You can count the number of racing games on the Switch that use real licensed cars on just two hands, even three years into its life. And where Sony has Gran Turismo and Microsoft has Forza, Nintendo has Mario Kart.
Nintendo’s seminal arcade racer is a great game of course, but it doesn’t offer the same sort of thrills as driving real vehicles around, and Nintendo hasn’t yet bothered to make a truly- new entry in their long series for the Switch. Instead, they just ported over the Wii U version.
This seems like the perfect environment for Asphalt 9: Legends, a free-to-play arcade racer from Gameloft, first launched on phones and the Windows 10 Store and now available on the Switch. The game has an expansive list of licensed cars, a driving model that combines the best bits of Ridge Racer and Burnout into a fun new package, and a huge selection of tracks and events you can play solo or with other people online.
