When it comes to video game expectations, context really is king. As the first thing resembling a ‘proper’ racing game on Switch, Gear.Club Unlimited has a certain amount of goodwill stored up for it.
Conversely, Gear.Club’s mobile past means that racing fans will be watching with an unusually critical eye. It initially launched last year as a freemium iOS and Android racer, where it received a very warm welcome. Of course, the words ‘freemium’ and ‘mobile’ don’t win you any points with die-hard console gamers. Quite the opposite, in fact.
Gear.Club has both little to prove and everything to prove, then. So let’s just start with the basics: is it a good racing game?
It’s not bad at all, but expectations need to be reined in. If you’ve skimmed over the screenshots and the marketing blurb for Gear.Club you might be fooled into thinking that this is a true racing simulator in the mould of Gran Turismo or Forza. It isn’t.
Rather, this is an arcade racer with real cars, an approximation of authentic handling, and a few tweakable performance settings. It’s a boy racer hatchback with the silly spoiler taken off and a smart black paint job.
The handling is tight and grippy across the game’s predominantly short, snappy, tarmac courses, with the odd slippery off road excursion. It generally hits an accessible middle ground between Mario Kart and Gran Turismo, though obviously weighted towards the latter.
That being said, the lack of analogue triggers on the Switch meant that we found ourselves reverting to the face buttons for acceleration and braking, calling to mind Nintendo’s madcap kart racer. Fortunately there are no blue shells in sight.
Controls aside, once you’ve turned all the racing aids off (essential if you want to attain any kind of convincing racing sensation or challenge) Gear.Club Unlimited largely follows the principles of real racing. You’ll make swifter and tidier progress if you brake early for the tighter corners, steer in decisively, and stamp on the gas once your car is pointed in the right direction.
There are rally stages here too, but we didn’t find that this adjusted our approach too radically beyond a little more caution when re-engaging the throttle. This isn’t the kind of pure arcade racer where you spend most of your time with your back-end out, and the provision of a specific rally modification system went conspicuously underused.
While Gear.Club Unlimited’s handling is solid, the AI opposition isn’t particularly convincing. They all tend to line up politely ahead of corners, braking early rather than jostling for position and leaving gaping holes for you to nip into. Taking a slightly different line and applying the brakes a little later will see you taking multiple places without much effort. You can bump up the difficulty to Hard, but this doesn’t seem to change the basic sheeplike behaviour of your opponents - it just makes their cars faster. Given that it’s a simple matter to put your own car into the garage and supercharge it with a few upgrade purchases, overcoming this spike isn’t too much of a bind.
Indeed, the whole garage system feels like a curious leftover. There’s an elaborate mixture of upgrade stations that you can purchase for enhancing several key elements of your car, from a tire and brake station to a wind tunnel and a couple of cosmetic stations. All of these must be slotted into a limited garage space, which can be expanded over time.
Even without knowledge of Gear.Club’s past, it would be glaringly obvious that this was all constructed with a free-to-play system in mind. While the virtual currency flows far more freely in this premium version, however, we can’t help thinking that it would have been better to scrap the convoluted upgrade system and install a streamlined alternative in its place.
As it stands, upgrading your car feels both arbitrary and fiddly. Meanwhile, a UI that sees you moving a cursor to navigate a scrolling map feels like another vestigial mobile limb that should ideally have been lopped off.
One element that has been excised is the damage system, and it’s arguably to the game’s detriment. We can understand that waiting to have your expensive car fixed in between races wouldn’t have sat well in a premium game, but removing damage from the equation altogether feels counterproductive in a game with sim-shaped aspirations.
It pushes the dynamics of each and every race into an even more arcadey direction. Collisions are virtually penalty free here, barring a momentary loss of straight line speed and an achievement system that only meekly encourages clean racing.
Any lingering misapprehension that this is the Switch’s first out and out racing sim is dispelled by the presence of an unlimited rewind facility, which lets you roll back any mistakes you make with a press of the ‘X’ button. It’s neatly implemented, but feels a bit like a cheat button.
Once you’ve accepted that Gear.Club is not the racing sim you might have been hoping for, there’s plenty of fun to be had. Races whiz by at a snappy rate, with many lasting just a minute, and they vary between multi-car scraps and time trial dashes. In many ways it’s the ideal racing game for the Switch as a handheld console, and is more amenable to being whipped out for a few minutes at a time than even Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
You’ll find yourself unlocking new racing territories, car categories and dealerships at a consistently snappy rate, while you’ll be able to purchase some of the tastier hardware on offer in no time at all. The fun definitely picks up once you start accessing (and enhancing) the more exotic hardware, too.
Suddenly the game’s plentiful sweeping curves become a good deal more hair-raising, and your use of both throttle and brake needs to be more deft. You’ll find noticeable range in the handling here, too, from the twitchy go-kart precision of a Lotus Elise to the hefty balance of a Bentley Continental GT.
There’s also a provision for multiplayer in Gear.Club Unlimited, though that doesn’t include online races. Rather, you’ll have to console yourself with local split screen for up to four players and a competitive daily online ghost mode. On the plus side, the split screen multiplayer runs at a solid 30fps and can be pretty entertaining.
Technically Gear.Club Unlimited is a solid runner, if a little plain. The car models are all detailed and sufficiently shiny, while the action moves smoothly even with a dozen or so cars on screen at once. But there are also some ugly background textures, like the lakes and buildings of some of the European stages. There were also a few unusual sound bugs in our pre-release build, but these will hopefully be eradicated in the promised day one patch.
Conclusion
Gear.Club Unlimited is a highly entertaining racing game that sits firmly at the casual end of the realistic racer spectrum. It can be a thrillingly immediate experience, particularly on the go, where you can blast through one of its sweeping courses in just a minute or so.
Switch owners hoping for a Gran Turismo or a Forza to call their own will have to wait a little longer, however. What was a commendably rounded console-like racer on mobile seems just a little bit lightweight on Switch, while a few ill-fitting parts have survived the console rebuild.
Comments 124
Fast RMX and MK8+ is enough racing for me but glad to see it make a solid transition from mobile to Switch.
Hmmm, I didn’t expect this to do so well. I’m far more interested in arcade-y type racers than I am in realistic sims so this might appeal to me.
It's ok so far. Looks really nice but something just feels like it's holding it back from being a better racer.
I used some store credit and picked up the retail version. Not sure yet if this game is worth the asking price. If this game was say $25 then I would be more into it but $50 (for retail) makes it only ok so far for me. 7 seems right for this.
So glad this turned out decent. Going to go pick up my copy from Gamestop after work, cant wait to dive in!
This costs £45 in the UK,yep 45 flaming quid. In the US I'm sure it's cheaper at $40 but still that's far too much to charge. It's a rip off if you ask me and this should have been taken into account when scoring it as doesn't sound like they've done enough to make it feel more like a console racer than a mobile racer.I would love a good arcade racer on Switch but not a chance I'm paying that for what they're offering.
Ios version is free. How much iap is needed to compare to retail switch?
@OorWullie That's why I did take that into account lol. Eshop here is $45 and retail was $5 more. I wanted a decent racer for the Switch and that's what I got.
I was hoping for a more realistic sim racer, I think I’ll pass on this one.
I don't know I just can't shake the idea that this was once a mobile game. Hell I could download right now if I wanted to but I don't want for a 1.5 gig file to download on my phone. This price is way too high considering what is being offered. I mean EA is it too hard just to give me most wanted from the Wii U on this device?
@N8tiveT3ch - sure, if you are okay playing 20 hours just to unlock a tire.
@OorWullie price of software has nothing do with quality of game. Scoring titles on the price would be ridiculous
@Spoony_Tech Glad to hear your enjoying it.I'm sure I would too but the price just seems way off to me,after reading the review, £20 would be my limit.
@Paraka i see what you did there.
Would probably buy @$20 but $40 is just too much.
Lightweight is exactly what I expected from a mobile port. It's just not a 'real' or 'full' game, it's just a mobile game.
What's really ridiculous is the price though; when I saw that it's 50€ on the eshop I seriously thought they accidentially added a zero. These lightweight games aren't worth more than 5-10€.
This is a problem that will haunt the Switch for quite some time.
@OorWullie
I paid £29.99 from 365games. Still above your limit but much more sensible. Hopefully it turns out to be good, it just despatched today.
I know alot of racing games use triggers for driving but, I really prefer using face buttons and always have. So the lack of analog triggers really doesn't bother me any. For GC VC games Nintendo can just sell GC controllers to play them. Similar to how you had to purchase a Classic Controlller, for the Wii, to play SNES and N64 games.
I've had the mobile game for a while and do enjoy it but 45 pounds is a bit too much for me.
Doesn't thIs come out December.
Wait you say:
So they got rid of some things for it to work on the switch? That is very weird
I'll pick up when it drops below $30, this looks like fun.
@kobashi100 I'd usually agree but surely there's a point where it has to be taken into account? If say something like Thimbleweed Park cost £45 when it released,as good a game as it is it's not worth anywhere near that and I'd expect the reviewer to make that clear and mark it down.
Will pick this up on European release, I would like to support the devs for bringing the arcade racer genre tot he Switch. We need more games like this, "Burnout" / "OutRun 2006" stuff. I would also not mind proper racing sims like "Project Cars 2" but that is up to Bandai Namco to wise up... or just give us a new "Ridge Racer".
I picked it up at retail today with a few old gift cards. Arcade racers have been right up my alley ever since my then-young hands gripped the wheel of the Pole Position arcade cabinet.
@shani man this whole mobile are not full games stuff needs to stop. To label every mobile game as lightweight is so ignorant
I'll give this a try, I just get bored too death by sim racers and this looks like a more arcady take.
@OorWullie a reviewer can mention it yeah but to score a game higher or lower on price I not really feeling. It's like scoring a poor game higher just because it's a lower price
I’m all in on this game.
@OorWullie I would say the reviewer should mention it but it shouldn't affect the score. The score is just an indication of how good a game it is. The price may change and often does. Partly this is motivated by what I think is useful. I need reviews of some sort to help know whether I'll like a game I've never played, but I'm perfectly capable of understanding a price without a reviewer explaining it to me. So it wouldn't be useful to me for reviewers to factor the price into the score, since I'm capable of deciding for myself whether the price seems worth it to me.
@kobashi100 I'm not labelling anything, I'm just stating the nfacts.
If you think otherwise, name me one (originally) mobile game that's not lightweight but has depth.
What?! Of course the price has to be considered when reviewing something. Just as with any other product. It's one of the most crucial things when buying something, why would you want to leave that out?
And yes, a poor game that only costs 1€ should be rated higher than an equally poor game that costs 50€. Isn't that self-evident?
@shani It's not self-evident to me. It is obvious that I would take the price into account when deciding whether to buy a game, but not that it needs to be part of the review score. I'm perfectly capable of reading a review, and deciding that while a game sounds fun, it doesn't seem worth what it costs. I guess I could see an exception in a really egregious mis-pricing, like if some very casual puzzle game that you can play through in 3 hours was selling for $60, then the reviewer maybe should score it lower due to that. In general though I think buyers can decide for themselves how much they're willing to pay based on what the review of the game tells them about the game's quality.
So it's a mobile racing game then but at full retail cost.
I'll wait for a true arcade racer or racing sim and in the absence of those I'll just play Fast RMX or Mario Kart forever 😃
This game and Rockstar's LA Noire get from Nintendo Life a 7 on the same day. Hmmmm....
@bilboa Well by that logic buyers don't need reviews either, they can just watch gameplay videos.
Of course you're right, buyers can and should decide for themselves, even after reading a review.
But making exceptions would be very inconsequential, it should be either considered in every review or never.
@shani The difference is that there really is a lot of useful information I can get from reading a review that I can't get just from watching gameplay videos, such as how well the controls work. Plus reviews can avoid spoiling things in games where that's relevant (obviously not relevant for a driving game). Price on the other hand is a simple number that anyone can understand. Once I've read a review, I can decide if I want to pay the price.
I don't mean to completely dismiss your point. I agree there's a subjective element to deciding whether a game is worth the price, and I would be interested in hearing the reviewer's opinion on that. I'd just prefer that it be kept separate from the review score, so the review score can be about the quality of the game itself, independent of the price.
@OorWullie Good job rallying the troops on the price. I've never understood - and have complained about it often - how NL can have that entire Game Info box on the page that has room for Publisher and Developer, which probably 90% of us don't care about, but they dont' have room for the price. I mean there's a huge button "Buy on Amazon" but you can't. Above that where it says "Where to buy" would be the perfect place for the price. Even if it's only in pounds since this is a UK site people can do most of the math from there, $ and Euro are close enough. It may not matter for retail games, we can all just assume they're $59.99, but for download games, and download games that are ports of free mobile games, price could be anywhere, starting at free and going up to $59.99.
And while I agree w/ the others that price shouldn't affect the game score - a good game is good, a bad game is bad regardless of price - my buying decision is based on review score and on price. Both matter, it's not either or, it's a combination of the 2. Actually my buying decision is probably 30% genre, 25% graphics, 25% price and 20% review score. But if I'm reading a review I probably already know the genre and graphics, so I need to know the review score and price to make a decision.
And for any formerly mobile game to be $45 is kind of nuts. "Game Useless Info" box is more like it.
@bilboa That's the thing though, prices for eshop games are often hard to find (unless you open the eshop itself and the game is already listed there).
But of course you're right about the difference between review and video, I meant that remark half-jokingly anyway.
I kinda get the argument about quality independent of price as well, but isn't value for money always the most important aspect for buying anything (unless you're super rich and don't care)?
I just think if they put a very brazen price tag on a cheap mobile game like Gear Club, they should be punished for that in the review score (and in the sales numbers as well, of course).
And I'm not saying 'punished' out of emotional reasons.
I think - despite the fact that buyers still have to decide for themselves - it's part of the responsibility of a reviewer to warn readers about an abysmal value for money.
Because in their trailers, games like Gear Club (or more precisely, their publisher) desperately try to look better than they actually are. They try to fool the buyers into thinking they're buying a premium product.
And while you and I (and others) are able to spot that without reading a review, others are not and might be disappointed after buying it.
I'm returning my copy. Didn't open it yet
I'm planning to get this game for sure but not at the current price point. I'm addictive to arcade racer coming from the days of Top Gear on the Super NES, OutRun and Virtua Racing on the Sega Genesis, and Cruis'n on the N64 so this game is right up my alley.
After years of waiting for 90s Arcade Racer (or 90s Super GP or whatever they’re calling it now), I guess this will have to do for a Nintendo arcade car racing fix. Would love to see more racing options for Switch next year.
Ooh! Maybe Nintendo could port the most recent arcade Cruisin game?
I'm glad this game is good. I wanted a good realistic looking racing game for my Switch, I'll buy it as soon as it will be available!
@shani
That's the thing though, prices for eshop games are often hard to find
I agree that it would be useful if NL mentioned the price. Up until recently I actually did see the prices listed in the "Game Info" box on the right of the page on NL, but now it's not there.
I wonder if part the reason for removing the price is because developers often change the price, and NL doesn't want to be responsible for tracking price changes, or for hurting sales for a game by continuing to list an out-of-date price.
@bilboa Huh, that could be it! I also wondered why the price was removed from the info box.
Full retail price for an ex-free mobile game, hahahahahaha! 👍 Well defo count me out! Review sounds overly positive for a positively average sounding game.
No mention of how much content - how many tracks/events etc.
When this hits £10 I might give it a look.
I don't know if it is just me but, I like to read reviews but usually it doesn't affect my decision. I think that the reviewer is showing us his experience with the game but that doesn't mean that will be mine or your experience, he can not like something that I will like, so most of the time my decisions are made from trailers and gameplays and if there is a demo I Play. I think that experience we have with games are really personal so I just read reviews to know what others are thinking and because its fun to me read game reviews but it doesn't affect at all my decision to buy or not a game.
@Filth_Element
You need to put free mobile game as 'free' mobile game. To get the full game on mobile would cost you a lot.
I just can't pay 40 bucks for a mobile origins game. Feels dirty as hell.
@electrolite77 lol good 'ol freemium huh. Cancer of the industry imo. Now it's spreading to normally safe console market. We are living in a post apocalyptic wasteland in gaming terms or at least heading there.
Be interesting to see this devs profits on this game over all platforms.
@Filth_Element
It'd definitely be interesting to see how much they make from this compared to the mobile game. Unfortunately I suspect the freemium model pays more. Whereas I personally will give it a try on Switch but wouldn't touch it with a bargepole on Mobile.
I would try it if it was 5 bucks or freemium like iOS...i refuse to pay 40$ for a game i can enjoy for free on my iPhone even with crap controls
I, unlike those who want the game at a free price (because of mobiles, oh please ... ¬¬), I will support buying the game at $40, because if we want games for Switch, we have to support, if not, then, don´t be complaining that there are no games;
Remember that AAA games "are not enchiladas" (Mexican expresion), in another words, they do not make super games from one year to the next, this take time, and while, there will be more simple games, but well, again, for all, complaining is "paramount", well, keep the complaints...
I've been waiting for this. Picked it up right away. So far seems fine. The presentation isn't as glossy as an EA game, but the racing is ok. It's the best car racing game(not including RMX style or cart style) on the Switch!(Cars 3 held this honour until today).
I'm curious about what the reviewer means by no online. I haven't done it, but it says compete with players online... who's wrong?
@JRJalapeno Well, you're paying for unlocking all the content you might have to pay for otherwise, and you're paying for playing on a switch instead of a phone.
@dimi how much fun is it waiting for your car to get repaired or whatever other hoops freemium games have?
@Filth_Element how many times. Free to play on mobile without all content.
Go and download it now. Let us know how far you get without paying a penny.
To gain all content will cost you a fortune
If the publisher released this game as a free to play with all the same micro transactions as mobile people would be up in arms complaining about it
@OorWullie @kobashi100 Imagine rcmadiax games getting 8s or 9s because they cost pennies shudders
If the game was a 10....I wouldn't care as much of its mobile origins....but a 7 isn't worth a 4 star meal. It feels like ill be eating fast food with a cloth napkin on my lap. Or like George Costanza....eating my Snickers with a knife and fork. This game should be 20 bucks max.
Price just made me not want the game. You can’t go from free on mobile to a 50 dollar game. If this was 20-25 I would be in. 30 at the most.
Isn't this a mobile port?
I only care about F1 in racing games, so, Codemasters, bring it on.
looks fun and quite pretty. I'll wait in hope instead for Ridge Racer or Daytona
So this game plays kinda like Burnout for the GCN then?
Every time I hear "arcade racer" I'm thinkin' either Mario Kart or San Francisco Rush. I'd actually love a new entry in the San Francisco Rush series.
@Filth_Element We've no one to blame but ourselves here. We've rejected the Mario Run model and accepted microtransactions in Fire Emblem Heroes.
Maybe you should've not bought into them after all.
Lol if this is what a "proper" racing game is. Then the last "proper" racing game I have owned was Test Drive 5 on the Playstation. No I didn't forget the number, the original Playstation.
For what it is I figured it was a 7 quality game, above average with a good backbone. Reading it I got the same feeling reaffirmed, and guessed right on the score too. Great job by the developer and publisher for picking it up too. Where people were mocking that post months ago for it being all shovelware garbage it seems something from the mix is shaking out better than a bag of burning poo on the front doorstep of the switch.
I was going to get this anyway but being it leans more towards an arcade style racer is a bonus for me personally!! Not crazy about the $45 tag but nonetheless I’m in!! Was very sharp of Microïds to plug that gaping Switch Racing hole however.
Well back to F1 on Wii. I will play this on my phone. Was hoping this would be 19.99 on Switch.
This game is right up my alley as I love arcade racers and racers of all the sub-genres. I would probably purchase this full price if I had a Switch. I've gotten burned on my last three racing games for PS4 :-/ Even though I've been playing racing games for over 30 years apparently I suck because half the time I can't unlock anything. I miss the days of the game genies and unlock codes. I don't know why developers can't let people at least unlock all the tracks in a game after a year or so being on the market. ::looking at you Shi-in and the Face Racing franchise games GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR::
@Heavyarms55
I love test drve 4, 5, and 6 on PS1!!!!!!!! I think those are the three.. Not sure if I have the first three. LOVED LOVED LOVED almost all the arcade racers on the N64 too, vaseline petroleum jelly graphics and all!
@sakurahakura you are right, if you want the game, just buy it. Games that come on ps4 and Xbox 1 from others are not always cheap either.
@NintendoRob1977 Did you ever play Beetle Adventure Racing on N64? It’s suprisingly great if you haven’t.
would you say this fills the need — the need for need for speed?
@justin233
YES! Love that game!
Blur is a great arcade racer... wish it came out for the WiiU at the time
Mmmh so another game to add to my library... My wallet cant take it anymore lol.
i like arcade style racing games so this will do just great.
@NintendoRob1977 I was so disappointed it never came to the VC. Maybe some day.
Been playing for a few hours and I'm enjoying it so far. Feels like a perfect match for the Switch. It obviously can't compete with the big boys (GT, Forza, Driveclub etc) but the way is laid out is great for pick up and play a few races and be done. Hopefully it gets a good amount of support in the way of new cars /races in the future. I think a 7 is a spot on score for it. The price will obviously give some people pause and I do think they maybe should've come in at $20-$30 but I don't feel "ripped off" at all. Happy with the purchase and recommend to racing fans!
my list of wii racing games...
need forspeed nitro
boating bash
my s
speed racer
m&m's kart racing
nascar kart head
super karts
anything with a pulse
ferrarri challenge
vertigo
skate city heroes
buuld n race
cruisn wii --- get this game !!!!!!!!!!!!
Crazy Carts
ben 10 gaactic racing
coco kart raer :/
heachcliffee the fast and the furriest (sooooooo gooooood)
We Ski
Super Kart GP - Myst Makers
Jeep Thrills (if you like exitebots)...
those are my fav. Wii Racers
current consoles are doughting hard for my favorite genre
I’m gonna buy it.
@JRJalapeno @dimi @Qwertyninty
See post #57 by @kobashi100
@samuelvictor
https://www.365games.co.uk/nintendo-switch-games/gear-club-unlimited-nintendo-switch-game
I keep having a dream Sega do a compilation of their classic Arcade racers.Arcade perfect Daytona, Virtua Racing, Scud Race, Sega Rally and Outrun 2 on one cart. One day....
The price is an absolute insult. So the game is o.k and surprised people a little but it is still a converted mobile phone game with graphics to suit. They could of at least printed a manual or included a soundtrack or soemthing to bolster this release a little bit.
@electrolite77 Ia sk myself why the hell dont they. SEGA is the most infuriating company. Comfortably sat on a stack of amazing I.P's like nobody else and they do absolutely nothing with them. Oh wait they did release broken mversions of their classics on both pC and mobile yayyy
seriously ? 7 ?
I am hoping that Real Racing 3 would be ported to Switch instead of this crap
Yeah, I'm totally buying this. I really dug the mobile game, but felt that the 'mobile' freemium aspects let it down, as well as the usual lack of control on a mobile device. No matter how great the bones are, that kind of economy in a game just isn't fun or rewarding.
So I applaud the devs for cutting all the BS out for the Switch release, and having actually played the mobile game (a lot), there's MORE than enough content in the game to justify a full price purchase from me. I really dig Metropolis Street Racer/Project Gotham-style arcade racers, so Gear.Club Unlimited is right up my alley.
That one reason i wanted pick this title up. Garage looks so cool adding and upgrading and customising looks great. Am definitely still picking this up. I like arcade racers far more than realistic ones.
I loved Arcade racers or yesteryear, loved MSR on Dreamcast, but I am still not sure about this game, I think an eShop demo would help me decide
I'm holding off for 90s Super GP (unless this drops in price significantly).
@electrolite77 "I keep having a dream Sega do a compilation of their classic Arcade racers.Arcade perfect Daytona, Virtua Racing, Scud Race, Sega Rally and Outrun 2 on one cart. One day...."
This would be fantastic, along with all of the other Sega Arcades, I still have hope for a Virtual Console Arcade to continue where the Wii stopped, along with the 3DS 3D Classics being converted to "HD Classics"
@NinjaBadger The wait for 90s Super GP has been ridiculous. I'd be happy to wait if there were some form of communication on the game, but it's been radio silence since Nicalis entered the fray. SUPER frustrating. I'll be buying it, no doubt, but I am not putting anything on hold for it, because f*** that, who knows when that'll be??? I'm just glad I missed out on backing the project.
Looks like a smartphone racing game. I will wait for Ridge Racer.
Spent some of my evening watching let's plays and various impressions videos for this last night. The general impression is that it is an average mobile port, with some of the more try-hard switch channels giving it more positive vibes due to the "nothing like it on the Switch" argument. It looks awful, the arcade controls are a cop-out (arcade controls are still refined. Look at Driveclub) and the races are really short. Distinctly average, which is what a 5 should be. The cheerleaders will say otherwise, but this game is an embarrassment and shouldn't be given a second look at this price. Price should absolutely be part of the review as it is for every other type of consumer goods. When you can buy other ports like Doom and Skyrim (at a still admittedly high price) for the same money, can anyone say with a straight face that this provides the same value for money? Disgusting. Rant over.
Edit: Oh yeah - No online multiplayer (just ghosts) and 30fps with dips (in a racing game!!)
@Shellcore Maybe people have different tastes? I don't like multi-player, so that's never a draw for me. The only kind I like is local, which Gear.Club Unlimited provides. There's a ton of single-player content in here, and it's what I look for in a racer. It's not open world either, which, again, I dig. I enjoyed the mobile game, but found it hampered by the mobile trappings. This fixes those issues for me. I still go back to Metropolis Street Racer and Project Gotham, so the 30fps isn't too much of a problem in a handheld game like this. I personally see a lot of value for money in the game, I can't speak for everybody else, though.
Like you're doing.
@AJB83 That's fine. No accounting for taste at all..or standards.
@Shellcore Because your conduct has been to such a high standard. I've been hanging out for this game for ages. I also own DOOM and Skyrim 3 times over on other platforms, I really don't need them again on the Switch - not until a heavy discount at least.
If that makes my standards low, then that's totally fine. I've always had weird tastes, and I like it like that.
@AJB83 Absolutely fine. I'm not attacking you. In my opinion this game is awful. That's it.
@Shellcore I couldn't agree with you more. Maybe this is worth 20 bucks but no more. And price needs to be a part of the discussion. I've been unhappy with the pricing of all these Eshop games being 500% more expensive on switch than where they came from. I know u got development costs but damn. If you dare to charge AAA pricing then don't be lazy and leave behind remnants of its mobile ancestry.
All that being said..good for them capitalizing on the fact there are no racers like this yet on the switch. I cant buy an overpriced mobile game just because I have no other options. Some folks will which is ok.. Different strokes for different folks.
Once the Switch is more mature... Then I hope prices start falling more in line with reality.
Side rant..the Eshop is a mess. Organize it by category and make sure one of them is for mobile phone ports.
@YANDMAN
Ha. Yeah that's Sega in a nutshell. Baffling.
@samuelvictor
No worries, I know it says December 1st but mines already been despatched. Nice car BTW, my "I've got a family" C-Max Diesel isn't quite the same.
@Filth_Element It's not a "free" mobile game. It's Fee2Pay. A big difference.
Giving this a miss.
I guess i'll not get this then...sad face
let's hope the project cars team do a successful port
@Gerald
A fully-featured Virtual console arcade would be awesome. Probably appeal to Nintendo in some ways too, they seem to be trying to avoid asking people to pay for VC games again and clearly don't like giving anything away for free. They can get around that by offering something different. Easy to do as well, judging by how well even the PSP could emulate a lot of 90s arcade games well
@electrolite77 I hope it does well from the standpoint that they are third party but my point stands.
@Oldbeardo Port of what? Theyve said that Project Cars 1 or 2 wouldnt be coming to the switch
I'm intrigued. Though I I do hope for Need For Speeds. Eventually I will pick pick this up.
@Qwertyninty
I'm know what you're getting at but I'm sure you know that a 'free' mobile game isn't free by any stretch. So it's not really a fair comparison. I remember at launch when the same criticism was aimed at VOEZ, yet it turned out the same content on the mobile game cost substantially more than the one-off price on the Switch. I don't have the figures to hand but it could be the same here.
how dare they price this like the masterpiece that is 1-2 switch!
Huh, this came out of nowhere for me! I'll have to wait at the moment, since I've been on an indie buying spree (Steamworld Dig 2, Lumo, Cat Quest and Kingdom: New Lands), but this sounds like it'll be up my alley during what I assume will be a winter lull.
Feels like I was robbed... although I made the decision to buy it. So far I can't say I am enjoying it. The controls feel off, like they didn't really try to make it a better console experience....sigh I could've bought any other game with my $40 and I bought this. Got it on the eShop too so it's non-refundable 😭Edit: After playing the game for about 5hrs now, I'm starting to like it. The controls are growing on me and I'm starting to enjoy it a bit. Only problem now is the game crashes often and I have to restart it.
@Alex0714: On the controls, be sure you upgrade the tires, don't use the Camaro and adjust the "assist" settings. Its a bit like Roadsters (N64); the initial cars are tough to deal with but after upgrades things get better.....
@electrolite77 it’s not just the fact that it is mobile. I know they have a history and have made some good games. I just think as an indie that a lot of switch owners might be new to... asking a 50 price tag for your first game in the system just is a bad decision. I don’t think the game will sell well for that fact alone. I don’t know if some of the cars in the game and companies on the game warranted the price that high. When the game goes on sell I will buy it. I just can’t justify that money right now.
As some have mentioned, I was also thinking this would be $20-$25. I don't mind paying more for a game if it's polished. But this doesn't sound like it's worth full price. I think I will pass, at least until it goes on sale.
@Qwertyninty
Yeah I got it for £30 which is acceptable. I suspect they've been a bit opportunistic, taking advantage of having the only car racing game on the System.
@electrolite77 exactly. I just don’t think it’s a 50 product
I'll consider it when the price comes down. Do like the look of it and prefer arcade style racing games.
@redd214 i was told they were "having a go" to port project cars 1 to the switch, i guess if they have said it's not going to happen then it must have failed
@kobashi100 yeah I know that. I'm more talking about the quality of the game itself being a mobile game first. I just see it as a cheap imitation of a real game (or what I consider to be a real game) I'm very aware of what a free model entails thanks. Lol.
@Nintendoh I skipped Mario on mobile because of the whole you had to be online to play which for me would mean only playing at home when on wifi. Well I got my consoles to play at home I don't see y I would play a game on my mobile whilst sat on my couch. Can only blame Nintendo for that one. Kinda feels like Nintendo are either testing the waters or just broadening their brand appeal to me. I'm not sure how seriously they take the mobile market to be... at the moment anyway.
@electrolite77 Yeah I bet the mobile version made a tonne of money especially as those games seem to prey on ppl who are willing to spend money on a 'free' game as apposed to go and buy a full game outright kinda silly really. But hey that's y the future of gaming is in the mobile market as analysts keep repeating.
Played this game all holiday weekend. Surprisingly good if you liked Roadsters or World Driver Championship (n64). About 3 hours in and some of the races are becoming very difficult (on medium), like race it 20x, keep upgrading a car, and lose by .10 second difficult. Not regretting this purchase; ton of content.
@thesilverbrick
I'm the same. not so into sims. but this is sounding like a game with quote arcade controls seeing as it has fully licensed cars in on the fence. see some people like it some not. demo would be great.
@rockodoodle looks nice and like alot of fun. but I'm with you on price. putting it over 30quid was a mistake. 45quid?!?! what am I buying here a Nintendo classic like SSBs Switch?!?! drop the price to 30 gbps and if bite. could get both resident evil and rocket league I'm guessing with discount for buying both. it's not that dam good or polished. let's be honest. May be fun but so is opus the day we found earth for 4.49
@Alex0714 you got a start enjoying it or it's a waste of money. if of been gutted too. I was all down to buy it until I heard it was a free mobile game. and read more into it. well over priced. should be half what it is now.
i just spent the weekend playing this. (dropped to 40$ at gamestop)
and it was a total impulse buy BUT i don't regret my purchase.
i haven't been able to put it down and as i'm typing this at work i wish i was home playing Gear.Club o switch.
people have to be remember this had micro transactions on mobile. paying all of them for the full game would rack up around $200 + dollars. however i do feel like 50$ is to much but for $20-$40 its a solid buy.
it reminds me of Project Gotham racing which i loved. Visually it looks great in hand-held mode and okay/decent in docked mode.
the 2-4 oplayer split screen is awesome and really fun. this type of mode isnt found in games anymore these days and it gets me a little nastalgic having it.
one of the biggest minuses though is NO ONLINE multiplayer.
there are daily events to get the best time for in a leaderboard, which i admit, is really fun and addicting. But lack of no online racing for a game that is initally asking for $50 is not good.
so i a nut shell... if you like quick arcade racing with a good amount of upgrades and content AND you can get it for around 20-30$ (i feel $40 i paid is still to much)... i say go for it.
just picked this up for less than $10 on the us eshop (sale). have been wanting to try this out for a while now and looking forward to playing this!
Late to the party, but I did buy it yesterday for 1 Euro at the e-shop and I regret nothing.It's great!
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