Star Wars: Galactic Racer takes the most exhilarating idea from The Phantom Menace—podracing—and builds an entire game around speed, risk and mechanical mayhem. Its rough edges are real, but the racing is so fast and satisfying that they rarely derail the experience.
Developed by Fuse Games, this arcade racing game combines a story campaign, roguelike progression, time trials, scenarios and competitive multiplayer. It was played on PS5 Pro, with versions also listed for Xbox Series X/S and PC.
A new league, a new rivalry
The story takes place after Return of the Jedi, apparently around the period of The Force Awakens, before the First Order becomes a major force. Rather than tying itself closely to the wider saga, the game follows an original racer named Shade.
Through a scheme of their own, Shade enters a major galactic racing league and sets out to defeat its reigning champion, Kestar Bool. Bool belongs to a wealthy and influential alien family that invaded and seized control of Shade’s home planet, giving the campaign a personal reason to keep pushing towards the finish line.
The focus is welcome. Galactic Racer does not need to centre Luke Skywalker, the Rebellion or another familiar storyline to feel like Star Wars. Its attention stays on vehicles, rivalries and the dangerous business of racing at impossible speed.
Four vehicle classes, four different challenges
The game’s greatest strength is its handling. Landspeeders favour broad drifts but take longer to reach maximum speed. Skimmers use movable fins to turn tightly without losing momentum. Speeder bikes accelerate in powerful bursts, though their riders have little protection when opponents try to knock them from the course.
Podracers are the extreme option. They are quicker than everything else and feel spectacularly unstable, as if a small mistake could send the whole machine into pieces. Tracks span locations including Tatooine and Ando Prime, with caves, shortcuts, rocks, acid and lava making every high-speed decision matter.
Boost management adds another layer. A standard turbo consumes a meter, while the more powerful Ramjet can provide an even greater surge. Misuse it and the vehicle can explode. There is even a chance to win if the craft crosses the line while breaking apart.
Drifting, avoiding hazards, choosing when to shield and balancing both boosts can be overwhelming at first. Early races often end in collisions, but the controls become increasingly rewarding with practice. Smashing a rival into a wall and watching the impact in slow motion is particularly effective arcade-style feedback.
Roguelike seasons make every crash count
Shade’s main campaign begins each season with an underpowered vehicle. Victories across several planets provide parts, upgrades and resources, allowing the machine to become faster, tougher and better suited to the challenges ahead.
The route through each season changes because events and races are selected randomly. Too many crashes or failures in important races force a restart with a different vehicle and a new collection of events. Damage can also break components, creating penalties such as a speeder that constantly drifts in one direction.
When a part fails, a short quick-time event gives you an opportunity to prevent an additional negative effect. Successful repairs feel like frantic cockpit adjustments, while mistakes can make a season much harder—especially when there are not enough resources to fix every malfunction.
Winning unlocks a large range of components, including shields and boosters. Sponsors can provide more upgrades and supplies in exchange for continued success and completed track challenges. Lose too often, however, and a sponsor may walk away.
Rivalries with computer-controlled racers add personality to the campaign. Hostile competitors can eventually challenge Shade to one-on-one races, while careful play may turn some rivals into allies for the final confrontation with Kestar Bool.
Fast racing, weaker foot sections
Between races, Shade explores planets on foot. These sections are the campaign’s least successful element: conversations and animations become repetitive, and the activities do not vary enough as the story moves between worlds.
They are not entirely without value. Players can speak with Sebulba and experience past podraces he won, providing a direct connection to the older film material. The environments also look impressive, even when the gameplay in these areas feels flat.
Visually, Galactic Racer captures a suitably battered and industrial version of the galaxy. Vehicles and tracks look grimy, mechanical and heavily used. Most importantly, the racing remains smooth at extreme speeds, with no noticeable frame-rate problems interfering with control.
The sound design is just as committed. Speeder boosts deliver the familiar explosive Star Wars engine roar, while podracers produce distinctive jet-like noises. The audio helps sell the sense that every machine is powerful, temperamental and one hard landing away from failure.
Podracing belongs in the arcade events
Beyond Shade’s campaign, the game offers roughly a dozen Scenarios. These function as shorter seasons starring other racers from the story, with permanent upgrades and cosmetic rewards that can be used in the main campaign. After completing the story, players can continue running additional seasons.
A substantial arcade selection includes time trials and other events across the game’s planets and circuits. Friend leaderboards encourage repeated attempts, including races on the Boonta Eve Classic track from Episode I. For players primarily interested in podracing, these events contain much of the game’s dedicated podracing content.
That separation makes sense because podracers are dramatically faster than the other vehicle classes. Their boost can become disorienting, particularly with the camera positioned between the two engines. It is intense, but that intensity is exactly what makes these events so compelling.
Multiplayer and long-term appeal
Multiplayer supports individual races with speeders and skimmers, as well as podracing. Online players can also enter season-style campaigns with upgrades and roguelike systems similar to those in the story mode.
Multiplayer could not be tested extensively because availability was limited during the review period. The mode appeared promising, but its future will depend on the strength of the online community and how its competitive strategy develops.
The main campaign generally takes around six to nine hours, although the number of attempts needed to complete its story acts will affect that estimate. Arcade events, Scenarios and repeatable seasons provide plenty more to do after the credits.
Verdict
Star Wars: Galactic Racer delivers the fast, noisy and dangerous racing game its premise promises. The handling is excellent once mastered, the four vehicle types feel meaningfully different, and the roguelike campaign gives every damaged component and lost race real consequences.
The on-foot sequences are repetitive, and the main campaign could offer more podracing. Even so, the core racing is strong enough to carry the package. Players comparing it with other racing simulator experiences should note that this is firmly an arcade racer: immediate, aggressive and built around spectacular mistakes.
For readers considering how racing games fit into a home setup, RETROCADE’s arcade machine buying guide is a useful starting point. A larger arcade machine can suit shared racing sessions, while a compact bartop arcade is better suited to smaller rooms.
“A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far away…I did a sick drift and hit a ramp.”
Game details
- Developer: Fuse Games
- Type: Arcade racing game with roguelike elements and competitive multiplayer
- Platforms: PS5 Pro (played), Xbox Series X/S and PC
- Release date: October 6, 20226
- Play time: 19 hours, including the main campaign, most single-player content and arcade races, plus limited multiplayer testing
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