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.

Plot
When Team Sonic receives a vaguely worded invitation to the Ultimate Test of Racing Skill, curiosity soon gets the better of Sonic, Knuckles and Tails, who made a beeline for the rendezvous at the beach. There, they come across Amy, Big and Omochao, who are having a picnic. After Sonic explains their reasons for coming, Amy remarks that Team Rose did not get any invitations. Soon after, an enigmatic stranger approached, a Tanuki calling himself Dodon Pa. He explains to them, in a condescending and vague manner, that he wants them to test the most technologically advanced racing vehicles ever built on his perilous custom circuits in a Grand Prix where teamwork is the key. Not satisfied with Dodon Pa's answer, Amy notices that Dodon Pa's manner of speaking is suspiciously Eggman-esque. Knuckles himself does not trust Dodon Pa either. While Sonic agrees with his friends that the situation seems sketchy, Sonic is curious to test out these super cars and convinces his friends to join him. As Dodon Pa gets ready to take Team Sonic with him in his spaceship to Planet Wisp where the first race awaits, Big wants to come along, prompting the rest of Team Rose to join Dodon Pa and Team Sonic's adventure, making them official competitors in Dodon Pa's Grand Prix.

On Planet Wisp, Dodon Pa goes over his Grand Prix, and explains that the winner of the tournament gets to keep their super cars. Tails finds this too good to be true though, and suspects that Dodon Pa is untrustworthy. The suspicion only intensifies as Dodon Pa expresses a disregard for the racers' safety after the first race. Amy herself even notices that Dodon chuckles much like Eggman. Amy soon shares her suspicion with the guys, as Dodon Pa's whole idea about inviting strangers to compete in dangerous races does not add up. Tails agrees with this, and, finding this whole set-up similar to an Eggman plot, suspects that Eggman and Dodon Pa are working together. Big, on the other hand, sees no reason to mistrust Dodon Pa, who eventually shows up to explain the Cosmetic Mods. As the races progresses, Sonic and the gang start to have fun. However, Tails and Knuckles stil question Dodon Pa's motives, as they wonder whose limits he is testing. In addition, Tails' curiosity is peeked by the tech Dondo is using, which is advanced, even for him. However, Dodon Pa does not give a concrete answer to their questions. Later, between the races, Amy and Omochao take their time to admire Dodon Pa's cars and review them. Soon after, Tails makes contact with an unseen individual, whom he tells to report back to him as soon as they find anything. Big catches Tails in the act, but Tails convinces Big that he was talking to nobody. As Dodon Pa later takes things up a notch with the introduction of his Survival Races, Tails grows more suspicious of the Tanuki's motives while Sonic gets more intrigued by the challenge. After the race, Amy tries to asks Dodon Pa about his reasons for putting them through all these brutal trials, but Dodon Pa dodges the question by saying that it is "technical".

As the Grand Prix moves along, Silver and Blaze show up as well, having received the same mysterious invitations from Dodon Pa. The two meet up with each other at the competition, along with Vector, who did not get an invitation but had been told by his "sources" to meet them there. When Dodon Pa then shows up to invite the trio into his competition, Blaze backs out, refusing to trust a Tanuki (who are notorious tricksters). When Dodon Pa tries to persuade Blaze with a large cash prize though, Vector tries convincing the other two to form Team Vector with him. Silver and Blaze agree only to bail him out of trouble when it happens. Team Vector soon after meets up with Teams Sonic and Rose to discuss Dodon Pa. While Amy does not trust Dodon Pa, Sonic instead stays focused on the competition. Furthermore, the teams become more concerned with Dodon Pa and the competition after learning from Blaze and Silver that he possesses technology that lets him send objects through time and space. Realizing that their host has more power than they thought, they all agree to continue competing but keep a close eye on him. In the meantime, Dr. Eggman shows up, ready to throw a wrench into the heroes' plan.

Before one of the races, Knuckles walks in on Tails and Vector having a secret conversation. When he confronts them, Tails claims they are only having small talk but Knuckles does not believe him. Knuckles questions Vector why he did not join the competition with his usual team, Team Chaotix with Espio the Chameleon and Charmy Bee, and Vector claims he is out freelancing. Knuckles then goes and tells Sonic that he saw Tails sneaking around, and Sonic goes to confront Tails himself. Tails admits to Sonic he is working on something and Sonic replies that that is good enough for him, knowing Tails will tell him what he is doing when he needs to know.

After a few more races, Dodon Pa informs the competing teams that Team Dark, consisting of Shadow the Hedgehog, Rouge the Bat and E-123 Omega, and Team Eggman, consisting of the doctor himself and two Eggpawns, have now joined the competition. Tails accuses Eggman of being behind everything, and he promptly denies this and insists he is only competing like everyone else. In the meantime, Eggman has Orbot and Cubot on standby, watching his Final Fortress.

Regardless of his claims, Eggman's appearance puts Sonic and Tails on edge. Sonic, knowing Shadow would work with Eggman if it helped his goal, asks him if he is working with Eggman, but Shadow tells him he came to stop Eggman himself and discover where Dodon Pa's loyalties lie. The two then argue over who gets to stop Eggman, leading Sonic to challenge Shadow to a race. During this, Silver spots Eggman talking to Dodon Pa about something to do with a "Ultimate Energy Engine". Silver informs the others of this, who all conclude that Eggman and Dodon Pa are working together. However because they cannot stop them if they do not know what they are doing, Tails decides they should continue to go along with the races but keep an eye on both of them.

Rouge soon meets up with Sonic and Shadow after their showdown, and tells them of what they have discovered. Omega in particular encourages the elimination of both Eggman and Dodon Pa. Having heard this conversation, Big cannot understand why everyone seems to dislike Dodon Pa, as he sees no reason to mistrust him. Amy tries to explain it to Big, but gets nowhere. Meanwhile, Blaze is getting tired of performing for Dodon Pa, who is using the information he has gathered from watching the racers for some unknown project. Later, after being beaten by Sonic in another race, Eggman decides to up his game. Eventually, he brings hordes of Eggpawns onto the racetracks, which the racers take care of (for the time being). Meanwhile, Dodon Pa permits Eggman's little game, knowing it would test the teams' teamwork even further.

Omochao later detects some strange telemetric signals coming from Dodon Pa. Apparently, Dodon Pa is sending the information on the teams' teamwork to an unknown receiver after each race. Rouge suspects that the receiver is Eggman. At this point, everyone but Big is convinced that Dodon Pa is evil and is giving their secrets to Eggman. Big, however, still thinks that Dodon Pa is nice due to one reason: he is working with the Wisps, and Wisps only help nice people. Realizing that Big is right, Amy suspects that Dodon Pa might not be evil after all.

As the races continue, Sonic and Amy agree that Eggman is no threat to them in the competition. Meanwhile, Eggman, in an attempt to remedy his losing streak, decides to have Metal Sonic and his Formula M join his team. This change in Eggman's strategy unnerves the other racers, except for Sonic. Later, before another race, Sonic tries trash talking with Silver, but the latter has something on his mind. After a few races, Blaze starts to notice Silver's absentmindedness. Eventually, she gets Silver to admit that he is having a feeling that something bad is about to happen, but Blaze assures him that they will be ready for it. In the meantime, Eggman is communicating with an unseen operative of his who is on an unknown mission. Eggman then tells Metal Sonic that they should keep racing while his operative carries out his mission. Soon after, Team Rose has a strategy discussion when Big notices a big guy hiding in the shadows. However, his short attention span makes Amy dismiss his observation.

Some time after, as Vector gives his team a pep talk, Blaze realizes that Vector is competing for reasons besides the cash prize. Convinced by Blaze to fez up, Vector reveals that he was contacted by Tails when he first met Dodon Pa to get the dirt on him. As such, he joined the competition to conduct his investigation. After another race, Vector tells Blaze that he is having Espio and Charmy follow up on a few things for him and that they will have their report soon. When another race is about to commence, Silver asks Omochao for help on how to observe the whole track since his intuition is telling him that something bad will happen on the racetracks. In response, Omochao tells him to watch the Chao on the grandstands: if something bad happens, they will notice it. Meanwhile, Eggman is gloating about how his latest plan cannot fail (in spite of what Orbot says). After the race, the Chao in the grandstand go crazy and start pointing at a figure in the shadows, the same figure that Big saw. This figure is revealed to be Zavok, much to the annoyance of Sonic, who asks Eggman if he is working with him. Faking ignorance, Eggman nonetheless invites Zavok to join his team. Afterward, Eggman scolds Zavok for being spotted, before asking him if he had gotten "the thing". Zavok reveals that he has not, insisting that it is kept in a secure location.

In the meantime, Amy is exhausted from all the racing while Knuckles insists that they make their move now that Zavok is here. Sonic and Tails note though that they do not have any plan yet and that they do not even know who the bad guy is in all of this. Regardless, Sonic insists that they must stay strong and keep racing for now. Not long after, Dodon Pa is shown talking about how he is getting everything he could have hoped for and more without a hitch.

In the end, Knuckles demands an explanation from Dodon Pa. Telling Knuckles to calm down, Vector reveals that he has gotten his report from Espio about who Dodon Pa really is. As Vector reads the report for everyone to hear, everyone but Big is surprised to hear that Dodon Pa is the President of Donpa Motors (the biggest automobile cooperation in the universe) and the king of a planet known as Donpa Kingdom. Afterward, Tails says that he is glad Dodon Pa is not on Eggman's side. Dodon Pa remarks though that he is both on none and everybody's side, and that all he wants is perfection. Rouge, on the other hand, wants to know why he is hosting these races and why he invited them all so secretively. Dodon Pa explains that his cooperation is secretly creating the fastest, most powerful engine in the universe, called the "Ultimate Energy Engine". To get the best results, he needed the best racers to gather what he needed for it (ergo Rouge and her friends). Omochao also realizes that the telemetrics he intercepted was part of Dodon Pa's research and development. Dodon Pa explains that the information he gathered from their races is on the tremendous energies generated by the teams' teamwork is the key to the creation of his Ultimate Energy Engine. Later, Dodon Pa explains to Tails that the Ultimate Energy Engine's purpose is to use the inherent strength of teamwork to usher in a new era of improved transportation and industry while reducing pollution. This has been Dodon Pa's goal for many, many years. With them being on the verge of a breakthrough now, all Dodon Pa needs is for the races to keep going.

With the conflict with Dodon Pa resolved, Sonic is eager to get back to the races. Shadow, however, reminds Sonic that they still need to figure out what Eggman is up to. In the meantime, Silver confronts Eggman, demanding to know what he and Dodon Pa were talking about earlier. While Eggman tries to avoid revealing anything, Silver figures out that they had to be talking about the Ultimate Energy Engine, which Eggman surely wants for himself, which made him hire Zavok to steal it. Realizing that his plan has been uncovered, Eggman decides to continue racing with his team. As he and his team continue to lose though, Eggman decides to go in a different direction and gives Zavok a new task.

Soon after, the racers discover that Dodon Pa has been kidnapped. Thanks to Big, who saw the kidnapping, the heroes learn that Dodon Pa has been taken by Zavok to the Final Fortress. There, Eggman tells Dodon Pa to hand over the Ultimate Energy Engine. However, Dodon Pa says it is worthless now because it is incomplete. The racers have stopped racing now, and without data on enough Ultimate Team Energy, the engine cannot be completed. Zavok promptly points out to Eggman that this is his own fault: by kidnapping Dodon Pa, the races have been put on hold. Refusing to take responsibility for his actions, Eggman instead focuses on how to fix his problem. As Sonic and the gang arrive to save Dodon Pa, Eggman realizes he can make Sonic and co. race for him. He thus challenges the group to complete in a series of races against his Eggpanws, Zavok, Metal Sonic, and lastly himself, claiming that he would free Dodon Pa if they beat him. After the last race though, Eggman has gathered enough Ultimate Team Energy to complete the Ultimate Energy Engine. Eggman proceeds to steal the engine in front of Dodon Pa and incorporates it into his monster machine, which he plans to crush Sonic with before using it to power his Death Egg and become unstoppable.

After Sonic beats the monster machine in a race, Eggman tries using it to crush Sonic and his car. However, Orbot and Cubot reveal that the monster machine has gone crazy and is heading for the energy core. Realizing that his airship will crash without an energy core, Eggman escapes his Final Fortress with his lackeys. Noticing that the Final Fortress is crashing, Sonic tells his friends to rescue themselves while he saves Dodon Pa. While the others comply, Tails and Knuckles insist, as Sonic's teammates, that they stay to help him. Moved by their devotion, Sonic accepts their help, and Team Sonic heads in to save Dodon Pa. After the Final Fortress has crashed, Amy hopes that Sonic and the others surived. As if one que, Team Sonic then shows up with Dodon Pa. Unfortunately, all the racecars were destroyed when the Final Fortress crashed. However, Dodon Pa, as a sign of gratitude towards the heroes for saving his life, decides to give everyone new racecars. With the Grand Prix back on, Sonic and the gang look forward to start racing again.

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 and the player runs over panels to get speed boosts, performs forward, backward, or sideways tricks in midair, and drifts to make sharp turns. 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. However, instead of becoming Color Powers when using the Wisps, the users usually 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. 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 served for Technique-Types, and Violet 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. Taking damage will cause the racer to drop all their Rings, though some of them can be recollected before they disappear. If a character is accidentally hit by an ally power-up however, they will be completely unaffected and receive no damage.

The game offers classic races in which the players compete against each other for first place. However, it differs from traditional kart racers because of its focus on cooperative gameplay: the player is part of a team of three racers and they must work together. The three characters for a team can be chosen freely from the game's roaster (except for in Team Adventure mode, 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. While they control a single racer, the player must pay attention to how teammates are performing and share power-ups. Sharing power-ups is in particular the only method to obtain some items not normally available to an ability type. By transfer of an Item Box, players can also double or triple the quantity of Wisps to utilize (e.g. when a player collects an Item Box, they will receive one Wisp, but if they obtain a Wisp through a teammate, there is the possibility they will obtain two or three Wisps of the same kind to use instead of one).

Instead of simply winning races by finishing them as fast as possible, teams get points based on how they worked together and on their members' positions in the race; the better the position of team members, the greater the reward. The team with the most points are declared the winners. Thus, it is not always about finishing in first place; rather, it is the most efficient team who wins. Four teams of three compete, for a total of twelve racers at a time. The game supports four-player local multiplayer, up to twelve online, and up to three in Team Adventure. When racing as a team in any game mode alone, however, there will be artificial intelligence (AI) controlling the player's teammates.

Aside from sharing power-ups, teams can also perform various other moves and effects to assist their teammates and knock out opponents. These include the Item Box Transfer, Skim Boost, Slingshot and Rival Takedown. The teams can also unleash special moves called "Team Ultimates" when their Ultimate Meter energy gauge gets filled up from performing team-appropriate actions 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 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 have customization options as well that adjust the performance and appearance of a playable character's vehicle, with new parts for cars unlocked as the player progresses through the game. Customization options can be purchased using in-game currency called Mod Pods, which are earned by competing in races. Each character gets nine parts to choose from divided into three each for the vehicle's front, rear, and wheels, giving a total of 135 parts in the game. Parts modify cars' handling, boost, acceleration, defense, and top speed, and players can also make aesthetic changes such as paint jobs and horn sounds.

Team Sonic Racing features a wide variety of offline and online game modes including Grand Prix mode, in which players take part in four races in order to collect points. The team with the most points at the end of these four races is declared the winners. There is also Time-Trial, in which players race for the fastest time possible; and Exhibition Mode, in which players are able to customize the racing rules. The game also features "Team Adventure" mode, a single-player story-driven campaign that serves as a tutorial mode that 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. Unlike the main game, the teams and characters who form them in Team Adventure are preselected and cannot be chosen by the player. The Team Adventure mode is separated into seven chapters which the player can advance through by completing Challenge Missions, such as "Survival Race" (a "last man standing" race), "Ring Challenge" (a competition where racers race to collect as many Rings as possible), Grand Prix and regular Team Races one by one. Progressing through Team Adventure will unlock extras that can be used in other modes. There are also specific clear conditions for each Challenge Mission. In each Zone there are a set number of stars the player can collect by satisfying the conditions of the Challenge Missions in order to unlock new challenges and Zones. Progressing through the story unlocks new playable characters (only in Team Adventure mode. All characters are unlocked by default in all other modes) and customization parts for the player's vehicles. Team Eggman cannot be played in Team Adventure Mode. The player can also change the difficulty level in Team Adventure mode.

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

 * 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
 * Chopper
 * Classic Sonic
 * Crabmeat
 * Cubot
 * Death Egg Robot sentinel
 * Dodon Pa
 * Egg Hammer
 * Egg Squid
 * Froggy
 * King Boom Boo
 * 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

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 band Crush 40, 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.

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.

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 game 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.
 * 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 = Making of the Music = Customization Trailer = Team Up Trailer = Launch Trailer (NA) = Launch Trailer (EU) = Character Types Spotlight = Live Action Trailer = Lice Action Behind The Scenes =