Taking things in a different direction from Sonic All Stars Racing and Transformed, this kart racing game is entirely focused on the Sonic franchise, but with a twist of its own: you play in teams of three. While it does present some problems, it has some really interesting ideas.

Characters are split into three types: Speed, Technique and Power (similar to Sonic Heroes and Sonic Riders). Speed characters have the highest top speed, technique characters can go over rough terrain with no penalty and power characters can smash through obstacles without taking damage. They all ultimately feel quite balanced, and you can make further customisation to your cart to change stats or colour styles.

The racer on your team in the highest position will leave a “trail” behind them, any teammates following the line will build up a boost, which activates when they move out of it. If you coordinate well enough, you can technically keep leapfrogging each other. You can also pass item boxes between you (which can also increase the power of some items). Doing these team actions will build up your ultimate gauge, which you can trigger an Ultimate power, which makes you invincible and faster for a short period, and works even better if all three people on a team activate it at once.

All the items are based on Wisps, which is a neat idea for items, but unfortunately their icons aren’t very clear, so it’s not as easy as some games to remember what each one does. Different skill types also have their own unique wisps. These are more impactful than in the previous games (especially in speed types), but if an ally swerved in front of you, you get a little boost to recover much faster, so it’s a nice little touch.

Team Sonic Racing has a story mode called Team Adventure. Bizarrely, this is single-player only (I was expecting up to three players locally, especially as it’s literally got the word “Team” in the mode name). This is where one big problem with the team gameplay impacts you the most: you’re reliant on your AI teammates to be good. You can sometimes perform really well and get first place, pass back every single wisp to them and still not win the race.

Having to rely on AI racers also means that local multiplayer feels a bit off, due to having your performance affected by how well your teammates do. The ideal way to play Team Sonic Racing is to organise groups of 6, 9 or 12 people to play online, with voice chat set up between each team, which is a lot of faff to do. You can play without the team mechanics, but if you’re turning off the main feature, you may as well play Sonic Racing Transformed instead.

The 21 tracks are split into 7 locations. The new locations all look stunning: Planet Wisp, Glacierland, Sandopolis and Rooftop Run, and the individual levels feel distinct (although all Plant Wisp levels look quite similar).I really love the three Rooftop Run levels, all with a completely different atmosphere. Glacierland is a brand new icy location, with lots of floating ice crystals that look like more detailed versions of the Laser Wisp crystals from Sonic Colours.

Unfortunately, the other three locations are Seaside Hill, Casino Park and Final Fortress. These nine tracks are returning from the Sonic All Stars Racing games. The visuals have been completely updated and they look nice, but the layouts are the same and they’re all locations we’ve seen before in Racing games. I also find it odd that there’s a complete lack of classic themed tracks. While some main Sonic games have leaned on nostalgia too much, a kart racer is one time where it should lean on nostalgia.

Team Sonic Racing is a very solid kart racer. It has some extremely interesting mechanics which are implemented really well, and the new tracks in it are incredibly good fun. It’s main issue is that the main mechanic only works if you have the right amount of people to play with, and even then the story mode can’t be played as a team.

I have never been so disappointed with a game such as this one. I said to myself "Surely, if I really liked Transformed I would certainly love Sumo Digital's Team Sonic Racing"!

This game was such a let down. All of the tech from the last game was oversimplified in this game, the game has no sense of going fast at all, the items are generic and also seem to not help you at all, and the menu UI is so dumb and if I want to do anything other than online, customization, or tinkering with options I have to play through the story. By the way, the story mode is neat and all but I don’t play kart racing games for the story. Also beware if you play on PC that the FPS is going to be borderline unplayable unless you mess around with your graphics setting on your computer and also in the game settings options. I also especially do not like the new courses. The old updated courses are okay but nothing spectacular as they alter the map slightly. The new courses in this game however are not maps I really liked driving on as they are either to dark or hard tell what is or isn’t drivable. Despite the negatives, the postives I can say I liked was the new characters are cool! I especially like Blaze, Rouge, and also Chaos are playable racers and also that the customization is neat. Regardless though I think the game is awesome with friends but besides that this game was a massive let down and wholeheartedly for you to check out Transformed instead as it not only has more content but also is more refined gameplay wise.

And my final note is that I hope that the next SEGA kart racer has bikes again. I will miss Shadow and Ryo on a bike from the og All-Stars Racing.

Team Sonic Racing is such a downgrade in comparison to its predecessor: Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. It's not bad by any means, I actually quite enjoyed it, and the soundtrack is awesome. It just feels so generic and lacks the charm and uniqueness Racing Transformed had. They gutted so much. All the non-Sonic characters and tracks are gone. All the interesting vehicles that reflected the characters' personalities and history are gone and replaced entirely with basic sports cars. The tracks no longer morph and change throughout the race like in the previous game. And worst of all the entire transforming gimmick is gone. You can no longer dash across the water like it's hydro thunder or fly through the sky. It's definitely a fun game, but it's vastly inferior to what came before it.

Team Sonic Racing was a pleasant surprise. I was looking through my library of games and downloaded this on the whim because of how bright and colorful of a game it seemed like. I wasn't wrong, from the moment I raced on the first track I knew that Sega had put some effort into their beloved mascot's kart racer - it's brimming with character. This isn't a game to have your volume down for because it succeeds in providing another renowned and catchy soundtrack. It's important to note this because the difficulty of the game will have you replaying levels over and over again until you master every circuit and mechanic there is to this game. There is an incredible emphasis on "team" work and you'll be constantly reminded of this while playing the game - whether it's through story dialogue or in game tips. If you're playing alone, good luck because the AI can be duds at times but even if you choose to opt for solo play - once the mechanics of team racing click, it feels really rewarding. I completed this solo, but I totally believe the game shines best when you are playing with one or two friends. You can assist one another if someone falls behind by skimming past them and providing them with a boost to catch them up to speed, or if you happen to be first place, you will be able to pass on items (a la Mario Kart) to teammates so they can put better use to it. All of this is important because it contributes to an Ultimate Meter. Think of it as Sonic going Super Sonic, but the whole team participates. You'll get a massive speed boost and invincibility that can help you get to first or create an even bigger lead for yourself. If you and your team use it simultaneously, this boost will last a bit longer! Like I said, when the mechanics click, the game becomes one of the most enjoyable and rewarding kart racers to exist on modern platforms. Unfortunately there I have some minor grips towards Team Sonic Racing. There is a campaign mode that has you racing through 7 chapters. Each race has a story sequence that plays through text box cutscenes. Honestly, you can skip it all - I don't think anyone is playing a kart racer for story. It's like Crash Team Racing's story but not as cool. Nonetheless, the story mode throughs in a couple alternate modes such as Daredevil where you need to maneuver thru goalposts to get points, or Destruction where you need to destroy targets and get a certain amount of points under a time limit. These are fun to play to break the monotony of racing, but if you are playing this game to earn a platinum trophy, they can be incredibly unfair and oddly difficult (more than the races themselves). I highly discourage anybody to play this game to 100% completion. You'll have to complete the story mode on hard, complete all optional objectives, and then finish the story mode on expert. Having to do this twice is just tedious, and the alternative race modes are bafflingly difficult and frustrating. Nonetheless, if you're looking for a challenge, this game will provide it to you and I will commend it for that. If you're looking for a kart racer that mixes things up, I highly recommend this game. There is a time trial and an online mode to race against other players, but lobbies aren't populated. I would give this game a 6/10 - above average.

Honestly a solid kart racer, while I haven't played much of the story mode (I really can't be bothered lol) I did complete the grand prix mode, and had a good time, it's definitely a step down from transformed, I feel like dropping the other SEGA ips wasn't the best move as I felt it gave the series its own identity, different from the likes of Mario Kart and Crash Team Racing. The game is definitely more safe in that regard, it's a pure kart racer, only sonic characters, no transforming vehicles/ tracks and items to use.

That said the gameplay is solid, no complaints there, the music and visuals are great for sure, and the tracks for the most part are fun, bar a few stinkers.

My main problems comes from the lack of good content, now yes there is technically a lot to unlock, car parts mainly, but in terms of the actual game, there's really not much, story mode is eh and the online was dead not long after launch, leaving only local co op (which I haven't experienced) and grand prix. I also think the characters are, questionable, like sure there's team sonic, team dark, but then there's team rose with Amy, big and... 3 Chao, I like chao but, what happend to cream and cheese? Vector just gets dumped with silver and blaze and zavok working with eggman and metal sonic makes zero sense.

Overall tho, a solid kart racer, definitely get it on sale if ya can, but the game is fun, charming and a good time, not very long lived but still.

This game deserved more time in the oven. The character interactions, the music, the team-based driving are all fantastic! I liked the ability to pass items off to other players to crank up the team boost meter, slingshotting off each other to win the race!
The story mode is way too boring. Static renders of the characters with speech bubbles, paired with a plot just as animated.
The menus for online play are confusing and buggy and the overall map roster is pretty lacking. The game just runs out of cool stuff to show you after a few sessions.