Verdict
F1 Manager 24 gives Nintendo Switch owners a best-in-class racing sim with detail rich gameplay and great player freedom.
Frontier Developments returns with F1 Manager 24, an excellent third entry in the ongoing racing sim series that began in 2022. Yet, this year’s iteration marks a major moment for Frontier, as F1 Manager 24 is the first installment to be available on Nintendo Switch. With a large focus on text-based decisions and strategic prowess, I was worried that it’d prove to be too much information overload for the humble Nintendo handheld. Boy was I wrong.
I’ll be the first to admit that delving into the pencil pushing side of Formula 1 has always been lower on my list of priorities regarding racing games. Yet, it’s clear within the first few moments of F1 Manager 24 that Frontier’s charms are hard at work. Rather than commanding a nearly 2,000 lbs F1 vehicle, the spectacle here is behind the scenes. Each decision is the barrier between you and victory, as you slowly tinker with the aerodynamics of your car, tactics of your drivers, and the facilities at your disposal. Success is shared, and never celebrated alone because every facet of F1 Manager 24’s mechanics are always at play.
That sentiment is anchored by the Create-A-Team feature, a brand-new addition making its debut this year. Rather than resting on the laurels of established teams, my F1 Manager 24 journey begins with a surprisingly deep customization suite. You can choose to use a pre-established backstory for your team which provides certain statistical advantages, but I opted to start fresh as a blank slate. Teammates can be picked from an array of real-life engineers and the like, or there’s a generous list of recruits generated from scratch. I appreciate that Frontier doesn’t restrict experimentation here, allowing me to scour each tier of expertise to fine tune my ragtag roster that makes up my team: Toretto Nation.
Combined with the customization of my team’s logo, vehicle decals, and uniforms, Frontier wonderfully manages to elicit the excitement of kickstarting my hopefully prosperous career. It also feels extremely welcoming for newcomers and veterans alike, with difficulty settings, budget changes, and more contributing to the first steps of my glorious Toretto Nation.
The real show begins from here on out, with in-game cinematics detailing the stakes with the same production sheen as a television broadcast. It’s a neat touch for F1 Manager 24’s immersion, amping up the stakes and expectations across the season to come. And while it may seem daunting to dive into a list of menus bigger than my local TGI Fridays, I never felt bogged down with exposition or needless explainers.
Playing primarily on the Nintendo Switch Lite, F1 Manager 24 utilizes every possible space of its 5.5-inch screen. Flying between each tab is easily done with the trigger buttons, and manages to feel responsive despite the flurry of information the game throws at you during a race. While the game manages to keep information accessible, depictions of the race in action do display the Switch’s graphical hindrances. Frame drops are mostly infrequent, but long loading times and texture pop-in can put a blemish on an otherwise sturdy experience.
Racing, though, is where the business gets done, and while you choose to simulate each engagement, getting involved in the nitty-gritty is a thrill. Able to select the speed at which the race unfolds, scouring each and every camera angle lets me decide when to deploy fresh tires, call in my drivers for car adjustment, or alter their tactics to push more aggressively.
Adapting to disaster is also part and parcel here, too. One race saw my car succumb to a myriad of technical blunders, leaving me with a series of problems to sort out on the fly. There’s an almost hypnotic rhythm to F1 Manager 24’s gameplay, as the game’s pace evokes a dance-like routine to securing victory. It also never feels unfair, as I’m solely responsible for my successes or failures. Even on the game’s easier difficulty modes, F1 Manager 24 remains approachable, with the true test of my skill saved for managing my team efficiently.
Upgrading and refurbishing my team’s facilities doesn’t just look impressive to the board of investors funding Toretto Nation, but it also increases our likelihood of turning a profit by other means. While F1 Manager 24 doesn’t depict its engagement tasks on-screen, your team’s sustainability can be improved off the track by sending your racers off to meet and greet events, or showing fans around your impressive factory. In the background, a Tangerine Dream-esque soundtrack underpins the game’s menus, and you know what – the soundtrack bangs. However, these engagement events have physical and mental costs on your team, as well as facility effectiveness in some instances.
It’s an excellent game of walking the line between Succession-style business magnate and genuinely caring team player, an element that other simulation games could learn from. Combined with the game’s mentality system, it puts a focus on investing in your team beyond their skills, but as people too. That’s why Toretto Nation’s own Samuel Welleweerd is on his way to becoming a champion, because I care. It doesn’t always go well, though, because F1 Manager 24 presents you with occasions where team members will argue, and you’ll need to choose whether to intervene or let it boil over in return for strategic advancement or detriment.
F1 Manager 24 may strike you as the kind of hardcore sim experience destined for a niche group of players, but Frontier’s latest entry isn’t just a great Switch debut, but it’s an essential title for anyone even remotely interested in racing. Backed by a robust suite of customization, a trance-like gameplay loop and a surprisingly great soundtrack, F1 Manager 24 is a podium-worthy step up for the franchise.
If that all sounds like a good time, then we’ve got plenty of other racer recommendations, too. Dive into some of the best free mobile games out there with our handy Midnight Racing Tokyo codes or Anime Racing 2 codes as you carve out a name for yourself on the streets.