaren base or learning how to change a wheel on an F1 car, we got to spend a good amount of time with the game ahead of its appearance at Gamescom.

Our first impressions are thus: Sonic Racing Crossworlds is sweet validation for everyone that hasn't bought a Nintendo Switch 2 yet.

That's right. If you thought a new Mario Kart wasn't enough to justify buying a new console on launch day, here's something you can play instead. A new kart racing game, from Sega, which offers some fun little twists on what you'd expect.

One cool system that they have is called the rival system, and it kind of formalises that feeling you often get with a kart racer of, 'Oh, Yoshi's a real pain today!'

Basically, at the start of each set of races, it will pick one character at random to be your rival. There will be some beef dialogue between the pair of you. And you'll really keep track of where they are during each race.

It’s cool because it means you don't have to come up with that kind of rivalry lore yourself in your head. Instead, it's actually part of the game in an official way.

Sega has also come up with a new twist on the boost on the start line. There's a little circle that comes up on the screen and you wanna be accelerating the right amount at the right time.

There's a tiny little window you want to hit when the lights finish counting, which is quite tricky to pull off, but very satisfying when you do get it.

It is not a perfect kart racer, however. I did not find the handling super easy. While I was really enjoying the racing and the gadgets, whenever a corner would come along, I would just go straight into a wall.

There are some characters that are more about handling, while others are more tanky, but I kind of felt like the cornering wasn't great. I'm not a huge fan of having to drift on every corner, all the time, and it felt at times like you couldn't even drive in a curve without doing that.

I'm not super sure about the Sonic-style ring portals to other dimensions gimmick the game is built on.

So, you'll be going round a track, and then there'll be a portal that will take you to another track. It's kind of cool, if you are at the front of the pack, you get to pick between two portals to kind of lead everyone through.

But I did find that, if you're really enjoying the vibe of the course that you're on, it can be annoying to be shunted onto another one. Even if that other one does have a big dinosaur! It felt like a show pony exercise, rather than being super core to the gameplay.

Still, it's a cool game. There’s a really fun variety of characters in there. You've got Hatsune Miku, you've got SpongeBob, you've got the Sonic characters. They're putting Pac-Man in there too.

And in the classic 'Sega does what Ninten-don't' fashion, Sega are putting this game on all platforms. They're not locking it away anywhere.

They made a big point of saying that at the event. There was even a slide that said, 'Sorry, Nintendo!' Because it's coming out on everything.

So yeah, if you don't have a Switch 2 yet and you wanna play some kart racing, here's a new one to enjoy.

Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds launches 25th September for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch. You can order your copy now.

Read more on upcoming games:

• Battlefield 6 developer reveals "3 and 4 are our biggest influences"
• Cronos: The New Dawn's fascinating world is one that only Bloober Team could craft
• 007 First Light's "younger and more reckless" James Bond isn't official canon

Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.