![Best Racing Games Nintendo Switch](https://images.nintendolife.com/44e8e7773041d/best-racing-games-nintendo-switch.900x.jpg)
What are the best Nintendo Switch racing games? While the Switch lacks the raw processing grunt of the Xbox One and PS4, petrol heads have been increasingly well served on the hybrid console, with a steadily growing catalogue of fantastic racers that offer plenty of arcade thrills and spills — and you can do it on the move. Give it a try on your next Uber ride; it's so much more immersive!
To help you keep on top of all those releases, we've rounded up the best racing games on Switch – in no particular order – to help you avoid going off-road (unless that's what you're after, of course). The following racers showcase different facets of the genre and are all worth a look if you need a racing fix on your Switch.
To avoid any grumbling, we should note that the racing (or driving) genre is a broad church, with games such as Mario Kart obviously very different in nature from GRID Autosport. Some games in our list feature motorbikes, some have a top-down perspective and others have combat — from baseball bat to blue shell — but the objective of getting to a finish line in the shortest possible time is common to them all.
So, in no particular order, let's take a look at the best racing games on Switch...
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch)
Let's get the most obvious and essential Switch racing game out of the way first. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe delivers a huge amount of racing goodness right out of the box, and it's a polished version of a Wii U entry that was only a proper Battle Mode away from being top of class. Now that issue has been addressed, what we have is arguably the best Mario Kart release ever seen.
It's the definitive Mario Kart 8 experience, content-rich and a delightful feast of comedic, cartoonish karting action. It's a game that continually raises a smile and, occasionally, induces that trademark Mario Kart rage as shells strike and positions are lost. It's addictive and unifying, unfiltered fun that draws in anyone daring enough to take up the wheel.
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Fast RMX (Switch eShop)
FAST RMX is as good as the Wii U original and then some. Updated visuals, more tracks, more vehicles; it was an utterly outstanding launch title for the Switch and it holds up very well to this day, keeping the futuristic high-speed racing game alive in the absence of F-Zero. It's not quite the same, of course, but with the console's ability to allow multiplayer on the go rolled in, this is without doubt essential for racing fans with a Switch.
Hotshot Racing (Switch eShop)
If the look of Hotshot Racing appeals to you and you can appreciate the aesthetic delights of something that looks deliberately low-fi and polygonal, the action it offers on the track does an excellent job of backing up the game's style with substance. It may have its quirks and it may turn you into a paranoid conspiracy theorist ready to tell tales of rubber-banding to anyone who’ll listen to you, but hey: that just adds to the authenticity of the era it’s based on. This is a fine racing title that truly nails its driving mechanics and delivers an exhilarating experience that will captivate newcomers and veterans alike.
SEGA AGES Out Run (Switch eShop)
This is about as essential a retro release as you can get. An inspiration for the excellent Horizon Chase Turbo further down the page (although the Top Gear games are arguably a bigger influence there), Out Run may lack modern spit polish but it has always been an infinitely playable game, and the new unlockables and online rankings only increase its longevity further. Those with the 3DS version will have to decide whether it’s worth buying what’s more or less the same game again in order to play it on their TV, but for everyone else with an interest in retro gaming, it’s a must-have.
Road Redemption (Switch eShop)
When it all comes together, Road Redemption can offer some of the most thoroughly entertaining and over-the-top racing action you’ll find on the Switch. It’s a little rough around the edges and the performance could have done with a little optimisation prior to launch, but when a game’s as downright fun to play as this is, that’ll always be the overriding factor. The wait’s over, Road Rash fans: this is the modern spiritual successor you've been waiting for all these years.
Team Sonic Racing (Switch)
Taken on its own merits, Team Sonic Racing is a fun karting game that doesn’t quite match Mario Kart 8 Deluxe in terms of either performance or sheer level of content, but still offers satisfying handling and should still keep Sonic fans entertained for a while. It’s impossible not to compare it to its predecessor, though, and in all the areas where Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed excelled, Team Sonic Racing is merely competent. It may not be standing on any karting game podiums years from now, but if you've somehow exhausted Mario Kart 8 Deluxe or you're a super fan of the blue blur and his motley crew, this is an alternative worth investigating.
Burnout Paradise Remastered (Switch)
Elements of Burnout Paradise are starting to show their age now, but nobody can argue with the quality of its actual racing action. If you can put up with its various niggles and quirks and don’t mind the high price tag (relative to other systems), it’s easily one of the most entertaining – and certainly one of the fastest – racing games on the Switch.
Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled (Switch)
Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled is a visually phenomenal upgrade on a PlayStation karting classic, and one that faithfully recreates both its positives (its unique drift boosting system) and its potential irritants (30fps, tricky AI). It does bring a whole new set of issues – mainly lengthy loading times and the fact that playing offline stops you making any progress towards unlocking anything – but while these prevent the game from becoming an absolute must-have, they don’t sour the experience enough to stop us wholeheartedly recommending it regardless.
MotoGP 20 (Switch eShop)
The MotoGP series has been a bit of a mixed bag over the years, but MotoGP 20 begins to realise Milestone's vision for a full-bodied racing simulation. The considerable Career mode offers a deep management experience, while the introduction of Historic Mode adds a fun way to earn rewards for daily challenges. But it’s the changes to on-track performance and the deeper bike mechanics that make this a truly realistic, if not particularly penetrable, experience. With impressive overall presentation and a nice stable frame rate, this is a worthy addition to Switch's garage of racers.
Gotcha Racing 2nd (Switch eShop)
Gotcha Racing 2nd is an generous slice of retro racing content with hidden depths; one you can play for two minutes or two hours and always have incredible fun. There is no single winning car combination so you will constantly keep coming back to get new parts and customise your four different designs in order to shave off seconds in the Grand Prix tracks and the game might even turn out to become a party favourite with your friends. Additive, fun and bursting with content for a sensible price, we recommend this second outing of overhead racing extravaganza even if you missed out on the first game.
Comments 144
As Mario always says: "Vroom Vroom"
Here come the complaints about sharing an Amazon link for the games on the list 😌
Mario Kart games for me or No Buy.
Crash Bandicoot Racing is a good choice too.
I wish I could play Burnout on Switch... Horizon Chase is pretty good though.
Also, I wish they’d make a sequel to Diddy Kong Racing.
Slim pickings.
Are there any racing games on Switch that show visible car damage? Anything like Burnout Paradise?
Looking forward to Grid!
Out run is great. A real beauty, if you have a 3ds even better
No V Rally 4? That game is great on Switch, I'm really enjoying it.
Slim pickings indeed. !I have all but 3 of those games (GRIP, Road Redemption,Gear Club).I think Riptide GP Renegade should've made the list,underrated game
Looking forward to Grid Autosport,Crash Team Racing and Virtua Racing.
Maybe the reason why there hasn't been a new F-Zero is because of an abundance of futuristic/realistic racing games on the platform. Here's hoping we get one soon, though.
Moto GP?
I'm craving a realistic racer, but the Gear Clubs, V-rally, Moto GP all reviewed poorly.
Of the above, I'm tempted to go for Moto GP when the price drops.
V rally 4?! It’s a decent game
I’d say Trials Rising, even though it’s technically more of a single player game based on crazy skill to get through the courses. You can still play multiplayer and actually race, and it’s a blast.
We also have Sonic Racing, GRID Autosport and Crash Racing releasing soon. Will need to update the list when those drop.
"fans of the racing genre are still well served"
Yeah... I don't know about that.
I miss having a great AAA Sim racing game. Xbox for Forza, ps guys have Gram Turismo... I wish we could get something like that, although the lack of analog triggers are really a bummer ..
A) Top down racers don't belong on modern systems.
2- I'm boycotting Crash racing, unless Bob Kostich self-lays off for being a greedy bellend.
III: I love FAST RMX. Its like Wipeout from back in the Saturn/PSX days, only with better controls and system-pushing graphics. That sucker devours battery life like a mofo in mobile mode.
I’m still waiting for Blur or a NFS game. Otherwise, it’s just Mario Kart... that came installed on my Wii U
Mario kart 8 deluxe and fast RMX are the best, I got the next Penelope and it's a bit meh, mantis burn was crap.
I want to try horizon chase and grip ... The Switch needs more racers!
Where's F-ZERO Ninty!????
Eesh this list is rough indeed. I know you guys had to pad it out a bit but 4 maybe 5 of these are a real stretch to put on a best of list. Hope this genre gets more soon on the switch.
Oh how I wish we get an ATV game on the Switch like ATV Quad power racing 2!
Good list of racing games!
Yikes, shows how poorly the racing genre is on Switch. I’d love a Metropolis Street Racer or even a Burnout (except Paradise). Mario Kart barely held my interest - no sense of progression, too much luck involved. Mantis Racing was terrible - I didn’t merely archive it, but deleted it. Outrun was great ... thirty years ago. Etc...
This genre is so lacking on Switch, two best titles are updated ports from Wii U & still no decent autosim to compete with Forza or Gran Turismo. I hope we'll get at least Mario Kart 9 in a Switch' lifespan.
Where's Nickelodeon Kart Racers??? It's undoubtedly the best racing game period.
Mario Kart 8 DX on Switch is both a blessing and a curse. Any racing game now has to ask itself if it can either compete with MK8 or provide an experience significantly different enough to attract strong sales.
Also in a way MK8DX's success makes it seem very unlikely Nintendo will give us MK9 on the Switch. Why would they need to when sales of MK8DX remain strong? A much better choice in my mind would be a serious expansion DLC to MK8DX for about 30 bucks, built on the same engine as MK8DX. A few new racers, at least 4 new sets of tracks (16 new tracks) at least 4 of which should be returning tracks.
Racing games really need a proper come back, the 90's and early 2000's were full of so many good racers at the time.
I had hoped that 90's arcade racer would have given life back to the genre, but that sadly never happened.
As much as I love Mario Kart, calling it the pinnacle racing game is a bit of a stretch with blue shells involved.
Is Mario Kart 8 DX really a racing game though?
I hate to sound like an old curmudgeon or poor player, but the whole shell thing ruins it for me, I just don't see the fun in racing and getting to the front if it can all be undone by a random shell.
Maybe some devs should stop the Metroidvanias and the roguelikes and fill in the gap for a popular, well fitting to the platform genre.
Also, what happened to 90s Arcade Racer? I know Nicalis stepped in, in some way and the game changed its name, but since then, nothing.
Loooooooove FAST RMX. What a great launch title!
I kinda wanna try GRIP.
@Mii_duck Not to mention with two item slots, the CPUs red shell you into oblivion every 10 seconds. The introduction of boos really doesn't do the game any favors either. I can't count all the times I got scuttled because my protection item got stolen right when I needed it.
@Mii_duck
For multiplayer and other modes you know you can turn off items and/or shrooms. Doing that makes it a very different game where dricing the coarses beccomes a bigger factor.
@blockfight
Totally agree they put the fairly awful Gear Club and Grip on the list but skip V-Rally4 which Isn’t too bad. I have to believe Switch can do a prettier game but the physics are decent and so are the features. It plays pretty well in handheld so it snot Dirt but its far from bad. I have hopes for Grid but want Dirt and a good NFS game.
@QuickSilver88 - does the other modes include solo play?
It didn't on the 3DS, but I'd be interested if you could on the Switch version.
A short list but includes two of my all time favourite games, MK8D and Out Run.
I get annoyed when these list are made when there aren’t many in the genre to choose from. It don’t really count the Next Penelope because it really is it’s own genre. That said much respect to Mantis Burn. I’ve played that many times while out and about.
@Bondi_Surfer
Was about to say the same thing. To me, aside from Mario Kart, this list is filled mostly with "competent" racers, but nothing that actually stands out as truly great. If this is a list of the best racers the Switch has to offer, it's a pretty poor list IMO.
Like I said, not saying these games are crap, I'm just saying most of these aren't really stellar. There is no Burnout in there, no Need for Speed (although this franchise is hit or miss), no Riiiiiiiiiidge Racer, no exploration open-world racers like Forza Horizon or the likes to get lost in...
Mario kart and horizon chase turbo are both fantastic
Saw the first few on the list and came to the comments to see if there is actually a good racer on the system beyond Mario Kart.
Not yet.
The WiiU, with Most Wanted, has better racing games than the Switch.
Looking forward to that changing!
There's only 3 worthwhile: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Horizon Chase Turbo and Fast RMX. I might check the Next Penelope.
Not even a mention of the upcoming Xenon Racer?
Wow this is a pretty bad list! I am a huge fan of racing games, and a big car enthusiast so I take this topic very seriously. Forza is probably my favorite video game series, I have put hundreds of hours into the games, and I have always loved Gran Turismo and other sim racers. Naturally I try to play every racing game I can on the Switch and have been searching for the best ones.
What we have here in this article is a real gamer list, it's a list compiled by gamers who apparently have no real interest in cars, bikes, or real driving/riding/racing in general. I happen to think that a few games on there are great, some are just okay, and some are just terrible IMO (such as Mantis Burn which I bought off the praise around here and hated it).
Sadly when it comes to real racing games, racing sims in other words, our selection is quite limited. MXGP3 was a passable motocross sim but now that Monster Energy Supercross 2 is out that is undoubtedly the best motocross game on the Switch and probably the best racer overall, it is an impressive port, better than any other that we have received so far. MotoGP 18 is a good choice for a road racer, it does a good job of capturing the sport and gives you a good feel for riding motorcycles.
As for racing sims with cars, sadly as far as road going car racers are concerned we are probably stuck waiting for GRID Autosport. I was really disappointed with how Gear.Club turned out and there isn't much more with real cars out there. Luckily we do have V-Rally 4, which I think is a really underrated game on the Switch now that it has just recently been patched. If you are looking for a sim racer were you can race real cars it is pretty much the only game I can recommend at this point, I have been really enjoying it so far and it does a good job of capturing rally racing.
@Realnoize Horizon Chase Turbo is truly great. Fast RMX is also pretty great, especially at its price point. And MK8C is its own animal, but it is amazing at being Mario Kart. There's just no better all-ages all-skill-levels everybody-has-fun party game.
Xenon Racer also looks like a great game. I'm watching for that.
I would like to see more realistic racers. Doesn't have to be Forza, I'd be happy with a new Need For Speed myself. But I'm pretty happy with the games we have, too.
I love MK8 Deluxe and I have Fast Racing NEO on the Wii U. I plan to get Team Sonic Racing and Out Run.
I think I'll get CTR Nitro-Fueled for the PS4 just because it was originally a PlayStation game and pre-ordering might give me more themes. The only reason I have Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy on Switch is because I had the Switch before I even considered getting a PS4.
Racing sims are lacking on the Switch so I’m surprised not more people are talking about Grid Autosport. It’s an old game, but if it gets the attention it deserves (decent frame rate), then that will be an essential game on the platform.
"Fell the Need For Speed"
and still there isn't a new (and decent) Need For Speed game, especially on Switch.
Sad state of affairs.
Don't let Nintendo Life fool you, Fast RMX is nothing like F-Zero.
I would've expected a list...
As many have said above, it’s slim pickings for a race fan and switch owner. I also think V-Rally 4 is under-rated, it’s an enjoyable and tough rally game.
I’m keeping my fingers crossed Sonic Racing, GRID Autosport and Crash Team Racing turn out to be as good as they should be, after the disappointment of both Gear Club games. Also having the sublime Virtua Racing (my favorite arcade game) coming is an huge added bonus.
These are the BEST racing games??? Many of them are very mediocre. :/ How about we redo this list when there's more variety and we can pick 10 candidates with 8+ points, currently this leaves a bad taste in my mouth. :/
Go and buy Horizon Chase Turbo, this game is incredible
Mario Kart is great. I still play it once a while after more than a year.
Am I the only one who find RMX bad? The game gets easier when the difficulty level increases. All the tracks are like American motorways (wide), and to win you need to crash everywhere so long as you take all the boosts. Not to mention the horrible techno music.
I'm intrigued by Horizon but I haven't played it yet.
@JasmineDragon,
I agree Horizon Chase Turbo look great if you're into that sort of retro-inspired racer, but even if I like that kind of game, at almost $30 over here, there's always the question of what you get for the money... You know, I don't have a problem paying $80 for a game like Forza Horizon, that I know I'll enjoy and that has a sh!t-ton of content to offer that will have me playing for hundreds of hours....
I still don't understand why EA haven't released the Burnout Paradise remaster they did on XB1 and PS4. I would've bought that in an instant. I wish the folks behind the Gear.Club series (which are mostly, if I'm not mistaken, the people from Eden games who were responsible for the Test Drive unlimited series) would put out another open-world racer like TDU (even if the car handling was not the best in those games).
I need a racing game with some substance in it.
GRID is one I'm eager to play on my Switch. But aside from that, I have Mario Kart... which is fun... but it's random and luck element makes it more like a party game than a racing game IMO...
Still waiting for the Wii U version of Need For Speed to be ported to the Switch, or any other version of NFS really. Come on EA, where's the love?
Outrun is a classic that never gets old for me. But yeah, slim pickings on the Switch. Forza is where it’s at if you want a genuine experience...even better than Gran Turismo.
Apparently a lot of people suck at MK8, yes it's a racing game and if you're good you'll always come in first- plus its gorgeous
@justin233 i think a new burnout game is coming... It's called Dangerous Driving (Poor title), but made by the same team that made Burnout 3 and Revenge.
@JayJ any info on that VRally patch? Can’t find a jot online. What does it improve? Thinking about picking up the game.
@Tapedeck Yeah I can't find any notes online either but it improves performance which got kinda iffy before, I am pretty sure the review for the game here was quite critical about that at the time.
It is now 1.2 when it was 1.0 before.
@Heavyarms55 I agree. Hefty new DLC is definitely overdue since Deluxe did not contain a single new race track. Especially if no MK 9 is on the way. 30 bucks though? That's a little high. The DLC for the Wii U MK 8 was only 12 bucks and it contained 16 new tracks, new characters and karts.
@vio Was it really that cheap? It's been several years, I didn't remember.
Switch is most definitely not well served when it comes to racing games, any gamer would tell you that. I think it's easier for most dev's to ignore the genre. While I love MK8, It's not really a racing game. At it's core, It's simply a battle mode with nuances of racing. I think the forthcoming Virtua Racing could become the truest racing game on the Switch, which would be a sad reflection of the genre on Switch.
I’m enjoying Virtua Racing, it really handles well for an arcade racer and the controls feel better then Outrun which was a bit twitchy. I paid about €10 to get a 1000 yen card so the €3 premium was worth it to me to get the game early. Getting spammed in the news with Japanese characters is a bit annoying, but now I just ignore the news all together.
I really wanted to like Grip as the whole idea is clever, but for me the problem is that you are leading in the race and going full speed when all of a sudden a big obstacle, right in the middle of the road, stops you dead in your tracks and you lose the race.
This happens in Riptide GP, but at least they warn you in advance to avoid it. I can’t believe whomever did the track design would think having obstacles in the track and traveling at breakneck speeds would be fun.
@sandman89 R u asking or r u telling ?
@NintyNate Mantis Burn is not that bad imo and I've played many racing games across many platforms, perhaps it just doesn't suit your style of racer.
@brandonbwii Respect 2u brother ---for that Mantis Burn comment.
Nobody even mentioned Gotcha 2nd, it wasn't really anything special, definitely overhyped.
@Sim1 telling
@JaxonH I was thinking the same thing. Trials Rising is phenomenal and I am having a blast playing (although the hard tracks are hard, but that should be obvious) If this article includes top down racing, then why not single rail racing? Yes, it is different than other racers, but wow it is a heart pumping edge of your seat game.
Also: a vote for Horizon Chase Turbo, great retro racer.
And: Gear Club is a good racer if your expectations are set like the article says: "casual end of the realistic racer spectrum"
@dugan
Should try the Extreme tracks. I gold medaled most hard tracks but the extreme, I just made it my goal to actually finish each one. They're INSANE. Look up on YouTube the Extreme and Ninja tracks
Also Horizon Chase Turbo is great
I will always take Mario Kart everyday over Crash and Sonic
This list proves that Grid will have a very welcome place on the Switch!
It's badly needed...
Thanks for the list and it’s pretty good.
But at the beginning, you mentioned Grid Autosport coming later this year... but on its profile page, it said Summer 2019. Do you have any update that you guys know about?
Glad to see Road Redemption on the list
Team Sonic Racing and Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled are good games. But it's that thing, it will never beat Mario Kart.
Mario Kart is wonderful, a masterpiece
Looking for something like Burnout Paradise (my favorite car game of all time). I want to see dents and visible damage on my car, any of these games have that?
Asphalt 9 people. Fantastic arcade racer. Horizon Chase was great fun. I liked and completed Gear.Club, but Asphalt 9 trumps it in every way. And yeah, Renegade GP should be on this list.
MK8 and FAST are obviously terrific, but they'll always be Wii U games to me.
Go ahead and scratch GRIP and Rise off this list.
I got Mario Kart 8, and Team Sonic Racing
Plan on getting Fast RMX, Sega Ages Outrun, Horizon Chase Turbo, and maybe Grid Autosport.
The fact that Ultimate Racing 2D is not on the list is a joke.
It is super fun, accessible and has so much content for 10 bucks.
Being a big fan of Road Rash, I got Road Redemption during Xmas sale. I played it once but was so disappointed I've never returned. Unlike Road Rash I seemed to spend most of my time failing to prevent my bike from leaving the road instead of battling with the other traffic. I'm surprised to see it included on this list.
Rush Rally and Asphalt 9 are my two picks for Switch racers. Grid I didn't take a shine too unfortunately, Mario kart I still play on Wii U and Gear club was buggy. Horizon chase was alright for a while and Fast RMX is missing "something"(a soul?). Road redemption is fun when you nail the controls but never peaks above "average". Outrun I have played to death and is a flight of fancy (the 3DS version is still beautiful in 3D).
Would love to see a Burnout Legends style game with tracks and cars from the whole series (like the psp/ds game). Still no sign of F zero (for the love of God it would have stormed the battle royal craze 3 years ago) and I was always fond of Ridge Racer so why Namco haven't tried to release something (an enhanced version of the Vita game with everything included would have been an easy port 3 years ago).
Overall Switch is not good for racers at the moment but has "loads" of IP potential if publishers and Devs hit the gas.
I know we do not need to have the same opinion, but looking at your own review scores over here, GRID cannot be in tenth place. I own all these games and believe me GRID deserves to be in 2nd or 3rd place. TT Isle of Man is also great if you can accept the lower resolution and set it to helmet view.
My Choices: 1. Mario Kart
2. Asphalt 9
3. FastRMX
4. Crash Nitro
Best racing sim: Grid Autosport
Best top down racer: Gotcha Racing 2'nd
Best retro style arcade racer: Horizon Chase Turbo
Best futuristic racer: Redout
Best kart racer: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
You could just get those 5 and I am sure most people would be set, it's hard to go wrong with those games and they are the kind of games that are easy to enjoy throughout.
Looking at the official list here though, there is a couple of real stinkers that they are recommending for some reason:
Mantis Burn Racing - This was one of those launch era games that got far more praise on the Switch than it deserved. I hated it and I usually find a way to love any decent racing title.
Rise Race the Future - This game just felt awful to me and I could never understand what some staff here liked about the game. I got it and it felt like an awful low quality attempt at a racing game with terrible physics, terrible controls, and nothing really going for it.
@BillyB Their list feels like the sort of list someone would create if they aren't a real racing fan. They neglected to include numerous racing games that are actually somewhat well made and they recommended numerous games that aren't that good and generally off-putting with quality concerns.
I think they should have included:
MotoGP 18/19
Monster Energy Supercross 2/3
WRC 8
V-Rally 4
Redout
Their lack of inclusion for all those motorcycle and rally games tells me how they must lack a true racing fan on their staff. Anyone who is into motorsport should find an interest in those games.
As for Redout I can agree that Fast RMX is a very well polished title, but Redout is far more playable and far more enjoyable. The problem with Fast RMX is how the difficulty spikes which turns the game into a frustrating experience. Redout does a far better job of keeping a consistent difficulty throughout.
It is just too bad many of these games aren't released in physical form, only digitally and I refuse to buy digital games. I wish GRID Autosport had released on retail. I'd buy it!
I really enjoyed the things that Team Sonic Racing did differently than MK8. It was a pleasant surprise.
@Daisyette Nintendo are not running out of franchises to make new games for switch Wave Rave, Mother, F-Zero, 1080, StarFox, ExciteSeries, kid Icarus, Pikmin, MarioGolf/Baseball/Strikers/Basketball, Mario and Luigi, PaperMario off top of my head. Then there are single games that are crying out for updates/sequels such as Eternal Darkness and Disaster: Day of Crisis.
Notice a lot of these are racing games. I think they don’t want to compete with the MK behemoth which makes me sad.
@PiXeLSteF The list isn't in any order.
This is my list in order, from the games I own
1. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
2. GRID: Autosport
3. Virtua Racing
4. Outrun
5. FAST RMX
6. Mantis Burn Racing
7. Riptide Renegade GP
8. Gotcha Racing
9. Horizon Chase Turbo
10. Beach Buggy Racing
11. The Next Penelope
12. Over Top
Not a fan of Horizon Chase, I find it to be overated. It plays like a mobile racer.
Edit, forgot about Rush Rally. I'd put that at 6th. If not for a couple of minor niggles, I'd place it one higher.
I have no clue why anyone would say MK is better than CTR - MK has the shinier coat of paint and bigger names, both on the roster and dev team, but CTR has what really matters in a racer - the mechanics. Not to mention RNG isn't nearly as huge a problem in CTR as it is in MK. Mario Kart just isn't fun any more since I've seen what that marsupial can do!
@Noid Mario Kart 8 Deluxe in single player against the computer is poor but for online racing, nothing can touch it.
MK8 = 270 hrs
CTR = 320+ hrs
Sonic Team Racing = 25 hrs
I'll let my gameplay hours speak for which I liked most & least.
Meow Motors = 10+ hrs. I had fun completing the single player campaign.
This list is rubbish, wheres the fantastic Race With Ryan?! Definitely the best racing game...
You missed a fantastic fun and cheap rally game!! Rush rally 3!!!!!
... And Bibi Blocksberg
In a nutshell, you need Mario Kart, Outrun and Grid Autosport.
No V-Rally 4, WRC 8 not even Rush Rally 3. At least make some effort to include al the genres when making a list guys.
After we got Skyrim’s DNA rolled into Zelda and Minecraft’s baked into Animal Crossing I hope someone at Nintendo has been playing Forza Horizon and though “hey, you know what would make a great evolution of the not-changed-since-1992 Mario Kart formula?”
A Mario Kart World game where you can go cruising across the open roads of the mushroom kingdom would be amazing.
GRID ticked all boxes for me, of course looking forward to the online multiplayer add-on!
It is incredible how they pulled this off graphically and 60fps. The difference in graphical fidelity is negligible when switching from quality mode (30fps) to performance mode (60fps). They even put in a battery saver mode and GameCube controller support!
The only "complaint" would be the outdated cars. But it reminds me of a time without downsized engines on the other hand
Rush rally 3 should be definitely on the list it’s better than a lot of games that are listed here and a recent update has added more cars
I’d put virtua racing in the top 4 Along with road redemption, mario kart, out run.
It really is slim picking and so many missed opportunities....like chase HQ, Daytona, sega rally, Manx TT. Out run 2, buggy boy,....
@blockfight it was broken on release so the games reviews have just remained low.
It's actually what happened to Gear Club Unlimited 2 as well but that managed to make the list.
Also GRID seems fun... But I'm not gonna get that digital and as it has no physical. I'll skip it.
@Razer Grid Autosport is fantastic. Only thing it's missing is online multiplayer. Far superior game to V Rally 4 in my opinion.
@HobbitGamer Blur will never happen fella. Though that breaks my heart. Bizarre Creations got shut down. Also the licences for the cars and music have expired. Loved that game. There were screenshots came out quite a few years ago for Blur 2 which they were developing before they closed. Looked very very nice.
Pixel dash? Wasn't the owner of that buying indie games as shovelware under another name back when every game got steam cards?
@blockfight the issue I have with GRID is the digital only. Otherwise I'd definitely had gotten it a while ago.
Rush Rally 3 is one of the best non-Mario Kart racing games, it needs to be added. New Mario Kart game to be the big Nintendo holiday game this year, watch this space (if covid hasn't delayed development).
@OorWullie I also find Horizon Rush to be over-rated, it's quite shallow. It's basically a graphically updated SNES-era racer.
I don't consider Mario Kart 8 the best Mario Kart game (at all) and I have to admit that I have played Asphalt 9 on Switch much more. Crash Team Racing is A LOT of fun but 30 fps (on all platforms) is a pity.
I try really hard to like Grip. There are aspects I love about it, but the controls are just too sloppy for it to be a good game.
@F-ZeroX I consider it a good thing that Fast RMX is not F-Zero. It's hard to make a fair comparison between a modern game and one approaching 20 years old, but I didn't like how they designed the tracks in F-Zero games. The hard turns made sense when it was in a game using SNES Mode-7, but by the time of GX, it just seemed like bad track design. Compared to that, the Fast Racing series is build from the ground up for speed.
@RadioHedgeFund I am almost completely disinterested in Mario Kart, but your idea of a racing open world, with perhaps some gratuitous Nintendo-styled chaos, actually intrigues me. Innovation first, yes?
@beazlen1 Wave Rave I am not sure of... but I shan't cease beating the drum for an updated Wave Race.
@COVIDberry Could you imagine it with some MMO elements like letting some strangers into the same map to cause chaos?
(TBH I'm not the biggest fan of Mario Kart either. I find every single multiplayer race boils down to the best player being stuck in the lead all race (boring for them) the worst player stuck in last place all race (boring for them) and then the other 2 fighting each other (fun for them). Multiplayer Mario Kart peaked with 2-player battle mode on the SNES. I could play that all day)
mario kart gang checking in
Added Burnout Paradise Remastered - one to get on sale.
The pack has been thinned out a little and Hotshot Racing has been added.
Hotshot really doesn't deserve a place in this list. The 'AI' is almost insultingly bad.
I have 12 of those games and overall there is a good time to be had on the system with those 12 racing games.
I'm kinda surprised Hot Wheels Unleashed isn't on this list, it's been out for almost a month now. I've heard it's better than some of the games on this list.
@Heavyarms55
I totally agree! A DLC for MK8D would really spice up the game since I know every level like the back of my hand. Some good new players should be Birdo, Pauline, and Goomba. How would he even reach the pedals? I wanna know. Also, I really want some of those Count Bleck Koopas from Paper Mario. You know, with the triangle shades and spiky chokers? Imagine racing with one of those guys. So awesome... we need this now.
Is there any specific reason Hot Wheels Unleashed isn't on this list?
Rock solid FPS, ridiculously robust track editor, jawsome single player campaign and lively online play. What's not to like?
Guy's, you missed Gensou Skydrift. A very impressive budget kart/broom racer, with some excellent music and many progression unlockable tracks.
No V-Rally 4?🫣🫣🫣 It's really good
F-Zero 99 got added to this list? 🤔 That will make it even sadder when Nintendo inevitably shuts down the game like they did the last 2 '99'(/35) games.
Team Sonic Racing does not fit this list. It's mediocre as hell.
Is Disney Speedstorm too bad to make this list? 🤷🏻♂️
I….am enjoying the early access of Disney Speedstorm 😳
Incredible how many of these games have a user score below a 7/10. Like half the list. Astounding.
Ultimate racing 2D which I would argue is the best racing game on the switch, needs to be on this list.
Rush Rally 3 is easily the best 'realistic' racer I've played on switch. Reminds me of the original Colin McRae Rally on PS1.
"particularly now all paid content has been removed from the game, and you can now unlock everything without spending a dollar"
I didn't know the Chocobo racing game wasn't a microtransaction machine anymore. Time to check it out
I think Wreckfest is the best racing game on the Switch.
NFS:HP is STILL an excellent game, despite its age. I prefer it over Bo: Paradise
Cruisin' Blast is OK but once I levelled up my cars, I never went back to it.
Grid: Autosport is good but a bit of a slow burner.
I hope we’ll see a mythical game titled F-Zero GX Remastered on the list for Switch 2 someday
There are some really great titles here but this list highlights how comparitively few racing titles there are on Switch, especially the more fun/arcade style racers in general these days compared to the higher end sims so big-boy hardware can show off its graphics by proving how grown-up and serious it is.
Cruis'n Blast is a complete opposite to this and is one of my most played games on Switch. Its far from perfect but its SUCH a fun time. I can always go back to it and have a quick blast for 10 minutes. Its the perfect expansion on the arcade game.
It pains me that we have Sonic Team Racing and Burnout Paradise, which are good games, but no Racing Transformed and Burnout 3 Takedown which are in their own class, imo. The Virtua Racing and OutRun ports are stunning but make me want Daytona USA, Sega Rally and OutRun 2 / SP all the more. Ridge Racer collection seems a pipedream but we had games on the N64 and 3DS...
One thing to note that I always forget, is why the heck Nintendo didn't allow us to have analogue triggers on Switch or Wii U - especially crazy since we had them on GameCube and Wii Classic. Perhaps this is partially responsible for why we don't have more of these titles.
Glad to see Fast RMX on this list BTW, really nice launch lineup game that deserved to be physical from the start. Its great that Super Rare Games eventually stepped up to the plate yearsa later but I genuinely think had this been on shelves at the time of launch it would have sold a tonne more and be hailed a classic. (the previous Wii U title in the series, Fast Racing NEO was also amazing)
No Gear Club Unlimited 2, no RIMs? Redout should be just like Fast FMX.
Not a single WRC game what kind of list is this? If it's still being made sure but what...... Some areas aren't covered at least 1 rally (Mantis Burn I guess but any top down racer could be here really)/1 watersports games need to be here at least.
Like even for PS4/Xbox One I'd put Gravel alongside WRC/Dirt Rally but most people barely even played it.
They need to be on the list. But the Switch does lack in racing games anyway. Cruis'n Blast and Grid Autosport great to see. Fast RMX makes sense.
Not a single jet ski or others on this list (probably because barely anyone plays them even if some are good) is some there was even on Wii U besides the average racing offers on Wii U.
I'd never heard of and glad to of Mantis Burn and Next Penelope but as not into top down racers they do deserve to be on the list they seem pretty good even if not for me.
Hopefully Hot Lap Racing is good but otherwise so many kart racers/futuristic racers sigh.
There is a reason Wii U I barely bought any racing games than Fast Racing Neo (I'd have bought Project Cars if it wasn't cancelled for Wii U and did release).
While GameCube or Wii have more I'd care for and Switch has more but is still lacking.
@Stamina_Wheel I agree I'd easily take Sega GT/Rally/Daytona (is a Daytona on Switch?) or Ridge Racer ports.
At least got Outrun Genesis or whichever on there but it's not the same I know.
My Switch only has Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the SEGA AGES games and F-ZERO 99. Maybe one day I will add Cruis'n Blast, Mario Kart Live (even if I couldn't play it because my house is the very definition of dusty, no matter how much I clean it) and Chocobo GP.
I heard Team Sonic Racing is a competent racer, but it doesn't compare to Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, which I don't have and I'd rather play before trying TSR.
I have downloaded the majority of these! All enjoyable.
This article subtitle "Feel the requirement for rapidity!"
I see what you did there. 😊
MK8DX is on this list?!? I’m shocked! In all honesty, I still haven’t picked it up! It looks fun but my family still loves MKWii… so I don’t feel the need to drop the cash for a new game (even if it does have Inklings! <3)
Horizon Chase Turbo ftw!!!! Once the sequel is patched it will be just as good; there's a great game under all the bugs (Still wondering if Epic stopped you and everyone else from reviewing it in it's current state, as literally no one has).
Hot Shot Racing didn't get the attention it deserved in my opinion, such a great game!
F ZERO X gets my vote
@CartoonDan Absolutely! Decent game, decent port!
I love Wreckfest!
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