Horizon Chase Turbo

This is not something I usually do with racing games. I kind of wish online multiplayer was in here (it does have persistent global and friend leaderboards), but it’s a small price to pay for this lovely package. Horizon Chase Turbo was a very pleasant surprise--go play it.

While the penalty for running in to things feels too stiff, the annoyance strangely merges with the overall arcade pastiche of Horizon Chase Turbo to feel more appropriate than unfair, and the variety of great things this arcade racer does far outshine the bad. A must for classic gaming fans.

If you’ve been craving an arcade racer for your Switch, look no further. Horizon Chase Turbo is a hugely enjoyable love letter to a gaming era when the cars were fast, the music was catchy, the action was smooth and the sky was bluer than an Eddie Murphy stand-up routine. Its enormous selection of tracks, addictive World Tour mode and excellent local multiplayer make it an absolute must-have for anyone even remotely interested in the genre.

Being an arcade game, Horizon Chase Turbo is definitely a must-play for those who reminisce about the good old days. It is basically your favorite retro racing game with enhanced graphics and better sound effects. The soundtrack is akin to what theme songs were like from classic games, but with an improvement in variety and quality.

All in all, Horizon Chase Turbo doesn't bring too many new ideas to the table, but what it does offer is an extensive and frequently electric play on the 90's arcade racer. It's a mostly successful melding of the old and the new that has the potential to captivate, challenge, and excite players for hours on end.

With so many different inspirations this could’ve just been a mechanical exercise in trying to trigger childhood memories, like the racing game equivalent of Ready Player One. But the game is a more general pastiche of both the genre and an entire era of gaming, from the gameplay to the neon sharp 90s colour scheme. It’s not a flawless game but it is a near flawless evocation of a moment in gaming’s history that is in increasing danger of being forgotten.

If you’re a super-serious racing fan, then Horizon Chase Tubro might come off as being a bit too simplistic. But, I think it strikes a good balance between having a fun arcade feel with some challenging aspects also being present in order to keep you coming back again and again. As stated, I find the Switch version to be the best suited for the task. Thus, I’d arguably consider it to be the definitive version of the game just for the sake of being able to play it at any time.