Sonic the Hedgehog knows everything worth knowing about speed, so it’s no surprise that Sonic Racing from Sega is one of the best games on Apple Arcade.
It’s a popular, and available for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV. Add some excitement to your weekend by giving it a try. Here are 5 reason why I think you’ll love it.
1. Gets right to the race
Photo: Sega/Apple Arcade
You play a game called Sonic Racing because you want to race. And that’s what you get. Load the game and in a few seconds you’re barreling down a track.
You won’t spend 15 minutes carefully configuring a car — this is an arcade-style game. There is some configuring to do, but the focus stays on getting on a track and going fast.
Sonic Racing reminds me of great Sega games of the 1990s. The graphics are vastly better, but the same spirit is there. And you have to drive through rings to increase your speed and they make the familiar sound.
Sega made it so even kids can play, and I like the arcade-type feel of it. There are other racing games for when I’m in the mood to endlessly tinker with a semi-realistic virtual car.
2. More than just racing
Photo: Sega/Apple Arcade
As focused as Sonic Racing is, there’s more to winning that simply driving very fast. The game includes Wisps, a type of powerup that have been in other Sonic games for many years. During each race you pick up these Wisps and later use them to add to the speed of your car or to attack rivals.
Before each race, you choose which Wisps you’d like to try to pick up. Some are more common, others are rarer but more powerful. This choice, and deciding when to use these powerups during a race, adds a strategy element to the game.
3. Race your friends or online competitors
Sonic Racing lets you race against a AI, and these rival robot drivers get better as you improve to keep you interested.
But you can also challenge up to three friends or family members in head-to-head races.
Or test your driving skills against players from around the world in multiplayer mode. You’ll be matched against drivers with roughly equal skill.
4. Choose touchscreen or game controller
On iPhone and iPad, you steer with the touchscreen, and there’s just one other button to worry about. That’s not for the gas pedal — presumably, you have that floored the entire race. Instead, the button activates your Wisp.
I found driving easy, once I stopped oversteering. Of course, that doesn’t mean I win every race; I just stopped crashing into everything.
You have the option to use a game controller with mobile devices. I tried this and prefer it to the touchscreen. There are some good controllers that work well with iPhone and iPad.
You have to use an external controller when playing Sonic Racing on Mac and Apple TV.
5. You can trust other gamers
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
This Sega game has made a home for itself on the list of most popular Apple Arcade games. Every time I check to see what people are playing the most, I always see Sonic Racing.
It’s not at the top of the list — that honor most often goes to Sneaky Sasquatch — but enough people are racing with Sonic and his friends to show that this game has enduring popularity. And I do mean enduring, as it’s one of the initial collection of titles back at the launch of Apple Arcade in 2019.
The fact that a bunch of other people like this game doesn’t guarantee that you will, but it is proof that it isn’t terrible.
Play Sonic Racing today
Photo: Sega/Apple Arcade
If all this has you ready to race, head to the Apple Arcade section of the App Store to download Sonic Racing now.
Because it is part of Apple’s gaming service, playing requires a $4.99-per-month subscription to Apple Arcade. But you also get an access to over 200 other titles for that same fee.
And you don’t need to worry about hidden costs: the service bans all in-app purchases. Games also can’t track users, while a check of other Sega games finds that they do everything they can to try to track you.
If you need a bit of extra persuading to join Apple Arcade, here are some of the best games it has to offer:
