Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds Unleashes Sega’s Secret Sauce, Blending OutRun, Initial D, and More

Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is not just doing well, it is steamrolling. The game launched to 98% Overwhelmingly Positive reviews on Steam and is still sitting at 96%. The team says that is not an accident. According to creative director Masaru Kohayakawa, the game is basically marinated in Sega racing history. And once you hear the recipe, it makes a lot of sense.

The Sega lineage, boiled down

• Yes, the Initial D arcade team is involved. We knew that part already. But here is the inside baseball: the driving feel in the Initial D arcade series has famously been handled by one programmer, and that same person has been doing it since the Sega Rally days. For CrossWorlds, one of their students is now overseeing the behavior programming. That mentor-student handoff is about as deep-cut as it gets.
• Surprise twist: CrossWorlds did not build its handling on the Initial D arcade model. Kohayakawa says the team actually used Sega Rally’s game design as the base for how cars behave. If you felt a bit of that gritty, tactile Sega Rally texture under the bright Sonic paint, you were not imagining it.
• OutRun also shows up in the DNA, specifically for that smooth, satisfying drift sensation. The team does not strictly consider OutRun their core heritage (that was AM2’s baby), but there is a connection: the behavior programming lead on CrossWorlds worked with a team that branched off the OutRun studio division. So, the highway to that drift feel is shorter than you might think.

"Sonic CrossWorlds has the secret sauce of Sega. It extracts and combines the essence of not just the arcade Initial D, but also legendary titles like Sega Rally and OutRun."

That blend explains why CrossWorlds feels like a greatest-hits album of Sega racers hidden inside a Sonic party. And yes, the roster helps with visibility too. Beyond Sonic and friends, the game throws in ringers like Hatsune Miku, Persona 5’s Joker, and even Minecraft Steve. It is chaotic in a good way.

There is also a little philosophy at play that reads like a not-so-subtle jab at a certain plumber’s karting empire. The team keeps emphasizing that wins come from skill and strategy, not item roulette.

"Players who think strategically and race skillfully, not just those who get lucky."

Maybe that is a dig, maybe it is just pride in their handling model. Either way, the message is clear: the secret sauce here is decades of Sega racing know-how, layered into a modern Sonic racer that actually drives like the classics. If it feels familiar in the best way, that is by design.