It’s been many years since racing game franchises like Burnout and Daytona USA have been in the limelight, and there hasn’t been many racing games that have replicated the sense of speed that these titles invoked. While there’s fun to be had in simulation racing games like Gran Turismo or Forza, a game like 4PGP reminds me that a balance between such elements and the arcade-style racing games of the past can bring something special, nostalgic, and at times, intuitive. Not only is this a racing game experience that has sorely been missed, but 4PGP is an early surprise on Nintendo Switch 2 in 2026 that takes full advantage of the hardware.

From the get-go, 4PGP reminds me of classic SEGA racing games from the Saturn and Dreamcast consoles, and I’m sure many players who start this game will feel some sort of nostalgia, even if they weren’t around during the golden era of arcade racers. This isn’t a coincidence, however. Developed by 3goo, 4PGP is an arcade racing game clearly inspired by 90s racing games, and the team involved on this project has quite a pedigree in making those classic games. Kenji Sasaki, a vital game designer behind the development of Sega Rally and Ridge Racer, contributed greatly to 4PGP, and the game’s original soundtrack was composed by Tomoyuki Kawamura, the composer behind the soundtracks of Sega Rally, Virtua Racing, and Tokyo Xtreme Racer. 4PGP is an original project, but it certainly has the overall aesthetic and sound design reminiscent of classic SEGA titles. 

4PGP is a Satisfying Blend of Old and New Racing Games

Getting into the first race of the game’s first championship, it’s evident that 4PGP is a spiritual successor to Virtua Racing with fast F1-inspired machines and tight controls. This game is so satisfying to play, despite the initial learning curve at the beginning. Since the vehicles and the game’s sense of speed are so rapid, you’ll be getting around most tracks in well under a minute, and reaction times and track memorization will become more important as you progress. Once you become accustomed to 4PGP, this game becomes a real treat that channels the best of old and new racing games.

Despite being a track-based racing game, the arcade elements feel right at home with some minimal but welcomed sim-based features. You’re able to boost with each machine and quickly refill in the pit lane, which has a quick refill mechanic that requires a timed button press. There’s also a tire wear percentage indicator, which will whittle down as the vehicle steers, makes contact with opponents, or races off-course and into barriers. It’s easy to manage but can become tricky on higher difficulties since you will have to account for pit stops as well. Although this is an arcade-style racing game, you can have a pit strategy and take some risks, albeit not at the level of sim racing games. That being said, if you played games like Gran Turismo or Forza, the tracks will feel very familiar, so that could play into your advantage.

Regarding difficulty levels, there’s Rookie, Novice, Veteran, and Expert, and before even diving into Championship mode, you can play a tutorial from the start screen in order to get a good first feel of the game. Competing in the three-race cups in Championship on Novice, Veteran and Expert difficulties and winning will unlock new vehicles, which are inspired by real-world F1 machines from the past. Novice is the best difficulty to start with if you’re already familiar with racing games, since it will give you the chance to get accustomed to the gameplay and tracks while still presenting a modicum of challenge. Higher difficulties offer more aggressive and skillful opponents, so the margin of error gets higher as well. There’s no rewind or restart option in Championship—it’s win or lose for points on each cup.

This is all while you’re treated to the original score by Kawamura, which reminds me greatly of Sega Rally and Virtua Racing. The score is prevalent on the menus, but it’s more subtle in the actual races, with F1 machines screaming across the track. This isn’t a bad thing in this case, however. You’ll hear tunes play as you cross the race line on each lap, and the music does a good job of indicating progression of a race if you aren’t playing close attention to the lap counter.

4PGP also gives you various camera views to work with, including a bumper view and hood view. I would have loved a cockpit view, but in terms of choice, you’ll have more than enough here. I wish I could say the same with customizable controls, though. You can’t change the controls around, so you won’t be able to use the triggers to accelerate or break. 

Racing Game Fun for One and All

4PGP has a great assortment of fictional unlicensed tracks based on real-world circuits like Suzuka Circuit, Interlagos, Monaco, and even the Nürburgring GP course (14 tracks in total). The track variety definitely surprised me, as I was initially expecting purely fictional tracks like those found in older Gran Turismo games. These courses are playable in the Championship, Time Attack, Quick Race, and multiplayer modes, with some being locked behind standard in-game progression. There’s a good amount of content to delve into in the single-player modes, especially since this is how you unlock a majority of the content and vehicles in the game. 

In addition, the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition of 4PGP is outstanding in terms of performance. Now only is there 4K support for a crisp and clear image in docked mode, but there’s 120 FPS support, ensuring lower latency and smoother gameplay on the 120Hz screen in handheld. Of course, gameplay in docked mode is superb with such a high frame rate. This is one of the best racing games I’ve played in recent memory from this standpoint, without a doubt.

On top of these features, 4PGP for Switch 2 support up to four players in local split-screen action, along with GameShare locally with another Switch or Switch 2 system and online through GameChat. It’s worth noting that if you play locally with three to four players in split-screen, the frame rate will drop to 90 FPS, but needless to say, this frame rate is more than enough. On the original Switch, the game is locked at 60 FPS across the board. The only caveat about multiplayer on 4PGP is that there’s no online matchmaking, so you can’t play with randoms. This isn’t a deal-breaker in my eyes, but I do think the absence of online matchmaking does limit replayability. 

4PGP is a True Arcade Racing Game for the Modern Era

For $19.99 on Nintendo Switch and $24.99 on Nintendo Switch 2, 4PGP offers great value for a top-notch arcade racing game in 2026. 4PGP revives the feeling of playing classic arcade racers from the 90s, but it also takes full advantage of the hardware and respects Switch and Switch 2 players by giving them a blistering-fast, modern racing game experience. The high frame rate may come at the cost of having intensive and realistic graphics, but the overall aesthetic of 4PGP is purposeful, replicating and paying homage to games that came before it in Japanese arcades and systems like the Dreamcast.

4PGP is a great foundation for more racing games, especially with such a well-optimized engine. I’d love to see a stock-car racing game reminiscent of Daytona USA with this engine, for example. I can’t understate how fast and smooth this game feels to play and observe, and I hope the team at 3goo has more in store for racing game fans in the near future.

4PGP is available now for Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2, and a PC (Steam) version is coming soon. An Upgrade Pack is available for $4.99 to those who own the Switch version.

Disclaimer: 3goo provided a Nintendo Switch 2 key of 4PGP for review purposes.