2025's Racing Games Are a Burst of Nostalgia For Fans of…

Players began looking forward to putting their pedal to the metal when Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds was announced as part of the 2024 Game Awards. Rumors had been circulating for some time, but Nintendo revealed they too would be inviting players to race one another in a new Mario Kart for Switch 2 the following January. These two titles alone had a lot to get fans excited about, even with their relatively small teaser announcements. Further information would only cause the building hype to grow, with Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds marking the return of EX Gear and Mario Kart World offering a unique open-world kart racing experience. The iconic plumber and blue blur wouldn't be alone on the track, however, as Kirby Air Riders was announced in the same Nintendo Direct as Mario Kart World's larger reveal.

It was most certainly—and still is—an exciting time to be a racing game fan as players watched as they went from not one, not two, but three full 2025 releases to look forward to in no time flat. However, some fans are more spoiled than the rest as these three games have something in common that certainly makes the trio of titles worth looking forward to on its own. With Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, Kirby Air Riders, and Mario Kart World all releasing in the same year, GameCube racing fans are living the dream in ways they might have never thought possible.

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By Zackari Greif

2025 is Almost a Renaissance For GameCube Racing Games

In a rather interesting series of coincidences, all three of these upcoming racers for 2025 have strong ties to popular racing games from the GameCube's heyday. It's the most clear with Kirby Air Riders, serving as a sequel to Kirby Air Ride almost 22 years after it was released in 2003. Air Riders doesn't have much information behind it right now compared to Mario Kart World and Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, but the teaser trailer made it clear that Air Ride's original director Masahiro Sakurai is back for the sequel. Sakurai's role in the game means his standard level of quality, staple consistency, and innovations between the original and newer releases are practically guaranteed. Air Ride's return is certainly in good hands as a result.

Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, however, aims to take the best of every Sonic racing game before it and combine it into a thrilling experience full of freedom. The most exciting of these homages is the return of the Extreme Gear of Sonic Riders fame. The Sonic Riders series hasn't been explored in a major title since Sonic Free Riders for the Xbox 360's Kinect.

Many fans have wanted to see the EX Gear and Babylon Rogues make a return due to how the original Sonic Riders title not only had its unique style players still adore, but also genuine adrenaline-pumping races that not many Sonic racing games live up to. Including the Extreme Gear with cars in a game like CrossWorlds felt like an impossibility for many years which only adds to the excitement leading up to the game's upcoming launch.

Mario Kart World currently has no known similarities to Mario Kart: Double Dash. The fact that it's been so long since the last completely original Mario Kart release, and it just so happens to release next to Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds and Kirby Air Riders, still makes it worth mentioning. With the new GameCube functionality for Nintendo Switch Online, there may be a chance that Nintendo will add Mario Kart: Double Dash in the future during a time when it won't clash with Mario Kart World's new release sales.

mario kart world pushes boundries of racing genre

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By Chris Nicholls

2025's Racing Game Line-Up is Friendly Competition At the End of the Day

Despite how the upcoming racing game lineup for platformer fans is jam-packed this year, series loyalists of Sonic, Kirby, and Mario shouldn't worry about how each individual game performs. Each one is sure to get a boost in sales from series regulars who pick their favorite over the other, but there are other factors that may assist players who might sit on the fence.

Mario Kart World is one of the most iconic kart racing games out there, commonly a must-have title for all of Nintendo's systems, and being the only Switch 2 launch bundle will help it sell immediately. Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, like Sonic Riders before it, can be found on every major platform including the Nintendo Switch. With how its fast-paced gameplay and Travel Ring mechanic have intrigued players, it will likely pick up a number of people who don't have a Switch or Switch 2 for Mario Kart and Air Riders along the way. Kirby Air Riders is the one in a more tricky situation as the franchise has changed quite a bit since the first installment, which could mean that Sakurai won't include newer Kirby elements in the newer racing game.

Regardless, each of these games has loyal fans one way or another, especially Kirby Air Ride fans who have waited long enough for a sequel. Fans who have their preferences will have something to be satisfied with in their title of choice, and the players who enjoy all three are in for a rather exciting year. For the next while, thanks to these important gaming characters, fans will have no shortage of high-speed action to try.

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