In Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, you choose a racer, then customize a machine and equip gadgets. SEGA’s documented customization options focus on the vehicle—not on a general character editor for changing a racer’s body or outfit. Machine appearance options include parts, colors, decals, textures, aura, and horn; machine types and gadgets are the choices SEGA identifies as ways to tailor how you race.
What you can customize—and what you choose instead
It helps to separate three decisions that can sound like one system: which character you race as, how your machine looks, and which setup choices shape your racing style. SEGA’s descriptions distinguish a roster of racers from a customizable machine. They do not describe a general-purpose character-appearance editor.
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- Racer selection: choose whom to race as from the available roster. SEGA’s September 25, 2025 launch announcement counted 23 characters from the Sonic universe at launch, alongside guest and premium crossover racers. That is a launch figure, not a promise about the current roster after updates.
- Machine appearance: customize the vehicle with parts, colors, decals, textures, a custom aura, and a horn. These are machine options; they should not be mistaken for character skins or outfit changes.
- Machine type and gadgets: choose among five named machine types and equip gadgets. SEGA describes the types as choices to complement racing style and says gadgets grant abilities that change playstyle.
The distinction matters if you are looking for a specific kind of customization. If your goal is to change your racer’s appearance, the official feature descriptions reviewed here do not establish a general character editor or a system for changing bodies or outfits. They establish racer selection and substantial vehicle customization. That is a careful limit on what the documented systems show, not proof that no character-specific cosmetic exists anywhere in the current game.
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How machine appearance customization works
SEGA’s Machines feature page sums up its approach with the statement, “Every part of your vehicle is yours to customize!” It lists parts, colors, decals, textures, aura, and horn. An earlier SEGA announcement also describes combining tires and parts, adding stickers, and changing color. Together, those descriptions show that customization covers both the vehicle’s components and its finishing touches.
#1 Best Overall
- READY, SET, WARP! Race across 24 tracks and warp to 15 CrossWorlds with Travel Rings, a unique gameplay mechanic that transports the iconic characters from the Sonic and SEGA universes into new dimensions. Use unpredictability to your advantage as you change the landscape of each race!
- RACE WITH THE BEST! Choose from 23 iconic Sonic characters, the largest roster of any Sonic racing game!
- MAKE IT YOURS: Mix and match between 45 unique original vehicles and 70 different gadgets to trick out your ride, level up your kart, and create the ultimate machine to match your racing style.
- GAIN THE ADVANTAGE WITH POWERFUL ITEMS! Dominate your opponents with 23 different items including returning favorites and all-new items like the Monster Truck!
- MULTIPLE WAYS TO PLAY: Gather with friends and play local split-screen in Grand Prix and the new party mode Race Park, compete against a community of players from around the world with up to 12 players online in World Match, or test your driving skills in Time Trials.
Parts and tires
Parts let you alter the machine’s visible build. The official online manual’s search result describes front parts, rear parts, and tires as components that can be combined. That gives you a practical starting point: decide on a machine appearance by looking at the component areas available in the current customization menu, rather than expecting a single whole-vehicle skin to do all the work.
The available descriptions do not provide a complete current catalog, list every part slot, or say whether every part choice changes performance. Treat the parts as vehicle customization unless the game’s current item details explicitly identify an effect. Do not assume that a particular-looking component makes a machine faster, more controllable, or otherwise better based only on its appearance.
Colors, decals, textures, aura, and horn
Colors, decals, and textures give you additional ways to make the vehicle look distinct. SEGA’s earlier announcement refers to stickers, while the Machines page names decals. The online manual search result says decals can be applied to the front and rear. The current menu is the reliable place to see the actual options available to your account, since collaborations and updates can add or change cosmetic content.
Rank #2
- READY, SET, WARP! Race across 24 tracks and warp to 15 CrossWorlds with Travel Rings, a unique gameplay mechanic that transports the iconic characters from the Sonic and SEGA universes into new dimensions. Use unpredictability to your advantage as you change the landscape of each race!
- RACE WITH THE BEST! Choose from 23 iconic Sonic characters, the largest roster of any Sonic racing game!
- MAKE IT YOURS: Mix and match between 45 unique original vehicles and 70 different gadgets to trick out your ride, level up your kart, and create the ultimate machine to match your racing style.
- GAIN THE ADVANTAGE WITH POWERFUL ITEMS! Dominate your opponents with 23 different items including returning favorites and all-new items like the Monster Truck!
- MULTIPLE WAYS TO PLAY: Gather with friends and play local split-screen in Grand Prix and the new party mode Race Park, compete against a community of players from around the world with up to 12 players online in World Match, or test your driving skills in Time Trials.
Aura and horn are listed as finishing touches. SEGA describes them as ways to create a one-of-a-kind ride; they belong to the machine’s presentation, not to a character appearance editor. The source material does not specify how many aura or horn choices are available, so there is no supported fixed count to rely on.
Which choices are about appearance, and which affect playstyle?
SEGA presents five machine types—Speed, Acceleration, Handling, Power, and Boost—and recommends choosing a type that complements your racing style. It also says gadgets grant abilities that change playstyle. Those are the documented setup-level choices. The published feature descriptions do not provide numeric stat values, a ranking of types, or a universally best type.
| Choice | What SEGA documents | How to use that information |
|---|---|---|
| Appearance | Parts, colors, decals, textures, custom aura, and horn. | Use these options to personalize the machine’s look. Do not treat a color or decal as a gameplay upgrade unless its current in-game description says otherwise. |
| Machine type | Speed, Acceleration, Handling, Power, and Boost; SEGA says to choose one that complements your racing style. | Pick a type as a broad setup preference. The available official descriptions do not give enough detail to prescribe one type for every player or course. |
| Gadget | Abilities that change playstyle. Named examples include Item Stock Plus, Quick Charge, and Giant Rocket Punch. | Read the gadget’s current in-game description and decide whether its stated ability fits how you want to race. The examples alone do not establish exact effects or values. |
This separation prevents a common misunderstanding: a decorated machine is not necessarily a different character, and an attractive decal is not, on the evidence available, a performance modifier. Conversely, machine type and gadgets are not merely paint choices; SEGA explicitly connects them to racing style and abilities. For specific effects, rely on the current in-game descriptions rather than guessing from a gadget’s name.
Rank #3
- Pre-order Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds and receive the playable character Werehog, the Werehog vehicle "Beast Spike", and the Werehog Decal!
- Race across land, sea, air, space, and time in Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds! Warp through Travel Rings into new dimensions where something new awaits around every twist and turn.
- Speed to victory solo or as a team in a variety of offline and online modes and compete against players from around the world. Build the ultimate vehicle to match your racing style, unlock gadgets to gain the upper hand, and unleash power-up items to bring home the win!
- Gain the Advantage with Powerful Items! Dominate your opponents with 23 different items including returning favorites and all-new items like the Monster Truck!
- Make It Yours Mix and match between 45 unique original vehicles and 70 different gadgets to trick out your ride, level up your kart, and create the ultimate machine to match your racing style.
How to get started with a machine setup
The documented system supports a straightforward approach even though the available official material does not give a specific menu path or a complete set of numeric tuning instructions. Use the in-game customization screens to make and review your choices; labels and availability can vary as the game is updated.
- Choose a racer. Select the character you want to race as from the roster currently available in your game. The 23-character count in SEGA’s September 2025 announcement describes launch, not necessarily the roster today.
- Open the machine customization options. Look for the in-game area that lets you edit your machine. The official sources establish customization categories, but do not establish an exact button sequence or menu label, so follow the labels shown in your edition and current version.
- Build the visual design. Review available machine parts and tires, then choose colors, decals, or textures. If your menu offers aura or horn options, treat these as additional finishing touches.
- Select a machine type. Choose from Speed, Acceleration, Handling, Power, and Boost according to the racing style you want to try. SEGA does not publish a universal recommendation or numeric comparison in the cited feature description.
- Review gadgets separately. Check which gadgets you have unlocked and read their current descriptions. Examples SEGA has named include Item Stock Plus, Quick Charge, and Giant Rocket Punch; do not infer exact mechanics from their names alone.
- Check the current item details and update notes. If a desired option is missing, it may be locked, unavailable in the current menu, or tied to an update-specific route. Use the item’s in-game information and current official notes to identify its actual availability.
A useful first setup is one that makes your preferences easy to understand: choose the racer you want, personalize the machine’s appearance, pick one machine type, and then consider gadgets one at a time. That keeps visual decisions separate from ability choices. If a race setup feels wrong, change a documented setup choice and see how it suits you rather than treating the machine’s appearance as evidence of its performance.
Unlocking gadgets and customization items
Customization is not necessarily all available immediately. SEGA’s February 2025 announcement said players unlock more gadgets by playing. The official online manual’s search result says tickets can be used to purchase machine parts and other customization items. These statements indicate that play progression and ticket purchases can be routes to additional content, but they do not establish one universal unlock rule for every part, cosmetic, or gadget.
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- UK PSN account may be required for any online features
Unlock requirements can be item- and version-specific. For example, SEGA’s June 24, 2026 version 1.4.1 notice listed eight new gadgets that become obtainable once the Gadget Plate reaches Gold Plate or higher. The same notice said certain gadgets that had previously been distributed through festivals became purchasable with Donpa Tickets after reaching Master Plate or higher. Those are conditions attached to the items described in that update—not requirements that should be applied to every gadget or customization item.
- If an item is locked, check its own in-game requirement instead of assuming it has the same route as another item.
- If a listed option cannot be found, check the current version’s official update notes for additions or changes.
- Distinguish a general statement such as “unlock more gadgets by playing” from a specific threshold stated for a named set of items.
How many combinations and gadgets are there?
In its September 25, 2025 launch announcement, SEGA Corporation reported more than 70,000 machine combinations and over 70 gadgets. These are publisher figures tied to the launch announcement, not independently measured counts. They also should not be read as a guaranteed current total: the game receives updates, and SEGA’s June 2026 version 1.4.1 notice, for example, added eight gadgets, a new racer and machine, and collaboration decals.
The combination figure describes the breadth of machine configurations SEGA advertised, not a promise that every player can access every item from the start. Unlock conditions, ticket purchases, and version-specific additions affect what is available to an individual player. Nor does a large number of combinations mean that every combination has a distinct documented performance profile; the cited materials do not provide a comprehensive test or stat table for the combinations.
Best Value
- READY, SET, WARP! Race across 24 tracks and warp to 15 CrossWorlds with Travel Rings, a unique gameplay mechanic that transports the iconic characters from the Sonic and SEGA universes into new dimensions. Use unpredictability to your advantage as you change the landscape of each race!
- RACE WITH THE BEST! Choose from 23 iconic Sonic characters, the largest roster of any Sonic racing game!
- MAKE IT YOURS: Mix and match between 45 unique original vehicles and 70 different gadgets to trick out your ride, level up your kart, and create the ultimate machine to match your racing style.
- GAIN THE ADVANTAGE WITH POWERFUL ITEMS! Dominate your opponents with 23 different items including returning favorites and all-new items like the Monster Truck!
- MULTIPLE WAYS TO PLAY: Gather with friends and play local split-screen in Grand Prix and the new party mode Race Park, compete against a community of players from around the world with up to 12 players online in World Match, or test your driving skills in Time Trials.
What updates mean for your options
Availability is a moving target because the game receives updates. SEGA’s June 24, 2026 version 1.4.1 notice is a concrete example: it listed a new racer and machine, eight new gadgets, and collaboration decals. The same notice attached different progression conditions to the new gadgets and some previously festival-distributed gadgets. An older guide or launch-era count may therefore omit content or describe an unlock route that is no longer the most useful reference.
When an item’s status matters, use the current in-game menus and the official notes for the installed version. A dated update notice can confirm what that patch introduced and any specific conditions it describes; it should not be generalized into an evergreen rule for the entire catalog. The sources summarized here do not establish a complete, current inventory or full unlock table, so an exact total for every cosmetic and gadget is not supported.
What to expect if you want character skins
If by “character customization” you mean choosing a racer, the game supports that through its roster. If you mean editing a racer’s clothes, body, or overall appearance in a general character editor, SEGA’s feature descriptions reviewed here do not document such a system. Their detailed customization coverage is for machines and gadgets.
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That distinction is more accurate than calling vehicle decals or paint “character skins.” The available sources also do not justify an absolute claim that the current game has no character-specific cosmetic of any kind. If you are looking for a particular outfit or cosmetic, check the current in-game menus and official update notes rather than assuming it is part of the machine editor—or assuming it cannot exist because the general feature page focuses on vehicles.
Does customization require an accessory?
No separate accessory is identified as a requirement for the documented customization systems. SEGA describes customization as an in-game feature. Its launch announcement listed physical and digital Standard Editions and platform availability, but the cited material does not say that an additional accessory is needed to choose racers, customize machines, or use gadgets. Select the game edition and platform that suit you; do not buy a peripheral on the assumption that it unlocks customization.
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