When it comes to racing games, you don’t have to put me in a simulator and the sim games are not for me on consoles either. I am an arcade racer and prefer to use my opponents to get through a corner safely while I do not take the accelerator off the ground. Not surprising that the Burnout franchise is high on my list and especially Paradise because of its open world structure. The now twelve-year-old game received a remaster on PS4, XB1 and PC in 2018, and the Nintendo Switch can now go wild.
As with the versions on the bigger console brothers, all DLC is included, giving you a dump load of extra cars and motorbikes of various shapes and sizes. Something I would rather have seen is not necessarily a flaw for the Switch version, but for the Remaster as a whole. The moment you start the game you slowly see all “unlocked” cars and motorcycles of the DLC, so it takes a while before you can race. It is only a minor flaw that only happens once, because what comes next is still the oh so fine super fast racer that we already know.
The different types of races are very fast and you have to think carefully about which cars you want to use in which race. For example, you prefer not to use a car with a high top speed, but with low resilience in a Marked Man race where you are hunted while driving from point A to B. Outside of the races, there is also plenty to do in the open world in the form of special jumps, shortcuts and new cars that you must crash to add them to your collection.
De remaster
In terms of what is actually Remastered, the graphics cannot be compared to the 4K resolution of the Xbox One and PlayStation versions, but it is still better than the original on the previous console generation. Especially when you play in handheld mode, it is not even very noticeable because you drive very fast and the cars look good during crashes while they crumple in slow motion.
What I was especially curious about was the frame rate. I already assumed that it would look less good on the Nintendo hybrid than on the other consoles, but a solid 60fps is a must in a fast racing game like Burnout (Paradise). In docked as well as handheld mode, I have not been able to detect any dips in the frame rate, which makes for a very smooth experience. The open world setting in which you can just start a race now and then works fine on the Switch. You do a race, put it back, and then just pick it up a little later and pick up where you left off.
The biggest and pretty much only problem I have with the Switch version of Burnout Paradise Remastered is the price. With € 49.99, this is ridiculously high for a twelve-year-old game, which is much cheaper on other platforms. Recently I bought the Xbox One version for only five euros in a sale, while the price outside that sale with its € 19.99 is already a lot lower than the current purchase price on the Switch. Being able to race fluently in handheld mode is fun, but not a hard thirty euro difference.
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The name Remastered may not do it justice on the Switch, but the graphic step back ensures that you can play one of the better racing games in a nice 60fps on the Switch. The price tag is only very painful, where you can buy it much cheaper on other platforms.
