Free-To-Start Switch Racer Asphalt 9: Legends Downloaded One Million Times In First Week

Nice, I'm not one of them though as I have more then enough to play and I'm happy with Grid. Not as big into arcade racers.

I downloaded it.
Played it once and then kicked it off my system again.
Too much paywalling and trying to incentivize you to spend real money.

Rip all that out and i would pay 10 bucks for it.
But that's me.

But I bet most have deleted it now. The numbers will be a lot different if they took that into account

And it deserves all the credit as well. Great fun and easily an 8 out of 10 for me. Sure, there are some annoying micro-transaction mechanics in there, but overall, most of them are quite easily avoidable, once you fully get to grips with the game and all of its options, so I find that particular criticism a bit short-sighted and maybe even childish. As if you can't click on a "no" button or on a cross sign to close a pop up window...

Personally, I haven't paid a single cent yet, and I've unlocked (and fully upgraded) 5 cars, 6 championships, and several other things.

People should stick with it for a bit longer, before writing it off as just another micro-transaction infested mobile port, because it simply is a really fun and entertaining arcade racer, so if you really like that type of game, then I'd say you almost owe it to yourself to give this a REAL try, and not just one go and then deleting it...

I downloaded it, and it’s actually pretty fun imo. Yes it does have microtranactions, but they’re honestly not that bad as people say. It doesn’t effect the game that badly unless your dying to unlock that car with real money.

The only complaint I have with this game is that the races are too short. I wish they were longer, but I had some fun with this game. Honestly one of the best mobile ports on the Switch.

@SpicyBurrito16 I obviously don't know how far along in the game you are, and what you consider to be longer races, but initially, all you have is short runs, most only single laps, but after a while you'll get both longer tracks and multiple lap tracks, so stick with it, and you'll eventually get exactly what you're looking for.

Just give me Burnout Paradise Remastered and that’s the only racing game I need on Switch.

Oh, yeah, EA doesn’t support the Switch. 😡

"'Cause we're gonna be legends!
Gonna get their attention!
What we're doing here ain't just scary
It's about to be legendary*"

*Only if you get lucky with the card packs though

Seriously though, the game has some nice tunes, the lyrics are from this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5jlLJa2Zhs

Its actually not half bad...especially for a "free" game.

Omg! Is this a RPG like pokemon where you bring race cars out and battle each other? Then the winner wins a free hot wheels car? Then you go to the championship and theres lasers and hotdogs and sharks and barbies... Oh wait, I just woke up and was dreaming. Sorry.

i got tired of the rubber band AI.
It keeps you in races. It also makes it very difficult to win.
And upgrades don't seem to upgrade enough.
I have gone back to Gear.Club Unlimited.

I booted it up. It looks beautiful. Haven’t had a chance to go back to it as I have too many games to finish but will get there. One day.

For a free game to download it's a suprisingly well made game and very nicely ported to Switch too. Spending real money is not necessary to have fun.

Bravo & well-deserved ... for a couple of reasons:
1. It’s a good game, I’m really enjoying it.
2. It’s free!
3. They (the makers) resisted the urge to charge us for it, going against the norm for lesser mobile-ports on the switch.

I unleashed this on my kids and their friends this weekend. It shockingly held their attention beyond Rocket League and Mario Marker 2. I did emphasize they do not engage in mircotransactions.

@mike_intv
The rubber band AI is like some rigged slot machine designed to get you to give them money for upgrades, it will randomly give up and let you win or will rocket ahead of you no matter how many times you wreck them.

I played it for less time than it took to download. A very "cheap" game, and it's already deleted.

It was cool... Then I hit the grind wall... Uninstalled it.

@SalvorHardin
Exactly. That's why I stopped playing it.
I don't mind some rubber band.
But if I get out in front on my own merit, I don't want the AI to suddenly drive 200 mph (300 kph).

@KitsuneNight it still counts as a download regardless if it was deleted after or not, crazy right?

god knows how much microtransactions money they have made from the whales lol

DOWNLOADED!

...and then uninstalled...

...but if they fixed the Frame Rate I might try again (the game gives me motion sickness with it's low and highly variable frame rate).

I’ve been so tempted to try it, but I’ve heard such average to bad things. There’s a new “Porsche edition” coming out soon. Give me your sales pitch on why it’s good, just for fun. @mike_intv

Excellent game! I tend to play games in short spurts, I don't see ever having to spend money on this.

Game is surprisingly very very solid. Have really had fun with it thus far and haven't hit a "wall" or felt the need to get mtx at all in the time I've spent with it. Hope it paves the way for more racers on the Switch!

@ThanosReXXX I agree with this. So far, I've been playing and not once have I felt the need to use real money. If anything I just keep earning tokens from completing challenges, and have unlocked a few cars and starred up two from just playing.

I like the game a lot, so I did buy the Porsche starter pack, as it was a one time purchase. Beyond that, I don't think I'll pay for anything else, since playing actually unlocks stuff.

@ThanosReXXX

While that is true
I do have a LOT of games i did pay for that I stil need to play
And I'd rather tackle those first.

This is a maybe later game for me .

As a fan of NfS and Burnout, I’m loving this game. Haven’t spent a single cent yet (but plan to after LM3 because I enjoy it), and not hit this “wall” that some folks mention. I’ve been awash in car parts and unlocks just from doing challenges and hitting the leaderboard tiers.
I’ve had much more fun with this F2P game than I expected. And the soundtrack is pretty nice, which is a big plus when I’m racing for two hours.

@Sunsy I've been tempted to buy that 19.99 package, that Nintendo Life recommended in their review, but I've already surpassed my budget for games and consoles this quarter, so no more new purchases for me until the holidays...

@KitsuneNight Fair enough, and I can understand that it's not for everyone or that it's not high on a list of gaming priorities (I also have a pretty massive back log, so I can relate in that regard), but when I see most of these negative comments, I have a VERY strong feeling that people either haven't played it for long enough, if at all, or they simply don't have a clue how simple it is to circumvent the whole micro-transaction scheme, and even most of the grinding.

Just to make sure: this whole bit is my criticism in general, not aimed at you personally, obviously, seeing as you never complained about any of these things, but it might still add some perspective regardless.

And the rubber-banding criticism I'm seeing is also exaggerated. When it's in Mario Kart, not a soul complains, but if it's in a free arcade racer from another developer, it all of a sudden becomes a bad thing. Sure, it can be annoying at times, especially when you've been in first place for most of the race, but the same goes for getting hit with a practically unavoidable blue shell in Mario Kart...

So, in my honest opinion, it really isn't all that bad or annoying, especially when compared to other games using similar mechanics, or other artificial means of leveling the odds.

Besides, if you learn how to use shortcuts in combination with turbo boosts and shock waves (that's what triple boosts are called in the game), then it's relatively easy to win or improve your performance in a handful of tries.

@ThanosReXXX That's understandable, usually I stop buying games come November, in event I get something for Christmas. Whenever I played the older Need for Speed games, I always enjoyed racing as a Porsche, so I found the Porsche starter pack worth it for that reason alone.

@Sunsy Yup, same here. And come Chrimbo, I always have extra cash on hand, so that makes it a bit easier to splurge on new games and/or hardware.

If they offered a paid version with no cooldowns on cars and everything unlocked from the get go aside from perhaps extra cosmetics, I’d buy it.

Otherwise though, I don’t have the time or patience for cooldown timer focused F2P titles when I have games like Witcher 3, Astral Chain, Dragon Quest XI S, Divinity Original Sin 2, Torchlight 2, GRID Autosport, Overwatch, Ori and the Blind Forest, Yooka Laylee Impossible Lair, Sniper Elite III, Darksiders 2, and more coming with Pokémon Sword and Shield, Luigi’s Mansion 3, Assassins Creed 4 and Rogue, Panzer Dragoon, Alien Isolation, etc.

The game looks good. But the cooldown timers HAVE to go. Why not a $39.99 physical release with the same $20 package of deluxe content and cooldowns removed?

@ThanosReXXX Agreed Mr. Thanos

@JaxonH That would then be that 19.99 package that NLife mentioned in their review of this game. With that, you can pretty much do everything.

But even without it, I'm just seeing this as an arcade racer should be seen: to play in short bursts, and then it's extremely entertaining and satisfying, in my opinion. It's not the type of game in which you try to complete the career mode in one weekend or so.

Wouldn't even be possible what with the number of tracks, championships and cars and upgrades on offer.

So, who knows? It might just surprise you...

On a side note: but very true, there's a truck load of good games on the Switch, so I can understand it being of a lower priority, even if it would have triggered you right away.

@mrmememan Why, thank you.

@ThanosReXXX

I have 853 game on steam and 44 games on the NX.
So my priorities are with games I paid good money for and haven't even played yet. ( Collection of Mana and Assassins Creed 3, spring to mind now )
So a free to play game is kinda low on the list right now.

I might get back to it i want a decent racer on the NX that's not Mario Kart.
And don't get me started on the RNG and rubber banding in Mario Kart.
It's bloody awfull.

I also have played games I payed very bad money for. ( 1,99 for Fear Effect Sedna, might be a good, game might be bad. But it's not for me. )

And i honestly don't have the patience to sit down with a game and continue, if it hasn't grabbed me after an hour or so.
I just have too much to choose from and to be getting on with

@KitsuneNight Well, like I said in my first reply to you, fair enough, and most of my last reply, as also mentioned, was more of a general criticism.

In fact, it was part of the reason I placed a comment on here in the first place, because things immediately started with bad/negative comments, and as someone who actually has invested many hours into this, I simply can't relate to such short-sighted views, because my experience with the game has been far more positive so far, regardless of the micro-transaction mechanics.

@ThanosReXXX No problem Thanos, wish you luck on your mission to get the Infinity Stones

@ThanosReXXX

I just decided to elaborate a bit too.

And well, you know how people are.
Haters wil hate as they say.

Truly enjoying the game, even with the Witcher 3 and other games I'm still going back to this, not a single cent spend and already played around 10 hours.

And the best part, it has a four player split screen mode that its completely playable offline.

Too bad they messed up Modern Combat tho. Should've done that free to play. They've pretty much abandoned it. At least Asphalt 9 has the install base and hopefully they don't abandon it cause it is a really fun game.

@ThanosReXXX
It gives you a few unlocks- makes it sound like a lot with “20 blueprints for Fancy Car A” but all thats just for one car. So you get a couple cars in the pack and you unlock multiplayer right away or something like that. Idk. The issue for me isn’t the extra stuff but the cool down timers on cars. I have no doubt the game is enjoyable but I simply do not play games with cool down timers. I’ve been down that road and it pisses me off to no end. I like a game where I have access to all of the content and can play it in any way I see fit at any time I see fit without any restrictions. Exceptions would obviously be rotating events or special events.

I can deal with MTX and even cosmetic loot boxes, depending on the circumstance. But cool downs and play restrictions are a hard line in the sand. Lovely game it seems, but the core design philosophy goes against what I prefer. And I take no issue with that kind of thing on mobile but when you release a game on console, even a F2P game, you can keep MTX, but the cooldowns absolutely must go. That’s the one thing I will never tolerate in any shape or form for a dedicated consul game. That’s how we ended up with MTX overrun in all our games- because people said eh, it’s fine. If you bring a game to console, you can’t approach it like mobile. Next thing you know it’ll be banner advertisements and 30 second wait times for double video ads.

So like I said, if they could offer a version which removes that restriction for an upfront price tag, I’d be on it.

@Kang81 damn you! For a moment i dared to dream...

Peaked at asphalt 6. I can remember being amazed my phone could do this in stereoscopic 3d (rip lg optimus 3d). What really boggles the mind was that i thought gameloft were cool, and always checked out their games.

I'm 8 hours in and havent hit this paywall people keep talking about. I'm constantly unlocking stuff too. Loving it. This is a free to play game done right. I will probably buy some stuff on it just to support the devs honestly.

Great game. Horrific transaction model with expensive random card-boosters and ability to get doubles and all that usual scammy pastesauce.

If you are not a whale check the game out. It's the closest we've gotten to Burnout in ~10 years.

If you do have a addictive personality STAY FAR FAR AWAY! Buy GRID or Fast RMX instead.

@mrmememan Nah, I've given up on those. I've started a new quest looking for the Infinity Babes instead. I want to collect all 12 of them, so I can make a calendar for 2020...

@KitsuneNight Yeah... sadly enough, that's true.

@JaxonH Honest question: is that just your impression of the game, or have you actually tried it out? The cool down periods really aren't all that restrictive, unless you only want to focus on the multiplayer and/or daily challenges, but career mode has just been one continuous joy ride so far for me, and by winning races, you frequently get awarded full refuels for all your cars, negating the need to wait for a refueling period.

And that pack I mentioned, contains a car that's pretty fast, so you can compete in, and win quite a few races from the get go, enabling you to amass enough credits to expand your collection without ever having to spend any more money.

I've always learned that you have to at the very least try the proverbial dish before you say that you don't like the taste of it, but fair enough if you don't share that sentiment, and agreed in general on the whole adapting mobile games to Switch without all the mobile shenanigans in them, but I have a sinking feeling that this will never go away entirely.

@ThanosReXXX I wish you luck, love can be hard these days

@ThanosReXXX
Doesnt matter if in someone else's opinion they "aren't that restrictive", I dont negotiate based on "how restrictive" they are. I simply dont do it. Cooldown = no go.

I never said playing it would "bring no entertainment". I dont need to "try it". Its not a question of "enjoying the dish". Its a matter of me not partaking in mobile gaming, period. I dont make concessions for "how bad it is" or "how restrictive it is". No cooldowns is my policy, otherwise I have other games I'd rather be playing.

Played it for an hour before I deleted it. The racing was fun but I’m not the target audience for all the F2P crap that suffocated it.

I hit about 15% completion which was about 20-25 hours. Doing career, daily challenges and multiplayer had a good time. But ultimately time to move on.

Can anyone recommend a full game that is similar on Switch?
Is the version of GRID any good?

@matdub

It baffles my mind that EA didn’t put the game on Switch. Criterion’s NFS Most Wanted, which came out after Burnout Paradise, was even on Vita, and it was a great version of the game.

On with my regularly scheduled boycott of all things EA I guess.