By George & Josh Bate
Star Wars has a long history with racing games, from Star Wars Episode I: Racer on the Nintendo 64 to Super Bombad Racing, Racer Revenge, and more recent experiments with the galaxy’s many different forms of high-speed transportation. Racing has always felt like a natural fit for Star Wars, but it’s an area that has never quite received the same attention as lightsabers, blasters, and space combat. Star Wars Episode I: Racer was one of the first Star Wars video games we played, and nearly 30 years later, it still feels like racing has been an area of untapped potential for Star Wars gaming. Star Wars: Galactic Racer finally feels like a game that understands just how much fun that previously untapped potential can be.
Developed by Fuse Games, Star Wars: Galactic Racer puts players behind the helmet of Shade, a mysterious racer attempting to make a name for himself in the unsanctioned Galactic League. Set during the New Republic era following the fall of the Empire, the game takes players across the galaxy for a series of dangerous, high-speed races. Galactic Racer is available on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X | S, with this review based on the PlayStation 5 version.
Gameplay
At its core, Galactic Racer is the Star Wars equivalent of a Burnout game. The emphasis is on aggressive, fast-paced, arcade-style racing. Racers crash into one another, weave through hazards, push their vehicles beyond their limits, and look for every possible advantage. It can be a lot to take in at first, particularly because there isn’t much of a traditional tutorial to ease players into the mechanics. There’s a standard boost that can be used relatively safely, but the real temptation comes from the ultra-fast engine boost, which can dramatically increase speed while also building heat. Push it too far and the engine can overheat and explode, making every boost a daring risk-versus-reward decision. There are also several different vehicle types to master, including durable landspeeders, faster but more fragile speeder bikes, skim speeders, and, of course, podracers.
The campaign uses a roguelike, runs-based structure that gives Galactic Racer a somewhat different rhythm from a traditional racing game. Playing as Shade, racers work their way through the unsanctioned Galactic League, taking on a series of tournaments spread across different planets. A single campaign can include multiple tours, with crashes sending the player back to the beginning of the current tour. Along the way, players can choose between different types of events, including standard races, mystery encounters, and high-speed solo field tests. There is a finite amount of damage and crashes that can be sustained during a run, making each decision increasingly important as the tour progresses. Surviving races provides credits and upgrades, while damaged or wrecked vehicles hinder progress.
Between races, players can visit a third-person hub area where Shade can walk around, interact with NPCs, and prepare for the next stage of the tournament. These sections slow the game down considerably compared to the chaos of the races. While the change of pace can take some getting used to, the hub helps make the racing circuit feel like an actual place rather than simply a menu between events. It also provides opportunities to interact with the colorful characters that make up this particular corner of the galaxy.
Visually, Galactic Racer is stunning. The different planetary environments aren’t simply backdrops for the races as the weather and planetary conditions influence how each course plays. Sand, snow, rain, and other environmental effects can make tracks feel completely different from one race to the next. There are moments throughout the game that look like they could have been lifted directly from the films, particularly when racers are tearing through a massive environment at impossible speeds. The sound design is equally impressive, with the roar of engines, environmental effects, collisions, and music combining to make each race feel appropriately chaotic and distinctly Star Wars.
Beyond the single-player campaign, multiplayer is also quite a bit of fun. Rather than asking players to commit to the full campaign, the multiplayer experience condenses the action into a handful of races, making it easy to jump in and start competing. It’s vibrant, chaotic, and arguably captures the pick-up-and-play appeal of arcade racing better than almost anything else in the game. There’s a lot of fun to be had when several racers are fighting for position, particularly when a race suddenly descends into a series of spectacular crashes.
Unfortunately, the lack of split-screen local multiplayer feels like a huge missed opportunity. Racing games have traditionally been one of the easiest genres to enjoy with friends sitting in the same room, and Galactic Racer seems tailor-made for that kind of experience. The colorful environments, frantic races, and unpredictable crashes would be perfect for a local multiplayer session.
Story
Plot probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of a racing game, but Galactic Racer manages to defy expectations with a fairly interesting and world-expanding narrative. Rather than treating its story as an excuse to move players from one track to another, the game uses racing to explore an entire subculture within the Star Wars galaxy. The game surprisingly and effectively expands the world and culture of racing in the post-Empire galaxy, creating a corner of the universe that feels distinct from the stories of Jedi, Sith, Rebels, and the Empire.
Set during the New Republic era, after the Empire’s collapse, the story follows Shade, a mysterious helmeted racer with a past shaped by war and displacement. Out in the lawless reaches of the Outer Rim, the galaxy is still recovering from the Empire’s fall, and high-speed racing has exploded into a popular form of entertainment. The Galactic League exists outside the established sporting world, founded by former podracer mechanic and promoter Darius Pax. His unsanctioned circuit attracts an eclectic collection of thrill-seekers, former TIE pilots, outlaws, and other rogues.
There are also plenty of familiar faces along the way, which makes the world of Galactic Racer even more enjoyable for longtime Star Wars fans. The appearances of Sebulba and Ben Quadrianos are particularly fun, connecting this new racing scene to the podracing legacy established in The Phantom Menace. The game also gets plenty of mileage out of its diverse collection of species and supporting characters. The Ardinian mechanic Hibby, in particular, brings a lot of personality to the proceedings and helps make the racing community feel like a living part of the Star Wars galaxy rather than a collection of competitors waiting at the next starting line.
The story’s antagonist, Kestar Bool, is also more compelling than the typical racing-game villain. A privileged heir with plenty of family influence behind him, Kestar comes from the very family responsible for enslaving Shade’s home world and imprisoning Shade. Now, Kestar has his sights set on taking control of Darius Pax’s racing league, putting him directly at odds with Shade and the people who have built this underground racing community.
VERDICT: 8/10
Star Wars: Galactic Racer is a welcome reminder of just how much untapped potential there is in the racing corner of the Star Wars galaxy. Its aggressive, fast-paced, arcade-like gameplay renders Galactic Racer the Star Wars equivalent of a Burnout game, while its roguelike campaign structure gives the racing a surprising amount of depth. The different vehicles, dangerous boost system, planetary conditions, stunning visuals, and incredible sound design make the races both exhilarating and complex. The story goes further than expected, building out an entire racing subculture populated by familiar faces like Sebulba and Ben Quadinaros alongside new characters such as Hibby and Kestar Bool. Multiplayer is vibrant and incredibly fun, even if the lack of split-screen local multiplayer feels like a huge missed opportunity. For a franchise that has spent nearly three decades touching on the immense possibilities of Star Wars racing, Galactic Racer feels like a long-overdue embrace of a genre we fell in love with back in 1999 with Star Wars: Episode I: Racer.
Star Wars: Galactic Racer is out now.