If you never looked into the 3D platformer when it launched in November 2022, it’s a somewhat open-world approach to the series’ traditional formula. Arriving on the Starfall Islands by chance, Sonic works to free his friends by exploring the mysterious Cyberspace and taking on the Titans. The latter represent some of the most spectacular boss fights – and arguably the best power fantasy – in the series yet. Check out our review for more details.

Sega would expand on it in various ways, including The Final Horizon, which added a “true” final boss. You could also partake in a celebration of Sonic’s birthday, time trials in Cyberspace and Battle Rush to take on all threats, one after another.

Of course, if you’re picking up the physical version on Nintendo Switch 2, beware – it ships on a Game-Key Card, which means having to download all the updates. With this out of the way, it remains to be seen whether we’ll finally hear about that sequel rumored back in 2024.

His debut is part of some free DLC that SEGA has lined up for its racer, and he joins Red from Angry Birds and Arle from Puyo Puyo (who’s still pending). Of course, he gets his own vehicle, the Goromaru, themed after his recent trip to Hawaii. There’s quite a bit of fun stuff to mark the occasion, beginning with a Captain Majima Festival that runs from April 30th all the way to May 3rd, which coincides with a Free Weekend to try out all the game has to offer until May 4th.

Additionally, you can grab Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds at a very generous discount until May 7th as part of SEGA’s Golden Week Promotion on Steam. That’s quite a good deal considering that this one was a very capable racer, something we praised in our review.

With all paid DLC characters released, one has to wonder what’s next for the racer, especially with Sega expecting another million sales by the end of the current fiscal year. Even more surprises are seemingly in store, so stay tuned for updates.

https://x.com/RaceCrossWorlds/status/2048847192233054671

Of course, neither Sega nor Sonic Team has officially confirmed this, nor have they hinted that a Definitive Edition was in the works. After launching in November 2022 for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch, the 3D platformer received three major free updates in 2023, including The Final Horizon, which added nine new Cyber Space levels and a new challenging final boss.

Aside from potentially offering new content, this could mark the title’s debut on Nintendo Switch 2. Time will tell, but an announcement tomorrow wouldn’t be surprising.

Sonic Frontiers is far from the only major success that the franchise has seen in recent years, with Sonic X Shadow Generations launching in 2024 and going on to sell over two million units. Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds was released last year and sold over one million units relatively quickly, but Sega Sammy CFO Koichi Fukuzawa says it fell short of internal projections.

It continues to receive updates, though, with Mega Man out today for paying players. Goro Majima from Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii and Red from Angry Birds will be added for free in April, followed by Puyo Puyo’s Arle in May.

Goro Majima from the Yakuza franchise had us grinning at the news, his popularity after his last adventure in Hawaii making him a fine choice. There’s also Red from Angry Birds, and Arle from Puyo Puyo, for those of you who can’t get enough of them. Each of them brings their own unique vehicles to the table, which are bound to create the scope for some crazy new combinations with existing characters. We’re curious to see how each character’s stats manage to make them competitive additions to the game’s expanding roster.

The new vehicles are quite impressive, each one themed to the character driving it. Majima’s is part of the reason we’re stoked to have him join CrossWorlds, and his ride looks like it could ‘sail’ through the game’s timeline-spanning shenanigans.

There are also some new tunes coming your way, and you can access them from the in-game jukebox. You can see when your personal pick of the three new characters is coming in the trailer below. If you can’t, Red and Majima are out in April, with Arle arriving in May.

Despite the early success, however, Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds apparently didn’t meet internal sales projections. However, Sega plans on continuing post-launch support to promote long-term sales.

“We recently announced that worldwide cumulative sales [of Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds] have surpassed 1 million units,” said Fukuzawa. “However, initial performance did not meet our expectations, and we are aiming to sell approximately another 1 million units within the fiscal year. We aim to sustain long-term sales by encouraging players to enjoy the game over time through the continued support of the title, including ongoing release of additional downloadable content.”

The sales milestone had been reached in October. This announcement coincided with the release of a free update for Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds that introduced Persona 5 protagonist Joker to the roster. The character was accompanied by his vehicle—the Arsene Wing—along with three songs from Persona 5—“Take Over,” “Wake Up, Get Up, Get out There,” and “Victory.”

Looking forward, director Masaru Kobayakawa confirmed that more content is in development for Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds that will be released throughout 2026. These updates, he said last month, will “surprise everyone”.

“We released Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds in September 2025. Thanks in part to the over 30 years of racing game know-how we’ve accumulated since Sega Rally, the game has been well-received by players all over the world,” said Kobayakawa. “We plan to continue providing service throughout the season in 2026, but we’ve also prepared many more amazing surprises than at launch. We’re aiming to make this a year in which we’ll surprise everyone.”

The newest addition to the Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds roster has been Pac-Man, released in January. The character’s arrival was teased with a short social media clip showcasing a game of Pac-Man with the high score racking up at a rapid pace.

Three more collaboration DLCs confirmed to be part of the game’s season pass are in the works: Mega Man, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, and Avatar Legends. They will join other third-party IPs like SpongeBob SquarePants and Minecraft, which have already made it into the game. For more details, check out the post-launch roadmap. As for Sega’s own IP, Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds has so far seen the addition of Vocaloid star Hatsune Miku and Like a Dragon‘s Ichiban Kasuga joining Joker.

Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2. Check out our review, where we gave it a score of 9 out of 10 and called it a “kart racer with its own identity”. We praised its focus on blistering speed and performance, while criticizing the sensory overload from its Race Park party mode.

As part of the process, the team first makes the roadmap, and then figures out which game it wants to work on next. Once that decision has been made, resources are then allocated accordingly. Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds was developed in a similar manner, since Sonic Team wanted to focus on reviving the racing side of things for the franchise.

“First we create a roadmap of Sonic titles and think about which game to release in which year, said Iizuka. “We then allocate the development resources needed to develop those titles. So this year we’ve strengthened the racing genre, and we’re currently planning what to do next on the roadmap.”

However, Iizuka didn’t provide more details about these roadmaps, such as how far into the future it makes plans for when it comes to making new Sonic titles. The roadmaps also likely take into account other projects in the Sonic franchise that might already be under development.

In the meantime, Sega has confirmed that Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds has sold more than a million copies since its launch back in September across PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch. The announcement was made alongside the release of Joker from Persona 5 as a playable character for the kart racer, including the addition of three new songs from the turn-based RPG – Take Over, Wake Up, Get Up, Get Out There, and Victory.

As its name might imply, Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is the newest entry in the kart racing mini-series under the larger Sonic franchise. The title launched with 24 regular tracks and 23 characters from across the Sonic franchise, as well as a host of guest characters, including vocaloid music store Hatsune Miku. Alongside its fast-paced arcade-styled racing, the core gameplay of Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds revolves around the titular mechanic that allows players to change the track in the middle of a race thanks to portals that take racers to different locations.

A Nintendo Switch 2 version of Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is also planned for release. In the meantime, the title is also slated to get a variety of different DLC releases, which will include characters from franchises outside of Sega. These franchises include Mega Man, SpongeBob SquarePants, and Minecraft. Check out more details about the kart racing game in our review, where we gave it a score of 9 out of 10 thanks to its performance and fun gameplay.

The Sonic franchise has been seeing general success as well. Back in January, Sega had confirmed that Sonic X Shadow Generations had sold more than 2 million copies. The announcement came after its launch day back in October 2024 already saw more than a million sales.

Its last major release, Sonic X Shadow Generations, sold over one million copies at launch and more than 1.5 million about a month later. Perhaps it’s not the best comparison, especially given the ability to play as Shadow and the hype surrounding the Sonic the Hedgehog 3 film. However, it appears to be a vast improvement over Team Sonic Racing, which launched in May 2019 and sold 1.38 million by the third quarter of fiscal year 2020.

Aside from the sales update, Joker from Persona 5 is now available in-game for free. Players can also use the Arsene Wing and access three songs – “Take Over,” “Wake Up, Get Up, Get out There,” and “Victory.” Sega also confirmed that, thus far, the player base has accumulated more than 74.5 million races, over 31.5 million Grands Prix, and more than 13 million Ranked races.

For more details on free and paid characters, check out the roadmap. You can also read our review here.

Sonic Generations was already a fairly good game (though it holds up less well today than it did at launch), but the addition of Shadow Generations – which can lay a claim to being the best 3D Sonic entry this side of the Adventure saga – really elevates the whole offering, and provides platforming fans with a substantial and good entry in the genre right at the Switch 2’s launch.

"The Switch 2 release sees an improvement across the board. Sonic Generations now runs at a locked, blistering 60 frames per second."

Sonic X Shadow Generations launched last year on every system, including Nintendo’s own Switch, which means it’s a known quantity. The 2011 Sonic game, which was widely viewed as one of the best 3D entries in the series at the time of its release, paired with Shadow’s first headlining adventure since the ill-fated Shadow the Hedgehog, are both available in this package. Compared to the Switch version, the Switch 2 versions run significantly better – the Switch versions of Sonic and Shadow Generations ran at 1080p and 720p respectively, but more than the resolution, the big hit came via the frame rate, which only targeted 30fps. 

The Switch 2 release sees an improvement across the board. Sonic Generations now runs at a locked, blistering 60 frames per second, as a platformer, particularly a platformer about one of the speediest creatures alive, should. Of course, Sonic Generations is also a 14 year old game, so it running well on a brand new machine in 2025 isn’t inherently surprising (although the improvement over the original Switch version is most definitely welcome). Rather, the point of interest here is Shadow Generations, which was already running worse on Switch than even Sonic Generations, and which, as a brand new 3D game, was more challenging on the hardware.

With Shadow Generations too, thankfully, there are improvements. There is a performance mode that locks the frame rate to 60 frames per second (which is excellent, and exactly what it should be), although for those who prefer the image clarity and legibility that a higher resolution image can provide, there is a Quality Mode available as well, which bumps the resolution while locking the frame rate to 30fps.

"I am merely happy to have the ability to play the game on 60fps, as a platformer should be, hardware permitting."

The quality mode isn’t one I would personally ever use or even recommend for a Sonic platformer; nonetheless, it is a good thing that the option is available for those who prefer it. I am merely happy to have the ability to play the game on 60fps, as a platformer should be, hardware permitting. 

Other than the graphical upgrades, however, there’s no other upgrades to this version of the game. Both Sonic Generations and Shadow Generations are the exact same games they were last year, on the Switch and on every other system – they are simply looking and running better. Inherently, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that – as I have repeatedly specified, Sonic Generations is still fairly good, even if it has lost its lustre a little, and Shadow Generations is the best a 3D Sonic game has been in almost two decades.

Both of those are excellent platformers, featuring strongly designed levels that lend themselves incredibly well to repeated playthroughs, as you try to find secrets or shortcuts, or you try to shave off time from your completion and bump your grade higher. The arcade score attack style mentality that pervades the design of a Sonic game is still here, and with the level design and character movement both being as great as they are, continually replaying these levels comes almost naturally, without the game having to do anything to induce the player to do so.

However, this being a straight port of a reasonably straightforward re-release means that it inherits a lot of the flaws of those other releases too. These are most evident with Sonic Generations, which suffers from feeling a bit too dated sometimes, particularly with some of its 2D “Classic Sonic” levels, which can be almost too simplistic. Additionally, both Sonic and Shadow Generations suffer from a relatively uninteresting hub world, particularly compared to some of the series’ own previous highlights in these areas.

"Overall, then, this is a great version of a great couple of games, and the Switch 2 version has very little of the obvious cutbacks and compromises that made the Switch version so hard to recommend last year."

The story of Sonic Generations particularly is also far more streamlined and simplified than a lot of the blue blur’s more popular adventures, which tend to have fairly elaborate and overwrought stories. Personally, as someone who doesn’t particularly care about the storytelling in Sonic games, I don’t mind a simple story that stays out of the way, but I also recognize that within the Sonic fanbase, there is a huge cadre of fans that does care about the story and mythos of the franchise. For them, Sonic Generations may still prove to be disappointing on this front. Thankfully, however, Shadow Generations taps in a lot more into the exact kind of storytelling that Sonic Generations eschews, so even for more plot oriented Sonic fans, this package has a lot to offer.

Shadow Generations benefits over Sonic Generations in a bunch of other ways besides. The core design for the levels is significantly better here, making the levels inherently a lot more fun to play. Shadow also feels better to control on a base level, with the added Doom Powers that he slowly unlocks over the course of the campaign further adding to his moveset, and surprisingly enough, doing so without interrupting the flow or pacing of the levels or encounters. 

Shadow Generations also, obviously, has a great soundtrack – though this is an area where Sonic Generations is no slouch either, because what Sonic game has ever truly disappointed when it comes to music? None of them, and it isn’t about to start here either.

Overall, then, this is a great version of a great couple of games, and the Switch 2 version has very little of the obvious cutbacks and compromises that made the Switch version so hard to recommend last year. Sonic X Shadow Generations on the Switch 2, rather, can stand side by side with the PlayStation and Xbox versions of the game (though as should be obvious, it’s running at lower settings than those builds of the game do). If you are a Nintendo owner who hasn’t played through this already, or doesn’t own it on Switch, and you have a hankering for a good platformer, this is an easily recommended purchase.

If, however, you did own the Switch version of the game already, the calculus becomes a lot more complicated. You see, Sega, in their infinite wisdom, are not allowing Switch 1 owners to upgrade their existing copies of the game. Unlike so many other first and third party games, Sonic X Shadow Generations on Switch cannot be upgraded to the Switch 2 version for free or even for an upgrade fee; instead, you need to buy the whole game again. Doing so does allow you to import your Switch save over to the Switch 2, so you at least don’t have to start over, but it’s extremely disappointing that there’s not even an option for a paid upgrade being offered.

"Whatever the situation may be, however, don’t let the pricing decisions take away from the ultimate takeaway – Sonic X Shadow Generations is good."

That unnecessary sour note in how the release has been handled aside, however, anyone who does get Sonic X Shadow Generations is in for a treat, with a surprisingly great new game in the guise of Shadow, and a beloved fan favorite that manages to hold up mostly well in Sonic. If you haven’t played it yet, and are interested in platformers, then the Switch 2 version is as easily recommended as the PC, PlayStation, or Xbox versions are; if you do already own the game on Switch itself, it’s a lot harder to recommend you having to by the same game again. 

Whatever the situation may be, however, don’t let the pricing decisions take away from the ultimate takeaway – Sonic X Shadow Generations is good. And with the Switch 2 version bringing the performance and visuals of the game back in line with the other versions, this is the best version of the best batch of Sonic games available to Nintendo players.

This game was reviewed on the Nintendo Switch 2.

Save data can be transferred from the Nintendo Switch version to Switch 2 (though not vice versa). However, there is no pre-order or early purchase bonus, and you can’t upgrade the Switch 1 version to Switch 2, which also applies to the DLC.

Furthermore, since it ships on a Game-Key Card, Switch 2 owners must download up to 24 GB to install the physical version. You may also need additional space for any updates.

This fits a recent report noting that most third-party Nintendo Switch 2 titles are shipping on Game-Key Cards, resulting in mandatory downloads. Some exceptions include Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition, which packs 64 GB onto the cartridge.

Sonic X Shadow Generations is also available for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, and PS5. Check out our review.

Sonic X Shadow Generations is going to release for the Nintendo Switch 2 as a launch title, which means it will be available on the console upon its worldwide launch on June 5. It will be one of three Sega titles to release alongside the Nintendo Switch 2, alongside Puyo Puyo Tetris 25 and Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut. Two other title will also follow from the publisher for the console before the end of the year, in the form of Two Point Museum and Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army.

In our review of Sonic X Shadow Generations, we awarded it a score of 8/10, saying, “With an enhanced version of one of the series’ best 3D outings to date, as well as a legitimately great brand-new adventure starring a returning fan-favourite, Sonic X Shadow Generations is well worth a look for fans of Sega’s platforming franchise.” Read the full review through here.

Sonic X Shadow Generations is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC. It has sold over 2 million units worldwide.