Star Wars: Galactic Racer Hands-On Preview – More Need For Speed

My love for Star Wars films and shows has definitely waned over time -I do not share the same enthusiasm as my colleague Kenn regarding the latest Mandalorian and Groguu flick (which is just a bunch of episodes strung into a mid-tier movie). But the games? I can dig them because they at least offer the sci-fi action base and interaction requirement for entertainment in a series built for merchandising. If I’m getting bored watching cutscenes, at least I have decent gameplay to be part in, right?

The Dark Forces and Jedi Knight series? Fun first-and-third person shooter action titles with well-designed corridors and multi-level stages as well as setpieces. The Old Republic single-player RPGs? Engaging & intriguing, while also taking place before all that recent Star Wars film canon nonsense only manchildren care about. Shooter bliss and lightsaber action. Jedi Survivor series? Action-adventure up the wazoo. Racing? Well, that one hasn’t been checked for a while since Star Wars Episode 1: Racer back in 1999 -yikes! But that all is about to change with the first-ever Star Wars racing entry since forever: Star Wars – Galactic Racer.

While you may think this is licensed dreck, you may want to pay attention to its developer Fuse Games. They’re a new company, but their pedigree involves making Criterion racing titles. That’s right: the folks who made the recently good Need For Speed games and the Burnout series are handling a Star Wars racing game, and it’s as intense and fast as you expect it to be.

“I’ll Try Spinning. That’s A Good Trick.”

My playthrough of Star Wars: Galactic Racer at Summer Game Fest 2026 started with an intro across three different courses and planets, with different vehicles for me to preview: Land Speeder, Speeder Bike, and Skim Speeder. All three of them have different acceleration, turning rate, speed, and frame build that they will cater to different playstyles as you keep at it. Landspeeders are the all-rounders that have good speed and can take a few hits before getting wrecked. Speeder Bikes are not stable to drive, but are small and agile as well as do well on tight corners. Skim Speeders can bank wide and roll on to a Knife Edge technique for advance maneuvering ala a starfighter, but are bigger targets when compared to the Land Speeder.

We can’t forget podracers; big and fast vehicles from Episode 1, and usually relegated to their exclusive circuit races. Each of them can go into Ramjet Mode where you press R3 (PS controls) and boost as much as possible before you overheat and eventually explode. You have to control how far you can temporarily boost before crossing over the redline of the Ramjet boost meter on the bottom right.

Building up meter to go into the mode means taking dangerous turns and doing evasive manoeuvres, as well as passing by special “heat generators” laid out on the map. That said, it’s easy to crash and burn in this racing game due to how fast the game goes and how aggressive the enemy AI is, though you do recover quick enough that it’s possible to catch up to the lead. One nice touch is when you start a race before the countdown, you have to do a bunch of d-pad inputs to calibrate your vehicle and also give you a chance to boost off the starting line. I’m not sure how that will work in multiplayer, but it’s a lovely ode to how jury-rigged the land vehicles in the world is.

I was given two modes to explore: the Story mode and Arcade Pod Racer mode. The game’s Story Mode is laid out in a roguelite fashion per Act: straight pathways to different races with branching paths, traveling from planet to planet with their own courses, layouts, and hazards, all leading to the end of the tour/run. Losing means losing League Tokens; run out of them and you end your tour and have to start a new one.

The starting desert planet Jakku has tons of wide turning spaces and big-ass multi-pathways that let you swipe and turn with ease; basically the best starting course any speedster could ask for. This is followed by the jungle planet Lantaana with more twists and turns, cliff jumping off points, and less open space to bob and weave around in. Plus, there are tons of cave networks with lava pitfalls you have to avoid, as well as narrow pathways to hug and race onto. It’s a stark contrast to the previous planet, but therein lies the fun in adapting and replaying. If your run here goes sideways, it’s pretty quick to jump back on board and race again.

Each different race mode gives you different vehicles to try out, as well as change up the win conditions. The standard races have you going through 5 laps and counting your podium finishes. Eliminator is the battle royale race mode: place as high as possible before the periodical clock counts down to zero, eliminating the last place racer. Field Test has you racing solo and beating a time to get the best rewards. All these will net you better equipment to build a racing vehicle that can best the top racers in the tour.

Throughout my entire run, I have been very comfortable with the landspeeder and skim speeder. Both play like the equivalent of muscle cars and default Nissan racing vehicles in this context: fast, being easy to handle and making perfect turns when needed, while also taking a beating before getting wrecked. The Ramjet Mode gives me the extra edge needed to get ahead, though it clearly comes with some risks.

The plot is also pretty intriguing, if because of its colourful cast and the overall Star Wars sci-fi setting. You play as an ex-army pilot named Shade who ends up racing for Darius Pax, a businessman trying to make space races legit and having ex-soldiers and pilots as vehicle jockeys, making a name for themselves in a non-war situation. Up-and-coming baby boomer rich kid alien Kestar Bool is planning to usurp control of Darius’ venture, so it’s up to you to beat him in races and his own game (with silent backing from Darius).

Helping you out with your vehicles and mods is the excitable heavily-accented monkey alien mechanic Hibi, who is probably going to add a lot of colour to the ongoing story banter. There’s a lot of charisma and interest being generated from a supposedly simple racing story, that it feels refreshing that we’re not dealing with Rebels vs Imperials and/or Jedis for once. Darius means well with his races, and gives Shade a fair shake, while Kestar is the asshole we’d love to stand up and beat races with. There are also a ton of other racers that you’ll fight with, or even befriend, each with their own accents, personalities, and racing styles.

Arcade mode is just your quickplay: I used a Pod Racer and controlled famed racing alien Sebulba in a series of 5 laps through a desert planet course. This bit’s faster than usual as Pod Racers favour speed over every other aspect. Turning and pivoting is a challenge as every other racer have the same advantage, so I had to play dirty by colliding and snaking for the upper hand. With all the taunting in alien languages going on, and how aggressive the AI was, they deserve the crashes coming to them courtesy of my Burnout-esque skill.

If I have one complaint, it is that some of the maps do need clearer indicators on where to turn and where the sharp corners are. Most of my crashes in Jakku are all attributed to how “brown” some turnings and forks are; I had to squint at some parts of the track to see if I was on the right path or steering towards a wall. I’m not asking for ground arrow indicators ala Forza Horizon series, but some extra signage indicating turns and sharp bends would help. I also get that this is a makeshift course set in a vaguely-legal-and-possibly-criminal situation in a Star Wars world, but it’s still a racing video game that requires some good heads-up design for its beautiful courses.

This Is The Way (Or The Highway)

I don’t normally give high praise to licensed games with decent budgets and prestige attached to them, but Star Wars: Galactic Racer seems to be made with love for racing, sci-fi, and the IP it’s attached to. My hour with the racing title proves that maybe there’s a new hope for such “cash grabs” especially with the clear intent of making a Burnout-style racing game but with landspeeders, speeder bikes, and podracers. That’s a key philosophy I can abide by if it means restoring some integrity to the already whored-out Star Wars brand.

With this and the upcoming Star Wars: Zero Company oncoming (which is basically X-COM but with Jedis, droids, and bounty hunters), alongside Fate of the Old Republic, things are looking up for Star Wars video games this year and the next few. Though among the three, I’ve steering towards the one that lets me explore the racing lore of the Star Wars universe while also flaring up afterburners and space jet engines for glory and profit.

Star Wars: Galactic Racer will be out on October 6 for PC and consoles.