PAW Patrol™ Rescue Wheels™: Championship for Nintendo Switch

The good stuff

Every pup has a real personality in the game. Chase can launch tennis balls at rivals - which totally distracted my son during a race, leading to him crashing into a wall just to hit someone. Skye’s aerial spin move? Instant crowd-pleaser. And Marshall’s fire-hose splash? Pure chaos magic. We tried the multiplayer mode with two controllers, and it turned into a full-on mess of confetti explosions and mid-air drifts. It’s silly, yes, but in a way that actually works. The tracks are bright and detailed - Adventure Bay, Foggy Bottom, even the jungle - all feel like they stepped right out of the show. And the handling? Super forgiving. No one’s getting frustrated because they spun off the track after one bad turn.

The not-so-good

It’s hard to say this isn’t short on content. There are only about six main tracks, and once you’ve done the races a few times, it starts feeling repetitive. You’ll probably finish the campaign in under an hour if you’re focused. Also, no matter how many times I played, I never felt like the difficulty ramped up meaningfully. It’s more “go fast and don’t crash” than anything strategic. If you’re looking for a challenge or a game that’ll keep a 10-year-old engaged for hours, this isn’t it. And yeah, the game runs on PS5, but it doesn’t really use any of the fancy hardware - no ray tracing, no boost mode, nothing special beyond basic visuals.

Bottom line

If you’ve got a toddler or preschooler who loves PAW Patrol, this is a solid pick. It’s not trying to be anything more than a lighthearted, family-friendly racer, and it nails that. It’s not going to blow anyone away, but it’s a quick win for screen time when you need something easy and joyful. And since it’s free to download, there’s zero risk. Go ahead and grab it. Just don’t expect it to stick around past the first week unless you’ve got multiple little ones to share it with.