After several years of being on mobile devices Horizon Chase gets a ‘Turbo’ upgrade in the title and races on to the Nintendo Switch. Obviously being a huge Sega fanboy of the 80’s and 90’s it was on the purchase radar as soon as the first screenshots were released. You see, Horizon Chase Turbo was created by people who loved Sega games of that era too. Imagine Sega’s classic 1986 game Outrun being mashed with the low poly perfection that is Virtua Racing, add a pinch of additional race options, a topping of extra game modes and season it with multiplayer and you have one tasty Nintendo Switch racer that will want you coming back for more.
Horizon Chase Turbo’s graphics pop on the Switch 6.2 inch screen with vibrant gradient coloured skies and super smooth fast scrolling, there’s plenty of variation too as you visit 12 different countries/locations (48 races) in World Tour mode, the main game in this package. Variation doesn’t stop there either with weather effects taking place including snow, rain and stunning lightening effects to name a few. Then there’s the decent size roster of cars in the game too sitting at 32 in total. These can be unlocked playing through World Tour and completing Tournaments. As there is no licencing, cars are based on real cars with a slight twist in their design, you won’t have to look hard though before you see the likes of the Ferrari F50, Honda NSX, Lancia Stratos and the Back To The Future DMC Delorean. The core of gameplay requires you to come in the top 3 for a race to earn a medal and points, additional points are gained by collecting tokens around the track and fuel. Additional Turbo’s can also be collected if your reflexes are quick enough. The handling is really solid in the game and within seconds of playing you get the feel for the cars and how much you can push them on the track.
What else does Horizon Chase Turbo have to offer? Well there are 3 other racing modes to keep you playing – Tournament which has 3 difficulty classes to progress through with the main aim of coming first at the end of 4 back to back races. Endurance is as you would think longer races and then there’s a new mode Playground. Playground adds more longevity by introducing limited time new seasons online with mixture of pre-set conditions to race against. You can fight your way up the Global Leader board and race against the ghost car to improve your times. Multiplayer is available in all modes with split screen play
With gameplay, many modes and graphics wrapped up its time to mention the music. I am definitely in the minority, but I wasn’t a fan of the music overall by Barry Leitch. I found it a little too cheesy. I know that many will disagree and love Barry’s music after all he did do the music for 80’s racer Top Gear and Lotus Challenge. Maybe I just want Hiro of Outrun fame to play in the background.
Music aside as it’s a personal preference there were a few other negatives to point out with minor framerate drops when things get busy and the game had crashed out several times and locked up. Hopefully a small update will sort out these few niggles in what is a solid racer on the Switch that looks stunning, plays like a dream and has plenty to keep you coming back for more.
Horizon Chase Turbo is available on the Nintendo Switch eShop for download at the price of $19.99.
A big thank you to Aquiris Game Studio for supplying the review copy.
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