- Original Platform: Xbox One, PS4,Switch, PC
- Original release: 21st May 2019
- Version Played: PC
- Available to buy: Yes
Taking things in a different direction from Sonic All Stars Racing and Transformed, this kart racing game is entirely focused on the Sonic franchise, but with a twist of its own: you play in teams of three. While it does present some problems, it has some really interesting ideas.
Characters are split into three types: Speed, Technique and Power (similar to Sonic Heroes and Sonic Riders). Speed characters have the highest top speed, technique characters can go over rough terrain with no penalty and power characters can smash through obstacles without taking damage. They all ultimately feel quite balanced, and you can make further customisation to your cart to change stats or colour styles.
The racer on your team in the highest position will leave a “trail” behind them, any teammates following the line will build up a boost, which activates when they move out of it. If you coordinate well enough, you can technically keep leapfrogging each other. You can also pass item boxes between you (which can also increase the power of some items). Doing these team actions will build up your ultimate gauge, which you can trigger an Ultimate power, which makes you invincible and faster for a short period, and works even better if all three people on a team activate it at once.
All the items are based on Wisps, which is a neat idea for items, but unfortunately their icons aren’t very clear, so it’s not as easy as some games to remember what each one does. Different skill types also have their own unique wisps. These are more impactful than in the previous games (especially in speed types), but if an ally swerved in front of you, you get a little boost to recover much faster, so it’s a nice little touch.
Team Sonic Racing has a story mode called Team Adventure. Bizarrely, this is single-player only (I was expecting up to three players locally, especially as it’s literally got the word “Team” in the mode name). This is where one big problem with the team gameplay impacts you the most: you’re reliant on your AI teammates to be good. You can sometimes perform really well and get first place, pass back every single wisp to them and still not win the race.
Having to rely on AI racers also means that local multiplayer feels a bit off, due to having your performance affected by how well your teammates do. The ideal way to play Team Sonic Racing is to organise groups of 6, 9 or 12 people to play online, with voice chat set up between each team, which is a lot of faff to do. You can play without the team mechanics, but if you’re turning off the main feature, you may as well play Sonic Racing Transformed instead.
The 21 tracks are split into 7 locations. The new locations all look stunning: Planet Wisp, Glacierland, Sandopolis and Rooftop Run, and the individual levels feel distinct (although all Plant Wisp levels look quite similar).I really love the three Rooftop Run levels, all with a completely different atmosphere. Glacierland is a brand new icy location, with lots of floating ice crystals that look like more detailed versions of the Laser Wisp crystals from Sonic Colours.
Unfortunately, the other three locations are Seaside Hill, Casino Park and Final Fortress. These nine tracks are returning from the Sonic All Stars Racing games. The visuals have been completely updated and they look nice, but the layouts are the same and they’re all locations we’ve seen before in Racing games. I also find it odd that there’s a complete lack of classic themed tracks. While some main Sonic games have leaned on nostalgia too much, a kart racer is one time where it should lean on nostalgia.
Team Sonic Racing is a very solid kart racer. It has some extremely interesting mechanics which are implemented really well, and the new tracks in it are incredibly good fun. It’s main issue is that the main mechanic only works if you have the right amount of people to play with, and even then the story mode can’t be played as a team.
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