Horizon Chase 2 is a passable arcade-style racer. I'd probably like it more if it weren't for the fact that its predecessor surpasses it in every way. The original Horizon Chase Turbo had simple graphics, but they were colorful, they popped, and the game ran smoothly. None of this is true for HC2. The poor attempts at being slightly more detailed makes offroad collisions common if you aren't extremely focused on the track. The choppiness of the graphics isn't game-breaking, but is not ideal for a high speed racer. The cars in the previous instalment all had strengths and weaknesses that encouraged players to try them all, whereas here I played through the campaign with only 3 different vehicles. Time trial mode forces you to collect time coins as opposed to the simple but fun races in the last game. The good news is that the controls are still very tight and as perfectly tuned as ever.
I could forgive all of Horizon Chase 2's flaws if the feature I was most anticipating, the online multiplayer was enjoyable. But unfortunately, the online community is DOA at launch. This is despite this being an anticipated game with crossplay. If I had to guess why no one is playing, I'd blame a combination of things: The game was originally an IOS exclusive for a year, then got shadow dropped on Switch and PC on the same day as F-Zero 99. F-Zero has a bigger cult following, they had their first new installment in 20 years, and is free with a Switch online subscription. HC2 has plans to release on Playstation and Xbox but no date has been given, further shrinking the player base. If it had launched concurrently on all platforms instead of this awkward rollout in phases, there would've probably been a decent player base. I'll return to this game in the future, I'm hoping it can be improved with technical and content updates that may attract more people. But as it exists currently, I'd only recommend it if you enjoyed the previous game to the point that you need more of the same. Otherwise just buy Horizon Chase Turbo, it goes on sale all the time.
I could forgive all of Horizon Chase 2's flaws if the feature I was most anticipating, the online multiplayer was enjoyable. But unfortunately, the online community is DOA at launch. This is despite this being an anticipated game with crossplay. If I had to guess why no one is playing, I'd blame a combination of things: The game was originally an IOS exclusive for a year, then got shadow dropped on Switch and PC on the same day as F-Zero 99. F-Zero has a bigger cult following, they had their first new installment in 20 years, and is free with a Switch online subscription. HC2 has plans to release on Playstation and Xbox but no date has been given, further shrinking the player base. If it had launched concurrently on all platforms instead of this awkward rollout in phases, there would've probably been a decent player base. I'll return to this game in the future, I'm hoping it can be improved with technical and content updates that may attract more people. But as it exists currently, I'd only recommend it if you enjoyed the previous game to the point that you need more of the same. Otherwise just buy Horizon Chase Turbo, it goes on sale all the time.