Category: IGN

What happens to GTA Online when Grand Theft Auto 6 comes out? That’s a question a lot of GTA Online players have been asking ever since GTA 6 was announced. And now, as GTA 6’s fall 2025 release date approaches, they’re no closer to an answer.

GTA Online is Rockstar’s hugely profitable live service that continues to pull in players even now, well over a decade since launch. Its enduring appeal and ability to print money is thought to have influenced Rockstar’s decision to prioritize the live service over story DLC for Grand Theft Auto 5, much to the annoyance of some fans. But there is a more pressing concern looming over the horizon.

When GTA 6 eventually comes out, it is expected to bring with it a new and improved GTA Online. Perhaps this will be GTA Online 2. Perhaps it will be called GTA Online, as before. Either way, players of the existing GTA Online have expressed concern that all their time, effort, and money spent in the current GTA Online will be left behind for a potential clean break later this year.

So, why invest time and money into GTA Online now, in early 2025, when the new GTA Online is potentially due out in perhaps eight months or so? That’s a question IGN put to Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick during a recent interview ahead of the company’s third-quarter financial report, and his answer makes for interesting reading.

While Zenick wouldn’t be drawn specifically on any new GTA Online because it has yet to be announced, he did talk generally about Take-Two’s form when it came to NBA 2K Online, a free-to-play online-focused version of 2K Sports’ hugely successful basketball franchise aimed at the Asian market.

NBA 2K Online launched all the way back in 2012, and then 2K Sports released NBA 2K Online 2 in 2017. Both games were maintained simultaneously, so fans of the first version could continue to play and invest their time and money safe in the knowledge they wouldn’t be left behind.

“I’m going to speak theoretically only because I’m not going to talk about a particular project when an announcement hasn’t been made,” Zelnick began. “But generally speaking, we support our properties when the consumers are involved with those titles. As an example, we launched NBA 2K Online in China, I think originally in 2012 if I’m not mistaken. And then we launched NBA 2K Online 2 in China in 2017. If I’m not mistaken. We did not sunset Online 1. They both are still in the market and they serve consumers and they’re alive and we have this massive audience.

“So we’ve shown a willingness to support legacy titles when a community wants to be engaged with them.”

That last line is of particular importance. It suggests — but doesn’t confirm at this stage — that if there is a GTA Online 2, it won’t come at the cost of GTA Online falling by the wayside. If people keep playing GTA Online, Zelnick is suggesting here, then Rockstar will continue to support it.

It’s worth noting that there’s still a huge amount we do now know about GTA 6, given all we’ve had so far is Trailer 1 and a release window. But if GTA 6 is definitely due out fall 2025, potentially after Borderlands 4’s just-announced September release date, Rockstar will have to reveal more sooner rather than later. In the meantime, check out Zelnick’s comments on whether skipping PC for GTA 6’s launch is a mistake.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is set for Update 3 next week, Bethesda has announced.

Ahead of the full patch notes, Bethesda released initial details on Update 3 in a tweet. It’s set to make a number of fixes and improvements, as well as add support for Nvidia DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation and DLSS Ray Reconstruction.

Players are hoping Update 3 fixes the various game-breaking bugs Indiana Jones and the Great Circle has suffered from since its launch in early December. Last month, Bethesda said the February update would add new graphical features and options, and the bug fixes would target issues that have prevented some players from 100%-ing the game and from climbing vines or squeezing through walls in Sukhothai. It’s unclear at this stage if any or all those changes have made it into next week’s patch.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle launched on PC and Xbox Series X and S and, as a Microsoft-owned game, day-one on Game Pass, and has reached 4 million players so far. MachineGames’ latest release garnered critical acclaim and multiple awards, including three at the D.I.C.E. Awards. A PlayStation 5 release is set for this spring.

Indiana Jones actor Harrison Ford has said Troy Baker playing the beloved character in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is proof “you don’t need artificial intelligence to steal my soul.”

Ford discussed alleviating control of Indy with The Wall Street Journal, saying he was very happy with the performance of The Last of Us actor Baker.

“You don’t need artificial intelligence to steal my soul,” Ford said. “You can already do it for nickels and dimes with good ideas and talent. He did a brilliant job, and it didn’t take AI to do it.”

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

The 28th D.I.C.E. Awards have arrived and have celebrated the best of the best in the world of video games from 2024. While there were a lot of winners across 23 categories, Astro Bot won the night by taking home Game of the Year alongside Outstanding Achievement in Animation, Outstanding Technical Achievement, Family Game of the Year, and Outstanding Achievement in Game Design.

There were a few other games that won multiple categories, and Helldivers 2 came in second with four wins for Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition, Outstanding Achievement in Audio Design, Action Game of the Year, and Online Game of the Year. Balatro and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle also both brought home three wins.

In addition to honoring the best games of 2024, this year’s D.I.C.E. Awards also celebrated two individuals who both made a great impact on the video game industry. First up, former Executive Vice President of Operations for Nintendo of America was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award for his time with the company and his support for the Starlight Children’s Foundation.

Next, Insomniac Games founder and president Ted Price, who recently announced his retirement from the studio, was given the Hall of Fame Award for all he has done for game development and “leading Insomniac Games for three decades and advocating for video game creators’ First Amendment rights.”

You can check out the full list of winners from the 28th D.I.C.E. Awards below.

Outstanding Achievement in Animation

• Astro Bot – WINNER
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
• FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH
• Neva
• Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2

Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction

• Black Myth: Wukong – WINNER
• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
• LEGO Horizon Adventures
• The Plucky Squire
• Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II

Outstanding Achievement in Character

• 1000xRESIST – Watcher
• FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH – Yuffie Kisaragi
• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle – Dr. Henry “Indiana” Jones – WINNER
• INDIKA – Indika
• Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II – Senua

Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition

• Astro Bot
• Helldivers 2 – WINNER
• Monument Valley 3
• Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
• Star Wars Outlaws

Outstanding Achievement in Audio Design

• Frostpunk 2
• Helldivers 2 – WINNER
• Monument Valley 3
• Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
• Still Wakes the Deep

Outstanding Achievement in Story

• 1000xRESIST
• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle – WINNER
• Metaphor: ReFantazio
• Still Wakes the Deep
• Thank Goodness You’re Here!

Outstanding Technical Achievement

• Astro Bot – WINNER
• Batman: Arkham Shadow
• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
• Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
• Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2

Action Game of the Year

• Batman: Arkham Shadow
• Black Myth: Wukong
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
• Helldivers 2 – WINNER
• Stellar Blade

Adventure Game of the Year

• 1000xRESIST
• ANIMAL WELL
• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle – WINNER
• The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
• Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown

Family Game of the Year

• Astro Bot – WINNER
• Cat Quest III
• Little Kitty, Big City
• The Plucky Squire
• Super Mario Party Jamboree

Fighting Game of the Year

• Blazing Strike
• DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO
• Mortal Kombat 1: Khaos Reigns
• TEKKEN 8 – WINNER
• UNDERDOGS

Racing Game of the Year

• F1® 24 – WINNER
• MotoGP™24
• NIGHT-RUNNERS™ PROLOGUE

Role-Playing Game of the Year

• FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH
• Dragon Age: The Veilguard
• ELDEN RING: Shadow of the Erdtree
• Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
• Metaphor: ReFantazio – WINNER

Sports Game of the Year

• EA SPORTS College Football 25
• EA SPORTS FC 25
• MLB The Show 24 – WINNER
• NBA 2K25

Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year

• Balatro – WINNER
• Caves of Qud
• Frostpunk 2
• Tactical Breach Wizards
• Satisfactory

Immersive Reality Technical Achievement

• Alien: Rogue Incursion
• Batman: Arkham Shadow
• Skydance’s BEHEMOTH
• Starship Home – WINNER
• UNDERDOGS

Immersive Reality Game of the Year

• Alien: Rogue Incursion
• Batman: Arkham Shadow – WINNER
• Escaping Wonderland
• Skydance’s BEHEMOTH
• UNDERDOGS

Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game

• ANIMAL WELL
• Balatro – WINNER
• Grunn
• INDIKA
• Mouthwashing

Mobile Game of the Year

• Balatro – WINNER
• Halls of Torment
• Monument Valley 3
• Paper Trail
• Wuthering Waves

Online Game of the Year

• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
• Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred
• Helldivers 2 – WINNER
• Marvel Rivals
• Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2

Outstanding Achievement in Game Design

• ANIMAL WELL
• Astro Bot – WINNER
• Balatro
• Helldivers 2
• UFO 50

Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction

• 1000xRESIST
• ANIMAL WELL – WINNER
• Lorelei and the Laser Eyes
• Riven
• Thank Goodness You’re Here!

Game of the Year

• Astro Bot – WINNER
• Balatro
• Black Myth: Wukong
• Helldivers 2
• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Adam Bankhurst is a writer for IGN. You can follow him on X/Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on TikTok.

We just got our first PlayStation State of Play for 2025 with several big announcements from Metal Gear Solid Delta to a new game from developer Housemarque. While the best part of any new showcase is new game announcements, release dates, and trailers, we know some announcements are bigger than others.

That’s why we’re giving you a chance to rank your favorite announcements from the recent PlayStation State of Play. Was it the first look at Saros? Or the new game from the lead designer of Grand Theft Auto? With over 20 announcements from yesterday’s showcase, look back at our Everything Announced post and decide which big reveal made the most impact on you.

As for me, the Metal Gear Solid Delta release date was probably my most anticipated announcement, but it was also really cool to finally get a look at the main character of Capcom’s upcoming Onimusha: Way of the Sword. And what’s more, it’s incredible that he’ll be modeled after one of my favorite actors, Toshiro Mifune.

So let us know how the State of Play news items ranked for you below.

Matt Kim is IGN’s Senior Features Editor.

If you want a single platform to play games at home and on the go, the Nintendo Switch has got your back. Even better if you’re a fan of Sonic: Ever since the Switch arrived in 2017, Sega has worked like clockwork to consistently release Sonic games for the hybrid console. Last year we got Sonic x Shadow Generations alongside the Sonic the Hedgehog 3 movie, so it’s safe to say Sega’s speedster is bigger than ever.

Now that the Switch 2 has been officially announced, it’s pretty much guaranteed more Sonic games are on the way. Thankfully, the Switch 2 trailer confirms the system’s backward compatibility, so your existing Sonic games aren’t going anywhere. For anyone looking to check out the modern era of Sonic (and friends), here are all the Sonic the Hedgehog games you can play right now as well as upcoming Sonic games we expect to see on the Switch 2.

How Many Sonic Games Are There on Nintendo Switch?

A total of nine Sonic games have been released for Nintendo Switch. This spans the first year of the system back in 2017 to the most recent game, Sonic x Shadows, released in October 2024. Keep in mind that this list below does not include the games available with a Nintendo Switch Online subscription.

Sonic Mania was developed by PagodaWest Games and Sonic fangame community member Christian Whitehead as a love letter to the classic Sonic the Hedgehog titles released on the Sega Genesis and Sega CD platforms. Taking place after the events of Sonic 3 & Knuckles, the game remixes eight iconic levels, including Green Hill Zone and Chemical Plant Zone, and introduces five new ones, including the glamorous Studiopolis Zone and the peaceful Press Garden Zone. This game also introduces a new troupe of Eggbots called the Hard-Boiled Heavies for Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles to beat.

Mania is considered one of the best Sonic games of the 2010s because of the experiment in allowing a group of Sonic fans to create a game other Sonic fans would love, the vivid neon graphics, and the new challenges present in every stage.

Sonic Forces (2017)

Sonic Forces makes Classic Sonic and Modern Sonic form a resistance against Dr. Eggman after he conquered most of the world alongside Infinite, a masked jackal who uses the Phantom Ruby to create doppelgangers and warp reality. The game switches gameplay modes between third-person Boost gameplay with Modern Sonic, side-scrolling gameplay with Classic Sonic, and a mode with the custom avatar character, which can be any animal you want, whose weapons use Wisp power-ups. Forces’ writing and lighting aren’t exactly the best in the series, but the game is still tolerable for some people.

Team Sonic Racing (2019)

Team Sonic Racing takes racing games to a whole new level by having players race with each other, not against each other. This game has a cooperative gameplay mechanic similar to Splatoon and Overwatch, using Sonic Heroes as a frame of reference, where you play in teams of three characters and work together to win each race, paying very close attention to your teammates’ performance and sharing Wisp power-ups with them to allow them to speed up and pull your ranks. Since most of the karts are sports cars, you can customize them with gold rims and paint your car any color you want West Coast Customs style.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 (2019)

Released a year before the real-life Tokyo Olympic Games was scheduled to begin (only to be postponed to 2021 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic), Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 brings the platform rivalry between the jolly red plumber, the speedy blue hedgehog, and their respective friends back to the world stage with new events, like surfing, skateboarding, karate, and sport climbing, and bonus features. The game includes a story mode that takes Mario and Sonic back to the Tokyo 1964 Olympics and their early 2D sprite selves, while everyone else works to help bring them back to the real world in the present day. You get the best of both eras and some history lessons about the Olympic Games in Tokyo to go with it.

Sonic Colors: Ultimate (2021)

Sonic Colors: Ultimate is a remastered version of the original Sonic Colors developed by Blind Squirrel Games for Sonic’s 30th anniversary in 2021. The remaster enhanced the graphics to brighten up the colors of Eggman’s interplanetary amusement park and the character models, introduced a new Jade Ghost Wisp to help Sonic phase through walls and ceilings, replaced the traditional lives with rescues from Tails, and introduced mini races against Metal Sonic. You can also collect Park Tokens to customize Sonic with the wackiest designs for his shoes and gloves.

Sonic Origins (2022)

Sonic Origins compiles the first four classic Sonic games released on the Sega Genesis and Sega CD and remasters them for modern consoles and the audience that plays on them, whether they’re veteran fans seeking a nostalgia fix or young fans who want to understand Sonic’s history. Players can experience the game in Classic Mode, which is the original format presented in a 4:3 aspect ratio, or Anniversary Mode, which replaces lives with coins and allows Sonic to use Drop Dash as he did in Sonic Mania. Each game in the compilation features new animated cutscenes at the beginning and end done by the incomparable Tyson Heese to connect all four games into a cohesive story, provided you play them in the original release order.

Sonic Frontiers (2022)

Sonic Frontiers is the first open-world game in the Sonic franchise – or should we say, “open-zone”? – born out of a trend of open-world games being styled after The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Sonic explores the vast Starfall Islands to fight cybernetic enemies, solve various puzzles, and run through Cyber Space levels modeled after the levels from past Sonic titles in an effort to save his friends from the digitized dimension. Both veteran and new Sonic fans alike will enjoy running around the mysterious island set to a soundtrack that strikes a delicate balance between serenity and chaos.

Sonic Superstars (2023)

Sonic Superstars is a collaborative effort between Sega and Arzest to bring 3D graphics to a Classic Sonic game, a move that surprised everyone at the 2023 Summer Game Fest (including this author). With Classic Sonic being a CGI character on his own for the first time and classic levels getting revamped with new music and upgraded level designs, the game allows up to four people to locally play together as Sonic and his friends throughout 11 levels across the Northstar Islands and grants new powers for every Chaos Emerald they collect to overcome obstacles.

Sonic X Shadow Generations (2024)

Team Sonic’s latest is Sonic X Shadow Generations, a remastered version of 2011’s Sonic Generation that goes beyond graphical upgrades and quality-of-life improvements by including an all-new campaign comprised of reminagined Shadow stages from past Sonic games. The two campaigns combine for 15-20 hours of content across over 150 stages, leading us to say in our Shadow x Generations review that it “soars far and above previous enhanced versions we’ve gotten in the Sonic franchise.”

With so many great games coming down the pipeline, now’s a great time to hop on the Xbox Game Pass bandwagon. If some titles joining the catalog this year have caught your eye and you’re itching to join in on the fun, we have good news: You can score some savings on a three-month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate membership right now at Amazon, which is worth taking advantage of.

You can learn more about that deal, what’s coming soon to Game Pass, and the big releases still to come below.

Navigate to:

• Best Xbox Game Pass Deals
• What’s Coming Soon to Xbox Game Pass?
• What Games Are Leaving Xbox Game Pass?
• Biggest Games Releasing on Xbox Game Pass

Best Xbox Game Pass Deals

In an era of live services, MMOs, and generally disconnected online experiences, the idea of local multiplayer is quickly becoming a rarity. And while we have seen a handful of great couch co-op experiences pop up here and there, such as TMNT Shredders Revenge, Overcooked, and Hazelight Studios’ very own It Takes Two, I can’t think of anything I’ve played recently that resonated with me quite like Split Fiction. From its plethora of varying gameplay types, such as a twin-stick shooter, a pinball inspired puzzle platformer, and in one instance, a hot dog simulator, to its dazzling graphics and believable character dialogue, Split Fiction is looking to not only be another standout title in a year full of promising releases, but something that anyone who’s looking for a fun and unique local multiplayer game should pencil in on their gaming calendar.

In Split Fiction you play as either Mio or Zoe, two aspiring writers who are chosen to take part in an early test of a machine that will bring their stories to life. From what I saw, this plot device not only helps build the world of Split Fiction, but also provides a perfect excuse to seamlessly transition between its sci-fi and fantasy settings. During the few hours I got to play, jumping back and forth never felt forced or tedious, and while I’m admittedly not the biggest fan of fantasy unless the word “Final” is attached in some way, I never found myself getting bored of Zoe’s fantasy worlds. This was supported by Split Fiction’s well-written and believable dialogue between characters, which helped convince me that I was watching two real people who are polar opposites interact with each other in their own make-believe worlds.

If you played Hazelight’s previous games (It Takes Two and A Way Out), you probably have a pretty good idea of what’s in store for you with Split Fiction. A shared multiplayer experience on either the same or a split screen that’s full of cleverly designed puzzles that require teamwork and communication, all wrapped up in a nice-looking and well-written package. What sets Split Fiction apart from other couch co-op games is its clever integration of numerous gameplay styles, keeping the experience fresh and engaging.

In fact, the variety of gameplay styles in Split Fiction is easily its most standout feature. And during my brief time with it, it was clear that this isn’t another standard two-player puzzler or beat-’em-up experience. Hazelight obviously took its time to refine the variety of gameplay types in here, because nothing felt like it was rushed or created in order to add variety for the sake of variety. One standout moment for me was a section where Zoe and Mio have to snowboard their way out of an active warzone, which felt more like a blend of Sonic Adventure Battle and SSX than your typical on-rails downhill spectacle. In this moment, Split Fiction introduced a points mechanic where I had to compete against my partner, performing as many grinds, grabs, and flip tricks as possible while trying to avoid death. While this mechanic has been done before in more games than I can count, the fact that this instance is just one of dozens really shows the potential of fun things to do in Split Fiction.

That’s not to say they were all hits, though. One section had us playing a hybrid of a platformer and pinball where I was controlling the ball and my partner was controlling the pinball paddles. This required some precise timing on both of our ends, and it was a creative way to introduce a slower puzzle mechanic to a game that has a surprising amount of action in it. While I found myself getting a bit frustrated whenever I messed up a badly timed jump, the satisfaction I felt once my partner and I finished any of the campaign’s collaborative tasks really elevated the experience.

And just to be clear: Split Fiction is 100% a collaborative experience that keeps you on your toes throughout; single-player is not an option. But unlike most co-op games where both players need to fight a screen full of enemies or break a bunch of blocks in order to progress to the next level, Split Fiction requires a heavy amount of teamwork and critical thinking from both players in its heavy action as well as its mellower puzzle sections. Throughout my demo time, I found myself communicating more with my partner and working together to try to figure out the puzzles and bosses because, refreshingly, Split Fiction does not hold your hand whatsoever. Thats not to say this is suddenly a soulslike in terms of difficulty, but there wasn’t a moment where the UI pointed us in the right direction or gave us a hint on what to do. Which is kind of the point of Split Fiction and co-op games as a whole, and definitely made my demo a really fun and rewarding experience.

In a time where every game can either be played solo or is completely full of NPCs or people online who don’t really want to interact outside of a few words here and there, Split Fiction really looks to raise the bar in what a co-op experience can be. I appreciated everything from its interesting use of multiple gameplay styles spanning across many genres, to its cleverly written dialogue and beautiful-looking worlds, plus the fact that it requires you to actively play with someone else and think outside of the box to solve its puzzles. And in a year packed with dozens of promising releases, Split Fiction is definitely looking to set itself apart from the pack in a way that few games can.

If you have a soft spot for retro-style games, you might already be keeping an eye on Takaya Imamura’s upcoming adventure game OMEGA 6: The Triangle Stars. That game is based on a manga series created by the former Nintendo art director, and now Dark Horse is bringing that manga to the US for the first time.

Check out the cover art to OMEGA 6 below:

HBO is still working on several more Game of Thrones spin-offs including one “very promising” show focused on the Targaryen line, though nothing has been greenlit as of yet.

Francesca Orsi, head of drama series and films at HBO, suggested to Deadline that, despite both current Game of Thrones spin-offs — House of the Dragon and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms — focusing on Daenerys Targaryen’s ancestors, the next furthest along show is too.

“We have other spin-offs that we’re working on right now, one of which — which I won’t get into — is very promising, and is still the Targaryen line,” Orsi said. “There’s a number of other spin-offs. We can’t really guarantee what’s going to go forward, but we are very big budget on the other ones.”

HBO isn’t just looking to expand Game of Thrones with further television series but also in the full scale movie space, as HBO and Max CEO Casey Bloys said in November it’s working to get a film off the ground with George R.R. Martin.

A series isn’t fully official until its greenlit, however, as HBO has so far developed myriad shows that never saw the light of day.

Cancelled series so far include a prequel based on an in-world apocalypse called The Long Night, which HBO scrapped after spending $30 million on a pilot episode, a show called 10,000 Ships which would focus on a sea-faring city, a mysterious Braavos series which Martin plans on continuing in writing form himself, and a sequel starring Kit Harington as Jon Snow.

Martin recently appeared to tease a return of Arya Stark actress Maisie Williams too, though nothing has been said officially about such a comeback.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

Let’s get the comparisons out of the way first; Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds feels closer to the Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed era of games as opposed to the more recent Team Sonic Racing, but has taken advantage of the enhancements that Team Sonic Racing brought to the table. While I’ve enjoyed both formats, the three-character mechanic of building a team to work together to coordinate racing and drift lines is gone. Instead, CrossWorlds goes back to Mario Kart’s everyone-for-themselves format. Like Mario Kart, it shares some similarities, from the items on the courses to the various shortcuts and cart customization. However, while it shares some DNA, Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds evolves beyond what we’ve gotten from its now 11-year-old competitor. Now, one area that CrossWorlds may come up short in compared to Team Sonic Racing is so far, there is no sign of an adventure mode, but this was an early look, so that might be one of the many reveals that the team is saving for later.

While many elements mimic its competitors, the green and red rocket-powered gloves bounce off walls or home in on opponents, being the most one-to-one example to the shells in Mario Kart and the customizable car parts and wheels like we got in MK8. There is still enough here to help CrossWorlds stand apart from the crowd, though. Plenty of the elements core to Sonic games, such as the various wisp powerups like drill and tornado ability, knock other racers away and defend you from incoming attacks. There were also magnets you could throw out as hazards, which pull enemies towards them if they get too close, and their ultimate rubber band item to help those in lower positions catch up, the Monster Truck, which turns your car into a massive monster truck that knocks enemies away and allows you to drive over all terrains without penalty.

Beyond the items Sonic Racing CrossWorlds is all about – well, crossing worlds, with each race separated into the traditional three laps. Still, each lap feels different, thanks to the marquee CrossWorlds mechanic. At the end of the first lap, whoever is leading the pack will determine which course the second lap will take by driving through one of two giant travel rings that transport everyone seamlessly once they arrive at that point. The options for these are randomized, and sometimes, one of the options itself is a randomizer, so not even the leader will know what to expect if they choose it.

During my demo time, my second lap took me across stages themed with things like dinosaurs, pirates, or lava, where we spent most of the lap in a plane, another mechanic that I will get to later. There are also modifiers for the second stage, called frenzy, that will alter the lap, such as placing moving boost gates along the entire lap or granting a maximum boost gauge after drifting for only a split second and making the whole lap feel like I was back in the days of the snaking that plagued and ruined Mario Kart DS. Thankfully, frenzy modifiers are random, and across my 15 or so races, the instant boost frenzy only happened once – so I’m not worried at all about it becoming an issue in CrossWorlds.

After finishing the second lap, another transport ring seamlessly sends players back to the original course, but with some minor but effective changes to the course layout in key areas. Courses like Metal Harbor evolve, where you have to drive around the outside of a rocket launchpad on lap one, but on lap three, the rocket has launched as it did in Sonic Adventure 2, replacing it with a steep Half-pipe ramp that allows players to perform as many air tricks as possible to gain a considerable speed boost when landing on the opposite side. And that’s just one example! In another course with water segments, I saw gates open, allowing access to shortcuts or supercharged item boxes with a higher chance of granting better items. CrossWorlds is also hiding shortcuts around the map as well as shortcut rings that activate on the final lap tha would temporarily send me to another world. These secret rings are powerful shortcuts as they extended my lead in races or helped me catch up and made it more challenging for other racers to target me with their items. I don’t know what forces were causing these rings to appear as I raced, but they were worth the effort of being ready to take them.

Like the Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed games, portions of laps, or sometimes entire laps, place you in a plane or boat instead of a car. All of these vehicles have a unique identity, and while they share similarities, they have mechanics to help them stand out from one another. In addition to the standard drift mechanic you get in a car when transformed into a boat, you have a charge mechanic that jumps it out of the water, giving another opportunity to perform air tricks for speed boosts, which can help you regain some speed after hitting a hazard or being tagged by an enemy’s attack. While planes offer more routes than the other vehicles, they do so only if you spot the alternate paths, like a chain of boost gates underneath the road on Magma Planet where you need to dodge waves of magma to maximize the planes advantage. The variety of vehicles and paths gave me nostalgic notes of figuring out the best routes based on the vehicle I was in like I did in Diddy Kong Racing from my Nintendo 64 days but with all the updates to the formula you would hope for in a game released nearly two decades later.

While I was playing, I spotted some incredible inclusions spanning multiple generations that longtime fans of Sonic will be excited about. The roster of characters shown so far ranged from the expected heroes and regular all-stars Sonic, Tails, & Knuckles to less frequently playable characters like Cream, Omega, and even Zazz from Lost World. The rider you put behind the wheel also has unique stats that will affect how they drive each car, and even rivals like Sonic and Shadow have similar yet different stats, such as one having more speed while the other having more power or boost. Vehicles fall into five classes: speed, acceleration, handling, power, and boost, all of which have high stats in the matching category with the looks to match it, and I could quickly feel the change in my car as I swapped between them.

When racing in my power vehicle, which I had customized to look like a bulldozer, I felt thematically appropriate as I bullied other racers all while stealing their rings and giving myself a speed boost thanks to some gadgets I had installed, which I will also get to in a bit. Characters and types of cars have the most significant impact on your vehicle’s stats, which you can then modify by changing individual car parts like the wheels, and more. I picked my favorite Shadow and raced in four of the five vehicle types, all of which worked well enough to where I finished in first place for 75% of my races and top five in all of the rest except for one (where a well-timed item hit me and caused me to miss a ramp and fall off the map in the final stretch of a race). Along with changing out parts for stats, you can also deck out your car with decals and change the colors and materials to your heart’s content. Combining your character with car customization allows you to make your vehicle your own.

The last bit of customization comes from another mechanic called the gadget panel. It’s a powerful tool for changing how people race, granting abilities like an increased chance of getting certain items, adding a fourth level to the drift boost gauge, or granting you rings for performing specific actions. Every ability costs anywhere from one to three slots, and your panel to install them consists of two rows of three for a maximum of six slots. I started with only two slots, but after a few hours of racing, I increased this to five, giving me more options to slot in new abilities that changed how I approached races. Early on, I had opted for an ability that allowed me to grab rings from a greater range, which took up a single slot, but later on, I swapped to a pair of two-slot abilities that would give me a boost when colliding with others racers while also stealing 10 rings from them to help me reach my top speed sooner and also slowing my competition. Fortunately for my competitors and unfortunately for me, they caught on to my antics thanks to the ability to see other racers’ builds before a race, and shortly after implementing that strategy, nearly everyone else copied it, plunging our races into chaos like a 12-player game of bumper cars. Needless to say, this was a ton of fun as we all kept trying to ram into each other to get out in front of the pack.

Even though it was just a short test drive with my favorite hedgehogs and friends, I am eager to see what else hasn’t yet been revealed. The racing felt snappy and responsive, and each car customization operated as I expected. I felt like a superstar hitting enemies with the well-timed items I unleashed, and the new CrossWorlds mechanic was a blast, allowing me to learn courses while keeping each race feeling fresh, as I never knew what to expect on the second lap of every race. There’s a lot more left to learn about Sonic’s latest racer, but so far, so good.