Offering free local and online multiplayer, Asphalt 9: Legends looks to be more than just a simple mobile port when it hits the Nintendo eShop this fall.

Asphalt 9: Legends is one of many titles that development studio Gameloft has been working on this year. Originally from a mobile racing series, this version of Asphalt 9 is bringing the arcade-like racer to a Nintendo console for the first time, and somewhere between simulation and mascot racing, it definitely benefits from console controls.

When a Gameloft representative sat down with NintyBuzz during this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo, a smoothly running, high-octane racing game was shown off in full force. Looking more like a console indie title than a mobile game, Asphalt 9: Legends speaks to its namesake, both in terms of sporting several famous race cars to choose from and offering the retro feel a name like “Asphalt” gives.

Despite the realistic car models, this title is more Need for Speed than Forza. Sprinkle in a dash of arcade mechanics, including speed boosts, and Gameloft has a title in which the rocketing speeds of one’s vehicles can jettison these titular cars up walls and through the tight confines of the race tracks. The more tricks performed, the more the speed boost can build, resulting in a satisfying feedback loop.

LEGO Figures Are Ready to Come to Life

Another project – and perhaps their most ambitious – Gameloft has been working on is LEGO Legacy: Heroes Unboxed, a title for smart phone devices that seems willing to make the deepest cuts possible for fans of the famous toy brand.

While not having the licenses to support Star Wars, Harry Potter or other famous LEGO series, what this mobile title can draw from is impressive; decades of original LEGO minifigures (and some classic sets) are digitally archived in this RPG, and players will be able to control all minifigures from the iconic 1970s astronaut to modern originals like the Ninjago cast.

Players will be able to decorate their hub with these figures too. What stuck out the most was the historical attention to detail. Complete biographies, including real-world dates and set information, are archived within the game, making LEGO Legacy: Heroes Unboxed a real treat for fans both young and old who have grown up with LEGO.

Gameloft’s titles release later this fall. Asphalt 9: Legends will debut on Nintendo Switch, and LEGO Legacy: Heroes Unboxed will be coming to mobile devices.

Eric Zavinski

I’ve been playing Nintendo games since I was 3 years old, and my earliest memory is watching my dad play Super Mario 64.
Since then, I’ve become as big of a fan as you might imagine: YouTube video projects, fan fiction, owning just about every amiibo — you name it!
I’m also a stalwart defender of underappreciated games like Skyward Sword, Other M, Super Paper Mario, Star Fox Adventures, Star Fox Zero and more. I love to see passion in a gaming product, and my desire on this site is to share a similar passion in what I write.