Team Sonic Racing 2

Team Sonic Racing 2 is a 2024 kart racing game and a spin-off from Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog series and sequel to 2019 kart racing game Team Sonic Racing. Players compete in races using vehicles. They view gameplay from a third-person perspective while performing tricks, drifting, and collecting power-ups. Team Sonic Racing differs from traditional kart racers because of its focus on cooperative gameplay, similar to the kind featured in Splatoon (2015) and Overwatch (2016)—players are part of a team of racers and win races through efficiency rather than speed. Game modes include competing to earn points, time trials, customizing the racing rules, and a story-driven tutorial campaign.

Plot
TBA

Gameplay
Team Sonic Racing is a kart racing video game featuring single-player and multiplayer modes. Players participate in races using vehicles on courses thematically based on locations from the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. Different characters fall into one of three racing classes: Speed, Technique, and Power. Each type has their own unique abilities and skillsets that give them both advantages and disadvantages:

Gameplay is viewed from a third-person perspective. At the beginning of each race, the player starts out in front of the finish line. For a sudden speed boost straight off the startline, the player can build up a Start Line Boost by pressing and releasing Accelerate with each count of the countdown timer. The momentum from the Start Line Boost can be accumulated up to three times, with its rising level indicated by the changing color of the flames emitting from the race car's exhaust pipes. While racing, the player can build up speed boosts in other ways. One of them is by drifting, which allows the player to make sharp turns. While drifting, the player can turn left or right. While doing so, the player will built up a speed boost that is initiated as soon as the drift ends. By drifting for extended periods of time, the player can accumulate and improve upon the drift's speed boost. Lastly, there are the Stunt maneuvers. After being launching into midair, the player can perform forward, backward and/or sideways flips, which will built up a speed boost that is initiated when the playable character lands. For each successive Stunt performed, the player accumulates and improves upon the resulting speed boost, but landing on the ground in the middle of a Stunt will cancel out the speed boost and slow the playable character down. Alternatively, the player can run over Boost Pads to get speed boosts.

Racers can also collect power-ups contained in Item Boxes marked with "?" from the tracks to gain temporary offensive and defensive advantages; these power-ups come in the form of fourteen different kinds of Wisps, which is a recurring power-up in the Sonic series. Each Wisp is obtained at random and grants a certain Color Panel. However, instead of becoming Color Powers when using the Wisps, the users mostly manifest the Color Powers as a move, projectile or obstruction. Color Powers have different uses and can provide the player with speed boosts, attacks for slowing down rival racers, or obstructions that deal damage to rivals. In addition, the Wisps the characters can pick up from the tracks are determined by their classes; Red Wisps are reserved for Speed-Types, Magenta Wisps are reserved for Technique-Types, and Violet, Cyan and Pink Wisps are reserved for Power-Types. The classic Rings also appear on the racetracks, which the racers can collect to build up to their final score and increase their top speed up to 30%. Taking damage will cause the racer to drop all their Rings, though some of them can be recollected before they disappear. Damage can be induced when taking hits from offensive Wisps or when colliding with obstacles on the racetrack, such as circular saws, common level obstructions, Eggpawns, Crabmeats, etc. The game offers classic races in which the players compete against each other for first place. Upon completing a race, the player is rewarded with in-game currency called Credits. The races themselves have two modes. The first mode is a standard all-against-all race where each racer compete against everyone else to secure the best position, and the winner is determined by who crosses the finish line first during the last lap. A maximum of twelve playable characters can participate in such races. In a single-player race, the player can also damage any opponent with their power-ups. The second mode is a team-based mode. Here, the races differ from traditional kart racers because of their focus on cooperative gameplay: the player is part of a team of three racers and they must work together. Up to four teams of three can compete in this mode, for a total of twelve racers at a time. The three characters for a team can be chosen freely from the game's roaster (except for in Team Adventure, where teams are predetermined for story reasons), allowing players to combine any ability types; the player also has the option for each teammate to be the same character. Instead of simply winning races by finishing them as fast as possible in team-based races, teams get points based on how they worked together and on their members' positions in the race. The teams' different standings during a race are displayed on the left side of the HUD and is constantly updated. Each team on this display also has its own color, which makes it possible to identify the characters who are backlit with these colors. In a team-based race, teams can damage rival team racers with their power-ups. If a character is accidentally hit by an ally power-up however, they will be completely unaffected and receive no damage. At the end of each team-based race, the results will be shown in the following order. First, there is the final standing which shows the final position and time of each racer, color-coded by team. Secondly, there is the total score where the player's individual score is calculated from bonuses for Rings, Team Plays, final position, etc., and then adjusted to the factor in the difficulty setting. Credits earned are also calculated at this time. Lastly, there is the team score. Here, points are assigned for each character's final position (15 for first place, 12 for second, then 10, 9, 8 and so on), and totaled up for each team. The team with the highest total score are declared the winners. Thus, it is not always about finishing in first place; rather, it is the most efficient team who wins. When racing as a team in any game mode alone, there will be artificial intelligence (AI) controlling the player's teammates. Also, while they each control a single racer, the players must also pay attention to how their teammates are performing. During a team-based race, rival team members on the race track will be highlighted in red.

In team-based races, the player has special maneuvers and effects that they can perform to support their teammates. The most basic of these maneuvers is the Item Box Transfer which can transfer the contents of an Item Box to a teammate after obtaining it from an Item Box from the race track or another teammate. Upon obtaining a power-up, the player can offer it to a teammate, who can either accept it or ignore it. Sharing power-ups is in particular the only method to obtain some items not normally available to an ability type. By transferring a power-up, players can also triple the quantity of most Wisp power-ups to utilize (e.g. when a player collects an Item Box, they will receive one Wisp, but if they obtain a certain Wisp through a teammate, there is the possibility they will obtain three Wisps of the same kind to use instead of one). Wisps eligible for triplicating are the Black Wisps, Blue Wisps, Orange Wisps, White Wisps and Crimson Wisps. Another team maneuver is the Skim Boost which lets the player give a slow-moving temmate a speed boost by skimming them at high speed; the greater the speed difference, the bigger the speed boost. Also, the character who has the highest position in a team-based race will produce yellow trails only visible to their teammates that provides a Slingshot manuever. This maneuver grants a speed boost to the teammates who stay on the yellow trails for extended periods of time. There is also the Rival Takedown, where the characters on a team simply attack rival team racers. The teams can also unleash special moves called "Team Ultimates" when their Ultimate Meter energy gauge gets filled up from performing the team-based maneuvers mentioned above while racing; while the move can be used individually at any given time the Ultimate Meter is full, it lasts longer if all three teammates activate it simultaneously. When used, the Team Ultimate gives the user a temporary burst of speed and invincibility that lets them plow through rival racers, sending them skidding out of control. The meter's duration can be extended by hitting competing racers during Team Ultimates. Vehicles also have customization options that adjust the performance and appearance of a playable character's vehicle. These customizations are unlocked as the player progresses through the game. Most customizations, however, can be obtained through Mod Pods which can be purchased for ten Credits each. The player can obtain two broad types of customization parts: Mods and Bonus Boxes. Mods in particular can be divided into Performance Parts (which modify a vehicle's appearance and stats) and Car Cosmetic, the latter of which can be divided further into Paint Kits (which modify a vehicle's color scheme), Vinyls (which lets the player decorate the vehicles with decals) and Horns (which modify the vehicles' horn sounds). Bonus Boxes, on the other hand, are one-time equipment that can be equipped before a race in order to grant the racer a power-up from the beginning of the race or a special ability. Meanwhile, Mods can be added to a race car in the Garage, a mode where players can personalize their race cars. Performance Parts are particularly important. Each character gets eighteen Performance Parts to choose from which are divided into three sets: six for the vehicle's front, six for the vehicle's rear, and six for the vehicle's wheels, giving a total of 270 Performance Parts in the game. In addition, half of the Performance Parts are classified as "Legendary", which add golden colorations to the vehicle. The stats the Performance Parts modify include:


 * Acceleration: The rate at which speed increases.
 * Boost: The boost strength and duration.
 * Defense: Sturdiness upon collision and attack.
 * Handling: Agility when navigating tight corners.
 * Top Speed: The highest speed the racer can go.

Team Sonic Racing features a wide variety of offline and online game modes: Team Adventure, Local Play, Online Multiplayer, Player Stats, Garage, Mod Pods, Options, Tips and Credits. In addition, the game includes a series of mission-based racing events for both single players and multiplayers.

The game supports four-player local multiplayer. All standard races and sone of the special events can be played by up to four players in split screen mode. A separate controller must be connected for each player. To register entry for an additional player, one must choose the Joint/Leave option at either the main menu or the Game Mode screen of Local Play. Changes can be confirmed by checking the multiplayer status display at the bottom of the screen. Also, at the Character select screen of each game mode, each player uses their own controller to make character and team choices. Depending on the game mode selected, some multiplayer restrictions apply:


 * Team Adventure: Can be played by up to three players. Players can also freely choose a character within the same team.
 * Local Play: Grand Prix and Exhibition Race can be played by up to four players who can choose their characters and teams freely. Time Trial is limited to one player, however.
 * Online Multiplayer: Can be played by up to a combination of twelve local and online players, who can choose their characters freely. Teams are assigned randomly or by the lobby host.

Items

 * Item Box
 * Invincibility
 * Wisps
 * Black Bomb Wisp
 * Blue Cube Wisp
 * Brown Thunder Wisp (New Wisp)
 * Crimson Eagle Wisp
 * Cyan Laser Wisp
 * Fuschia Dragon Wisp (New Wisp)
 * Gray Quake Wisp
 * Ivory Lightning Wisp
 * Jade Ghost Wisp
 * Magenta Rhythm Wisp
 * Orange Rocket Wisp
 * Pink Spikes Wisp
 * Purple Frenzy Wisp
 * Red Burst Wisp
 * Violet Void Wisp
 * White Boost Wisp
 * Yellow Drill Wisp
 * Ring

Gimmicks and obstacles

 * Boost Pad
 * Kao
 * Spring
 * Star Post
 * Wide spring

Racers

 * Death Egg

Non racers

 * Boo (cameo)
 * Boom Boo (cameo)
 * Buzzer (cameo)
 * Chopper (cameo)
 * Crabmeat (cameo)
 * Cubot
 * Dodon Pa
 * Egg Hammer (cameo)
 * Egg Squid (cameo)
 * Froggy (cameo)
 * King Boom Boo (cameo)
 * Mother Wisp (cameo)
 * Orbot
 * Orca (cameo)
 * Sandworm (cameo)

Enemies

 * Eggpawn
 * Eggsplosive Eggpawn
 * Hard-boiled Eggpawn
 * Melee Eggpawn
 * Standard Eggpawn

Green Hill

 * Hedgehog Beach
 * Sunny Sands
 * Ring Marina

Tropical Resort

 * Poolside Cruise
 * Wisp Water Park
 * Jacuzzi Jam

Planet Wisp

 * Wisp Circuit
 * Mother's Circuit
 * Doctor's Mine

Seaside Hill

 * Whale Lagoon
 * Lost Palace
 * Ocean Ruin

Ocean Palace

 * Ocean View
 * Emerald Bay
 * Chaos Shores

Wave Ocean

 * The Inlet
 * The Shrine
 * The Caverns

Palmtree Panic

 * Emerald Jungle
 * Chaos Rainforest
 * Crazy Caves

Chemical Plant

 * Test Tube Town
 * Emerald Elixir
 * Freeway Factory

Glacierland

 * Ice Mountain
 * Frozen Junkyard
 * Hidden Volcano

Emerald Coast

 * Emerald Sands
 * Clobbered Bridges
 * Chaos Caverns

City Escape

 * Downhill Derby
 * Street Speedway
 * Parkway Panic

Speed Highway

 * City Cruise
 * Turbo Town
 * Circuit Chase

Radical Highway

 * Bridge Blast
 * Dark Driveway
 * Nitro Night

Casino Park

 * Roulette Road
 * Pinball Highway
 * Bingo Party

Sandopolis

 * Sand Road
 * Boo's House
 * Clockwork Pyramid

Rooftop Run

 * Market Street
 * Sky Road
 * Haunted Castle

Sky Sanctuary

 * Sanctuary Falls
 * Skyway Ruins
 * Cloudy Tunnels

Starlight Carnival

 * Galactic Parade
 * Space Swap Meet
 * Planetary Mall

Final Fortress

 * Turbine Loop
 * Dark Arsenal
 * Thunder Deck

Death Egg

 * Egg Hangar
 * Galaxy Lab
 * Milky Way Motorway

Events
TBA

Team Adventure Mode
TBA