Team Sonic Racing: 10 Tips to be the perfect teammate

Team Sonic Racing is a very different kind of kart racer, one that rewards cooperation and consideration over selfish ambition. You’ll need to work as part of a team if you want to come out on top, but don’t worry, we’ve got you covered with ten top tips that will see you and your teammates on top of the podium.

1. Getting a Fast Start

The key to any race is getting a good start, and like other kart races, Team Sonic Racing has a technique for flying off the line when the lights go green. The key to this is pressing the accelerator in time with the 3-2-1 countdown when the race begins.

Get the timing perfect on all three and you’ll get the perfect start (indicated by blue flames coming out of your kart as you boost off the line). But don’t despair if you miss the timing of the first number – sometimes it can be tricky to judge exactly when it will be appearing – because even correctly timing one or two numbers in the countdown will still give you a boost off the line, albeit a reduced version depending on how many timings you nailed.

It’s worth practicing getting this right each time as it can put you and your teammates in a strong position at the start of the race.

2. What to do if you’re in front

If you’re the teammate that is furthest forward in the race, gold tire marks will automatically start appearing behind you for other racers to follow. Doing so for a certain amount of time will award them with a Slingshot Boost that will help them move further up the field. So make sure as much as possible to keep your driving calm and easy to follow to give your teammate a simpler task of following you.

Also, depending on how near the front of the pack you are, you may want to consider sharing items much more regularly with your teammates. More items for people further back gives them more opportunity to surge forward or disrupt other teams to help their position, and the team’s placing as a whole.

3. What to do if you’re behind

If you’re not the furthest forward of your team, the way you’ll want to race changes slightly. Firstly keep a look out for the slipstream gold tire marks of your team leader, and follow behind them whenever it is possible to do so. Stay there long enough and you’ll earn a Slingshot Boost forward.

Keep an eye out for teammates ahead of you. If you find yourself looking to overtake them, then try and do so by skimming them as you pass, as that will give them a Skim Boost to help them back into the race.

Also, if your teammates further forward are doing their job, you will have items coming your way from them and the ones you collect yourselves. Don’t hoard these items as you can only hold a maximum of two, so always look for opportunities to use them in the best way when you get them, either to frustrate enemies or give yourself the edge.

4. Pay attention to your Ultimate Meter

Your Ultimate Meter is your trump card for your team. Doing Skim Boosts, Slingshots and Item Transfers all add to the Ultimate Meter for your team every time someone in the team completes one. When the Meter is full, more often than not using it as soon as is feasible is best so that you can gain the speed advantage it provides, and then when it is over, look to start earning another as a team.

Whilst the Ultimate Meter is active, there are a couple of things to remember. Firstly if everyone in your team activates it at the same time, then the benefit for the entire team is increased, so it’s definitely worth coordinating this with your team. If your team is AI-controlled, then don’t worry, theirs will automatically be activated at your command. Also whilst in Ultimate mode, try and keep an eye out for other kart racers, as taking out the competition will see the time the speed boost last extend by a few seconds. If everyone is taking out opponents, this can make a big difference.

Another tactic for the entire team is to focus solely on Ultimate Meter building at all costs. This means always Item Transferring when you pick up an item, and always accepting those that get offered by your teammates. You could also tweak the way you use Slingshot for a bigger advantage. The way the mechanic works is that if you stay in the slipstream longer, the one-off Slingshot boost you get is bigger, but actually, you’re better off activating multiple single boosts, by weaving in and out of the slipstream, as this will build up your Ultimate Meter faster. It’s more risky, as is always transferring items, but it can pay off if you’re able to have multiple Ultimate Modes activated in a single race.

5. Don’t always go for Rings

It may sound counter-intuitive, but collecting Rings definitely shouldn’t be your focus when racing. It’s true that amassing more rings does give you a higher top speed, which in any other situation would be a good thing. However, there are two reasons why you should be considered about going for Rings. The first is that – staying true to the Sonic franchise – if you get hit by any item, you lose all of your amassed rings. It doesn’t matter whether you’d acquired 10 or 150, they’re gone in an instant, and irrespective of how many you held, only a handful fall on the track for you and other racers to pick up after your spin out.

Given that in Team Sonic Racing, items are flying around all over the place as racers vie for position, the likelihood of being hit is high, and so chasing Rings is rarely worth it in the long-term. Secondly, definitely, don’t go out of your way to collect them. Sometimes Rings appear on the racing line, and you’ll collect them without even trying and there’s no penalty to do this. However, if you’re having to take corners at a weird angle, or swerve or slow down for Rings, then you have your – and your team’s – priorities wrong. Not only will this make you slower generally, but if you’re out in front, it will make your golden slipstream harder to follow for those looking for a Slingshot Boost.

6. Other ways to Boost

There are a couple of other ways to get boosts as you are racing around the track. The first is the classic drift, which sees your kart slide round corners rather than normal steering, and is useful for tackling tighter turns. However the direction of the drift can be managed with the control stick once the drift has begun, and alternating left and right on the analogue stick mid-drift will see you build up your boost up to three times for the maximum blue boost. Try and drift boost around as many corners as you can to keep your top speed up and making the most of the temporary increase in speed.

The second way to get an extra boost is through doing tricks. Certain parts of the track will see you shoot upwards for some airtime before coming back down to earth. In this time a press of the control stick, left, right or vertically will see your racer do a flip. Successful flips can be performing multiple times, creating a boost level each time, with three successful tricks giving you that max boost. Be careful though because the flips do take time to complete, and if you land mid-trick you will spin out and lose all of your rings. Also note that side flips will move your kart in that direction mid-air, so be prepared for this. If you don’t want any lateral movement, stick to vertical flips each time.

7. Picking a Class

Unlike the usual light, medium and heavy classes of other kart racers, Team Sonic Racing takes it a step further with three unique Classes to choose from. These Classes are Speed, Technique, and Power.

Speed: As the name suggests, this Class is all about zipping around the track quickly. Racers of this Class boast the highest top speeds, which are great for catching the pack or extending a lead out front. They have a unique Radial Burst ability which allows to briefly defend themselves against enemy vehicles. It is automatically initiated when executing a second-level boost (the purple kind). The easiest way to control its deployment is by holding the boost from a drift around a corner, and unleashing at your leisure before the end of the drift. It isn’t the most flexible defence, but that prevents it from being overpowered. Also to note that Speed Class racers have pretty low acceleration, so aim to boost whenever you can to hit top speed.

Technique: The middle-range class has balanced speed, and focusses on tight handling and cornering. But the biggest plus of this class is that these drivers don’t suffer speed penalties for going off-road. Use this to your advantage by exploring potential shortcuts on tracks that normally would be too costly to try with other classes. This can help you catch the pack if you’re behind. Be cautious using it if you’re out front too much though as you non-Technique class teammates won’t be able to follow your gold slipstream over those areas.

Power: The chunkier racers boast better defence, and don’t spin out when hit by items or obstacles, meaning they can get back to the action quicker. The downside is their top speed is the lowest of the lot, and so Rings and other boosts methods are more important here. The big plus for this class though is their ability to hit obstacles and barriers that litter the courses without slowing down, making them perfect for clearing a path for your teammates. This ability extends to on certain course also revealing secret routes and shortcuts that are otherwise inaccessible. Once opened though, they become open for all, so make sure you plan any destruction so your whole team can benefit.

Knowing the pros and cons of each class is critical – as is knowing what your role is as part of your team, and what you need to do to help. You don’t necessarily need a team of each class to have the perfect team, it is far more important to execute your abilities well to help your team.

8. Know your Wisps

Wisps are the items used in Team Sonic Racing that can give you the edge or scupper your opponents’ race. Knowing what each Wisp does and getting used to using them is critical to maximise their effect, but also to be clear on whether you would be better or using an item in the moment or offering it up to a teammate. A list of the available Wisps are below:

Black Wisp (Bomb): Fire a bomb out in front, or leave it behind you. It will explode with a decent radius causing everyone it the way to spin out and lose rings.

Blue Wisp (Cube): Creates a blue cube behind you as an obstacle for other racers.

Crimson Wisp (Eagle): Chases down opponents and attacks them.

Cyan Wisp (Laser): Fire at opponents. Zap them enough and they will spin out.

Grey Wisp (Quake): Creates stone pillars in front that opponents will need to avoid.

Ivory Wisp (Lightning): Stun opponents with unavoidable lightning.

Jade Wisp (Ghost): Become invincible for a while and steal an opponent’s Wisp

Magenta Wisp (Rhythm): Musical notes appear in front of an opponent, severely distracting them.

Orange Wisp: (Rocket): Fires a Rocket straight ahead, that can bounce off walls. Aim for an opponent.

Pink Wisp (Spikes): Surround your kart with Spikes. Drive into opponents to cause them to spin out.

Red Wisp (Burst): Leave a trail of fire behind you that opponents must avoid.

Violet Wisp (Void): Absorbs rings and items, and slows down nearby opponents.

White Wisp (Boost): Self-explanatory, get a burst of speed.

Yellow Wisp (Drill): Receive a speed boost and become invincible for a while.

9. Credits & Customisation

By taking part in racing, and (hopefully) racking up some victories, you’ll amass Credits, which is Team Sonic Racing’s currency. You can use these Credits to buy Mod Pods for 10 Credits a piece. There’s no other use for Credits, so after you’ve amassed a few it’s worth spending all you have on opening as many Mod Pods as possible to unlock customisations for the characters’ vehicles. You’ll also unlock single-use buffs that you can use to give you an edge in the race.

After you’ve unlocked a few customisations for your favourite racers, head into the garage and start playing around with the set-ups of the characters, until you get a good balance of Speed, Acceleration, Handling etc that works for you. Whilst the customisations have a positive effect on some stats and a negative effect on others, generally the net benefit is positive, and so applying a few customisations to a vehicle will see its performance stats increase overall. This can then be set as the default for that racer, and means when you now take part in races in the future, that characters kart will perform that little bit better.

10. Practice, Practice, Practice

The last tip is quite an obvious one, but it really makes a big difference in the team environment of Team Sonic Racing. How well you know the track layouts and its obstacles not only affects your race but your entire team’s. Taking the time to practice tracks – and their Mirrored equivalents – will put you in good stead online or in local multiplayer. Often there are multiple routes, and quicker paths to look out for, so the more time you spend racing, the more you learn.

Also testing out new customisations ahead of time to make sure you have a feel for your new upgrades is better than just jumping straight back into team races. Similarly, think about practising with the various racers and their Classes upfront to ensure you know how to get the best out of your selection when in the heat of a team battle. Practice makes perfect and will help your team to victory.