Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds Rockets To 98% Overwhelmingly Positive On Steam—Sega’s Mario Kart World Shade Suddenly Makes Sense
On Steam, Mario Kart World is getting little love—positive reviews are nowhere to be found.
Two mascot kart racers dropped within months of each other, so of course we ended up with a fresh Sega vs Nintendo skirmish. The twist: right now, Sonic is getting the louder cheers from players.
Sega vs Nintendo, again (and Sega knows it)
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds was always going to be compared to Mario Kart World. Sega is not exactly shying away from it either, rolling out an ad that recreates one of those iconic Mega Drive-era shots from the SNES rivalry days. It is a playful little throwback that basically says: yes, we remember the console wars too.
Critics vs players: two different stories
On paper, Mario Kart World edged it in traditional review scores. But the player response has been a different tale so far. CrossWorlds is pulling an Overwhelmingly Positive rating on Steam during early access, with 98% of the current 1,247 user reviews marked positive.
'It is literally Super Smash Bros in a racing format. Sega does what Nintendon't, 10/10'
Another popular take: people are loving the crossover chaos. One user shouted out that there are not many racers where you can set the final lap to Hatsune Miku music, and that alone earned the game a thumbs up.
Meanwhile, Mario Kart World is catching heat
Fans have not vibed with certain choices in Mario Kart World. The intermission tracks and the open-world structure are rubbing some players the wrong way, which is why the Metacritic user score has ended up mixed. CrossWorlds, by contrast, is hitting the right notes for that crowd right now.
Where things stand right now
- Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is in early access and only available to players who bought the Digital Deluxe edition, which likely means the current Steam reviews skew toward the diehard Sonic crowd.
- Even with that caveat, the Overwhelmingly Positive rating is hard to ignore: 98% positive from 1,247 reviews as of now.
- Sega is actively leaning into the rivalry with a Mega Drive throwback ad.
- Mario Kart World still looks stronger on traditional critic scores, but its user feedback is more split thanks to those intermissions and the open-world approach.
- For character-watchers: Ichiban Kasuga is not playable until November, which, yes, is a bit of a wait.
My quick read
Early access reviews can be a lovefest when only the superfans are in the door, but CrossWorlds genuinely seems to be landing with players. I do not see that Steam score collapsing once the wider crowd hops in, and frankly, Sega staggering popular characters like Ichiban until November might be the most annoying thing about it so far.
One spicy take to end on: Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds' portals are better than Mario Kart World's road trips, and some of you are not ready to hear that.