The racing game genre has untapped potential on Nintendo hardware, and the developers of the first two Test Drive Unlimited games, Eden Games, may have struck gold with their first title on Nintendo Switch 2, Gear.Club Unlimited 3. Gear.Club Unlimited 3 is an early technical showcase of what racing games are capable of on Nintendo Switch 2, and from the moment I controlled the Mazda RX-7 in this game, I knew this was going to be an extremely fun racer from the French development studio. It’s not a perfect racing game, but it’s a really good one, and Gear.Club Unlimited 3 is another sign that the racing sim subgenre, along with arcade racers, certainly have a place to fill on Nintendo hardware.
Gear.Club Unlimited 3 was designed specifically for Nintendo Switch 2 as the latest entry in the Gear.Club series, which originated on mobile platforms nearly 10 years ago. Despite its origins on mobile, the Gear.Club series has undergone an evolution with its latest entry that makes it stand apart from prior entries. The limitations of the original Switch hardware are gone, and with Switch 2’s vastly improved specifications, Gear.Club Unlimited 3 offers the series’ best gameplay mechanics, features, and visuals by far. This game also fills in a gap left behind by more world-renowned racing game franchises that are in a state of limbo right now.
Gear.Club Unlimited 3 Makes a Strong Impression on Switch 2
In Gear.Club Unlimited 3, you’re a racer whose taking a trip from Europe to Japan in order to establish the first Japanese Gear.Club, a racing institution that seeks out the best racers, staff, and rides in the region for a competitive team. It’s a straight-forward premise, but the narrative itself isn’t supposed to be the main highlight here. Like many other racing games of the past, you’ll start out with lower-class cars like the Subaru BRZ and the Nissan Fairlady Z and work your way up to more exotic and sought-after cars as you win, accrue funds, and make a name for yourself. This is a traditional racing game at its core, but Gear.Club Unlimited 3 stands out in many departments, especially on Switch 2.
Gear.Club Unlimited 3 is very impressive with its high resolution graphics, rich environments, and detailed textures and car models. The game blends simulation racing game elements with slightly arcade-like gameplay feel, similar to Microsoft’s celebrated Forza Horizon series. There are multiple driving assist options, allowing you to turn off certain settings like brake assist and anti-skid to get more of a simulation experience from the game, if desired. For these features, I went for a middle ground with low brake assist, low anti-skid, and automatic gearbox shifting, and I was thoroughly impressed with how seamless the game feels.
Right away, you’ll notice how expertly crafted each car is, and driving each car really hammers home how fluid and fun the racing game mechanics are. Driving a 2000 Nissan Silvia felt incredible on the long straights and tight turns of the Japanese mountainside, which is something I haven’t done since earlier Forza Motorsport entries. It feels like a near-perfect blend of simulation and arcade racing, with each car having a satisfying sense of speed and control. There are over 40 car models to drive in, and although this is quite light for a racing game these days, the car variety is great with licensed vehicles from Alfa Romeo, Nissan, Porsche, Lotus, Honda, and BMW, all of which are customizable.
This is all in addition to the game’s Quality and Performance modes, both of which have HDR enabled on Switch 2 in handheld and docked modes. Quality locks the frame rate to 30 FPS to get the most out of the game’s visual fidelity, while Performance tones down visuals in order to enable 60 FPS. I tried out both modes and unsurprisingly, I loved how smooth the game feels to play at 60 FPS. Although there’s a slight visual downgrade in Performance mode, the image quality and effects are still very impressive, the frame rate never really dips at all. The texture quality and detail on vehicles is respectfully maintained in both modes as well. There’s some graphical oddities in the game though, such as noticeable pop in while racing down certain tracks and some fuzzy details and textures at a distance, but issues like these will likely be fixed in updates. Besides that, I didn’t run into any glaring bugs or issues, but I know mileage may vary.
A Steady and Rewarding Progression System
At first, you’ll begin racing on the Mediterranean coast during the first chapter, and once you complete this, the game really opens up in Japan. You’ll have access to the Japan Gear.Club garage, allowing you to own multiple cars, set up inventory and staff, and participate in races in the winding Japanese landscape and down the busy Tokyo Expressway with your starter car. You gain credits and staff members by completing story races and event races, and there’s quite a lot of them per chapter.
Across 50 tracks, there are point-to-point, circuit, and dual race types, along with time trials. Dual races are essentially touge battles, so fans of Tokyo Xtreme Racer have these to look forward to. These races can be tough with all the traffic on the busy Tokyo Expressway, but mastering the handling of your vehicle makes these races a blast to play through. Completing these races are very rewarding since you’ll earn credits, resources, staff members, and more for story races and event races in each chapter.
In all races, there’s an Unlimited gauge that fills up for clean driving, overtaking opponents, and near misses, similarly to the skill point system from Forza Horizon and the beloved Kudos system. Although you don’t get points for drifting, you’re rewarded for being a clean driver and punished for being reckless or careless, with the latter causing you to lose points during the race. Fortunately, you can recover those points to maximize the money and resources you earn by the end of the race. Credits and resources are used to purchase and customize vehicles, purchase inventory for the garage such as body and mechanic shops, and upgrade vehicles and inventory to bolster your car collection and Gear.Club.
You’ll have access to a garage in France and Japan, with story progression making you jump between the two for different chapters at a time. The Japan garage has more vehicles befitting Japanese racing and street racing culture, while the French garage has more exotic and sports car offerings from Europe. Fortunately, you can use all the cars you own between the two, and you can customize all cars with a selection of performance-based upgrades, bodywork upgrades, and other cosmetic features, such as rim and body paints.
As you progress from chapter to chapter and reach certain milestones, you’ll unlock more upgrade options for your garage, along with more vehicles at the car dealerships. Naturally, the cars you unlock further into the game have better overall class ratings, starting from Class D, and your opponents will be at a similar level and increasing as well. The progression system and class rating reminds me of the Forza Motorsport series, which isn’t a bad thing since these are tried-and-true features that facilitate steady progress throughout the game.
Nearly Unlimited Features
There are some tertiary features in Gear.Club Unlimited 3 worth mentioning, such as the several camera views you can select at any time while playing. It’s a simple feature in practice, but the ability to switch between bumper, hood, cockpit, and chase cam views with a simple button press is welcomed. What’s more, each car has a detailed interior that you can look around in with the right thumbstick back at the garage and in cockpit view. Car interiors aren’t as detailed as you might expect in a simulation racer like Gran Turismo 7, but it’s still a great inclusion.
You can also listen to fictional radio stations with some electronic, rock, and hip-hop-inspired tunes. There are three stations for Japan and France each, so you get a distinct contrast in music along with the actual destinations themselves. I actually do like the music of Gear.Club Unlimited 3, but I think it can get repetitive at times, especially when there’s no licensed hits that you’d recognize. You can also turn the music off if you want to play something in the background instead or listen to the satisfying hums and shifts of your vehicle, though.
In addition to story mode, there’s free play, which allows you to enjoy custom single player races at your leisure or play against a friend in local split-screen races. Unfortunately, there’s no online multiplayer, so forming lobbies with friends isn’t an option here. I think this is one of the only things that limits replay value in Gear.Club Unlimited 3, but for myself personally, I don’t have an issue with a single-player focused racer. I did want to mention this for those who like playing racing games with friends, however.
Gear.Club Unlimited 3 is a Great Racing Game on Switch 2
Although it’s not a revolutionary game for the genre, Gear.Club Unlimited 3 is a breath of fresh air, and it’s a great and fun racing game to play. The vehicle variety is there with many fan-favorite cars that are playable with smooth controls, immersive gameplay, and sheer authenticity. For $49.99, Gear.Club Unlimited 3 lands as a great competitor in the racing game space and offers something slightly different compared to more seasoned counterparts while still offering a lot of content. What’s more, it gives Switch 2 players and Nintendo fans a more realistic racing game experience, filling a gap that has been missing from Nintendo’s library for multiple generations now.
Gear.Club Unlimited 3 is a great foundation that Eden Games should build upon and improve for the future, and I think it’s a game that many racing game fans have been asking for in recent years. Of course, the car roster and multiplayer feature set, along with occasional bugs, can all be improved or addressed in the future, but for now and later, Gear.Club Unlimited 3 is a worthy game to any racing game fan’s collection on Nintendo Switch 2. PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC (Steam) players can also expect the game to launch on their preferred platforms later this year.
Gear.Club Unlimited 3 launches on February 19 for Nintendo Switch 2.
Disclaimer: NACON provided a Nintendo Switch 2 copy of Gear.Club Unlimited 3 for review purposes.
