Sega has reignited its old rivalry against Nintendo in a spicy trailer for Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds that doesn’t hold back on its comparisons with Switch 2 launch title Mario Kart World.
In a voiceover for CrossWorlds’ “Come Race on Our Level” trailer, Sega highlights the differences between the two games, hyping up its game’s multiverse-spanning racetracks and cross-platform gameplay. The same voiceover then noticeably sounds bored when referencing the other game‘s ability to “roam around on the open world” — a clear nod to Mario Kart World, whose open-world gameplay has garnered a mixed response from fans.
What looks to be actual footage of Mario Kart World is even featured in the trailer — although Sega has pixellated the video, presumably to avoid getting sued.
The excitement levels from both games are represented visually with a sleek and speedy racecar for Crossworlds, compared to a dusty, old-fashioned RV for Mario Kart World. One shot shows it stall next to a cow (a likely nod to the game’s breakout Cow character) and a tortoise — an animal not known for its speed.
“We all know that kart racing game,” the trailer’s voiceover states. “It’s great, we don’t need to show it to you. But what if you could blast through and race on a whole other level? What if you could warp across different dimensions, fully customise and build out your machine and compete head-to-head across different platforms?
“Or, er, what if you want to… roam around on the open road…”
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds launches for PC, PlayStation 4, PS5, Switch 1, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S on September 25, just six months after the arrival of Mario Kart World on Switch 2.
A Switch 2 version of CrossWorlds is also on the way, but curiously not this month. Could this be Sega knowing it would do better to leave more of a gap between CrossWorlds and Mario Kart World on Switch 2, or has Nintendo suggested it would rather Sega not release a direct competitor so soon?
Whichever is the case, here’s hoping Nintendo still has a sense of humor when it sees this.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
