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BOOST ZERO
review | SWITCH
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Publisher: FuriouSoftPhoenix.
Developer: ellusiontertainment. Released: July 2025. Genre: Racing. Posted 28th January 2026. By Tom Clare © 2026 |
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If digital storefronts have taught us anything, it’s to be wary of games with monikers comprising vague genre descriptors, and not their own clear branding. There are a great many Switch racers that cast a wide net with descriptors like ‘drift’, ‘boost’, ‘formula’, and ‘speed’ for search-friendly appeal, offering no-frills, nondescript alternatives to better racers. As well as sounding more like a sugar-free drink than a futuristic racer, Boost Zero matches these alarm bell-ringing traits to a tee. That said, I always live in hope, as every now and then, you’ll encounter a genuine surprise: a budget title that outperforms its modest means.
Sadly, that game is not Boost Zero. A blisteringly fast racer in the mould of F-Zero, BZ sees players competing across a sequence of races, roughly a minute in length, across eight themes. Note that I say ‘themes’ and not ‘courses’, because the layouts are constantly changing through procedural generation. For those unfamiliar with the method’s drawbacks, the approach tends to involve the randomisation of a small pool of predetermined features, tending to rob tracks of identity. Typically, they lack distinguishing characteristics, defaulting to a rather colourless sequence of back-and-forth sweeps, with little to test your piloting skills and no creativity with which to fire your imagination.
Between its super-high speeds and trundling frame rate, you'll need a strong constitution to tackle Boost Zero
Simplistic from the off, the racing evolves very little, offering few surprises or notable features. The piloting aspect is exceptionally poorly optimised, as super-fast speeds combine with an underwhelming frame rate for a jarring, motion-sickness-inducing ride. It’s no exaggeration to say Fast RMX runs more smoothly in 4-player split-screen than Boost Zero does in its single-player. With this in mind, it’s likely a mercy ellusiontertainment’s game foregoes a multiplayer suite, though this marks a costly omission for a Switch exclusive.
The racing is deeply unrefined, and whilst the handling is acceptable, the engine is desperately lacking quality. You’ll never need the airbrakes, there are no sharp corners, collisions are duff, and the biggest threat to the player is running out of shielding. A power bar doubles as a speed boost and a shield, and can be periodically topped up through running along blue speed strips, a system that at least prompts some basic risk-and-reward elements. There are more than twenty ships to unlock, though they’re all much of a muchness, offering a few stat variances but looking very similar.
The racing is deeply unrefined, and whilst the handling is acceptable, the engine is desperately lacking quality. You’ll never need the airbrakes, there are no sharp corners, collisions are duff, and the biggest threat to the player is running out of shielding. A power bar doubles as a speed boost and a shield, and can be periodically topped up through running along blue speed strips, a system that at least prompts some basic risk-and-reward elements. There are more than twenty ships to unlock, though they’re all much of a muchness, offering a few stat variances but looking very similar.
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Whilst there are a few basic themes (futuristic cityscapes, hostile deserts, Tron-like Metropolises), there’s little personality behind the basic framework and a sparse array of scene-specific objects. Foggy landscapes and one-tone skies appear jarringly basic, and whilst some courses look under-par, others are absolutely hideous; a genuine eye-sore. Sometimes, you’ll pass through a checkpoint, only for the lighting effect to detach and follow for several seconds, blinding you to what’s ahead. Issues persist with the presentation more generally, as it fails to capture WipEout’s minimalist chic, instead appearing crude and artless. The game labours horribly with pre- and post-race sequences, and it’s not uncommon for the ‘3’ and ‘2’ of the start countdown to be missed entirely as the game chugs to keep up. With so little text, it’s also remarkable just how many typos blight the menus. There’s little to shout about on the audio front, either, with a very small pool of forgettable dance tracks offset by droning engine notes that will bore into your head in no time at all.
Boost Zero’s modes are set up in a rather curious manner. Rather than mixing things up, the Championship mode sees players needing to complete four consecutive races at the same location, to unlock the next. The objectives are incohesive, to say the least: finish top 6 out of 14 competitors, top 3 in a field of 12, top 5 when facing 18 opponents, or simply finish the race on your own. The game’s one vaguely interesting idea is chase the rabbit, where the player must acts as a greyhound of sorts, needing to catch said animal on four occasions, within a time limit. There is a Time Trail mode, consisting of 16 trials against progressively trickier times, though only the last couple really pose a challenge and again, it just isn’t a very exciting setup.
Boost Zero’s modes are set up in a rather curious manner. Rather than mixing things up, the Championship mode sees players needing to complete four consecutive races at the same location, to unlock the next. The objectives are incohesive, to say the least: finish top 6 out of 14 competitors, top 3 in a field of 12, top 5 when facing 18 opponents, or simply finish the race on your own. The game’s one vaguely interesting idea is chase the rabbit, where the player must acts as a greyhound of sorts, needing to catch said animal on four occasions, within a time limit. There is a Time Trail mode, consisting of 16 trials against progressively trickier times, though only the last couple really pose a challenge and again, it just isn’t a very exciting setup.
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Some of the courses are remarkably ugly, which could have been forgiven had the gameplay been more engaging
It isn’t an expensive venture, available for a little under £1 when on sale in the eShop. However, time is money, and what you’re paying for is a couple of hours of deeply underwhelming futuristic racing that’s beset with technical issues, greatly lacking artistic vision, and doesn’t offer any party potential. It’s one of the poorest futuristic racers I’ve come across. If this is the future, then leave me to the past.
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VERDICT
"A dismal racer, beset with significant technical issues, a lack of creativity, and terrible visuals. A jarring frame rate and an absence of multiplayer means there's nothing to recommend Boost Zero." OVERALL: 2/10 |
OTHER FUTURISTIC RACING GAMES REVIEWED
F-Zero (1992, Super Nintendo)
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Redout Lightspeed Edition (2017, PlayStation 4)
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