Parents' Guide to

Team Sonic Racing

By Chad Sapieha, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 8+

Team-focused kart racer promotes friendly social play.

Game Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One 2019
Team Sonic Racing Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this game.

  • Team Sonic Racing game screenshot #1
  • Team Sonic Racing game screenshot #2
  • Team Sonic Racing game screenshot #3

Community Reviews

See all
age 5+

Based on 2 parent reviews

nuenjins
nuenjins Parent
June 10, 2019
age 8+

Good game with good concepts feels too anemic.

Past Sonic racing installments have had larger rosters and more unique feeling tracks. Although the game runs smoothly, the tracks don't feel different enough to make them much more than backdrop to similar turns and scenarios. The team concept and up to 4 player split screen is perfect for some couch co-op with the option of playing on the same team/ different teams or as individual rivals. THIS is unique and an interesting dynamic. Aside from the novelty though, the rest of the game seems cut short in almost every other way, With just over 20 tracks and 12 racers, it all seems tame and unexiting once you've run the courses and become accustomed to the small variety of racers. The racers themselves are divided into 3 groups with SPEED type, a "skill" type that goes through terrain effortlessly, and a sort of "tank" type that bashes through obstacles. The racer roster is ALL Sonic characters this time,so no other Sega All Stars make an appearance. Each car is tied to it's perspective character and has performance stats that can be upgraded as well as several asthetic components to customize the look of your car. All that said, it seems that the base game itself doesn't offer long term variety in the tracks or anything outstanding or meaningful to make them feel different or set one apart from the other, it just feels like a potluck of components mixed together in various ways rather than fully fleshed out and unique concepts. Over all, this is a good game to burn some time with family and friends for a few hours, but I don't think it will hold most peoples interests for long or keep you coming back. Also with Mario Kart 8 being a far superior game overall and Crash Bandicoot Kart Racing coming out, this one will probably end up on the pile of mediocre Sonic games. In the end, unfortunately, this is merely a novelty game at best which is disappointing given the long drought of quality Arcade racers the past few years on consoles and the opportune window they had to turn this into something memorable that gamers have been craving for quite some time. PS- Some of the tracks can be a little blurry and confusing, especially trying to look into the distance. We recommend a 4k TV for best performance as anything below that can be a strain on the eyes, especially the larger TVs where the pixels are enlarged and less defined. This game in particular has some poor depth color schemes in a few tracks and this is especially noticable in racing games in general. Smaller TVs should be fine in single player, but 4k HD will be highly beneficial on larger TVs, especially playing split screen co-op.
Bob The Builder ..
Bob The Builder .. Parent
June 3, 2019
age 2+

Read mine

It's sonic the hedghog? Ok I'll buy that thanks

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
Easy to play/use
Too much violence
Too much sex
Too much swearing
Too much consumerism
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
See all 2 parent reviews

What’s It About?

TEAM SONIC RACING puts a team-focused spin on the traditional kart racing formula. It has familiar elements popularized in games like those in the Mario Kart series, including disorienting, gravity defying tracks, power ups that players can collect and use to stun opponents and defend themselves, and a broad range of familiar characters with vehicles that can be upgraded and customized over time with unlockable mods. But races in both the story mode and local and online competitive matches see drivers working in teams of three, trying to help each other whenever they can so that all members of the team finish as close to the top of the standings as possible. Points are awarded based on each team member's placing and then tallied to determine team ranking. Players can help teammates in a variety of ways, from sharing power-ups they don't need to driving close to slowly moving allies to give them a speed boost. You can also follow your teammates' golden tire tracks to draft behind and then slingshot around them. The single-player story mode provides a variety of race types, from standard three-lap events to drifting and ring collecting challenges, while multiplayer focuses more on traditional competitive racing.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (2):
Kids say (4):

It won't replace Mario Kart, but the blue blur's latest racer provides a fun and meaningfully different experience. While Team Sonic Racing's driving physics and car control aren't quite as polished as the very best kart racers, it's still very easy for just about anyone to pick up and begin playing. The tracks are imaginative and the vehicles can be thoroughly customized to give them a bit of personal flair. Most of its power-ups aren't original within the genre -- we're looking at you, rockets and bombs -- but there are a few standouts, such as a quake wisp that creates a maze of stone pillars at the front of the pack, and a ghost wisp that makes you invisible and allows you to steal other player's power-ups. And slight tweaks on the traditional kart racing formula -- such as vehicles falling into specific classes each with unique advantages, like not slowing down when going over rough terrain -- provide motivation to experiment.

It's the team-based mechanics that stand out most, though. Team abilities aren't much more than an occasionally beneficial curiosity when playing alone in the story mode -- it's hard to strategize with computer controlled drivers -- but they become truly advantageous when playing in groups. Sending a powerful offensive boost to an ally at the back of the pack at the right time can move them from last place to the top three in a matter of seconds. And while two allies driving alone might not be able to overtake an opponent in the run-up to the finish line, two allies cooperating as a team can work together to pull off a last second victory, with one drafting behind the other to slingshot ahead in the nick of time. Players hungry for a satisfying -- and notably less expensive -- alternative to Nintendo's dominating kart racers may just find it in Team Sonic Racing.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about character strengths and life skills. When playing Team Sonic Racing with others, are you aware of how you behave while both winning and losing? How do you feel when others gloat about winning or complain about losing?

  • Do you pick characters based on their unique abilities? Whether or not they look or act like you? Their character traits and ethics?

Game Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

See all recommended game lists

Related Topics

Want suggestions based on your streaming services? Get personalized recommendations

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate