The Blue Blur is giving his feet a rest and letting his car do the talking in Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds. In this racing take on the popular Sonic franchise, players will compete alongside some iconic names from the series in a car that they can completely customize to suit their playstyle and stylistic preferences.

While this isn't a standard mainline Sonic game, players will still see plenty of familiar faces and gameplay elements that they know a love from the franchise's storied history. In particular, the iconic collectible gold rings make another appearance, but serve a particular purpose in the game. As such, this guide will dive into what gold rings do in Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, and what you need to look out for to avoid losing them.

Sonic Racing CrossWorlds Customization & Gadgets Metal Sonic
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds Shows Off Customization and Gadget Features

Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds shows off the many different ways players can customize their vehicles, as well as the gadgets that can give them the edge.

Gold Rings in Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, Explained

In contrast to the popular Sonic games of the past, the iconic gold rings in Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds play a completely different role to normal. In the context of this game, gold rings are actually a means of increasing your car's top speed. This, of course, is also impacted by the car build you are driving and the gadgets you have equipped, but on the track itself, this is the best way to get a passive speed boost. To increase your top speed during a race, players will need to be in possession of at least 100 rings.

The challenge, however, isn't necessarily collecting enough rings to increase your top speed — it's keeping them. There are a number of ways players could lose some of their rings, which in turn results in losing the speed boost, such as:

  • Bumping into a wall
  • Colliding with a fellow racer
  • Running into an environmental obstacle
  • Falling off the track
  • Being hit by an enemy item

If you fall victim to any of these in-game events, you'll lose some of your ring stash. Thankfully, rings are scattered throughout the track, including larger rings in values of 5, 10, 20, and 100, so you can quickly get them back, provided you aren't subject to multiple ring-stealing events in succession.

Gadgets play a huge part in your ability to acquire rings, increase your ring capacity, or avoid losing them. Consider your loadout before a race, as one of the Ring Gain gadgets or an increase in ring limit could be a real game-changer.

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Sonic Racing CrossWorlds Tag Page Cover Art
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Racing
Action
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Systems
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Top Critic Avg: 84 /100 Critics Rec: 95%
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Released
September 25, 2025
ESRB
Everyone / Mild Fantasy Violence
Developer(s)
Sonic Team
Publisher(s)
Sega
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WHERE TO PLAY

Checkbox: control the expandable behavior of the extra info

Genre(s)
Racing, Action