The Switch was never known as a place for serious racing games. There’s any number of reasons for that – younger audience demographics, Mario’s karting stranglehold, it’s lower processing power – but that didn’t stop at least one company dipping their toe in. Admittedly, the GRID series isn’t the most serious out there, but GRID Autosport was a showcase for what could be achieved on Nintendo’s handheld hybrid, handily shrinking down a racing game from yesteryear to run on the go. It’s fitting, then, that GRID Legends is arriving on Switch 2, once again becoming a beacon for Nintendo-owning racing fans who want to race wherever they are. Oh, and gamers who know that there are racing options that don’t feature moustachioed plumbers.
GRID Legends originally released in 2022, appearing across the last generation PS4 and Xbox One, as well as the shinier PS5 and Xbox Series consoles. That immediately puts it in a good spot for the Switch 2, with Nintendo’s newest system sitting somewhere between the two, performing comparably to the PS4 in many scenarios, while tapping into some of the latest techniques like DLSS and ray tracing.
As with GRID Autosport, Feral Interactive has taken the high octane reins from original developer Codemasters. Their approach here is certainly successful, especially because they put the game’s performance and visuals directly within your control.
There’s multiple graphics options, split between docked and handheld, and I immediately love that there’s defined options for both, meaning that you can have different choices set up for either situation. Docked is more straightforward. Here there’s a Graphics option, with the game set to 30fps, but with all of the effects and visual eye-candy turned up. You’re getting some lovely reflections here, enhanced weather effects and a higher resolution, sharper image, and it really does look very good indeed, albeit with the odd spot of pop-in here and there.
All that said, the moment you switch to the Performance mode, all of those visual niceties are forgotten. At 60fps the game just feels so much tighter, more accurate and responsive. If you’re truly a fan of racing games, you’d be hard pressed to go back to the solid, but ultimately slower-feeling Graphics option.
Handheld play brings even more choice and granularity. There’s four different options here, and alongside the previous Graphics and Performance, there’s Balanced as a mid-point between the two, and Battery Saver, which tunes down both graphics and performance in order to keep you playing for longer.
You can also toggle enhanced effects on and off too, for a further performance to power option. Crucially, every one of these visual options feels valid in some way. Feral Interactive have given players an amazing suite of options to choose from, and in aping a more PC-like suite of options, they’ve set a new benchmark for Nintendo Switch 2 ports. It could be argued that’s too many options for a fixed platform, but it doesn’t hurt to have.
Even at the lowest Battery Saving mode, the visuals are clean and crisp, and the game is thoroughly playable, though it looks more like the original GRID Autosport than you’re probably expecting, losing all of the visual bells and whistles that you’ll see further up the graphical options.
GRID Legends story mode has aged surprisingly well. The huge, ongoing popularity of racing series like Drive to Survive and Nascar Full Speed, means that GRID Legends documentary-style live action footage and in-engine racing still feels of the moment, and becoming Driver 22 puts you in the midst of it all. You are an unknown rookie, joining the upstart team Seneca Racing, aiming to take them from paddock nobodies to the talk of the track.
It is, admittedly, a little too earnest at times, and it sometimes doesn’t entirely match up with your race performances, but it’s fun, mostly well acted, and lends the game a real sense of drama. You can also become the Leonardo di Caprio pointing meme looking out for the current Doctor Who, with Ncuti Gatwa appearing as one of the race drivers.
Despite being four years old, there’s a lot that feels pulled from Brad Pitt’s big-budget F1 movie, especially the intense, Hans Zimmer-esque music that rises and falls through each race. I can see it being a point of contention for some – you can always turn it off – but if you want to feel like you’re in the middle of an underdog racing story, GRID Legends has it nailed.
One of the other reasons that the Nintendo Switch wasn’t the preferred home for serious racers was the lack of analogue triggers on either Joy-Con or Pro Controller, which are a practical necessity for modern racing games. You can adjust, though. I grew up when all racing game controls were digital, and I still find myself reverting to taps on the stick and triggers rather than small, smooth adjustments. After a moment’s adjustment, I barely noticed when playing GRID Legends. It helps that the handling and ultra-grippy cars make this rather forgiving and intended to be welcoming, and  it all comes together really well on Switch 2.
Feral Interactive have built in analogue control options though. The first is to utilise the right analogue stick, giving you precise control over the cars braking and acceleration, though in a way that feels deeply unusual to me and hard to get used to. The easier option? GRID Legends supports the official Switch 2 GameCube controller, which has two, great-feeling analogue triggers. Suddenly, racing games seem a lot more appealing on the Switch 2…
