Gear.Club Unlimited 2 Is Getting A Deluxe 'Tracks Edition' This August, Exclusive To Switch

I am an absolute sucker for G.T cars and Le mans, sadly i know that this game isn't very good. But this is tempting.

I actually quite like the first two games. The loading times vs race length times are a bit of a killer. I do wish they would make another Test Drive Unlimited though, both games were fantastic.

It's good to have more options, but I have hard time imagining this being a competitor to other racing sims, including GRID Autosport which is also on Switch.

The video trailer, is that actually ingame graphics of the switch version? Looks darn real.

This is actually a decent game, much better than the reviews make it out to be. The problem was that it was broken on release. But they have since updated it to the point that it's actually a different game to the one they released.

Also the game is exclusive to the Switch, so obviously the expansion will be as well.

@The-Chosen-one Not quite as nice but the car models do still look great. Backgrounds aren't too bad but not anywhere near something like FORZA and the customisation is good. Handling is so-so, it's a bit twitchy for my liking.

It's certainly been improved since release, too, though it still has pretty long load times between races which sort of killed it for me.

Currently $12 for the base game on the NA eshop.

@pblive yeah the loading times are still jarring but honestly.

I'd give this game a good 7.5 out of 10. A darn sight better than what the official review are.

The fact that it's a Switch Exclusive also wins points imo.

Good to know, but I'm in no hurry - just got the first one recently, so plenty to unlock and collect there, and that's beside Grid and the upcoming Burnout.

@nhSnork unless you want to pay full price ($50) for a 12 year old game, I'd skip Burnout, at least until a sale.

"Driver, retire to the pit!"

I can't help like Le Mans...tempted.

Special edition of a 4/10 game doesn’t sound very special to me!

Interesting!

Finally Switch is getting some more racing game momentum. I enjoyed the first Gear Club for a while - it scratched an itch. I didn't get the second one as it didn't progress the formula from what I read of it. This sounds far more interesting. For one. it has a proper Time Attack mode - for some reason, this simple but highly rewarding way of playing driving games is often absent in modern releases. Second, the 'tracks' aspect is welcomed. Whilst point-to-point is fine, it can often be difficult to gauge 'where you are' in a race.

Looking forward to this now.

@datamonkey see his comment is the problem. And he's not the only one.

This game needs a re-review.

It's not 4/10 anymore, that was the quality of the game on release.

The game has since been updated to the point that it's almost a different game, it's easily a 7.5 out of 10 and actually one of the best racing games on the Switch.

It's also exclusive to the Switch, it's Nintendo's Forza/GT... Nowhere near as good but with our support, maybe the future irritations might get there.

@datamonkey you're not to know though mate, not your fault.

@Shinra This is just an addon for the second game, bundled with it and all other dlc. If you're interested, the base game is on sale until the 10th here in NA at least.

@Razer I value and [ab]use sales as much as the next one, but I'm not fashionably allergic to full prices unless my wallet is or unless higher wishlist priorities (discounted or otherwise) chime in. I had no means to play or even purchase this 12-year-old game 12 years ago, and all the cheaper alternatives now come with bold type footnotes like streaming to Vita (in a gambling hope that DualShock trigger mapping will comply) or lugging around a laptop and a gamepad. So why wouldn't I want to pay the full price for the most accessible and flexible experience on my top favourite gaming hardware to date? Not even a rhetorical question, I've listed the possible answers above.

Ironically, it's a RECENT game I may end up delaying the once intended full price payment for - namely The Outer Worlds (second scenario here), although I might still grab it as early as next month. But an NFS style racing open-worlder on Switch is an NFS style racing open-worlder on Switch - and after platting Criterion's MW12 on Vita, I'm very curious to experience what some deem to be its heavy inspiration and predecessor.

@datamonkey the review scored so low because of input lag that nobody else seemed to encounter. The game has also improved dramatically since then, so the score is no longer relevant.

@nhSnork hey man knock yourself out.

To be totally honest I refuse to support those practices, if the developer is too cheap to charge a more reasonable price for a 12 year old game, then I am too cheap to give them full price.

Especially a developer that uses "surprise mechanics" to swindle it's young gamers.

But by all means, I won't tell you how to spend your money.

@Razer It's not really exclusive as it is a port of a fine mobile game. If it had music I would probably jump on it on sale on Switch. And I agree it's not a 4/10, closer to a 6-7/10😊

@Razer that's mutual. I oppose the fanship-voiced soapbox dramas about these things on the consumer side, but all pricetags and practices are take-it-or-leave-it in the end, and I'm often the first to remind the full price lamenters that discounts weren't invented yesterday and could legitimately borrow Thanos's famous last words. Fifty bucks too much for whatever reason? Better luck a few months later.

Well, I might finally be getting this then.

@Bucket @Razer fair enough chaps it seems my comment was unfair and the game has been improved since launch.

That does highlight another bigger concern of mine though in developers releasing trash only to aim in improving it with updates.

That strategy is unfair to paying customers and I don’t understand it from the devs perspective as it only hurts them when reviews come around at release, doing long term damage to their brand and sales. This being a perfect example!

@Swiftstorm actually no.

The second one is a Switch exclusive, not on mobile. (It was developed especially for the Switch, with that hardware in mind)

The first one is on mobile though. But this article isn't the first game.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eden_Games

As you can see here by the listing. The second game is a Switch exclusive.

Also I think you're thinking of the first game and not realising there is a second game in the series.

@Benji80 it looks like an expansion to the existing game.

@Razer Ah sorry thought you meant both. But yes one of them is.I was just talking about the series in a general sense.

@Swiftstorm yes... This one we're talking about in the article, the most recent one. That's the exclusive one 😁.

@Razer Yup got that 😅 I liked the first one on mobile and held off on buying it here as it had - as you mention pretty bad review scores. And wasn't tempted by the sequel. But judging by your enthusiasm for this I'm grabbing it/them on the next sale. Which one do you prefer on Switch?

@datamonkey this... I certainly will not argue with.

100% true. The only excuse I can think of for these guys is how small they are, maybe they needed the capital from the initial sales of the game to make the development changes.

If so that's bad money management on their end, but yeah I agree.

@Swiftstorm the second game is the best one, and it's getting this expansion. These developers have been trying so hard, unlike other developers.

Also I believe the game is like $12 now on EShop. If not then wait for a sale, they are often discounted.

@Benji80 yeah it's a good 7.5 from me. I enjoyed it.

I especially like that it's exclusive. I really want Nintendo to get their own Forza/GT franchise, a realistic racer.

This game falls far short of either of those two, but maybe with our support, the future irritations might get there.

@Razer ... just missed the sale, but keeping an eye on them both now. Thanks for the replies!

I purchased the game physically the week it was released, full price too, I didn't like it at first, it was broken, but I stuck with them and they made huge improvements. I'm hoping the game one day gets the recognition it deserves for its improvements and the hard work these Devs have put, so much free content, some of it was dlc level content they just gave us for free.

I hope this expansion finally gives this game the push it needs to be noticed.

@Benji80 wave racer was a great game, one of my favourite racers of all time, but I think that's because of rose tinted glasses lol, see I would actually like an earlier burnout game, paradise was a bit meh, open world just doesn't work in that setting imo.

Revenge would be good though.

Can confirm that this is a MUCH better game now than it was at launch. Load times are annoying but the game plays well.

@Benji80 likewise mate 😁.

@Razer I agree, I got Gear 2 on a whim when on steep discount, I was surprised, and I have Forza Horizon 4 to compare it with... It's obviously not up to that standard, admittidly still far short to be frank, but it holds it own and is a solid game now with all the updates it's received....

@Razer yeah I think you’re right.

I’m sure some devs have started to run low on funds and been forced to release games before they’re finished/perfected.

Like you say though that could be because of bad management or they misjudged their budget.

Either way it’s not a good situation but at least some games like this one get improved over time which is better than not at all I suppose!

@BANJO for sure, the franchise has a way to go before it gets up to that level, but like you said, this game certainly does hold its own. Hopefully, if this gets enough recognition, they could make a 3rd game. With much better improvements right out of the gate.

To be frank I am surprised to see an update this big, so late into the games life, hopefully that will result into a 3rd installation.

@datamonkey yeah man, so many games have this issue but unlike these guys, they never fix those issues.

But these guys have put in the work, even a whole 18 months after this game came out, they're still making content for it.

That imo deserves our recognition at least, the game didn't really sell well, that's for sure, but hopefully what this update proves is people have taken the game up since then.

They're efforts certainly warrant it imo. The fact that it's exclusive too, makes our support even more important.

@Razer Yes, I have enjoyed my time with the game... I also wonder about a third title, will it happen?? I'm unsure as they are updating this version, but hopefully a third version may release next year..
It certainly gives Switch owners a decent racing game to play, it's underrated in my opinion...

@Benji80 The best racer on the GameCube, that came closest to being a realistic racer, was R: Racing Evolution. It was still quite arcadey in a number of ways, but other than that, it had most of the stuff that you'd find in a sim racer. I still own the game and play it every now and then.

In like Flynn.

@Benji80 Oh, it definitely still looks good, even on modern TVs, so it holds up pretty nicely, especially considering its age. Mind you: only that first video is representative of what you'll actually see on your own TV. The second video is the game being played in the Dolphin emulator, at a higher resolution.

Anyway, in case you still have a purple cube or a GameCube compatible Wii lying around, then I'd still recommend it, even though modern games on modern consoles take precedence with many of us. And you could probably get it for a reasonable price.

I saw some copies of it flying around on Amazon.

Will I finally be done playing Asphalt 9 by August 25th . . . I doubt it! Legendary.

@Benji80 You're welcome. Far as NSO is concerned: I have owned a Switch for over a year now, and I haven't bitten yet, because I feel like the service as a whole is laughably underwhelming, and a MASSIVE step back from the Virtual Console, what with Nintendo not even allowing/enabling people to buy/own titles.

Far as I'm concerned, they turned the Virtual Console into a VERY weak and outdated derivative of Game Pass on the Xbox.

I do like retro gaming, obviously, and I own quite a few of the Mini consoles. I actually bought the Neo Geo Mini last week. Now all I need is a Turbografx 16 mini...

Having said that, I do have to stress that I mostly like REAL retro. By now, I am getting quite sick and tired of all the "retro-inspired" pixel art games with modern effects and such. Either they look worse than the actual inspiration, or they look too good to be an inspiration of 8 or 16 bit games.

There's a handful that do it right, but quite a lot of them simply don't interest me at all.

@Benji80 Ah, that sucks. I've had that happen to me once or twice, but luckily, I use Firefox, so I can always go back a page when I get a site error or something, because Firefox saves drafts of comments.

Either way, likewise. We'll chat elsewhere. I usually hang around in the Chit-Chat thread, among other nice people, or you'll find me in anything retro related in the forums, such as the official GameCube topic.

This game is trash 3/10 not more, it’s boring, cars looking okay but no visual effects at all,tracks are empty. I do not recommend this game.