Star Wars: Galactic Racer Races to the Top as One of the Franchise’s Best Racing Games in Years

Fuse Games has delivered one of the most exhilarating Star Wars racing experiences in recent memory with Star Wars: Galactic Racer, a title that takes the beloved podracing sequence from 1999’s Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace and expands it into a full-fledged arcade racer. Released on October 6 for PS5 Pro, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, the game has earned praise for its blistering speed, flawless performance, and an engaging roguelike campaign that keeps racers coming back for more seasons.

The review period concluded with approximately 19 hours of playtime across the main campaign, single-player content, arcade races, and multiplayer modes. Reviewers noted that despite a few imperfections—most notably lackluster on-foot segments—the game successfully crosses the finish line as one of their favorite Star Wars titles in years.

Welcome to the Galactic League

Set sometime after the events of Return of the Jedi, likely around the time of The Force Awakens but before the First Order arrives, Galactic Racer deliberately steps away from the larger canonical Star Wars story. Instead, players take control of a new character named Shade, who through some trickery ends up competing in a large galactic racing league.

The goal is to defeat reigning champion Kestar Bool, a smug member of a powerful and wealthy alien family that brutally invaded and took control of Shade’s planet years ago. To knock him from the throne, Shade must win a great deal of galactic racing across multiple planets, which is where the game truly shines.

“A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far away…I did a sick drift and hit a ramp.”

Star Wars: Galactic Racer back-of-the-box quote

A Blistering Ride Across the Galaxy

No matter what vehicle players hop into—speeder bikes, landspeeders, skimmers, or even podracers—the game maintains a screaming pace that runs perfectly throughout. Each vehicle type feels distinctly different to pilot: landspeeders love to drift but take time to reach top speed, while skimmers use movable fins to turn tightly without slowing down. Speeder bikes offer bursts of incredible acceleration but provide little protection against aggressive racers.

Podracers move faster than anything else in the game and feel as though they might explode at any moment. Players must also master two boost systems: a basic turbo button that consumes a meter, and a more powerful “Ramjet” super-boost that can literally blow up their vehicle if used incorrectly—though players can still win a race by crossing the finish line during the explosion.

The roguelike campaign mode builds intensity through its progression system. Players start each season with an inferior vehicle and upgrade it as they win races, but crashing too many times or losing key races forces them to restart with a new vehicle and navigate a fresh selection of randomly chosen events. Broken parts trigger small QTE mini-games reminiscent of Anakin Skywalker flipping switches in his podracer.

A Visual and Auditory Feast

Beyond the racing mechanics, Galactic Racer has been praised as one of the best-looking Star Wars games ever made, with environments rendered appropriately grimy and clunky. Even at breakneck speeds where everything becomes a blur, the game maintains its visual quality while running perfectly without noticeable framerate issues.

The sound design has drawn particular acclaim, delivering the classic Star Wars “Bwwwooooommm!” when boosts are activated and giving podracers their signature odd jet noises. Reviewers admitted to humming the engine sounds during races, a testament to how immersive the audio experience proves itself.

Beyond the Main Campaign

The game offers substantial content beyond its main story mode. A dozen or so “Scenarios” operate as mini-seasons where players control different characters from the main story and unlock permanent upgrades and cosmetics. Arcade races feature time trials across all tracks, including friend leaderboards for competing on iconic locations like the Boonta Eve Classic podracing track.

Most of the game’s podracing content lives within these arcade events rather than the main campaign, as podracers are simply too fast to include everywhere. Multiplayer offers single races using speeders and skimmers or full podracing experiences, with online seasons featuring the same roguelike mechanics but against real opponents.

Looking Ahead

The main campaign will likely take most players around six to nine hours to complete, though this varies depending on how many attempts are needed to work through the various story acts. Beyond that, ample arcade events and single-player scenarios provide additional content for those seeking more racing action.

While multiplayer modes live or die by community size and meta development—something reviewers couldn’t fully assess during a limited review period—the rest of Galactic Racer proves substantial enough to stand on its own. The game delivers everything fans wanted from a new Star Wars racing title: fast, loud, packed with great tracks, and running flawlessly across all platforms.