Team Sonic Racing – Switch Review

Given that Sonic the Hedgehog’s whole shtick is that he can fun really fast, I have never understood the inclination to put him in a kart racer. And yet, looking at his console history, he has appeared in an incredible 11 Sonic series racing games. The most recent instalment, Team Sonic Racing, has hit consoles this year – but is it any good?

As the name rather suggests, the major gimmick in Team Sonic Racing is the ability to race in teams of three. You still are awarded points for wherever you finish, but the winner is not necessarily the person who finishes first – instead, it is the team whose combined points are highest. This does lead to moments of frustration, when you come in first but still lose because your teammates are struggling. However, the AI is fairly good and you do have the option to help them out with an item transfer mechanic, sending items you have collected to your partners in case they need them more. This sounds unwieldy, but you do get used to it very quickly.

You are able to play solo races, but that is very much considered an extra here. There is also a story mode, in which Sonic and his friends are invited to take on a series of races by a mysterious tanuki called Dodon Pa, playing through the mode’s seven worlds. You are initially limited to members of Team Sonic (Sonic, Tails or Knuckles), and you can gradually unlock 12 of the game’s 15 characters (no Team Eggman, for somewhat obvious reasons). As you progress through the story, there are also special events with individual victory conditions. Some of these are good, like the survival races (in which the bottom three racers are eliminated every lap) – some are very bad (the Daredevil races, which I am still not sure I could accurately explain).

The choice of characters is somewhat limited

Playing through the Adventure mode earns you tokens (as does any other mode), which can be spent in the Mod Pods section – an area where you can unlock new decals, horns, paint jobs and parts for your character’s vehicles. Each character has 18 parts to collect, and the game’s generosity with the tokens means that you will unlock a lot of the bits fairly quickly and feel inclined to pursue the rest. It is a fun little element and, because you never get duplicate items, it is a completionist element that you will want to complete (less so the solo missions, which can get incredibly difficult).

The choice of characters is somewhat limited, and it is missing some clear big hitters – I am not really a Sonic fan, but I wondered where Cream the Rabbit and Charmy Bee were. This is particularly glaring after Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, which had a wider variety of characters and more memorable faces (as well as a mechanic that transformed tracks during races, which is inexplicably dropped). However, there is lots of dialogue between these characters, and it is quite charming – you feel as if you are part of the team, and that is exactly the dynamic the game is going for.

On the subject of sound, Team Sonic Racing sounds great – its musical tracks have lots of upbeat energy that make the races feel more energetic. Add this to the graphics, and the circuits – of which there are 21 – all feel like classic Sonic. The game only runs at 30fps (half of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s total) but it never feels laggy or slow at any point – it is rather the opposite. The handling is very satisfying, with the potential for some long drifts when you have developed the knack, and the weapons are fun to fire. A little issue, though – the weapons are represented by Wisps, which all look vaguely similar, and it is quite easy to get confused as to which item you actually have.

It is hard to get too excited about when there are kart racers on the Switch that handle better

There is nothing overly bad about Team Sonic Racing, but it is hard to get too excited about when there are kart racers on the Switch that handle better, offer more in the way of content and are just generally more fun. It’s been seven years since the release of Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, and yet it is hard to feel like there has been much improvement (outside of the team system, which works wonderfully and actually adds something new to the equation). You will have fun with it, but I do not know if you will revisit it particularly frequently when you are finished.