WRC 9 The Official Game

Genre: Rally Racing

Players: 1-8 Competitive (Online)

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Review:

(Note: This game is included in WRC Collection (8, 9, & 10), along with WRC 8 FIA World Rally Championship and WRC 10 FIA World Rally Championship.)

WRC 9, as with prior games in the series, is a Rally Racing game, with this game released in 2020 on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, and ported to Nintendo Switch in 2021. In this game, players manage their team and calendar to build up experience and credentials, as well as racing in various events.

I should note that this game is extremely similar to the previous game in the series, and so I am copying portions of my review of WRC 8 and changing it where appropriate.

When it comes to graphical downgrades in modern multiplatform games releasing on Nintendo Switch, WRC 9 once again got hit hard. Curiously, this time around the game has 30FPS on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, not just the Nintendo Switch… however, this comes at a price on Nintendo Switch, as the framerates do get choppy in some places. And then once again the Nintendo Switch version gets some hits to its resolution and other graphical issues.

Unfortunately I don’t have numbers to give, but the game’s resolution in docked mode is low enough that the game looks somewhat muddy (and I’m not talking about the game’s levels), with nasty aliasing and flickering in places. In handheld mode, the game takes on a pixelated look that is even worse, actually making it difficult to judge upcoming turns. All of this is on top of other issues like blurry shadows, pop-in, texture pop-in, and horribly bad load times. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that WRC 9 is an ugly game, and there are even some nice graphical elements like some good detail in your car and the environments, and particularly it’s great the way dirt builds up on your vehicle, but the game’s visual flaws make it hard to appreciate these good qualities, and that they can interfere with the gameplay is particularly alarming.

It’s even more frustrating because this game’s sound quality is really good, with a great amount of attention to detail paid to the sounds of driving on different surfaces, even having the sounds of gravel hitting your undercarriage on gravel paths. The music, only in menus, isn’t nearly as noteworthy, but overall the sound is one of WRC 9’s best qualities.

When it comes to the gameplay, know that WRC is first and foremost a Simulation-style game, which means that players will want to be extremely precise in their steering, gas, and braking. Again, here the Nintendo Switch version disappoints somewhat due to its lack of analog triggers, although thankfully this time at least the steering feels marginally improved over the previous game.

Overall, the gameplay and controls on Nintendo Switch aren’t bad, but this is still a downgrade from other platforms. It’s a shame too, because there are some nice features here, such as an RPG-style upgrade tree and some good options for customizing your difficulty level.

When it comes to changes from the previous game, honestly I’m going to have to say that I didn’t notice much. The interface is the same, many of the courses are the same, and apart from a few changes to that course lineup, I think a player could find it difficult to determine which game they were playing if it wasn’t for the WRC 9 logos that pop up on occasion. There are certainly small improvements here and there, but for the most part… honestly, this feels a lot like the same game to me.

In the end, WRC 9 once again seems like a game that was a solid Rally Racing Simulation game on other platforms, and is still good on Nintendo Switch, but it has suffered greatly in the transition to the less-powerful hardware, and the game seems even more superfluous if you already own WRC 8, since the two games are so similar. If you’re looking for a challenging game in this genre on Nintendo Switch, WRC 9 will get the job done, but if at all possible you should play this game on another platform.

tl;dr – WRC 9, like its predecessor, is a Rally Racing Simulation-style game where players manage their crew and schedule and race in various conditions. The core game here is a solid but highly challenging entry in the genre, but it has clearly suffered massive downgrades in its transition to the Nintendo Switch, particularly in its graphical fidelity and clarity, and the changes and improvements from WRC 8 seem minimal. Overall, this is still a decent game, but its appeal is limited and those who enjoy this niche genre are better off playing this game on any other platform.

Grade: C+

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