Asphalt Legends Unite (formerly Asphalt 9: Legends) is a 2018 racing game developed by Gameloft Barcelona and published by Gameloft. Released on July 25, 2018, it is the fifteenth major game of Asphalt series. In comparison to previous entries, there are several new and improved features, such as a prestigious car lineup, new control schemes, including the autopilot mode called "TouchDrive", and race modes, and the reimplemented "shockwave nitro" from Asphalt 6: Adrenaline. The graphics have considerably improved compared to its 2013 predecessor, Asphalt 8: Airborne.
On March 25, 2024, Gameloft announced an expansion update to Asphalt 9: Legends titled Asphalt Legends Unite that is slated for release on July 17, 2024, with the game's title also renamed into the new one. A new Singapore track has been added upon update.
Gameplay
Asphalt 9 makes extensive use of simulated HDR rendering and pixel shaders, as seen on the sky and specular reflections on the road surface. Pictured is a gameplay still featuring the TouchDrive control scheme. This screenshot was taken when the game was known as Asphalt 9: Legends.
The gameplay in Asphalt Legends Unite is similar to the other Asphalt games with noticeable differences in graphics and design. There were 48 cars featured in the game when soft-launched, but the worldwide release saw the introduction of four new cars, leading to 52 cars.[1]
There are currently 250 cars as of the Asphalt Legends Unite expansion update. Like its predecessor, each of the cars belongs to a class progressively featuring higher performance and rarity: D, C, B, A, and S. The player starts with the first car in the lowest class (Class D), the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X and ends with the strongest car in the highest class (Class S), the Devel Sixteen. All cars in the game now require blueprints to unlock and later "star up", with each of them having anywhere from 3 to 6 stars. For each new star, the car's speed, acceleration, nitro and efficiency is increased. Each car can also be customized with the new car editor feature. Each car now also uses fuel when used for a race event, limiting its use for any game mode. The fuel quantity for each individual car is based on the max number of possible stars for that car: 3-star cars have 6 fuel, 4-star cars have 5, etc, etc. The more stars the car has, the less fuel it will have.
Upon unlocking a car, the player can often choose from a few official stock colors or designs. Once the car has been starred up at least once, the player can create custom paint job colors to the body, rims, and brake calipers for most models. Some models also allow for carbon parts on the hood, trunk, and wings. Several cars are also convertibles (they can be converted from closed roofs to open ones in-game), like the BMW Z4 LCI E89, the Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport, and the McLaren 570S Spider. Introduced in the 2019 Summer Update, several cars like the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 may also be customized with special tires, rims, and bodywork modifications, earned through rare 'customization packs'. Also new to the series are "clubs", where up to 20 players can collaboratively score "reputation points" to acquire exclusive rewards. The more reputation points the club scores, the better rewards, ranging from credits to blueprints for cars.
The game also features "nitro shockwave", returning from Asphalt 6: Adrenaline and Asphalt 7: Heat. When the player has a full nitro bar and taps twice on the Nitro button in a quick succession, a purple pulse is released from the vehicle and represents a drastic increase in the car's acceleration. On mobile platforms, Asphalt Legends Unite has three control schemes: Tilt to Steer, Tap to Steer, and the brand new "TouchDrive" in which the player selects routes and stunts by swiping left and right. TouchDrive is intended for beginners and casual players. On Windows 10 and Mac devices, TouchDrive and manual controls can be used with the keyboard; or with a tilt to steer, if the device has a touchscreen and an accelerometer.
In the game, there are six race modes: Career, Multiplayer, Showroom, Club, Daily Events, and Seasonal Events (Grand Prix, Starway, Special Event, and Drive Syndicate). In career mode, the player participates in an extensive single-player campaign consisting of six chapters, each containing several series of races focusing on a certain car class or manufacturer, with more chapters set to be added. The player can gain a total of 827 blueprints for various cars from Career. In Multiplayer, the player competes against other players in real-time online multiplayer races, ranked by an Elo system. In Daily Events, the player participates in daily or weekly competitions to beat other players' times and earn other items. In Showcase (or Showroom), players focus on upgrading a car of their choice by using it repeatedly in racing in the Showroom. Like Daily and Seasonal Events, you use tickets to race. Unlike them, they are their own individual tickets, unlike Seasonal and Daily Events sharing them. Other events include Car Hunts, focused on dropping blueprints for a specific car, and Time-Limited Events, usually themed to the game season.
The Seasonal Events tab was initially titled "Special Events", but due to the number of events added, was rebranded to Seasonal Events. "Special Events", which were introduced with the Bugatti Chiron Special Event in December 2018, and have continued since with the introduction of "Drive Syndicate" events in July 2019, themed around escaping the police as a member of an underground 'drive syndicate'. The 2022 Winter Drive Syndicate was announced to be the last of its kind by Gameloft. Initially slated to release in the January 2023 "Lunar New Year" season, its replacement will be the Faraday Road Test, an event about which little is known so far. This event is delayed until the next season. Since the older "Godly Beasts Update", the "Grand Prix" was launched, debuting with the Techrules AT96 Track Edition Grand Prix. Players compete against other players for rewards, including a "car key" that allows the player to immediately unlock the featured Grand Prix car, though the car itself can still be "starred up" with blueprints.
Drive Syndicate events have been subject to criticism due to their numerous paywalls and high requirements, having the player complete a series of missions to accumulate points towards the rewards track, which goes up to approximately one million points to unlock certain cars. However, the events run on a separate "energy" system, which only allows players to play a certain number of races irrespective of the car's fuel. Some cars are also required to race in the event, and the player may not be given them immediately (though they can acquire the cards for them through the event shop). Upon completing all missions, and thus acquiring enough points, players will earn the event's flagship cars, usually being acquired as a key rather than a set of cards (along with other cars as well).
There are 7 race types in Asphalt Legends Unite. The "Classic" race mode from previous games makes a reappearance alongside new career-exclusive races: "Time Attack" and "Hunted". Multiplayer-exclusive races include "Ghost" and "Ghost Slipstream". "Slipstream" appears in both Events and Multiplayer. A new game mode titled "Takedown" made its first appearance in Drive Syndicate 5. In Time Attack, the player has to cross the finish line within a time limit, collecting time bonuses along the track. In Hunted, the player must escape a police pursuit in a car chase without wrecking their car or running out of time. In Ghost, players cannot collide with other players' cars - all opponents are treated as 'ghosts', making the event similar to a live time trial. In Slipstream and Ghost Slipstream, players can perform a slipstream by driving behind opponents, allowing them to quickly build up their nitro. Slipstreaming can only be interrupted by holding the brake button or doing 360s, and the difference between the two is that there are no collisions in Ghost Slipstream. In Takedown, the player will control the cop cars instead of syndicate cars, and is tasked with taking down syndicate cars using either boost or half-360 spin. Cop cars use boost to speed up instead of nitro.
The game was developed by Gameloft's Barcelona Studio which also made Asphalt 8: Airborne, and co-developed Asphalt Xtreme with Gameloft Madrid. The game uses the Bullet physics engine and the Jet Engine game engine. Continuing the tradition from Asphalt 8, the game features licensed soundtracks.
The first rumors of Asphalt 9: Legends began back in 2016, with Gameloft posting pictures on Twitter, showing Gameloft Barcelona making a map that had not been seen in Asphalt 8: Airborne. The game was scheduled to be released in the summer of 2017 according to Gameloft's press release, and the name was going to be Asphalt 9: Shockwave. In February 2018, Gameloft was doing a live Q&A with one of their community managers at Gameloft London, where he responded to questions about Asphalt 9, and said that he was not allowed to comment on the future of the Asphalt series. Four days later, however, a trailer was revealed for Asphalt 9. On April 1, 2016, Gameloft posted an April Fools joke trailer on their Facebook page that the game was going to be called Asphalt 9: Foolspeed, a game that revealed outdated footage of Asphalt 4: Elite Racing.[3]
The game was first released for iOS as a soft launch on February 26, 2018, in the Philippines, then in Thailand on March 22, 2018. It was later released for Android as a soft launch, on May 17, 2018, in the Philippines.[4][5] Pre-registration for the worldwide launch began on June 29, 2018. Around the same time, people could pre-register the game on the Google Play Store. On July 24, 2018, Gameloft announced the game's release date, July 26, 2018, on a Facebook and YouTube Livestream. However, the game was released a day earlier than planned. When the game was released worldwide, it reached 4 million downloads across all platforms in less than a week.
On June 6, 2019, Gameloft announced that the game would be available on Nintendo Switch. It was released on October 8, 2019. There is a mode where players can play offline with friends and family with different controllers but it needs to have to earn a certain amount of career flags to unlock Offline Mode. There are Joy-Con and Touchscreen controls when using the Switch in Handheld Mode, allowing use of either the screen itself (akin to mobile devices) or use of the controllers.[6]
A version for macOS Catalina was released on January 17, 2020.[7] An Xbox One and Series X/S version was announced in April 2021 and it was released on August 31, 2021.[8] An arcade adaptation, developed by IGS and Wahlap Technology under a license from Gameloft, was released worldwide in 2021 under the name Asphalt 9 Legends: Arcade DX.[9]
A Steam version was announced in July 2022 and was released on August 2, 2022.[10]
Gameloft announced that the game received an expansion update on July 17, 2024, featuring cross-play compatibility, dynamic lighting for the game's graphic engine, brand new UI and an all-new Singapore track.[11] The expansion also changes the title of the game to Asphalt Legends Unite, and the game also released for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, marking the series' return to the PlayStation consoles since Asphalt: Injection.[12] However, Gameloft announced on July 16, 2024 that the Nintendo Switch version of Asphalt Legends Unite update has been delayed due to unforeseen circumstances.[13]
Reception
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (September 2018)
Asphalt 9 received positive reviews upon release, with the new graphics and visual design being almost unanimously praised as a major improvement over the series' predecessors, but there were mixed responses to the progression system, including its hostile monetization and “energy” systems.[citation needed]
Prasad of GSMArena.com wrote: "Visually, Asphalt 9 is stunning and quite possibly the best-looking game on the mobile platform today",[16] while TechCommuters' review stated, "Regardless of the platform you're playing on, the game delivers...With a wide variety of cars, accessories, tracks, and events, you can play this game for a long time without any dull moment."[17] Nick Tylwalk of Gamezebo also praised the graphics, but wrote that the "blueprint system can be a mixed bag and there are times when you feel stuck, progression-wise." Vishal Mathur of News18 mentioned "every time you run a wheel off the road, the dust that gets thrown up is finely detailed. The cars look very realistic too... However, it isn't exactly easy to get exotic cars. As with most racing games, you start from the bottom of the pyramid and then work your way up. In many races, the rewards that you get are blueprints of vehicles. You will need to collect the required number of blueprints for the car that you are eyeing before you can unlock it. This is slightly difficult, and we feel that element has been added to ensure that players remain active for longer on the game, in the pursuit of their favorite car."[18]
↑ Additional work by Gameloft Saigon, Gameloft Montreal, Gameloft Madrid, Gameloft Kharkiv, and Gameloft Bucharest
Related Research Articles
Mario Kart is a series of kart racing games based on the Mario franchise developed and published by Nintendo. Players compete in go-kart races while using various power-up items. It features characters and courses mostly from the Mario series as well as other gaming franchises such as The Legend of Zelda, Animal Crossing, F-Zero, Excitebike, and Splatoon.
Ridge Racer is a racing video game series developed and published for arcade systems and home game consoles by Bandai Namco Entertainment, formerly Namco. The first game, Ridge Racer (1993), was originally released in arcades for the Namco System 22 hardware, later ported to the PlayStation one year later as a launch title. It was met with several sequels and spin-off games for multiple platforms, the latest being the mobile game Ridge Racer Draw & Drift (2016) with the latest mainline game being Ridge Racer 7 (2006). Gameplay involves the player racing against computer-controlled opponents to be the first to finish in a race. Drifting is a core aspect of the series, and is used to keep speed while turning corners.
Hot Wheels: Extreme Racing is a racing game for the PlayStation, released in 2001. It features vehicles based on the Hot Wheels series of toys.
Nicktoons Racing is a Nickelodeon crossover racing video game. The game was first developed by Pipe Dream and released for the Game Boy Color, while versions for different platforms were released in subsequent years. Most versions were developed by Software Creations with the exception of the Game Boy Advance version, which was developed by Crawfish Interactive, and the arcade version, which was developed by Chicago Gaming.
Brain Challenge is a mental exercise video game, featuring "brain exercise puzzles". The game was developed by Gameloft Beijing for mobile phone and iPod and released on September 5, 2007. In 2008 was followed by a Nintendo DS version on January 8, an Xbox Live Arcade release on March 12, and a PlayStation 3 launch on November 27. The N-Gage 2.0 version was released on the day of the service's launch, April 3, 2008. A version for WiiWare was released in autumn 2008 on all three regions. The Wii version also uses Miis for the players profile. OnLive also had launched their new streaming game platform with Brain Challenge on July 27, 2010. The game was released for Mac OS X in January 2011.
Powerslide is a post-apocalyptic Microsoft Windows racing game by Australian developer Ratbag Games. It was released in Australia, United States and Europe in 1998. Powerslide was praised for its graphics and AI in particular. A sequel, Powerslide: Slipstream, was in development as of 2004, but Ratbag couldn't find a suitable publisher, and shortly after the company was shut down. Powerslide was re-released on GOG.com in 2012.
Midnight Pool is a sports simulation video game by Gameloft Montreal. The pool simulator was originally released for mobile phones. Versions with enhanced graphics were later released for Windows, WiiWare, and iOS and under the name Midnight Pool 3D for phones and the N-Gage platform. It is part of Gameloft's Midnight series, which includes Midnight Bowling, Midnight Casino and Midnight Hold'em Poker.
Asphalt 3D is a racing game developed by Gameloft and published by Ubisoft for the Nintendo 3DS. It is the seventh major game of the Asphalt series. It was released in Japan by Konami on March 10, 2011, in Europe on March 25, 2011, in North America on March 27, 2011, and in Australia on March 31, 2011. It was one of eight 3DS launch titles published by Ubisoft and was revealed at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2010.
Asphalt is a series of racing video games mainly developed and published by Gameloft. The series typically focus on fast-paced arcade racing set in various locales throughout the world, tasking players to complete races while evading the local law enforcement. Gameplay includes teaming up with allied racers and gang groups to assist in police pursuits and shootout races against rival groups such as crime families and terrorists.
Asphalt 6: Adrenaline is a racing video game developed and published by Gameloft and is the sixth major game of Asphalt series. It was released for iOS on December 21, 2010, for Mac OS X on February 17, 2011, for Android on June 15, for Symbian^3 on July 20, for Mobile phones on August 31, for webOS on September 3, for BlackBerry PlayBook on October 12, and for Bada 2.0 on January 10, 2012.
Asphalt: Injection is a racing game developed by Gameloft for the PlayStation Vita and Android. and released in 2011–2012. The eighth major game of Asphalt series. Just like Asphalt 3D, it was published by Konami in Japan and Ubisoft worldwide.
Asphalt 7: Heat is a 2012 racing video game developed and published by Gameloft and the ninth major game of Asphalt series. It was released on June 21, 2012 for the iOS and marks the first time in the series that a game is the same for both the iPhone and iPad. The game was launched for Android on June 25, for BlackBerry 10 on February 21, 2013, for Windows Phone 8 on February 27, for BlackBerry PlayBook on April 3, and for Windows 8 on August 22, and Windows 10 on July 29, 2015. In 2017, the game was retired from the app stores except on BlackBerry.
Asphalt 8: Airborne is a 2013 racing video game developed by Gameloft Barcelona and published by Gameloft. It is the tenth major game of the Asphalt series. It was released on August 22, 2013, for iOS and Android, November 13 for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8, January 15, 2014 for BlackBerry 10, and April 5, 2015 for Tizen. Its successor, Asphalt Legends Unite, was announced on February 26, 2018. The game has about 470 million players, according to the game description in the App Store.
Blitz Brigade was a multiplayer first-person shooter video game developed and published by Gameloft for iOS, Android, and Windows Phone. It shut down their servers in 1 December 2023.
Modern Combat 5: Blackout is a 2014 first-person shooter developed by Gameloft Bucharest and published by Gameloft. It is the fifth installment of the Modern Combat series and the sequel to Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour. It was released on July 24, 2014 for iOS, Android, Windows Phone 8, Windows 8.1 and BlackBerry 10, on October 24, 2018 for Windows via Steam, and for Nintendo Switch on February 14, 2019. It is the first game in the series that is developed by Gameloft Bucharest.
Asphalt Xtreme, also known as Asphalt Xtreme: Rally Racing, is an action racing video game developed by Gameloft and published by Netflix. The thirteenth major game and the only off-road racing edition in the Asphalt series. It was released on 27 October 2016 for Android and iOS mobile devices. A Microsoft Store version for Windows 10 devices was released a few days later, on the 3rd of November 2016.
Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled is a 2019 kart racing game developed by Beenox and published by Activision. The game is a remastered version of Crash Team Racing (1999), which was originally developed by Naughty Dog for the PlayStation in 1999, and focuses on players using one of several characters from the Crash Bandicoot series to tackle races, each of which includes power-ups to help with combatting opponents. The game includes additional content from Crash Nitro Kart (2003) and Crash Tag Team Racing (2005), alongside adjustments to the original gameplay, including kart customization, two adventure mode variations, and an in-game shop.
Fast & Furious 6 is a racing video game based on the 2013 film. It was released in two different versions, the 2D by Gameloft and the 3D by Kabam for Android, iOS, J2ME, Windows Phone and Windows 8.1.
Fast Five is a racing video game developed and published by Gameloft for Android, iOS, J2ME and MacOS. The game is based on the 2011 film. It was released in two versions: 3D for smartphones and 2D for functional phones.
Disney Speedstorm is a free-to-play kart racing game developed by Gameloft Barcelona and published by Gameloft. It features various Disney and Pixar characters racing vehicles on tracks themed after the worlds of their films and franchises. The game was released in a pay-for early access on 18 April 2023 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S, with a soft launch on iOS and Android on 1 August 2023. The console and computer versions left early access on 28 September 2023, while the mobile version officially launched on 11 July 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
