The Sonic and Mario Franchises Have Yet Another Chance to Meet in the Middle

For as long as Mario and Sonic have been around, fans have discussed what it would be like if the two ever shared a game together. From the days of Super Smash Bros. Brawl to going on an adventure in a unified full crossover adventure game, players want to see the two together for competitive reasons, be they friendly or not-so-friendly. Mario and Sonic may be on a bit more amicable terms these days, like Nintendo and Sega themselves are, but the rivalry is being fanned anew. Players have Mario Kart World and Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds to look forward to in the same year. This gives both the plumber and the blue blur a big window of opportunity, though.

As tensions have cooled between the companies and their mascots, Mario and Sonic collaborating hasn’t been as much of a far-off dream as it used to be. The two platforming heroes have come together in the spirit of sportsmanship to be the official video game franchise for the Olympics with the Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games series in the past. With both Mario and Sonic tearing up the track this year, there’s great potential behind Sonic coming to Mario Kart World, and Mario joining the race in Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds in a joint collaboration.

All Mario & Sonic Olympic Games, Ranked

The long-standing friendly rivalry between Mario and Sonic finally comes to the sporting scene, as iconic characters compete in the Olympics for fun.

Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds and Mario Kart World Set the Stage for a Crossover For the Ages

Why Now is the Perfect Time for Mario and Sonic to Race Together

Just as fans have fantasized about Sonic joining Super Smash Bros. and Mario helping the blue hedgehog trample Dr. Eggman and Bowser for years, the idea of the two joining the roster of their respective racing games has been floated around just as much. Sonic & All-Stars Racing: Transformed was theorized to include Mario as a Wii U exclusive character through an agreement between Nintendo and Sega at the time, for example. Mario Kart 8‘s amiibo costumes came close with Sonic’s Smash Bros. amiibo having its own designated Mii costume in the game.

Despite how close Sonic and Mario have come to racing together, it has yet to be fully realized. At the very least, Sonic has come rather close to being invited to Mario Kart. That’s why, out of all of Mario and Sonic’s coinciding release windows, Mario Kart World‘s and Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds‘ may be the most important. Both games have a comfortable release window between each other, and that leaves room for them to need ways to advertise one another. If the two games collaborate, releasing Mario as a racer in CrossWorlds and adding Sonic to Mario Kart World‘s roster as the same promotion, that could cause a rather large stir. Of course, any boost in sales would be better felt on Nintendo’s side of the market, as both racers would likely be Switch-exclusive, but Sega could still see some CrossWorlds sales benefits as a result.

What Would a Mario Kart World/Sonic Racing CrossWorlds Collab Entail?

It does beg the question as to what this collaboration might include. Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds has made its offerings for extra racers clear over the last few days while Mario Kart World hasn’t said if it’s getting any post-launch updates just yet. For Mario Kart World, it’s easy to picture Sonic appearing with special food-based costumes like the majority of the roster. Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds has room to be a bit more generous to Mario, however, as CrossWorlds‘ DLC and free update racers are said to come with cars, a track, and possibly even special emoticons to use in online play. All of it depends on what Nintendo and Sega would be satisfied with in their negotiations, and that’s where the trouble lies.

Sonic Team and Sega have been taking digs at Mario Kart World more or less since it was revealed as part of the Switch 2 direct. The head of Sonic Team used the stage at Summer Game Fest to specifically mention that Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds allows races with other players across multiple platforms, unlike the Switch 2 exclusive kart racer. It’s hard to imagine these comments being made with a potential crossover in the works. Even if Mario and Sonic might have gotten close to seeing who leaves the other in their dust on the track, it might not be during this era of racing no matter how perfect it might seem.