If there’s one thing that can quickly frustrate Mario Kart players, it’s the infamous Blue Shell. No matter how skilled a racer you are, a Blue Shell can completely alter the course of a race, sending you plummeting down the rankings. While most mascot themed kart racers borrow elements from Nintendo’s beloved series, Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds will avoid adding a Blue Shell equivalent. In an interview with GamesRadar+, Sonic Team boss Takashi Iizuka talked about keeping things fair, and making sure that racers are rewarded for their skilled driving. The game will still feature items, but the team thought carefully about which ones to include.
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“Anything that was very stressful for players, anything that kind of always allowed people to come back from behind and win all the time needed to be removed from the concept,” Iizuka told GamesRadar+. “And then we’d go back in and playtest some more and find ways that we could balance and get it to feel the right amount of stressful and chaotic, but still lots and lots of fun, and always feeling fair to the racers.”
For decades now, the Blue Shell has been a source of controversy among Mario Kart players. It’s an iconic part of the series, it inspired a recent LEGO set, and it even played a memorable part in The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Every Mario Kart player has found themselves on the receiving end of a Blue Shell at the worst possible moment though, resulting in the exact type of stress Iizuka is trying to avoid with Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds. Whether that makes the game more enjoyable remains to be seen, but it can be hard to strike the right balance when it comes to items in a kart racing series.
From everything revealed thus far, it seems like Sega is taking great strides to emphasize the ways in which Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds stands apart from its competition. The lack of a Blue Shell equivalent is one example, and an overall emphasis on racing versus “action” is another that Iizuka has mentioned. CrossWorlds will also feature guest racers from outside franchises, which is something Nintendo decided to avoid with Mario Kart World. These might all seem like small differences, but they could add up to a different experience that’s worth checking out for fans of the genre.
Sega and Nintendo seem to have a close relationship these days, but the former company is still working hard to get Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds noticed in a year where Mario Kart World is already getting a lot of attention. Sega does have the advantage of releasing its game on multiple platforms though, and that in itself is an opportunity. Not only could the game offer a compelling alternative on PS5, Xbox, and Steam, but also to Nintendo Switch owners that don’t plan on upgrading to Switch 2 right away. We’ll have a better idea if Sega can reach that goal when the game is released in September. Hopefully a Blue Shell won’t stop the game from doing just that.
How are you feeling about Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds so far? Has Sega convinced you to buy the game this year? Share your thoughts with me directly on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!
[H/T: Nintendo Life]
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