Back on the original Nintendo Switch, Feral Interactive ported the late Xbox 360 simcade classic GRID Autosport to the Nintendo console. In early 2026, they tackled a much more ambitious project: the latest of GRID games, ported to Nintendo Switch 2 in a definitive version containing all DLCs and more. These are our impressions of GRID Legends: Deluxe Edition, tested on Nintendo Switch 2!
That was 4 years ago? It feels like yesterday…
All the way back in 2022, UK-based racing game behemoth Codemasters released the excellent GRID Legends. Personally, I had a blast playing it, and I’ve found it to be one of the best track-based AAA arcade racers in a long while in our review. It was… a much different time, for the British developer. In just a handful of years, they released two different GRID games, a transformative (if slightly controversial) 5th mainline entry in the DIRT franchise, and they were about to tackle the legendary WRC franchise – all on top of their yearly Formula 1 licensed game commitment.
Fast forward a couple years, and now under Electronic Arts‘ banner, the studio has basically become a one trick pony. Their F1 games go on, but as far as we know, everything else is not coming back anytime soon. They haven’t renewed the agreement for the WRC rally games, their own IPs like DIRT and GRID seem to be halted, with experimental projects akin to the ill-fated OnRush that are unlikely to happen in the foreseeable future. GRID Legends is, as of today, the studio’s last racer that isn’t tied to a licensed real life racing series. And with all the post-launch support and the brand new Switch 2 version, it’s time to revisit this modern racing classic!
Do the GRIDdy
This won’t be a full breakdown of everything the game has to offer of course – as said, we already wrote a very in-depth review of GRID Legends back in 2022. But to sum it up: GRID Legends is a fantastic mixture of arcade racing and simcade realism. Players get to race on various iconic tracks and cities in all kinds of cars, from touring to prototypes, passing by open wheels and trucks even. The driving model is closer to arcade classics like Project Gotham Racing, but there’s still a level of precision and commitment required, with damage and aggressive AI making every race real spicy. There’s quite good player agency as well – tons of driving assists are available, players can tweak enemy AI and aggressivity, and even crank the default race length to up to 5 times its original run – making for some sensational 30-50 minutes races in the career with lots of plot twists and swings in performance.
This is perhaps where the biggest flaw of this Switch 2 port surfaces: the lack of any form of multiplayer. There’s plenty of content to play solo (more on that later), but the game lacks the online multiplayer portion of the other console and PC versions, and it doesn’t even substitute it by adding a robust split-screen option, something that was also missing on other platforms. It has to be said that GRID games have never had a particularly large online playerbase, but that doesn’t justify the total lack of said feature. Not all hope is gone, though: when Freal Interactive ported GRID Autosport to the Nintendo Switch, it did not feature online multiplayer – it was, however, added a handful of months later. So, fingers crossed for GRID Legends: Deluxe Edition as well!
Where to go, what to do
Aside from this rather baffling lack of any form of multiplayer, GRID Legends: Deluxe Edition has it all. A somewhat campy, yet engaging scripted storyline, following the rise to fame of a small and honest racing team versus the infamous Ravenwest, of prior GRID games’ fame. A massive career mode with countless racing styles, car types, tracks, game modes – with even electric cars and trucks in the mix. Tracks can be tight fictional street ones or proper real life circuits. They can have ramps, even Formula E style boosts. Cars can have upgrades and setups, but all in all it’s quite streamlined compared to more serious racers – even more so than Codemasters‘ very own F1 games. This version of the game even features all the post-launch DLC, which features, among other things, brand new destruction derby events as well. Neat!
This makes for some exceptionally close races, partly thanks to a competent, aggressive, adaptive and unpredictable AI. You always have a teammate who takes orders from you, a rival, and even opponents can turn into your nemesis if you start ramming them – something that will make them much aggressive towards you. While the player can get damage, terminal one even when crashing, AI opponents can even suffer spectacular tyre blowouts or engine failures. Their pace, too, can fluctuate big time during the race, and they won’t shy away from barging their way through. It is some tremendously exciting racing, none of the usual single file processions you find in most racers.
A technical marvel
Whether you play in handheld mode or docked to your TV or monitor, GRID Legends: Deluxe Edition is a sensational port, and easily one of the most impressive technical achievements on the console thus far – up there with Star Wars Outlaws, Assassin’s Creed Shadows and Cyberpunk 2077. In both modes, resolution seems to be around 1080p, with assets, reflections and general image quality that, the lower resolution aside, seems to pretty much match the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 versions of the game. Beautiful reflections, extreme weather, mighty crashes – only occasionally the framerate drops, usually when some major crash happens, and some drawing distance issues where a car from a distance seems in perfect conditions, but close-up you can see the damage. The game even offers various graphics options – in handheld mode, 30fps, 40fps and 60fps respectively, with all three looking great, whereas in docked mode it’s only 30 and 60. As you may well know, VRR is only is only supported in handheld mode, so a 40fps wouldn’t shine that much on the big TV.
Just like GRID Autosport before, this new title also supports just about any controller imaginable. Once again, most controllers on the system have digital triggers, including the Joy-Cons – a stark contrast from what happens on other consoles. Why does this matter? It’s because, on a digital trigger, the inputs are either 100% on or off, you can not press it halfway or dose it youself. This means that every time you accelerate, you go full gas. Every braking is 100% intensity. With an arcade-oriented racer like that, it’s not that big of an issue, but it is worth pointing out. Analog triggers, such as the ones found on the official GameCube controller, are supported however, so you may want to consider playing with those.
Switch 2’s best racer without the word Kart in its name
GRID Legends: Deluxe Edition is a little technical marvel on the Nintendo Switch 2, delivering the spectacle seen on other, more powerful platforms with very little in terms of compromise. It’s a near perfect handheld (or docked) version of one of the finest arcade racers on the market, boasting a cheesy but enjoyable single player storyline, a massive campaign expanded with DLCs as well, and a huge variety of tracks, cars and modes. Unfortunately, as of today, the game lacks any form of multiplayer, and none of the handful of issues of the original game have been addressed in this port, either. But if you’re looking for a fantastic racing game to boost your, so far, relatively limited Switch 2 library, do not miss this version of GRID Legends – at under 30 USD/EUR, even without multiplayer, it’s quite a steal.
