Switch racing games - what to get and what to avoid?

[Tristan H]

I've been enjoying playing racing games on the Switch lately as I feel some games just seem to be made for short sessions on a portable console.

I've been trying to find more of these games but all the lists of "Best Switch Racing Games" seem to be filled with all the same games, and don't seem to account for lower budget indie games. Also some great games have been ported to the Switch but just don't run well on it. In some cases this ruins the game and in others the portability still makes it worth it.

What racing games do you recommend to play on the Switch? And what racing games are not worth playing on it?

 

[m355y]

Rush Rally 3 definitely. It's a fully 3d rally game that I think is pretty much made by one guy. It has serious Colin McRae Rally vibes in places, plus arcade modes, it's not visually as good as something like one of the WRC games (even though they're all stripped back big time for switch) but it's the only one that actually works in terms of the gameplay, it's really good fun.

Grid Autosport is probably the best overall racer on Switch though.

Also, NASCAR Rivals is surprisingly good and I've heard positive things about the port of Wreckfest even though I haven't tried the Switch version myself.

Ones to avoid - pretty much all the ones that have been "ported down" from PS4 or Xbox - same name, same box art, but in most cases really ugly or juddery versions of those games that handle like arse because of the lack of analog input for throttle etc. Worst offenders - any KT, any Milestone.

 

[Tristan H]

Rush Rally 3 definitely. It's a fully 3d rally game that I think is pretty much made by one guy. It has serious Colin McRae Rally vibes in places, plus arcade modes, it's not visually as good as something like one of the WRC games (even though they're all stripped back big time for switch) but it's the only one that actually works in terms of the gameplay, it's really good fun.

Grid Autosport is probably the best overall racer on Switch though.

Also, NASCAR Rivals is surprisingly good and I've heard positive things about the port of Wreckfest even though I haven't tried the Switch version myself.

Ones to avoid - pretty much all the ones that have been "ported down" from PS4 or Xbox - same name, same box art, but in most cases really ugly or juddery versions of those games that handle like arse because of the lack of analog input for throttle etc. Worst offenders - any KT, any Milestone.

Thanks. Rush Rally 3 is on my to buy list.

How does it compare to Rush Rally Origins? Are they different enough to warrant both?

 

[m355y]

In honesty I've never bothered with Origins, because isometric racing games (making an exception for Art of Rally but the Switch version of that is poor) aren't my thing.

 

[FerrariF1GT]

• Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - needs no explanation; buy the DLC tracks while you’re at it too
• Grid Autosport - the closest you’ll get to a GT-like experience on the Switch, sadly it’s limited by the controller’s lack of analog triggers
• Burnout Paradise and NFS Hot Pursuit Remastered - these games still play great despite their age
• FAST RMX - if you’re burning for something futuristic, this is the next-best thing to F-Zero
• Wreckfest
• I second Rush Rally 3

To avoid:

• Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled - this one hurts because it is good (even though I prefer the PS1 version), but the Switch load times are awful to the point that it breaks up the experience
• Anything MotoGP
• Anything WRC
• Asphalt 9 - feels great to play in the moment, but trust me when I say the F2P tropes reveal themselves quickly (I played it for like 4 years); your wallet will thank you for avoiding this

 

[Tristan H]

Lonely Mountains: Downhill is a different kind of racing game, being a third person mountain biking game, but is really good. It has a distinctive aesthetic and is great to pick up and play for short sessions. It can be quite chill when just exploring a course for new lines, but can also be quite intense. Performance on Switch is pretty good, with the occasional frame stutter, but apparently that happens on other platforms too.

Hotshot Racing is a good simple arcade racer with a colorful low poly 3D look ala Virtua Racing. The controls are very satisfying with a good drifting mechanic. It can be frustrating at times with AI rubberbanding but quite chill on a low difficulty setting. Performance on Switch is good, not a perfectly locked 60fps but still very playable.

Slipstream is a very cool chill sprite scaling racing game inspired by the original Outrun but with a drifting mechanic more like Outrun 2. It has a Vaporwave and Synthwave aesthetic and looks very good on a Switch in portable mode. The racing can get intense, but there are a number of more chill play modes. Performance on Switch is very good.

 

[Tristan H]

Has anyone played any of these on Switch?

• GRIP
• Inertial Drift
• Circuit Superstars
• Descenders
• Formula Retro Racing +/- World Tour
• Super Woden GP
• Ultimate Racing 2D

 

[T0MMY3688]

Inertial Drift performance on Switch is not great, is playable but it stutters quite badly at times.

Horizon Chase is great on Switch, not sure about its sequel though.

 

[Tristan H]

• Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - needs no explanation; buy the DLC tracks while you’re at it too
• Grid Autosport - the closest you’ll get to a GT-like experience on the Switch, sadly it’s limited by the controller’s lack of analog triggers
• Burnout Paradise and NFS Hot Pursuit Remastered - these games still play great despite their age
• FAST RMX - if you’re burning for something futuristic, this is the next-best thing to F-Zero
• Wreckfest
• I second Rush Rally 3

To avoid:

• Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled - this one hurts because it is good (even though I prefer the PS1 version), but the Switch load times are awful to the point that it breaks up the experience
• Anything MotoGP
• Anything WRC
• Asphalt 9 - feels great to play in the moment, but trust me when I say the F2P tropes reveal themselves quickly (I played it for like 4 years); your wallet will thank you for avoiding this

Thanks. Some handy tips.

How does Burnout feel with the Switch controls, i.e. without analog triggers? Is there any pop-in or does it run smoothly?

 

[Tristan H]

Inertial Drift performance on Switch is not great, is playable but it stutters quite badly at times.

Horizon Chase is great on Switch, not sure about its sequel though.

Thanks for the advice re: Inertial Drift.

There's something about the look of Horizon Chase that puts me off. To me it looks like a cheap mobile game rather than a retro tribute. I think Hotshots Racing and Slipstream do the aesthetic a whole lot better.

 

[T0MMY3688]

Horizon Chase is a cheap mobile game originally but they did a great job for the Switch port. Plenty of tracks and cars to unlock and the Senna Forever DLC is fantastic. The DLC comes with unique tracks and a selection of old F1 from Senna's era.

How does Burnout feel with the Switch controls, i.e. without analog triggers? Is there any pop-in or does it run smoothly?

Burnout runs great on Switch, don't remember seeing any pop ins in my playthrough either.

 

[Tired Tyres]

Virtua racing. Made by M2.

 

[Tristan H]

Virtua racing. Made by M2.

It is a seminal game, and a great port, but is Virtua Racing still worth playing today when you could play Grid Autosport or Hotshot Racing?

 

[m355y]

Just been getting into Rush Rally 3 again and wanted to underline what I said about it - its great. Its designed for mobile so the controls work so much more naturally on a handheld than other racers, the handling is solid, the whole thing has real 'early Colin McRae Rally' vibes around it. The stages are quite short and not the most complex but they're fine for the handling model and its great fun. Has championship, single rally, basically everything you'd expect. It looks good on handheld but less so docked - think PS2 game with smoother edges. The car list is great with some quite rare ones like the Celica ST205 and Maxi Megane, unlicensed but well modelled (apart from the Focus which looks weird) and it's just generally so much fun compared to the frustrating, fiddly experience of trying to drive on the WRC games in handheld which quite honestly is massively unsatisfying and no fun at all.

It's made me want to look at Origins too, which I've never played.

 

[AnAussieGam3r]

• Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - needs no explanation; buy the DLC tracks while you’re at it too
• Grid Autosport - the closest you’ll get to a GT-like experience on the Switch, sadly it’s limited by the controller’s lack of analog triggers
• Burnout Paradise and NFS Hot Pursuit Remastered - these games still play great despite their age
• FAST RMX - if you’re burning for something futuristic, this is the next-best thing to F-Zero
• Wreckfest
• I second Rush Rally 3

To avoid:

• Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled - this one hurts because it is good (even though I prefer the PS1 version), but the Switch load times are awful to the point that it breaks up the experience
• Anything MotoGP
• Anything WRC
• Asphalt 9 - feels great to play in the moment, but trust me when I say the F2P tropes reveal themselves quickly (I played it for like 4 years); your wallet will thank you for avoiding this

I’m not sure what you mean here. Asphalt 9 is free and works absolutely fine. I very rarely experience small visual glitches, but they fix within a second of appearing. Some areas take a small time to load and the occasional short freeze, but nothing major. It is still a great game, especially since it is free and has free online play, with no need for a Switch Online subscription.

 

[FerrariF1GT]

I’m not sure what you mean here. Asphalt 9 is free and works absolutely fine. I very rarely experience small visual glitches, but they fix within a second of appearing. Some areas take a small time to load and the occasional short freeze, but nothing major. It is still a great game, especially since it is free and has free online play, with no need for a Switch Online subscription.

Speaking from experience, Asphalt 9’s core racing gameplay in and of itself is fine, great actually, but everything dressing it is chock full of gacha/loot boxes, microtransactions and paywalls that it exemplifies pay-to-win at its absolute worst, as is often the case for free-to-play games. Unless you have a lot of spare time and cash, good luck getting the best cars, let alone keeping up when new cars inevitably replace them.

I would gladly pay for a premium version that gets rid of all that pay-to-win garbage and balances the economy so I don’t need to rely on loot boxes purchased with premium currency for a chance of getting the cars I want. Alas that is not how things work in the F2P mobile gaming world because that model has proven to be more profitable than just paying for the game up front. Hence why I don’t recommend Asphalt 9.