Sonic is back behind the wheel in another racing simulator, with Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds looking to rival the likes of Mario Kart in its track design, gameplay, and limitless customization. Players have free rein when it comes to choosing the character and car build they desire, but there are a few considerations they need to make during the building process.
As players work their way through CrossWorlds‘ Grand Prix and battle it out in online competition, there will be a need to create different builds to suit different game modes and tracks. As such, an understanding of all vehicle stats in Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds and what they do will help give you an edge over your competition.
All Vehicle Stats in Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, Explained
Cars in Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds are completely customizable, allowing players to craft a vehicle that best suits the way they play. While building their car, however, they need to keep in mind how the build is balanced across the five vehicle stats in the game. Here are the five stats and their role in your car’s performance.
Speed
Speed is a fairly self-explanatory stat, but nevertheless a very important one. This stat is focused solely on the maximum pace at which your car can move. This is particularly important in periods where there are stretches of road where there aren’t many turns, particularly the final straight before the finish line.
Acceleration
Not to be confused with speed, acceleration is concerned with the rate at which your car can go from a starting position to getting close to its top speed. This is a pretty important stat, as you’ll find yourself in many situations where your driving is halted, either at the hands of a fellow racer’s item, falling off the course, or hitting a bumper, for example, so you need your vehicle to recover quickly in order to stay in the running for a podium position.
Handling
Perhaps the stat that is overlooked the most in popular racing games, handling refers to the amount of control you have over your vehicle, particularly when moving around corners. A high handling stat enables you to cut tight corners without sacrificing too much speed and lowers the risk of winding up hitting a bumper and losing some of your hard-earned gold rings. Additionally, it’s also handy if you need to quickly move out of the way of oncoming obstacles in front or behind you.
Power
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is a racing experience at its core, but it also takes a leaf out of the books of our racing games like Mario Kart and Crash Team Racing by including combat elements to the game. There are an abundance of different items at your disposal, many of which are designed to do damage. That is where power comes into the game.
Power is connected to your car’s ability to withstand or absorb damage. This doesn’t just apply to items, but will also dull the consequences of colliding with fellow drivers on the track. As an added bonus, power builds will cancel out lost rings from colliding with the barricade.
Boost
In addition to items, there are also a variety of ways in which players can get a quick boost of speed. Primarily, you’ll get these from boost pads and rings, but there are some other methods and items that will give your car an extra kick. Boost separates itself from acceleration and speed by concerning itself only with the effectiveness and duration of these speed boosts. A high boost stat will increase your top speed while in boost, as well as the length of the boost itself.
In addition to your build selection, you can also influence your vehicle stats through the use of gadgets. There is an unlockable selection of gadgets that are solely dedicated to boosting certain stats, so you can bridge the gaps in your build.
What's The Most Important Vehicle Stat?
This isn’t so much a question that has a straightforward answer, especially in a game like Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, where there is an abundance of customization and build options. In saying that, though, the biggest consideration is what style of driver you are. If you’re more concerned with being fast, then you will, of course, want to prioritize speed and acceleration, whereas you may gravitate towards power and handling if you prioritize durability and strategy.
If one was to answer that question, however, we would argue that handling is perhaps the most important stat to consider in your build. While speed is generally the most important factor in a racing game, many of the tracks in Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds feature a plethora of sharp turns and race circumstances where fast and evasive action is required. You can narrow the gap between you and speed-forward builds by customizing your car in a way that supports greater acceleration and boost.
The limitation, to a handling-forward build is, naturally, sacrificing your potential for speed. While this can be a pretty significant disadvantage, it’s generally not really noticable unless you’re on the home stretch of a race. Even then, you can make up for this gap by using items or the boost pads scattered around the track.