Team Sonic Racing

Team Sonic Racing is an upcoming spin-off kart racing video game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series developed by Sumo Digital and published by Sega, which is scheduled for a release during late 2018. It will receive 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.

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.

History
Team Sonic Racing is being developed by Sumo Digital and will be published by Sega for the PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It will be the studio's third racing game in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, following Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing (2010) and Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed (2012). Unlike the All-Stars games, which featured various Sega franchises, Team Sonic Racing focuses solely on the Sonic franchise. The soundtrack will be composed by Jun Senoue, his first major work in the Sonic series since Sonic Generations.

One of Sonic Team's intentions from the get-to was, according 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 All-Stars series. The decision to include teamwork in gameplay was inspired by popular games like Splatoon and Overwatch which feature a strong team-based gameplay element. The developers wished to introduce this type of team-based gameplay in a genre dominated mostly by single-player experiences. When brainstorming on how facilitate teamwork in a multiplayer racing game, the crew came up with mechanics like item sharing. The developers also made efforts to make sure each character stood out from the rest. However, the games will not be supporting cross-platform interaction due to technical limitations.

Promotion
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 Wikipedia. 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 a Planet Wisp circuit. Later, on 11 June 2018, the E3 trailer for the game was released, confirming the return of Crush 40 to the game's soundtrack.

Gameplay
Team Sonic Racing is a kart racing video game featuring the cast of the Sonic the Hedgehog series competing in races in sports cars. Here, players race against each other in multiplayer racing using fifteen characters from across the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. Akin to Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing and Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, characters race through various race circuits themed on different locations in the Sonic series and collect power-ups to boost their speed or hamper their opponents. These power-ups consists of fourteen different kinds of Wisps (a recurring power-up in the Sonic series) which can be used both defensively and offensively against rivals. However, instead of becoming Color Powers when using the Wisps, the users instead manifest the Color Powers separately. For example, using the Orange or Crimson Wisp will manifest the Orange Rocket or Crimson Eagle and fire them as projectiles against rivals. Similarly, the White Wisps can be used to give the user's racecar a boost of speed, while the Blue and Black Wisps lets the user drop Blue Cubes or Black Bombs on the racetracks. Additionally, speed boosts can be earned by successfully executing drifts (with longer drifts earning more boost), or performing tricks while in midair.

Players are also given the opportunity to customize their racing style. Different characters have their own type with specific skills tied to either Speed, Technique, and Power; Speed-based characters have the highest top speed in the game and can trigger a defensive "Radical Burst" after a long drift; Technique-based characters can make tighter turns than other characters and can go off-road for a limited without slowing down; and Power-based characters will have access to extra Wisps and be able to plow through certain obstacles without being hindered. The game will also feature unlockable game-changing vehicle customization options that adjust the performance and appearance of a playable character's vehicle. Each character gets nine parts to choose from, giving a total of 135 parts in the game.

Supporting both multiplayer and local co-op, Team Sonic Racing allows up to twelve players to race at the same time and offers four-player split-screen support. The game also has various offline/online race modes, including Grand Prix Mode, Exhibition Mode, Time-Trial and Team Adventure Mode. Team Adventure Mode in particular is a story-centric mode available for players to familiarize themselves with the game and its wide array of characters.

The focus is on team-based gameplay; players can race either by themselves or as a team. In the latter case, it allows players to work together as a team to win races by sharing power-ups and speed boosts, with four teams of three characters racing at a time. Teamplayers can also use various team moves to assist their teammates and knock out opponents. The teams can also unleash special moves called "Team Ultimates" when their Ultimate Meter gets filled up from performing team-appropriate actions. When used, the Team Ultimate give the user a temporary boost in speed that lets them plow through racers, sending them skidding out of control. After a race, each racer is awarded point based on their position in the race; the better the position, the greater the point reward. The team with the most points are declared the winners.

Items

 * Item Box
 * Black Wisp
 * Blue Wisp
 * Crimson Wisp
 * Cyan Wisp
 * Ivory Wisp
 * Magenta Wisp
 * Orange Wisp
 * Pink Wisp
 * Gray Wisp
 * Red Wisp
 * Violet Wisp
 * White Wisp
 * Yellow Wisp
 * Unnamed green, ghost-like Wisp
 * Rings

Playable characters

 * Team Sonic
 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Knuckles the Echidna
 * Team Dark
 * Shadow the Hedgehog
 * Rouge the Bat
 * E-123 Omega
 * Amy Rose
 * Dr. Eggman
 * Eggpawn Blue
 * Eggpawn Orange

Non-playable characters

 * Chao
 * Dark Chao
 * Hero Chao
 * Neutral Chao
 * Omochao

Stages

 * Wisp Circuit
 * Spagonia-themed circuit

Soundtrack
The game's soundtrack is going to be composed by Jun Senoue, the songwriter and lead guitarist for the band Crush 40, which has also contributed to many Sonic games. The game's theme song, "Green Light Ride", features lyrics written and performed by Crush 40, with vocals provided by Johnny Gioeli.

Pre-release
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".

Trivia

 * 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.
 * This game marks the first time that the Egg Pawn is a playable character in a major role. Before, it was playable in Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games and Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in minor roles.
 * One of Sonic's renders depicts him in a pose very similar to a [[media:Sonic-the-hedgehog-cdv2.png|piece of artwork]] of the character from Sonic the Hedgehog CD.
 * Tails' vehicle bears a resemblance to his kart in the Kart Race mode of Sonic Adventure 2.
 * 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.
 * Several advertising billboards can be seen on Wisp Circuit:
 * An advertisement for Chao in Space 3D.
 * Team_Sonic_Racing_-_The_Tailgator.pngoards advertising a car called "The Tailgator", bearing resemblance to Vector the Crocodile's color scheme.
 * 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.

Videos
Teaser trailer = Reveal trailer = E3 trailer =