Whatever your thoughts on the divisive Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, we could probably all agree that the breakneck podracing sequence was an exciting highlight, which became its own game that beats the likes of Wipeout and F-Zero as the best-selling sci-fi racer of all time, and even got an HD re-release back in 2020. But there was surely more potential to expand on racing to become as much a fixture in the Star Wars universe as lightsaber fights or space dogfights, which brings us nicely to my recent hands-on with Star Wars: Galactic Racer.
Set in the New Republic era after the events of Return of the Jedi, this isn't actually about podracing; instead, it centres on the Galactic League, a high-stakes underground racing tournament that includes a breadth of other high-speed racing vehicles. These include landspeeders, speeder bikes, and a tantalising new vehicle type in the Star Wars universe called skimspeeders. That variety does lead to one character awkwardly trying to mimic young Anakin Skywalker's catchphrase as, "Now this is… racing!" (doesn't quite have the same ring to it, huh), but the idea is being able to unlock and utilise different vehicle types, such as how skimspeeders can rotate sideways on a knife-edge for tight turns.
While I got to briefly take control of some of the racing rivals in the opening tutorial, including ex-TIE pilot Griff Halloran, and the league's reigning champion Kestar Bool, for its runs-based single-player campaign, I'm cast as the somewhat bland, if customisable, protagonist Shade, trying to make their way up in the Galactic League with just a humble landspeeder, and where being retired from a race means having to start over from scratch.
Galactic Racer oozes Star Wars identity
For a game largely devoid of any familiar characters, Galactic Racer nonetheless nails the look and feel of the Star Wars universe, its races set across a variety of planets in the galaxy's Outer Rim (even though you once again begin on a desert planet, but at least it's Jakku instead of Tatooine), with an unusual-looking cast of alien races, and of course the use of screen wipe transitions during cutscenes.
More importantly, the vehicles aren't pristine or shiny. No matter how you customise them, they always look beat up with chipped paint, just as you'd expect when racing in extreme conditions and ramming into other competitors. Speaking of which, Galactic Racer's unique sauce is that developer Fuse's founders are also former staffers at Criterion, the studio behind the Burnout series, and that DNA comes across in the dramatic crash cams whenever a vehicle has the misfortune of colliding with a wall or exploding into smithereens from overheating.
Admittedly, I found myself on the receiving end of the crash cam one too many times during my hands-on, proof that Galactic Racer is every bit as fast and ruthlessly furious as any high-speed sci-fi racer (despite the roguelite aspect, it's still generous to an extent as by default you can crash up to three times before you're actually eliminated). Part of the risk-taking comes from the Ramjet. It's like an additional speed booster you can use even after the booster gauge has depleted, but if you hold it down too long, it will overheat and turn your ride into a blazing wreck. Let go too early, however, and you'll have to wait for it to completely cool down before it can be used again, and as you can upgrade the Ramjet with more perks that activate while it's overheating, there's a risk-reward element to staying in that red danger zone for the extra milliseconds you can afford.
The campaign is described as a 'racing adventure', and so you're also immersed in the Star Wars universe through cinematic cutscenes as well as getting to roam a little around small hubs on each planet in between races. I've already had a scuffle with Kestar Bool, who ended one race threatening to have Shade frozen in carbonite, and am intrigued by how this narrative develops over the course of racing a series. There already feels like more stakes and substance than just another arcade racer of one-off races.
The latter is, however, available outside of the campaign with a number of single-race events and time trials. It's the perfect place to bring back podracers screaming into 2026 with Unreal 5 fidelity. Of course, one of the podraces I tried is practically a perfect creation of the original podrace in The Phantom Menace, with the twist here being that I'm not playing as Anakin but his arch-rival Sebulba, who you also get to play dirty with his flame vent that torches races on either side. It really feels in another league too in terms of velocity and skill - the F1 to the Galactic League's GT, if you will- so it makes sense that podracers can't be selected alongside other vehicles. But it's good to know that the podracing lineage lives on in the game, including multiplayer options.
I also got a taste of the game's online racing, with the headline attraction being a tour with up to 12 players. Like the campaign, it's also a series of races where you have the opportunity to improve your racer or spend your winnings on unlocking randomised upgrade packs. The fact that online tours don't have a roguelite elimination aspect does at least mean you'll actually see more of the kind of circuits and environments on offer, such as tracks with corrosive swamps, or volcanic lava that overheats your engines even faster - I certainly manage to experience more this way than my attempts at racing through Jakku over and over again in the campaign portion of the hands-on.
Explosive online pod-racing
Still, racing online against other human players is always ruthless, especially when crashing will see you dropping positions quickly. Fortunately, if you're the one causing the crashes, Galactic Racer also employs Burnout's moment of grace where you have a brief invincibility window for enjoying your rival's crash in slow-motion but without crashing yourself. Another fun part of proceedings takes place before a race where you can bet on yourself on how well you do, with rewards if you predict right but also better rewards if you aim higher.
In any case, there's an incentive for you even if you know you're not going to end up with a podium finish, while you also have the chance to double your rewards as an underdog if you finish last in a race (something I sadly discovered through firsthand experience). That you can also see other players' bets placed in real time, which can be changed right up until before the next race starts, adds to some meta visual mind games, as you scope out the cockiest racers or bet big before tempering expectations at the last second.
After an afternoon of sheer speed blasting inches away from my eyeballs, I've come away impressed with the package and proposition that Star Wars Galactic Racer offers. While you can trace its older roots from Episode I Racer to Burnout, the roguelite twist is sure to make its single-player campaign more engaging and replayable, and while Fuse captures the authenticity of the Star Wars universe, its galactic races expand its dimensions in new, exciting ways, which ought to make it stand out in one of gaming's busiest release schedules this autumn.
Star Wars: Galactic Racer releases on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on 6 October.
