Ayo, what’s popping? I was recently thinking about how long it's been since the last Sonic game.
I couldn’t believe that it had been nearly three years since the last game, Forces. But then I remembered that actually, it's been about 18 months. You see, there’s this completely irrelevant racing game that was released last year - don’t remember it? Not surprising, it died after a week.
I am, of course, talking about... Team Sonic Racing.
PART 1: The Game
Team Sonic Racing is a 2019 kart racing game and a spin-off from Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog series. Controlling one of 15 characters from the series' cast, players compete in races using sports cars. They view gameplay from a third-person perspective while performing tricks, drifting, and collecting power-ups. Team Sonic Racing differs from traditional kart racers because of its focus on cooperative gameplay, players are part of a team of racers and win races through efficiency rather than speed.
If that sounds like the most basic description of a racing game ever, that’s because that’s all there really is to it - also I copied it from Wikipedia. But you couldn’t tell, could you?
Here’s the thing though. Despite the content of the game being lackluster, I kind of like it. For one thing, I like the team mechanic. This game plays like Sonic Heroes, but with racing instead of.. running. Generally, if there’s someone who’s good at a racing game, they’ll win every time.
This game's dependency on teamwork pays off, because high skilled players can't just blast through the courses, making it fairer for other, lesser skilled players.
Opening up the game, there’s an awesome CGI intro with funny Eggman death - but the Nintendo Switch version doesn’t have this. Huh. You can do solo races if you want to, but I usually stick with a team since I find that to be most unique - and since solo races are just a blander version of Mario Kart.
The roster, while strange, isn’t that bad. It's not like Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing, since it's strictly a Sonic game. Even then, some of the teams still have out of place characters. I mean, I can understand Sonic with Tails and Knuckles, Shadow with Rouge and Omega, but some other teams just don’t make sense
Amy has Big but she doesn't have Cream - instead she has a group of chaos. This isn’t a huge issue, but it feels like Sega are trying to make us forget Cream. She hasn’t appeared since Sonic Generations.. which came out in 2011. Huh.
Actually, I’m not a huge fan of Cream, so it ain’t a huge loss for me, but I feel bad for the Cream cultists out there.
When asked what his favourite character was, Takashi Lizuka said the following:
“Mine would be the Chao. It’s the first time they have been playable since Sonic Adventure 2, and personally I wanted them to show up as playable as well. The sight of four Chao driving one car is quite funny to see.”
This explains why the four chao (which from now on I’ll call the Chao Clan) were included as a racer, which may initially seem like a strange choice of a character.
Vector doesn't have Espio or Charmy anymore, instead having Silver and Blaze. While not inherently a bad team, I still think Team Chaotix should be together. But I guess Silver and Blaze are much more popular characters now, so it only makes sense to include them. It’s a shame they couldn’t be put into a separate team with another character, say, Chaos 0 or something.
Team Eggman is the new team. S’alright, you got Eggman, Metal Sonic and Discount Bowser (Zavok). I don’t know why Zavok would want to be on Eggman’s team, since he hated him in Lost World. Then again, why would Eggman and Metal Sonic even show up to Sonic’s races?
PART 2: Gameplay
The teams are broken into three types of characters: Speed, Technique, and Power.
The speed characters are Sonic, Amy, Shadow, Blaze, and Metal Sonic. Speed characters are, naturally, the fastest and have an exclusive item, the Burst Wisp, which can come in handy when other characters can’t use it.
The power characters are Knuckles, Big, Omega, Vector, and Zavok. Power characters don't have the best speed but they do make up for it in brute force, using their strength to destroy obstacles in their path. Doing so can give you bonus rings - so get to smashing!
While they are the slowest, they have the best defence. The wisp items they have are Spike Wisp and Void Wisp. Spike Wisps are useful when you want to destroy nearby opponents, and Void Wisps are useful for grabbing rings and item boxes.
The technique characters are Tails, Chao Clan, Rouge, Silver, and Eggman. Technique characters have great handling and can attract rings easily, like a magnet or electric shield.They can also drive over terrain like grass without slowing down - so get to... cheating?
The wisp item they have is the Rhythm Wisp, which honestly I had to look up on the Sonic wiki - they really aren’t all that great. I guess it's able to blind your opponents but that’s kinda pointless. It's like the Bloopers from Mario Kart, which I also find useless - I just think blinding items are pointless in racing. Like, what do they even do to computer characters? They don’t even have a screen!
Time to talk about the wisps, since they are the items in this game. Almost all wisps from previous Sonic games are back, and there is a new one: the Ghost Wisp.
Let’s round off the items real quick:
Boost Wisps gives you a speed boost.
Rocket Wisps shoot themselves like projectiles.
Spike Wisps let you use spikes. What did you expect?
Lightning Wisps shock all opponents ahead.
Quake Wisps create stone pillars to block your opponents.
Burst Wisps create a trail of flames.
Drill Wisps give you a boost and make you invincible briefly.
Void Wisps draw in rings and item boxes.
Cube Wisps crush opponents and block projectiles.
Laser Wisps zap your opponents.
Bomb Wisps - well, take a wild guess. Yes, they blow stuff up.
Eagle Wisps are homing versions of the Rocket Wisp.
Rhythm Wisps blind your opponents.
Ghost Wisps avoid attacks and steal other wisps.
These wisps have many similarities to items from the Mario Kart games, because what is a kart racing game that doesn’t copy Mario Kart?
Back to racing.
If you're ahead, your team-mates can drive on a ‘slipstream’, which the longer they drive on it, the longer they’ll get a boost. If you're behind, you can use a team-mate’s slipstream.
One of the best things about team mechanic is that the team-mates can pass the wisps to you if you need any help, and you can pass the wisps that you don't need.
If you're in first place but your team-mates are far behind and the other team is close, you have to help your team get to the front, otherwise you will not win.
The Team Ultimate feature is cool, too. It makes you go much faster and makes you invincible for a short period of time - and cool music plays! In order to use a Team Ultimate, you and your team-mates have to use slipstreams, pass items, and knock down your rivals, and then when your meter is full, you and your team can do the Team Ultimate. Also the music is so good mmmm-
Not gonna talk about the story much since it's rather simple. It introduces a new character that no one likes, and...
Well, done talking about the story.
The Customization in Team Sonic Racing is pretty good. You can make a unique but balanced ride. Think of it like Mario Kart 8's customization, where you can make small changes to customise the car.
If you want more upgrades, you can visit the 'Mod Pod' in the main menu and grab yourself some new upgrades.
Team Sonic Racing has one of the best Sonic soundtracks I've ever heard in a game, especially with remixes of old Sonic stages - including a legendary Sandopolis remix. Top notch stuff.
PART 3: My Thoughts
Well, that's just about everything. While I did have a fun time with Team Sonic Racing, I can't help point out that there were many missed opportunities, like the roster and the story.
While I don't mind the exclusion of other SEGA franchises, I feel that characters like Cream, Charmy and Espio would have been better choices than, say, the Chao Clan and Zavok.
Overall, I had a good time with Team Sonic Racing. Sure, it's not like previous Sonic racing games, and it's kinda bland, but it's like a guilty pleasure. I sorta like it despite it not having much going for itself.
I would recommend waiting until this game on sale - which it somewhat regularly does, and when it goes down to 50% off, then that's what you'll be getting the best deal, and then it will be well worth the price.
I think Sega and Sumo Digital did a great job on this game. The courses are fun, the gameplay, while hardly a groundbreaking experience, has a unique but fun twist, the music is awesome, and the graphics are just stunning.
If you're a Sonic fan or a fan of cartoony racing games in general, I recommend buying this game - you'll definitely enjoy it.
But play Crash Team Racing first - yeah, that game is better.
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