Genre: Racing
Developer: M2
Publisher: Sega

Unlike other home ports, this Switch rendition goes for original arcade authenticity. The 16:9, 1920x1080, absurd framerate, and essentially infinite draw-in graphics in this version truly beggars belief; they do look a pinch washed out somehow, and lack the character of some previous releases-- but even with those caveats, the game is a sight to behold. On top of that, a custom software occlusion technique was implemented, faithfully mimicking the Model 1's trademark quad flickering! The menu system which overlays the game engine proper is Nintendo-levels of polish, even if it is a bit too Flash-like in appearance.

The arcade original ran on Sega's Model 1 board, and that chipset's sound capabilities have an almost DSP-like quality, which is perfectly retained in this version of the game: everything from the catchy replay song to the crystal clear car passing digital samples are present. This is, however, a double-edged sword: it's ultimately subjective, but the twist which some of the home ports put into the aural department-- most notably in the superb 32x rendition-- were arguably upgrades from the arcade, and those qualities are absent here. What happened to the weird circus guy? "Virtuuuuaaaaa Racing!"

As part of a long tradition of Sega-- Yu Suzuki, more specifically-- putting out phenomenally-playing racing games, Virtua Racing's nuanced controls and car physics-- which even reward taking the proper lines via a realistic "slow-in, fast-out" approach-- are wonderfully implemented in this port. Unfortunately, none of the extra content from the 32x's amazing "Virtua Racing Deluxe"-- none of the new cars, neither of the two new tracks-- are present here, making it feel a little bare-bones when played back-to-back with the aforementioned 32x edition.

There are worse ways to play Virtua Racing for sure-- the dodgy Saturn port, for starters-- than to opt for this Switch release: the move to a widescreen aspect ratio and the sheer fluidity of the proceedings does a good job of giving off the same vibe as the original did in 1992's arcades. The extra mile touches, like the software Z-buffering, betray this port as a labor of love, as does the incredible same-system eight-way split-screen multiplayer. The only pity is that technical hurdles made bringing over the added 32x content cost-prohibitive.