Burnout Paradise Remastered

Burnout Paradise Remastered brings to Switch one of the most free-roaming racing games ever made. Paradise City isn't a set of separate circuits but an open city with no loading screens, where the player simply drives off and the game itself offers up races, time trials, chases or tasks in which a hulking car has to be delivered across town without a scratch. Routes aren't marked with arrows on the ground, only by the finishing intersection, so the player chooses their own path. That's exactly why it pays to learn the city, searching for shortcuts through construction sites, ramps on rooftops and shortcuts through narrow alleys.

The driving model is built on aggression. Driving into oncoming traffic, close near-misses with other vehicles and drifting all fill the boost gauge, so the game practically punishes caution. The series' signature feature remains takedowns, ramming an opponent into a wall or guardrail, accompanied by a slow-motion shot of the bodywork tearing apart. Crashes are part of the fun, not a failure state, and a standalone mode centred on finding the most efficient way to cause a pile-up was one of the most popular parts of the original release. The remaster includes all the later expansions, including an island with rough off-road driving and motorbikes, and the Switch version sacrifices resolution and some effects to keep things smooth. In handheld mode it's a surprisingly well-executed port of a game from 2008.

The atmosphere is recognisable at first glance: a sun-soaked city, a radio host commenting on the player's exploits, and a soundtrack made up of rock and punk tracks. The original Burnout Paradise was very well received at launch and is considered one of the high points of arcade racing, since it convincingly dissolved the boundary between menu and driving by opening up the city. Today the game feels remarkably fresh precisely because it explains nothing and simply lets the player drive, and on a handheld console it becomes an ideal title for short bursts of play, since one great chase lasts just a few minutes and can start anywhere on the map.