Sonic the Hedgehog Director Critiques Mario Kart

Sure thing! Let me see if I can spin this into something… delightfully unpolished.

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Ha, okay, so you’re here for the scoop on Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds and how it kinda puts Mario Kart World in the rearview, at least according to Takashi Iizuka. And who’s he? Just this big deal dude who’s been steering the Sonic ship since Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Anyway, he had some spicy takes at Summer Game Fest, like why is stuff always getting leaked there? No clue.

Mario Kart World’s got this new free roam setup—a first for them. Imagine just tooling around with your pals, goofing off, and it sounds neat—24 players at once, like a mini race mob—but there’s a catch. It’s glued to the Nintendo Switch 2, which is rubbing some folks the wrong way. Exclusivity’s a real drag, man.

Now, pivot to Iizuka’s baby, Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds. It’s like Sega heard the Mario talk and went, “Nah, we’re gonna play nice with every console.” Cross-platform play means no one’s left out in the cold. Playing back on an old PS5 or whatever? Doesn’t matter. Still racing. And yes, Switch fans, you’re in on this chaos too.

The whole character lineup thing? Mario Kart World’s gone back to the basics, which cool, but a tad Mario-overload, if you ask me. Meanwhile, Sonic Racing’s like a pop culture buffet, tossing in Persona 5’s Joker, Hatsune Miku (she’s everywhere, right?), and even Minecraft’s blocky Steve. It’s like they’re collecting characters like stamps. It kinda appeals to the ‘collector’ vibe in me.

Gameplay’s king at the end of the day, though, right? Whether all this jazz translates into something fun is the real kicker. Sonic Racing drops September 25, so, who knows? Maybe the Mario hype train will have slowed, and people will be itching for something new.

Oh, did I mention Mario Kart 8 Deluxe? Back when it hit the Switch, everyone was buzzing. Characters from all over—Link and those squid kids, anyone? But, alas, here we are, revolving around Mario again.

There’s more to dissect, but my brain’s getting scrambled just thinking about all these karting choices. Might check back in after I’ve caught my breath. Or not. We’ll see.

And there it is, ramblings and all. Feels like I just spilled my thoughts without a filter. Hope it passes the quirky vibe check!