Team Sonic Racing

Team Sonic Racing (チームソニックレーシング) is a kart racing video game and a spin-off from the Sonic the Hedgehog series. The game is developed by Sumo Digital and published by Sega, and was released on 21 May 2019. It received both a physical and digital release for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch, and a digital-only release on Steam for the PC. Unlike Sumo Digital's previous Sonic racing games, Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing and Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, Team Sonic Racing only features characters from the Sonic universe, as the team wanted to expand the series' world and character roster.

Said to combine the best elements of arcade and fast-paced competitive style racing, Team Sonic Racing has the player face-off with friends in intense multiplayer racing. In the game, players take control of one of fifteen characters from the cast of the Sonic series and compete in races using sports cars. Gameplay is viewed from a third-person perspective, with players driving performing tricks, drifting, and collecting power-ups. Team Sonic Racing differs from traditional kart racers because of its focus on cooperative gameplay—the player is part of a team of racers and win races through efficiency and teamwork instead of speed. Sonic Team head and game producer Takashi Iizuka conceived the cooperative gameplay, and Sumo Digital used the team-based Sonic Heroes as a point of reference. Game modes include competing to earn points, time trials, customizing the racing rules, and a story-driven campaign that serves as a tutorial. The team sought to make the game stand out in comparison to other racing games and developed it using a modified version of the All-Stars game engine. Musician Jun Senoue, who had not contributed to a major Sonic game since Sonic Generations, composed the soundtrack.

The existence of the game came to light when a Sumo Digital memo leaked in January 2018. Sega would later officially confirm its existence in May 2018. Its marketing campaign included appearances at trade shows, a one-shot comic from IDW Publishing, and a two-part animated series.

Gameplay
Team Sonic Racing is a kart racing video game featuring single-player and multiplayer modes. After the player selects one of fifteen characters from the cast of the Sonic the Hedgehog series, players participate in races using sports cars on courses thematically based on locations from the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. Different characters fall into one of three racing classes: Speed, Technique, and Power. Each type has their own unique abilities and skillsets that give them both advantages and disadvantages:

Gameplay is viewed from a third-person perspective. At the beginning of each race, the player starts out in front of the finish line. For a sudden speed boost straight off the startline, the player can build up a Start Line Boost by pressing and releasing Accelerate with each count of the countdown timer. The momentum from the Start Line Boost can be accumulated up to three times, with its rising level indicated by the changing color of the flames emitting from the race car's exhaust pipes. While racing, the player can build up speed boosts in other ways. One of them is by drifting, which allows the player to make sharp turns. While drifting, the player can turn left or right. While doing so, the player will built up a speed boost that is initiated as soon as the drift ends. By drifting for extended periods of time, the player can accumulate and improve upon the drift's speed boost. Lastly, there are the Stunt maneuvers. After being launching into midair, the player can perform forward, backward and/or sideways flips, which will built up a speed boost that is initiated when the playable character lands. For each successive Stunt performed, the player accumulates and improves upon the resulting speed boost, but landing on the ground in the middle of a Stunt will cancel out the speed boost and slow the playable character down. Alternatively, the player can run over Boost Pads to get speed boosts.

Racers can also collect power-ups contained in Item Boxes marked with "?" from the tracks to gain temporary offensive and defensive advantages; these power-ups come in the form of fourteen different kinds of Wisps, which is a recurring power-up in the Sonic series. Each Wisp is obtained at random and grants a certain Color Panel. However, instead of becoming Color Powers when using the Wisps, the users mostly manifest the Color Powers as a move, projectile or obstruction. Color Powers have different uses and can provide the player with speed boosts, attacks for slowing down rival racers, or obstructions that deal damage to rivals. In addition, the Wisps the characters can pick up from the tracks are determined by their classes; Red Wisps are reserved for Speed-Types, Magenta Wisps are reserved for Technique-Types, and Violet, Cyan and Pink Wisps are reserved for Power-Types. The classic Rings also appear on the racetracks, which the racers can collect to build up to their final score and increase their top speed up to 30%. Taking damage will cause the racer to drop all their Rings, though some of them can be recollected before they disappear. Damage can be induced when taking hits from offensive Wisps or when colliding with obstacles on the racetrack, such as circular saws, common level obstructions, Eggpawns, Crabmeats, etc.

The game offers classic races in which the players compete against each other for first place. Upon completing a race, the player is rewarded with in-game currency called Credits. The races themselves have two modes. The first mode is a standard all-against-all race where each racer compete against everyone else to secure the best position, and the winner is determined by who crosses the finish line first during the last lap. A maximum of twelve playable characters can participate in such races. In a single-player race, the player can also damage any opponent with their power-ups. The second mode is a team-based mode. Here, the races differ from traditional kart racers because of their focus on cooperative gameplay: the player is part of a team of three racers and they must work together. Up to four teams of three can compete in this mode, for a total of twelve racers at a time. The three characters for a team can be chosen freely from the game's roaster (except for in Team Adventure, where teams are predetermined for story reasons), allowing players to combine any ability types; the player also has the option for each teammate to be the same character. Instead of simply winning races by finishing them as fast as possible in team-based races, teams get points based on how they worked together and on their members' positions in the race. The teams' different standings during a race are displayed on the left side of the HUD and is constantly updated. Each team on this display also has its own color, which makes it possible to identify the characters who are backlit with these colors. In a team-based race, teams can damage rival team racers with their power-ups. If a character is accidentally hit by an ally power-up however, they will be completely unaffected and receive no damage. At the end of each team-based race, the results will be shown in the following order. First, there is the final standing which shows the final position and time of each racer, color-coded by team. Secondly, there is the total score where the player's individual score is calculated from bonuses for Rings, Team Plays, final position, etc., and then adjusted to the factor in the difficulty setting. Credits earned are also calculated at this time. Lastly, there is the team score. Here, points are assigned for each character's final position (15 for first place, 12 for second, then 10, 9, 8 and so on), and totaled up for each team. The team with the highest total score are declared the winners. Thus, it is not always about finishing in first place; rather, it is the most efficient team who wins. When racing as a team in any game mode alone, there will be artificial intelligence (AI) controlling the player's teammates. Also, while they each control a single racer, the players must also pay attention to how their teammates are performing. During a team-based race, rival team members on the race track will be highlighted in red.

In team-based races, the player has special maneuvers and effects that they can perform to support their teammates. The most basic of these maneuvers is the Item Box Transfer which can transfer the contents of an Item Box to a teammate after obtaining it from an Item Box from the race track or another teammate. Upon obtaining a power-up, the player can offer it to a teammate, who can either accept it or ignore it. Sharing power-ups is in particular the only method to obtain some items not normally available to an ability type. By transferring a power-up, players can also triple the quantity of most Wisp power-ups to utilize (e.g. when a player collects an Item Box, they will receive one Wisp, but if they obtain a certain Wisp through a teammate, there is the possibility they will obtain three Wisps of the same kind to use instead of one). Wisps eligible for triplicating are the Black Wisps, Blue Wisps, Orange Wisps, White Wisps and Crimson Wisps. Another team maneuver is the Skim Boost which lets the player give a slow-moving temmate a speed boost by skimming them at high speed; the greater the speed difference, the bigger the speed boost. Also, the character who has the highest position in a team-based race will produce yellow trails only visible to their teammates that provides a Slingshot manuever. This maneuver grants a speed boost to the teammates who stay on the yellow trails for extended periods of time. There is also the Rival Takedown, where the characters on a team simply attack rival team racers. The teams can also unleash special moves called "Team Ultimates" when their Ultimate Meter energy gauge gets filled up from performing the team-based maneuvers mentioned above while racing; while the move can be used individually at any given time the Ultimate Meter is full, it lasts longer if all three teammates activate it simultaneously. When used, the Team Ultimate gives the user a temporary burst of speed and invincibility that lets them plow through rival racers, sending them skidding out of control. The meter's duration can be extended by hitting competing racers during Team Ultimates.

Vehicles also have customization options that adjust the performance and appearance of a playable character's vehicle. These customizations are unlocked as the player progresses through the game. Most customizations, however, can be obtained through Mod Pods which can be purchased for ten Credits each. The player can obtain two broad types of customization parts: Mods and Bonus Boxes. Mods in particular can be divided into Performance Parts (which modify a vehicle's appearance and stats) and Car Cosmetic, the latter of which can be divided further into Paint Kits (which modify a vehicle's color scheme), Vinyls (which lets the player decorate the vehicles with decals) and Horns (which modify the vehicles' horn sounds). Bonus Boxes, on the other hand, are one-time equipment that can be equipped before a race in order to grant the racer a power-up from the beginning of the race or a special ability. Meanwhile, Mods can be added to a race car in the Garage, a mode where players can personalize their race cars. Performance Parts are particularly important. Each character gets eighteen Performance Parts to choose from which are divided into three sets: six for the vehicle's front, six for the vehicle's rear, and six for the vehicle's wheels, giving a total of 270 Performance Parts in the game. In addition, half of the Performance Parts are classified as "Legendary", which add golden colorations to the vehicle. The stats the Performance Parts modify include:


 * Acceleration: The rate at which speed increases.
 * Boost: The boost strength and duration.
 * Defense: Sturdiness upon collision and attack.
 * Handling: Agility when navigating tight corners.
 * Top Speed: The highest speed the racer can go.

Team Sonic Racing features a wide variety of offline and online game modes: Team Adventure, Local Play, Online Multiplayer, Player Stats, Garage, Mod Pods, Options, Tips and Credits. In addition, the game includes a series of mission-based racing events for both single players and multiplayers.

The game supports four-player local multiplayer. All standard races and sone of the special events can be played by up to four players in split screen mode. A separate controller must be connected for each player. To register entry for an additional player, one must choose the Joint/Leave option at either the main menu or the Game Mode screen of Local Play. Changes can be confirmed by checking the multiplayer status display at the bottom of the screen. Also, at the Character select screen of each game mode, each player uses their own controller to make character and team choices. Depending on the game mode selected, some multiplayer restrictions apply:


 * Team Adventure: Can be played by up to three players. Players can also freely choose a character within the same team.
 * Local Play: Grand Prix and Exhibition Race can be played by up to four players who can choose their characters and teams freely. Time Trial is limited to one player, however.
 * Online Multiplayer: Can be played by up to a combination of twelve local and online players, who can choose their characters freely. Teams are assigned randomly or by the lobby host.

Items

 * Item Box
 * Invincibility
 * Wisps
 * Black Wisp
 * Blue Wisp
 * Crimson Wisp
 * Cyan Wisp
 * Gray Wisp
 * Ivory Wisp
 * Jade Wisp
 * Magenta Wisp
 * Orange Wisp
 * Pink Wisp
 * Red Wisp
 * Violet Wisp
 * White Wisp
 * Yellow Wisp
 * Rings
 * Star Post

Gimmicks and obstacles

 * Boost Pad
 * Kao
 * Spring
 * Wide spring

Playable characters
Team Sonic Racing features fifteen playable characters, with three per team. In Team Adventure, the player is restricted to the three set characters per team, and begins with only Team Sonic, unlocking the other teams as they progress. In other modes, players are free to mix characters from other teams together. The following is a list of the characters:

Racers

 * Eggpawn
 * Monster machine

Non-racers

 * Boo
 * Boom Boo
 * Buzzer
 * Chaos
 * Charmy Bee
 * Chopper
 * Classic Sonic
 * Crabmeat
 * Cubot
 * Death Egg Robot sentinel
 * Dodon Pa
 * Egg Hammer
 * Egg Squid
 * Espio the Chameleon
 * Froggy
 * King Boom Boo
 * Master Zik
 * Mother Wisp
 * Orbot
 * Orca
 * Sandworm

Stages
Team Sonic Racing features twenty-one tracks in total, including some returning ones from Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing and Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, each split across seven Zones and based on locations from past Sonic games. 18 of the tracks are available at the start of the game, while the other three are locked until the player completes Team Adventure mode.


 * Planet Wisp
 * Wisp Circuit
 * Mother's Canyon
 * Doctor's Mine
 * Seaside Hill
 * Ocean View
 * Lost Palace
 * Whale Lagoon
 * Glacierland
 * Ice Mountain
 * Frozen Junkyard
 * Hidden Volcano
 * Casino Park
 * Roulette Road
 * Bingo Party
 * Pinball Highway
 * Sandopolis
 * Sand Road
 * Boo's House
 * Clockwork Pyramid
 * Rooftop Run
 * Market Street
 * Sky Road
 * Haunted Castle
 * Final Fortress
 * Turbine Loop
 * Dark Arsenal
 * Thunder Deck

Events
Team Sonic Racing offer a wide selection of racing competitions called Events. Events may involved tweeked game rules or contents, or offer a mission-styled objective. The Events in the game include:


 * Boost Race: The player competes in a Standard Race where the Item Boxes only contain White Wisps.
 * Daredevil: The player competes in a single-player competition where they must use skim giant Star Posts in order to earn enough points before the time limit expires. This Event is exclusive to Team Adventure.
 * Destruction: The player competes in a single-player competition where they must destroy targets in order to earn enough points before the time limit expires. This Event is exclusive to Team Adventure.
 * Eggpawn Assault: The player competes in a single-player competition where they must destroy different types of Eggpawns in order to earn enough points before the time limit expires. This Event is exclusive to Team Adventure.
 * Grand Prix: The player take part in four Standard Races in order to collect points. The racer with the most points at the end of these four races is declared the winners.
 * King of the Hill: The player race against each other in a Standard Race to stay in the lead. The racer in the lead will earns points. The first racer to hit the point limit is declared the winner.
 * Lightning Race: The player competes in a Standard Race where lightning strikes periodically throughout this event. In order to defend against the lightning, the player must use Invincibility power-ups.
 * Ring Challenge: The player competes in a single-player competition where they must collect Rings in order to earn enough points before the time limit expires. By drifting while collecting Rings, the player earns extra time. This Event is exclusive to Team Adventure.
 * Rocket Race: The player competes in a Standard Race where the Item Boxes only contain Orange Wisps.
 * Showdown Race: The player squares off against Team Eggman and the various Eggpawns that make up the opposing teams. This Event is exclusive to Team Adventure.
 * Survival Race: The player compete in a "last man standing" race where the last racer to complete a lap will be eliminated from the race until only the fastest remain.
 * Team Boost Race: The player competes in a Team Race where the Item Boxes only contain White Wisps.
 * Team Grand Prix: Players take part in four Team Races in order to collect points. The team with the most points at the end of these four races is declared the winners.
 * Team King of the Hill: The players race against each other in a Team Race to stay in the lead. The racer in the lead will earns points for their team. The first team to hit the point limit is declared the winner.
 * Team Lightning Race: The players compete in a Team Race where lightning strikes periodically throughout this event. In order to defend against the lightning, the players must use Invincibility power-ups.
 * Team Race: The player competes in a standard team-orientated race where they must earn points for their team by finishing with a high rank. The team with the highest score wins the race.
 * Team Rocket Race: The players compete in a Team Race where the Item Boxes only contain Orange Wisps.
 * Vampire Race: The player competes in a Standard Race where the Rings they hold slowly decay over time, thus limiting their top speed. Use the Violet Wisps to steal Rings from rival racers.
 * Time Trial: The player races against the clock for the fastest lap time possible. The player can test their skills against ghosts of the players with the best time.
 * Traffic Attack: The player competes in a single-player competition where they must avoid traffic drones. At the same time, they must drive through gates in order to earn enough points before the time limit expires. This Event is exclusive to Team Adventure.
 * Vampire Race: The players compete in a Team Race where the Rings they hold slowly decay over time, thus limiting their top speed. Use the Violet Wisps to steal Rings from rival racers.

Team Adventure
Team Adventure is a single-player story-driven campaign that serves as a tutorial mode and provides an explanation for why the characters are racing and a way for players to familiarize themselves with the game and its wide array of characters. Three local players can participate in it. Alternatively, the player can play it by themselves.

Team Adventure consists of a series of racing events that reveal the story of the game, and is separated into seven chapters which the player advances through sequentially. When progressing through a chapter, the player will find themselves on the Map Stage. On this map are fields with interconnected mission-based stage events that the player can participate in. Initially, stage paths are linear, but over time, they branch out and the player can take part in various events, although not all are mandatory in order to complete a given chapter. Each stage takes place on a different race track with a specific event tied to it.

On a Map Stage, the player must select a stage from those available. When first starting out though, only Stage 1-1 can be chosen. Once a stage has been selected, the player must choose the difficulty setting for that stage's racing event. After that, the player will go through a Dialogue Scene (the game's cutscenes) where the player can see the characters interact by way of introducing to the adventure. To proceed through the dialogue, the player must follow the onscreen prompts. After that, the player will enter the event assigned to that stage. Note the clear conditions at the entry screen, as one often has to adapt their driving strategy to clear them. After the event, for each clear condition the player fulfills during the event for the first time, the player will be awarded with a star. In addition, the next racing event(s) will be unlocked. However, some racing events can only be unlocked after the player collects a set amount of stars. There are also Keys that can be earned by fulfilling additional conditions alongside the star-awarding conditions. After collecting the appropriate number of stars and clearing the right stages, the player will unlock the next chapter, and the process starts over again until the player reaches the end in the final chapter. There are a total of 64 events to play through, each awarding a different amount of stars (with three being the maximum), resulting a total of 142 stars to collect in Team Adventure.

The first time, the player plays through Team Aventure, only Team Sonic will be available as playable characters. However, progressing through the chapters unlocks new playable characters in Team Adventure, namely Team Rose, Team Vector and Team Dark. Team Eggman cannot be played in Team Adventure, however. Also, unlike the main game, the teams in Team Adventure are predetermined, although the player is free to chose which team and their member they will play with. Progressing through Team Adventure and earning Keys will unlock extras that can be used in other modes and customization Mods for the player's vehicles.

List of chapters
The chapters and their stages with race tracks and clear conditions in Team Adventure are as follows:

Local Play
Local Play is a mode where players can enjoy total control over race conditions and settings. However, the settings available will vary depending the selected game mode and subsequent choices. The main choices presented are detailed as follows:


 * 1) Game Mode: Choose from the following modes:
 * 2) *Grand Prix: Tackle a series of four courses.
 * 3) *Exhibition Race: Tackle a single course.
 * 4) *Time Trial: Choose a course and aim for the fastest lap time. Time Trial runs begin with an automatic boost start, and will continue running laps until the player stops via the Pause Menu.
 * 5) *Wireless Play (Nintendo Switch only): Use local wireless to link up a maximum of four consoles and eight players. Please note that the maximum players are accommodated using split screen mode.
 * 6) Race Type: Select Team Race to race as a team, or Standard Race for all against all. The level of Difficulty can also be set here.
 * 7) *Difficulty: Set to Normal, Hard or Expert. Increasing the difficulty means faster racers.
 * 8) *Track: Choose a zone and course, or a Grand Prix series to race. For Exhibition Race, one can also set the following Race Options from here: Number of Teams, Number of Laps and Mirrored. When Mirrored is set, the course will be flipped from left to right for a fresh racing perspective.
 * 9) Character: Each player chooses a character and optionally sets the vehicle Loadout and Bonus Box before selecting "Ready" to proceed.
 * 10) *Loadout: Each vehicle has three Mod Slots for Performance Parts and Present slot for Car Cosmetics schemes. Before a race, the player can choose any of their available Mods to implement for the competition via these slots.
 * 11) *Select Bonus Box: Choose a Bonus Box from those available, which will be good for one race.

After the player has been through the three steps mention above, they will begin their race. Worth noting is that for multiplayer games in certain modes, each player can choose which team to join. Characters set to the same team play cooperatively, whereas characters set to different teams play in competition. AI racers will be randomized. Also, in Time Trial, the player can race against a replay of their personal best time, a generic racer at various skill levels, or higher ranking players

Online Multiplayer
Online Multiplayer is an online mode where the player can race with other players from around the world. The following choices are available for selection:


 * Matchmaking: Open the Online Playlist and race with random players as follows: Quick Play (join a game at random), Team Race (join a cooperative team event), and Standard (join an all against all event). For each option, select Ranked to match with players comparable in skill, or Casual for a wider choice of less balanced matches. Follow the onscreen prompts to select a game and player character
 * Create Custom Lobby: Create a lobby for one's friends to join. As host, the player will be responsible for choosing the track, game setting and managing teams. If there are insufficient players available, missing slots will be automatically filled by AI characters selected at random.
 * Join Lobby: Search for and join private lobbies hosted by friends.
 * Invite Friends: Invite friends to join one's lobby directly.

Player Stats
Player Stats is a mode where the player can see an at-a-glance summary of game statistics such as total distance driven, total Rings collected, online rank, total online races finished, Team Ultimates activated, Wisp transferred, Stunts performed, Skimboosts given, Slingshot boosts performed, the player's favorite character, and favorite track.

Garage
Garage is a mode where the player can modify each playable character's race car with available Mods. One option allows the player to modify Performance Parts and the other allows modifications of Car Cosmetics.

When customizing a car's Performance Parts, the player has to select a character and choose either the Front, Rear or Wheel Mods to modify the playable character's vehicle. Performance Parts are visually distinctive and directly affect a racer's stats. Settings for each vehicle are the default Loadout in each game mode.

Whereas Performance Parts modify both the appearance and stats of a race car, the Car Cosmetics exclusively modify the appearance of a race car. In order to use Car Cosmetics, select a character or a Preset to modify. Presets can be applied to any character at the Character Select screen when starting an event. The options for Car Cosmetics are as follows:


 * Paint Kits: Choose a Paint Kit to determine the available palette, and then select a color and texture for each vehicle part. Some vehicles have glow parts which can also be colored.
 * Vinyls: Add a vinyl decal to the race car, and select the colors and texture of its display from the Paint Kit palette.
 * Horns: Choose a custom horn sound to make your presence heard.

Mod Pods
Mod Pods is a mode where the player can used their earned Credits to purchase Performance Parts, Car Cosmetics and Bonus Boxes.

Options
Options is the settings menu for Team Sonic Racing. Follow the onscreen prompts to change controller, audio and video settings:


 * Controller: Here, each player can choose from a choice of two control schemes.
 * Vibration (consoles only): Set the vibration for the controllers On of Off.
 * Audio: Make changes to sound settings as follows:
 * Volume; Set the master, music, SFX and voice volumes from 1-100 (default: 75).
 * In-game Comms: Set teammate communications to Enabled, Text or Distabled.
 * Audio Language: Set the spoken language for voices.
 * Video: Make changes to display settings as follows:
 * Gamma: Set the mid-range display brightness from 1-100 (default: 75).
 * Tutorials: Set in-game tutorials On or Off.
 * Text Language: Set the language for menu and in-game text display.

Tips
Tips is a mode that offers helpful advice on gameplay techniques, race types, and Item Box items. Its topics include Driving, Team Play, Wisps, and Events.

Credits
Credits is a mode where the player can see the staff responsible for creating Team Sonic Racing.

History
Team Sonic Racing was developed by Sumo Digital and was published by Sega for the PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It was the studio's third racing game featuring the Sonic intellectual property (IP), following Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing (2010) and Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed (2012). Sumo Digital was chosen by Sega to develop Team Sonic Racing because of their experience with the Sonic IP. Development of this game began before Sonic Mania and Sonic Forces were completed in 2017. Unlike these two games, which featured action-oriented gameplay, Team Sonic Racing was designed to be for casual gamers. The majority of the staff, however, were new and had not worked on any of the previous titles. Despite this, some of them contacted the teams behind Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing and Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed for reference. The lead designer of the game was Richard Acherki, while Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka was producing. Team Sonic Racing was Acherki's first game at Sumo Digital. According to Acherki, the proprietary game engine Team Sonic Racing runs on is a modified version of the one used to develop the Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing games, and allowed them to easily port the game across platforms.

Sumo Digital wanted Team Sonic Racing to stand out compared to other racing games, and with the engine of previous games they had a solid foundation to build a new experience. Iizuka suggested that they designed it so it was easy for beginners, as he wanted his children to enjoy it. Sumo Digital also wanted to build upon the gameplay of Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing Transformed, which many players enjoyed. Iizuka conceived the team-based gameplay after watching his son play a kart racing game with his friends. He observed that they were not all happy and pondered how they could all enjoy the game. Observing other games, Sumo Digital found that team gameplay was very popular; noting that racing games were largely single-player experiences, they decided to combine the concepts to create a unique and exciting experience. Iizuka echoed these sentiments, saying the development team was not inspired by other kart racing games like Mario Kart 8 because they wanted to make a game that emphasized teamwork instead of a "network game". He cited Splatoon and Overwatch as examples of the cooperative gameplay Team Sonic Racing was designed to resemble. Iizuka likewise found it surprising there were few team-based racing games available.

Unlike the Sega Superstars games, which featured various Sega franchises, Team Sonic Racing focuses solely on the Sonic franchise. Sega's community manager Aaron Webber said that Team Sonic Racing is not a sequel to Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed and is "very, very different" from previous Sonic racers. One of Sonic Team's intentions from the get-go was, according to Takashi Iizuka, to "bring to the Sonic fans a pure, Sonic universe racing game", which is why this title did not become an entry in the Sega All-Stars series. Ilzuka also noted that Sega used to release different video games featuring racing like Out Run and Daytona USA, and said Team Sonic Racing continues this tradition. Webber also added that they also wanted to expand the world and character roster of Sonic, and designer Derek Littlewood said setting the game in the Sonic universe allowed them to use the series' "full suite" of characters and elements. One of Sumo Digital's goals was also to "provide plenty of fan service and also [give] people something new to look at and experience." Designer Ben Wilson called working on a Sonic game "surreal" and said the team enjoyed working with Sega. The game does not support cross-platform multiplayer; Iizuka stated this is because of technical constraints.

It was a challenge to design the game because teamwork in a racing game was an usual aspect to implement. However, Iizuka and the team found that, if the cooperative gameplay was too prominent, the fluidity of the gameplay would be hampered. Sumo Digital has since said that Sonic Heroes, which features team-based gameplay, was used as a point of reference. Choosing characters for the roster proved to be difficult for the developers as well. For instance, Vector the Crocodile, who is usually seen as a member of Team Chaotix in the Sonic series, is paired with Blaze the Cat and Silver the Hedgehog in Team Sonic Racing, which led to considerable debate among the team. The developers also faced difficulties choosing racetracks with a variety of atmospheres. Each character's car in the game was also uniquely designed to reflect the character's individuality, while custom parts were made separately. Team Sonic Racing also features several new versions of the Wisp power-ups from previous Sonic games. The All-Stars games included general power-ups since they featured multiple Sega franchises, but since Team Sonic Racing exclusively featured elements from the Sonic series, Sumo Digital unified the power-ups with Wisps. Sumo Digital worked with the Japanese staff of Sonic Team to get approval for their concepts.

Promotional
Team Sonic Racing was released by Sega on 21 May 2019. It was initially slated for release in late 2018, but Sega delayed it in October to give Sumo Digital more development time. Iizuka later clarified that there were problems with the online mode that took more time than anticipated to fix.

Rumors of a new Sonic-themed racing game arose in January 2018 when an internal Sumo Digital memo leaked, containing information on an "unannounced karting game" for an "established global IP". Their history with Sonic caused speculation that they were developing a new entry in the Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing series. This was rejected by Sega's community manager Aaron Webber, who stated he "saw rumors floating today about another SART game. Just wanted to confirm it's not a thing!" Despite his response, multiple toy production companies alluded to a future Sonic kart racing game in February 2018. In early February, a representative from Zappies reported at the Spielwarenmesse toy fair in Nuremberg that a third Sonic kart racing game was in development and that the company was planning on making toy figures for the game. Similarly, later in the month, a separate toy company, Diamond Select Toys, also alluded to 2018 toys based off of a Sonic racing video game entry. Multiple journalists noted that Webber's comments may have just alluded to the Sega All-Stars name and that he did not discount the premise of a new Sonic racing game, and further rumors of a game without any other Sega IPs involved arose in the same month.

A Sonic related announcement was scheduled for 16 March 2018 at the SXSW convention. The game was not announced at that time, but a trailer on the Sonic social media accounts teased a new racing game on that same day. In May 2018, Webber stated that Sega would announce more information on the game being teased in the trailer "soon".

On 29 May 2018, the name Team Sonic Racing was leaked by an online retail listing from Walmart. Shortly after the leak, Sega confirmed the game was real and announced it would release on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One in the fourth quarter of 2018. A demo version was playable at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2018. This demo featured Team Sonic and Team Dark racing on the Wisp Circuit circuit. Later, on 11 June 2018, Sega released a trailer to promote the game at E3, featuring the theme song and an in-depth look at the gameplay while also confirming the return of Crush 40 to the game's soundtrack. Team Sonic Racing was nominated for Hardcore Gamer's Best Racing Game of E3 2018. Another demo was playable at Gamescom in August 2018. More details were revealed, including the new character Dodon Pa, aspects of the story, and racetracks based on levels in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic Unleashed. At the 2018 Gamescom Awards, Team Sonic Racing won the award for "Best Casual Game". Team Sonic Racing was also present at PAX West in August, where attendees were given an exclusive poster, and the Tokyo Game Show in November.

At the 2018 SDCC panel for the IDW Publishing Sonic the Hedgehog comic series, it was announced that Team Sonic Racing would receive a prequel comic. At the 2019 SXSW panel for the Sonic the Hedgehog series, it was revealed that Team Sonic Racing would receive a two-part animation series in promotion for the game.

On the launch day for Team Sonic Racing, Sega released a live-action trailer, featuring a cameo from Iizuka. Sumo Digital also chose to offer all content at the launch of the game instead of selling some as downloadable content, and not to include microtransactions. On 24 May 2019, the official Sonic Twitter account held a takeover where Roger Craig Smith, Mike Pollock, Kirk Thornton and Colleen Villard reprised their roles as Sonic, Dr. Eggman, Shadow and Tails to answer fan questions as a promotion of Team Sonic Racing.

Soundtrack
The game's soundtrack was composed by Jun Senoue, the songwriter and lead guitarist for the bands Crush 40 and the Sonic Adventure Music Experience, which has contributed to many Sonic games, while Tee Lopes, the band Hyper Potions, Richard Jacques, Tyler Smyth of DangerKids, and TORIENA also contributed. This game is Senoue's first major work in the Sonic series since Sonic Generations. Takashi Iizuka said the team needed "cool" music that would "influence the player's excitement", which led him to ask Senoue to compose the score. He composed each track individually, collaborating with a different musician for each one.

The game's theme song, "Green Light Ride", features lyrics written and performed by Crush 40, with vocals provided by Johnny Gioeli.

A three-disk album containing the game soundtrack that is called Maximum Overdrive - Team Sonic Racing Original Soundtrack was released shortly after the release of Team Sonic Racing and was published by Wave Master.

Achievements/Trophies
These are the achievements and trophies for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Steam versions of Team Sonic Racing.

Steam collectibles
Steam has various exclusive features for each game, including collectibles like emoticons, badges, backgrounds and trading cards. Like many other games available on the platform, Team Sonic Racing includes these features.

Badges
In Steam, badges are crafted by combining a set of Trading Cards, obtainable through a random item drop, which lands in the Steam Inventory. The more cards combined, the greater the experience points the badge will contain.

Backgrounds
Once a Steam user has enough XP through crafting badges, special perks will follow by, such as item drops of backgrounds and coupons. These are the following backgrounds for Team Sonic Racing:

Promotion
At San Diego Comic Con 2018, it was announced that Team Sonic Racing would receive a prequel comic. This comic was released on 5 December 2018 and was written by Caleb Goellner and penciled by Adam Bryce Thomas. Set before the game's events, the story featured Sonic and his teammates as they journey to a new planet and enter a race unlike any other, during which they receive help from familiar faces to prevent an old foe from obtaining a powerful new technology.

When the official Team Sonic Racing Japanese website was launched on 1 February 2019, it was announced that several pieces of Team Sonic Racing-related merchandise would be sold as preorder bonuses. These bonuses include a Trailer Music Selection album ("Green Light Ride", "Team Gameplay Spotlight" and four other songs), acrylic key holder sets, a special racing guide, and digital wallpapers. Also, among the bonuses sold at the SEGA Store in Japan, there will be a Team Sonic Racing 'deluxe package' sold for ¥10,090. It will include the full game, as well as stylized postcards, "Sonic vs. Shadow" rock glasses, a keyholder, and stylized pouches.

At SXSW in March 2019, the first episode of a two-part tie-in webseries, Team Sonic Racing Overdrive, was released, followed by the second episode in April. The series' animation was handled by Tyson Hesse and Neko Productions, who previously produced the Sonic Mania tie-in Sonic Mania Adventures. Later, on 25 March 2019, at the 2019 Apple Event, it was announced that a new mobile game titled Sonic Racing will release on the Apple Arcade for iOS devices in promotion of Team Sonic Racing.

Pre-release
The pre-release reception for Team Sonic Racing has been mostly positive, with critics finding the cooperative aspect of the game as a good replacement to the "transforming" car mechanic from its immediate predecessor, Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, another racing title developed by Sumo Digital, although many gaming journalists have found its focus solely in the Sonic universe as disappointing, particularly in comparison to Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, and the original Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, both of which featured other Sega characters as well.

Martin Robinson of Eurogamer expressed disappointment that Team Sonic Racing did not include any non-Sonic characters as playable racers, which he believed was one of the best things about the All-Stars series. However, he optimistically believed that Sumo Digital's experience with Sonic would ensure that the game would be a "fundamentally brilliant arcade racer". Kevin Knezevic of Gamespot said that "despite trading many of the elements" from Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, Team Sonic Racing "retains the look and feel of [Sumo Digital's] previous Sonic racers" and that the game's focus on teamwork and cooperative gameplay is a "promising hook". Matt Kamen of Trusted Reviews was more critical, expressing that while the game "has the ingredients to be a solid kart racer", the team mechanics could be "divisive" for players, and compared it unfavourably to Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, expressing that Team Sonic Racing does not have the "spark" that Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed did. Kotaku also described the demo at E3 2018 as underwhelming, unfavorably comparing it to Mario Kart. It argued the demo lacked ambition and called its character lineup shallow, especially when compared to that of Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. Brendan Graeber of IGN expressed that although he felt the power-ups found in Team Sonic Racing are a "bit lackluster" and desired to see more customization options, he remarked that the game has a "good foundation", "even" without the "wacky characters" and "transforming cars" from Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, and expects to see more in the full game when it is released.

At E3 2018, Hardcore Gamer nominated Team Sonic Racing as the show's best racing game, but it lost to Forza Horizon 4. On Gamescom, Team Sonic Racing won their "Best Casual Game" award.

Post-release
The post-release reception for Team Sonic Racing has been generally mixed-to-positive. Reviewer from Metacritic rated the game's versions for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch from 8.0 to 7.5. The game debuted at the top of the UK all-format sales charts–becoming the first Sonic the Hedgehog game since 2008's Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games to do so–with the PlayStation 4 version selling the most copies. Screen Rant went to observe that critics generally deemed Team Sonic Racing to be fun but inferior to the previous Sega All-Stars titles and Mario Kart 8, feeling that all those were presented better.

Trivia

 * Originally, Team Sonic Racing was meant to be released in the fourth quarter of 2018, but got delayed until 21 May 2019, due to Sega's decision to give the development team extra time to use to fix any bugs and refine the game before its final release.


 * Several advertising billboards can be seen throughout the tracks:
 * An advertisement for Chao in Space 3D.
 * Billboards advertising Vector's car, the Beat Monster.
 * An ad for "Eggman Industries", saying "We're working towards a cleaner, safer world".
 * Billboards for a Sonic air freshener, referencing Sonic's first cameo appearance in Rad Mobile. The air freshener itself is a sprite Classic Sonic from Sonic Mania, making this a cameo for the counterpart.
 * An advertisement for Green Hill Zone.
 * An advertisement for Silver's car with the tagline "Future Tech TODAY".
 * An advertisement for "Amy's Rose Fertiliser" with the tagline "Gotta Grow Fast!", referencing the Sonic X theme song "Gotta Go Fast".
 * Billboards advertising Big's car, the Frog Cruiser.
 * A billboard for Metal Sonic and the Formula M with the tagline "Engineered to Perfection".
 * Billboards advertising Sonic's car, the Speed Star.
 * An advertisement for Cash for Chao.
 * In the logo, there is an R symbol at the beginning of the "Racing" name which resembles the one in the game title for Sonic R.
 * Sonic's main promotional artwork depicts him in a pose based on [[media:Sonic-the-hedgehog-cdv2.png|artwork]] originally for Sonic CD.
 * The same pose was also used for past racing game Sonic Drift 2 in Sonic's character select icon.
 * Sonic and Shadow, Knuckles and Vector, as well as the Chao and Dr. Eggman share the same base stats within their respective type.
 * The sound effect that plays when the Ultimate Meter becomes full and a Team Ultimate is ready is the Continue jingle from the classic Sonic games on the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis.
 * Omega’s vehicle features handlebars and two green headlights in official artwork, while in gameplay they are absent.
 * This is the first Sonic game since 2009 to feature an original song by Crush 40, the last one being Sonic and the Black Knight.
 * This is the first time that Omega, Vector, Silver, Blaze and Zavok have participated in a racing game involving cars.
 * It is also the first time that Rouge and the Chao have participated in a racing game solely involving cars, while previously they were involved with the Kart Race mode of Sonic Adventure 2.
 * This is the second game in which Vector has been on a team without Espio or Charmy. The first time was in Sonic Free Riders, where he was a part of Team Rose with Amy and Cream.
 * This is the first home console game to feature the Mother Wisp.
 * The main menu theme is a remixed version of the "Game Select" theme from Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed.
 * This is the second recent Sonic game not to be released in the year it was announced. The first was Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice which was first set for a release in the fourth quarter of 2015 but was later delayed to 2016.
 * This is the first Sonic racing game developed by Sumo Digital to natively support non-16:9 aspect ratios during gameplay in which the horizontal field of view is affected and not the vertical one when below 16:9 while the HUD extends vertical space if so. However, menus and cut-scenes are restricted to 16:9 causing black bars to be displayed outside of the 16:9 ratio.
 * Sonic Team series producer Takashi Iizuka's favourite character to play as in this game is Shadow, and he thinks the character has the coolest looking car.
 * A remixed version of "The Winner! (Competition Results)" from Sonic Mania plays as the music for the result screen, titled "System – Result Screen".
 * This is the first video game where Knuckles, Zavok, Omega, Blaze, Omochao and Silver are voiced by Dave Mitchell, Patrick Seitz, Aaron LaPlante, Erica Lindbeck (Blaze and Omochao) and Bryce Papenbrook respectively.
 * Bryce is mistakenly credited as "Bryce Pappenbrook".
 * Carmen Ambrós, the Spanish voice actress for Blaze, is mistakenly credited as "Carme Ambrós".
 * When one goes into the Garage and tests the horn of the Speed Star, they will hear the first half of the music from the "SEGA" chime from when one starts up Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball.
 * Team Sonic Racing is one of only two games in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise in which Amy has a theme song that is not "My Sweet Passion", the other being Sonic Heroes, which is also where the song comes from.
 * It is also the first time that stage music is used for certain characters' theme songs, being I'm A Spy ...for Security Hall for Rouge and Stardust Speedway - Bad Future for Metal Sonic.
 * Derek Littlewood, studio design director at Sumo Digital, explained that the reason non-Sonic characters were not included in this game was so they could "dive into the Sonic universe in more depth, and tell a canon Sonic universe story".
 * The opening for Team Sonic Racing was not featured on the Nintendo Switch version of the game. It was stated that this was due to cartridge restrictions.
 * Throughout each of the tracks, sprites of Classic Sonic, Classic Tails, and Classic Knuckles can be found:
 * A sprite of Knuckles doing his falling animtion can be found behind the starting line in Sky Road.
 * A sprite of Knuckles and Tails doing a Spin Dash can be found in Market Street.
 * A sprite of Sonic can be found on a stack of chips in Bingo Party.

Videos
Teaser trailer = Reveal trailer = E3 trailer = Team Gameplay Spotlight = Customization Trailer = Team Up Trailer = Launch Trailer (NA) = Launch Trailer (EU) = Character Types Spotlight = Live Action Trailer = Live Action Behind The Scenes = Making of the Music - Part 1= Making of the Music - Part 2 = Toriena & Jun Senoue Interview =