Team Sonic Racing is a new kart racer speeding to Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PS4, and PC

Lace up your best red-and-white sneakers and buckle your seatbelts, because Sonic the Hedgehog and all his furry pals are (quite literally) racing your way. Say hello to Team Sonic Racing:

Team Sonic Racing is a kart-style arcade racing game from Sumo Digital, the studio behind Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing and Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. However, where those games pulled in characters from across Sega's lineup of games (plus a cameo from Ralph of Disney's Wreck-It Ralph and Danica Patrick of the Indy Car series - and those god-awful GoDaddy commercials) Team Sonic Racing is strictly about Sega's spikiest mascot and his friends. Maybe a few enemies, too.

The game will have 15 playable characters, each corresponding to a different type: Speed, Technique, and Power. There's your usual Grand Prix, Exhibition, and Time Trial modes, along with a Team Adventure Mode, which will give players a story to follow. There are 14 items to grab along the track and use against your competition, and you'll be able to customize your ride both performance-wise and aesthetically. But the big draw seems to be the focus on teamwork. I mean, it's right in the name of the game, and players will be able to unleash "Team Ultimate" attacks to help secure first place.

This also helps explain why Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed is among Xbox's Games with Gold for June 2018 - promoting the new game by giving everyone the old one for free is known to be an effective marketing strategy, and I suspect the playstyle will be similar enough you can think of Transformed as a sort of demo. As for Team Sonic Racing, it's arriving sometime this winter.

Oh, and yes, it is Team Sonic Racing, not Sonic Team Racing - that's gonna take some getting used to.

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