Sonic Racing turned Sega’s April Fools’ joke into something you can drive
The console-inspired cars needed more than wheels—and one oversized Sega machine created a particular problem.
Sega’s joke consoles have made it onto the Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds grid. The Sega Consoles Pack brings three hardware-inspired vehicles to the Year Two Digital Deluxe Edition and Season Pass Two, according to the developers’ PlayStation Blog interview.
Turning the gag into cars meant keeping the Dreamcast, Genesis and Saturn recognizable while making their shapes work at racing speed. Rounded console edges became fenders; angular sections became hoods and body panels.
The team even returned to original reference material to recreate the Dreamcast’s Visual Memory Unit, the small screen-equipped accessory. Console and controller components also had to fit the game’s system for combining vehicle fronts and rears.
The Genesis Tower US presented a less nostalgic problem: its bulk could obscure the driver. The developers say they experimented to preserve its distinctive shape without blocking characters or interfering with play.