Xenon

After stalling on the start line, it appears that the Switch version Xenon Racer, the futuristic racing game from 3DClouds, may have finally caught up with the pack. Responding to criticism of the game at launch, the studio vowed to address performance issues and had several patches in the works at the time. Version 1.04 is live on Switch and the game now includes a promised Quality/Performance Mode option.

The video below shows by ContraNetwork gives a side-by-side comparison of the two modes with frame rate counters running in the corners:

As the video shows, Performance Mode offers an unlocked frame rate which only occasionally dips below 30fps and appears to go as high as 39 fps in a few spots. Opinion tends to differ as to whether a 'capped' 30 is preferable to an unlocked (and therefore constantly fluctuating) frame rate, but the improvements over Quality Mode and the game in its original form are undeniable.

Perhaps we've simply been staring at monitors for too long today, but to our eyes the visual disparity between the two modes appears minimal while in motion. Performance Mode is a touch softer, but based on this evidence, we can't see any reason why Switch gamers wouldn't turn on Performance Mode and never look back.

3DClouds recently provided details of upcoming free content updates including new tracks, cars and upgrades. Whether these extras and the improved performance will be enough to satisfy Switch owners remains to be seen, but it's nice to see the game moving in the right direction.

How did you find Xenon Racer at launch? Have these patches improved things in the game? Let us know your experiences below.

[source youtube.com]