Asfalt 9: Legends has a long history in the mobile gaming field, so we may have known what to expect from this game. The series started on mobile devices, considering Asfalt Urban GT was released in 2004 for the Nokia N-Gage and Nintendo DS. However, it had been years since I last played a mobile game, so I didn’t know Gameloft would bring such a boon to my wallet. This is a shame, because if Asfalt 9 was a racing game, it’s actually a pretty good one. However, these moments are often interrupted by flashing ads and popups urging players to swipe their credit cards. Of course, Asphalt 9 is offered as a free-to-play game, which would at least make it a bit more forgiving if this is where the story ends. Developers have to make money somewhere, right? However, things get even more exciting considering there’s a “Starting Racer Pack” DLC available for $19.99. It gives you a ton of extras to get you started with, essentially giving you a couple of half-decent cars to start with, as well as a certain amount of in-game currency (there are two). However, asking for more money doesn’t dampen the enthusiasm for the game, which is exactly what makes this a bit of a head-on affair.

As I pointed out above, the racing aspect of Asphalt 9: Legends is very entertaining. To me, the game feels like a burnout game with fast-paced arcade-style physics, and features a nitro boost feature that pushes other racers off the road to gain supplies. If you can beat your rivals, you also get this cool slowing effect. Drifting around long, wide corners, driving over ramps, and doing barrel rolls is as fun as you’d expect, and I had a lot of fun blatantly ignoring all road and traffic laws. And after six races, my car ran out of gas. When that happens, you’re left with either waiting for the timer to run out before you can refuel, hopping into another car that you may not have spent time and game credits on, or of course refueling using real money. That would be fine if it was a purely free to play game on a mobile phone. I wouldn’t buy it, but you could buy it and it’s fine. But this is a game for the Nintendo Switch, a real console. I only spent $20 on the DLC (full disclosure, the DLC code was provided by Gameloft, but you know what I mean). All the cars and you can’t even drive one of them. I want one, when would I want to drive one? This is just one example of how to trick you into spending more money. I’m pretty impressed with some of the tactics used here. There are some sneaky tricks thrown in alongside the shameless money making scheme. I felt like I needed to take a shower after a while because a few things happened. There is literally a “best value” sale for $100 in in-game currency.

When actual racing resumes, things will be very much better. Of course, we’re not talking about Forza Horizon 4 levels of beauty or anything, but the cars look well sculpted and detailed, the objects are crisp, and there’s a lot of variety to crash into. The scenery is diverse and interesting, from drifting through the streets of Tokyo to the Scottish countryside and everything in between. There are some great effects, like the splashes on the truck as you speed past a cargo ship, sparks flying everywhere as you go through a barrier, and a great sense of speed when you boost. There’s some dust and particles flying everywhere, but performance on the Switch seems pretty solid. I didn’t have a chance to test the frame rate. It wasn’t 60 fps, but there were no major dropouts at all and the action ran smoothly enough throughout. Want to buy credits to upgrade your car? Asphalt 9 also controls well on the Nintendo Switch, offering gyro and tilt steering and touchscreen controls in addition to the traditional controls you’d expect from a console racing game. All work fine, but I prefer the regular controller configuration. The lack of analog triggers doesn’t seem like a big deal, as this isn’t the most demanding racing game in terms of skill. Rank is a number that indicates how strong competing racers are, as long as your car has a high enough rank. So why not buy those credits?

Bottom line: Asphalt 9: Legends is fun. It’s not big, it’s not tricky, it’s not overly demanding, and it’s certainly not a realistic racing simulation. But is it fun? Yes, it certainly can be. The problem is that, between wanting to make money out of the player’s pocket, the fun part is all too brief. There are plenty of tracks to race on, but the races are over quickly, and you have to fight your way back through screens that give you more opportunities to spend real money. It’s possible to beat the game without spending any money, but if you have the patience and are willing to put in the time, it’s going to be a grind that takes away even more of the fun from an arcade racing game. Oh, I’m out of gas again. Spend some money or do something else for 15 minutes. If this $20 DLC removes some of the microtransaction stuff, I’d be forgiven for the odd bait thrown in here and there.
I honestly think they would have preferred to keep the mobile version full of “give me money” bait, but I might charge around $30 for the console version of Asphalt 9: Legends. Change how credits and upgrades are rewarded, and disable all microtransactions. Given these conditions, this is a competent arcade racer, and while it’s not the final word on racing games, it’s certainly fun. Asphalt 9 started well but quickly ran out of steam. Buy credits, Asphalt?