Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for July 19th, 2024. In today’s article, we finish up the week with the unusual appearance of a review. I’ve spent my time with Hot Lap Racing, and I’m ready to give my verdict. After that we head into the new releases for the day, a small assortment that may nevertheless offer things for you to enjoy. We wrap things up in the way we always do, with a look at the new and expiring discounts for the day. Let’s get to it!
Reviews & Mini-Views
Hot Lap Racing ($34.99)
The person who chases two rabbits catches neither. Look, proverbs aren’t always true. But those wise words attributed to Confucius were ringing in my head most of the time while playing Hot Lap Racing. It advertises itself as a “simcade racing game", and it does indeed carry a variety of elements from both sides of the simulation/arcade divide. Rather than making for a game that can please everyone, however, I think we’ve ended up with one that is going to have a hard time properly satisfying fans of either type of game. It’s too much of a simulation for arcade fans, and too arcadey for simulation fans.
You get splashed with the bucket of cold water almost immediately. The career mode of the game won’t let you move an inch without getting your first license, and you can only do that by completing one of two ridiculously fussy activities. You can do the training, which requires a lot of precise actions with your turning, braking, and accelerating, or you can do a challenge that sees you completing a lap within a certain time. Don’t you dare go off the road or so much as breathe on a pilon, or you’ll have to start all over again. This turns out to set the pace for the game, which is far too strict and demanding for my arcade racing roots. The game is constantly nagging you at every turn for doing things any other way than what it wants.
But maybe the simulation fans will be happy? I suspect they’ll find themselves equally frustrating by the unrealistic physics and general lack of tuning options. The way the cars move on the tracks and grip to it is… odd. Which makes its demands all the more boggling, really. It gives you cars that handle in strange ways, but then seems to want you to follow real racing techniques and rules. Oh, and I should also mention the AI of the other cars on the road, because it is also quite troublesome. The cars just kind of do their thing whatever you do, so it’s like trying to wade through a bunch of cows at the beginning of each race followed by a lazy drive with none of them catching up.
Performance-wise, the game manages to avoid being the blurry mess that some other racers can be on the Switch. It looks quite good generally, which is impressive given the resources of the team. It targets 30 fps, and… well, we all know what it means when we say something “targets" a framerate, right? Those moments where you’re trying to make your way through the herds of cows can get really dicey, as do some turns where too much appears on the screen. It’s not horrible or anything, but it is at least noticeable even for me, a clown who barely notices framerate drops unless he’s looking for them.
With all that said, Hot Lap Racing does have a fair bit going for it. The eclectic mix of cars, real and fictional, drawn from various eras. The rather large number of courses, albeit mostly placed in very similar-looking locales. The career mode is really cool if you can meet its demands, since you go up against real drivers and can add their info to a little encyclopedia if you beat them. Again with the size of the developer in mind, this is actually a fairly robust and professional-feeling racer. It has its flaws, but you might be able to forgive them for what it does well.
I really wanted to like Hot Lap Racing, because the Switch could really use more good racers. While I can’t say that I never hated it, because sometimes I did, I think overall it’s decent enough. I could see this developer going on to really good things in the future by building on this foundation. But in the end, I think it doesn’t quite succeed in its goal to ride the line between sim and arcade-style racing. The two contrasting tastes are not mixed in a pleasing way here, and when you throw in some performance issues it makes for a racer I can only lightly recommend.
SwitchArcade Score: 3/5
Select New Releases
Toree’s Panic Pack ($0.99)
You really can’t argue with the value for money with these Toree games. Sure, they’re short and kind of garish (albeit in a charming way), but for a buck you get a decent little experience. This pack includes three mini-sized games, spanning seven levels and twenty-four challenge missions all-up. As usual, it’s pretty tough to fully complete. You’ll get your dollar’s worth trying, to be sure.
Frogurai ($4.99)
If you just want a straightforward puzzle game to drop a fiver on and enjoy over the weekend, Frogurai might be what you’re chasing. You’re a little frog samurai, and in each of the fifty stages you need to accomplish various tasks to open the exit door, then make your way out. The gimmick is one we’ve seen before, where pushing in a direction will make your character keep moving in that direction until they hit something. It’s kind of interesting, since you won’t always have the same objective from stage to stage. Not bad at all, provided you’re into this sort of game.
Cosmic Fantasy ($26.50)
Cosmic Fantasy 2 ($26.50)
These classic RPGs are now available as separate purchases outside of the collection, though the collection will still save you a few bucks.
Ninja Chowdown: Glaze of Glory ($9.99)
An auto-runner where you play as an overweight ninja who is chasing down the thief of his dojo’s most precious donut. Yes, there are coins. Yes, there are unlockable outfits and other goodies. It’s no Ninjin: Clash of Carrots, I’ll you what.
4 The Elements ($8.99)
This is an action platformer with some very light puzzle-solving involving using the right character for the right situation. You have four elements of nature that you’ll have to swap between as needed, or just to set up cool combos to look like a pro. Get new abilities, explore the stages for secrets, fight some big-pants bosses, you know how this goes. A bit rough around the edges, but it does what it does to an adequate level of competency. Pay no heed to its claims of being a Metroidvania; it is nothing of the sort. More similar to a Mega Man X-style affair, really.
Sales
(North American eShop, US Prices)
If you like games with an anime aesthetic, today’s list of new sales has a lot to offer. I don’t have any particular titles to shout out today, but the list isn’t super-long anyway. The outbox for the weekend is even shorter, so I’ll just do my usual bit of recommending you check both lists, then make my way to the exit.
Select New Sales
Sakuna: Of Rice & Ruin ($14.99 from $29.99 until 7/26)
Akiba’s Trip: Undead & Undressed DC ($14.99 from $29.99 until 7/26)
Touhou New World ($12.49 from $24.99 until 7/26)
Fate/EXTELLA The Umbral Star ($19.99 from $39.99 until 7/26)
Corpse Party ($9.99 from $19.99 until 7/26)
Trinity Trigger ($19.99 from $39.99 until 7/26)
JoJo’s Bizarre Adv.: AS Battle R UE ($33.99 from $84.99 until 7/29)
Dragon Ball FighterZ ($9.59 from $59.99 until 7/29)
Dragon Ball Z Kakarot LE ($32.99 from $109.99 until 7/29)
Sword Art Online Alicization Lycoris ($19.99 from $49.99 until 7/29)
Sword Art Online Fatal Bullet CE ($9.59 from $59.99 until 7/29)
Sword Art Online Hollow Realization DE ($4.99 from $49.99 until 7/29)
Namco Museum Archives Vol 1 ($4.99 from $19.99 until 7/29)
Pac-Man World Re-Pac ($8.99 from $29.99 until 7/29)
Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster ($29.99 from $49.99 until 7/29)
Digimon World: Next Order ($19.79 from $59.99 until 7/29)
Jujutsu Kaisen Cursed Clash UE ($69.99 from $99.99 until 7/29)
Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm ($4.99 from $19.99 until 7/29)
Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 ($4.99 from $19.99 until 7/29)
Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 ($4.99 from $19.99 until 7/29)
Rainbow High: Runway Rush ($19.99 from $39.99 until 7/30)
Scrap Rush ($4.50 from $15.00 until 8/1)
Yohane the Parhelion Numazu in the Mirage ($23.99 from $29.99 until 8/1)
Ancient Weapon Holly ($14.39 from $17.99 until 8/1)
The Fall of Elena Temple ($2.39 from $2.99 until 8/1)
Persha & the Magic Labyrinth ($3.39 from $9.99 until 8/1)
Tanuki Sunset ($6.79 from $16.99 until 8/2)
Among Us ($3.00 from $5.00 until 8/4)
Telenet Shooting Collection ($31.49 from $44.99 until 8/8)
Valis The Fantasm Soldier Collection ($19.99 from $39.99 until 8/8)
Valis The Fantasm Soldier Collection 2 ($22.49 from $44.99 until 8/8)
Valis The Fantasm Soldier Collection 3 ($27.49 from $54.99 until 8/8)
JDM Racing ($1.99 from $4.99 until 8/8)
7 Days Heroes ($4.99 from $9.99 until 8/8)
Path to Purge ($8.99 from $14.99 until 8/8)
Witchy Life Story ($11.99 from $19.99 until 8/8)
SWAN Chernobyl Unexplored ($3.12 from $12.49 until 8/8)
Ancient Islands ($3.12 from $12.49 until 8/8)
Sales Ending This Weekend
Assault Suits Valken ($9.99 from $24.99 until 7/20)
Berserk Boy ($14.00 from $20.00 until 7/20)
Frog Detective: The Entire Mystery ($13.96 from $19.95 until 7/20)
Dead in Vinland ($2.79 from $27.99 until 7/21)
Mystery Box: Escape the Room ($4.99 from $9.99 until 7/21)
Mystery Box: Evolution ($4.99 from $9.99 until 7/21)
Mystery Box: The Journey ($4.99 from $9.99 until 7/21)
Right and Down and Dice ($7.99 from $11.99 until 7/21)
Super Shadow Break Showdown ($5.19 from $12.99 until 7/21)
Zotrix Starglider ($1.99 from $9.99 until 7/21)
That’s all for today, friends. We’ll be back next week with more new releases, more sales, more reviews, and some news. I have to get back to the grindstone this weekend, as I have some extra work to do yet again. I hope you all have a lovely weekend, and as always, thanks for reading!
