2025 Game of the Year Awards — Genre Awards

This was Nintendo’s year to dominate the arcade racing scene. This is another genre that’s kind of dying off. Need for Speed hasn’t been what it was for over a decade and the other franchises like Burnout are long gone. What’s left is the occasional AAA racing sim and that’s pretty much it. Sega went head to head with Nintendo and the release of Kirby Air Riders was a little questionable after just released another kart racer. Still, if you love arcade racing games then the Switch 2 was your console this year.

Sonic Racing CrossWorlds

It’s probably blasphemous, but I had more fun with Sega’s racer this year than Nintendo’s. Mario Kart just really blew it with the bland open-world, and while the connected tracks were fun they kept changing them and that pissed off gamers. CrossWorlds is a blast to play. While not quite as smooth as Mario Kart it went big and bold and had characters that everyone can recognize. There’s lots of content here too. When it comes to arcade racers it’s all about having fun. I just had more of it with Sega.