Gear.Club Unlimited is in the enviable, and risky, position as the first proper racing game on the Nintendo Switch, and it succeeds, in context.
For a PC sim racing player, it’s easy to be frustrated at AAA simcade games that are severely limited by the lack of hardware availability. Why bother wrestling an ultra-realistic Koenigsegg with all the assists off when you’re stuck with a non-customizable wheel or a controller? These frustrations don’t exist with Gear.Club Unlimited, since the game doesn’t present itself as feathering the edge between real-life and virtual racing.
This isn’t to say that the game is completely lacking in physics, but rather that it has just enough of it. The real success is the game’s pick-up-and-play factor. The varying cars differentiate enough to translate through the controller. You can tell the difference between the weightiness of a BMW M4 and a Lotus Elise’s petite figure. The straightforward selection of driving assists will enable less experienced racers to attempt competing with the veterans. The hardest settings provide veteran racers enough of a challenge with the Switch Joy-Cons / Pro Controller to keep wanting to play, but without often-frustrating pseudo-realism. It’s fun in the way that older Need for Speed titles are fun. You pick up the controller, choose the car that you have on a wall poster, and race.
Want a massive wing, rear diffuser, and flared wheel arches to live out your tuner dreams? Do it.
But unlike racing sims on PC or consoles that keep your virtual garage stuck at home, Gear.Club Unlimited on Switch lets you have that collection of cars in your pocket. You can choose different paint jobs, body kits, wheels, engine performance, suspension setups, tire treads, and more. Want a massive wing, rear diffuser, and flared wheel arches to live out your tuner dreams? Do it. Chunky dirt tires and a rigid suspension to turn your hot hatch into a rally rocket? Done. Although the customization options aren’t as in-depth as true sim games, it’s still enough to stimulate the experienced player while remaining open to a novice. As you amass a collection you’ll be able to slowly build out and customize your garage for the perfect pocket-sized automotive escape too.
And in taking those cars out onto the road, Gear.Club Unlimited’s world has a little bit of everything, based on the challenge you want. Your McLaren might not be great for a rallycross track, but that rally-ready Mustang will power through the competition. The map is expansive, and covers everything from sunny coastal roads to high desert plains and snow-covered mountains. There’s over 400 races and numerous online leaderboards to prove your might on too. Throughout the map are different car dealers, all with exclusive collections ready to be test driven.
While the single player presents an expansive world to conquer by yourself, a big personal draw is the game’s 4-player splitscreen multiplayer, which runs at a solid 30 FPS, even in Nintendo Switch’s handheld mode. 4-player splitscreen is often more of a novelty these days, and even more so in a racing game featuring real cars with some semblance of real-world physics. We tested the splitscreen with three players using Joy-Cons and pro controllers, and performance remained steady throughout our races.
Gear.Club Unlimited does lack in a few areas. The original Gear.Club was a mobile game, and Unlimited’s UI appears largely unchanged. Although it’s not as problematic when playing with Switch handheld, having the game up on a large TV screen will make you yearn for a better racing UI. The speedometer being at the top of the screen on a big TV is difficult for those that like monitoring RPMs / driving sequential without glancing too far from what’s in front of them.
The selection of cars could also benefit from being double, triple, or quadruple the size. It doesn’t bode well for a game’s longevity when you only have a selection of 32 cars to purchase. Hopefully we see an improved selection in upcoming free DLCs.
Even as a somewhat snobby PC sim racer, after an hour or so with Gear.Club Unlimited I left with a smile on my face. With over 400 races, splitscreen multiplayer, DLC potential, and enough car customization to hold my interest, Gear.Club Unlimited succeeds in being an accessible yet serious racer to whet the appetite of automotive enthusiasts who wish to take their love of racing with them anywhere.
Cisco Zarandin-Araneta is a Social Media Producer, and spends his weekends hot lapping Laguna Seca, virtually. You can find him on Twitter at @notnotcisco.
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