Star Wars: Galactic Racer review – podracing paradise

Sebulba strikes back (Secret Mode) Burnout and Need For Speed veterans apply their racing chops to Star Wars, in what is the best sci-fi racer of the generation. Between Zero Company, Outlaws and Jedi: Survivor, we’re currently in a new golden era of Star Wars video games. Ironically, it comes at a time when enthusiasm around Star Wars as a whole has never been lower, with the last film, The Mandalorian and Grogu, being the lowest-grossing live action film in the franchise. Gaming’s cinematic sophistication over the past decade might be one reason for this hot streak, but the medium can also now, on a technical level, bring to life the galaxy far, far away like never before. There’s a sense Star Wars games have freedom to flesh out unseen corners of the universe too – without being beholden to the Skywalkers or another Boba Fett resurrection. Star Wars: Galactic Racer might have been pitched based on nostalgia for the podracing sequence in Episode I – The Phantom Menace, but it’s fleshing out a sport within the franchise which has been largely ignored for over 20 years. Similarly, within the context of games, sci-fi racers are about as fashionable as Jar Jar Binks himself – with the likes of Wipeout and F-Zero largely only mentioned today in regards to their prolonged absence. This makes Star Wars: Galactic Racer a niche proposition in 2026, but it’s one that’s primed to thrill anyone who still flutters at the chug of Sebulba’s engines. Even if you don’t know your Teemto Pagalies from your Ben Quadinaros, this is a meticulously designed and exhilarating racer, with some unexpected nuts and bolts layered into its construction. While podracing is a key attraction, Star Wars: Galactic Racer is largely focused around three other vehicle types: landspeeders, speeder bikes, and skim speeders. You’re introduced to the quirks of each in a slick tutorial when you boot up the campaign. In short, landspeeders are all-rounders with high durability, speeder bikes are fragile but get a small boost after drifting, while skim speeders – a new creation for this game – can breeze around tight corners by pivoting 90 degrees with their ‘knife edge’ ability. Expert, exclusive gaming analysis Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. Beyond each vehicle’s individual perks, the crux of the racing comes down to juggling two boost bars: the afterburner and ramjet. They are tied to cooldown meters, but the ramjet will destroy your vehicle if you push it beyond the ‘redline’ warning zone – so within races, you’re constantly oscillating between the two to maximise your speed. Galactic Racer’s extra juice comes from the abilities and upgrades you utilise on top of this boosting baseline. These abilities range from an extra surging boost, electrical explosions to paralyse nearby racers, deployable mines, a temporary autopilot function, venting to maintain your ramjet for longer periods, and more. There’s a surprising level of versatility in how you can alter your playstyle, whether you prioritise pushing your engines to the limit, being an aggressor with attacks and high defense, or trying to straddle them both in specific ways – like giving your Afterburner an instant recharge if you send a rival screeching into the walls. Flexibility aside, it’s important to stress how fantastic the racing feels. Developer Fuse Games is composed of Burnout and Need For Speed veterans, and their experience is felt in every slow motion crash spectacle and thunderous boost. The excellent sound effects elevate the fantasy, making every rip of the ramjet, or tight slide around a corner, feel like you’re always one scrape away from becoming a flaming ball of rubble. Each planet has distinct weather conditions (Secret Mode) Other sci-fi racers have captured this breakneck feeling, but Galactic Racer layers in dynamic dangers too. If you damage your vehicle too much, abilities and upgrades can malfunction and leave you with negative side effects. At one point, we thought our PS5 controller had started to drift, but it was actually a byproduct of a faulty part on our speeder bike, which had caused it to constantly lean right. It’s these elements of mechanical spontaneity, combined with the flexible builds, which sell the idea that you’re piloting volatile, high-speed machines. The tension is heightened when you switch over to podracers, which are the fragile glass cannons of the Star Wars racing circuit. These are treated as a separate experience within Galactic Racer, equivalent to Formula One, and while it would be comical to see a speeder bike get obliterated by a hulking podracer, the choice to split them makes sense in practice. In fact, the separation fleshes out Galactic Racer’s options, as podracing – while largely hinged around the same mechanics – presents a faster, high-risk flavour of the same mixture. Galactic Racer’s campaign smartly leans into the breadth of its variables. It’s structured like a roguelike, where you complete events on a grid of branching pathways across various planets. As human pilot Shade, your goal, in the first act, is to advance to a head-to-head confrontation with Sebulba, who has been put forward to represent the corrupt Galactic League champion Kestar Bool. If you lose all your league tokens (aka lives) or fail to beat Sebulba in the final race you’re sent back to the beginning of the grid. It sounds irritating, but like other roguelikes, Galactic Racer is designed so runs rarely play out in the same way. After each stage, you earn credits to improve your vehicle’s stats and abilities, so you’re assembling your arsenal on the fly – in a similar way to Hades. While you do lose the vehicle you’ve built when a run ends, you gradually earn ‘tuning points’ which permanently level up a vehicle’s attributes, so a failed run never feels like a waste of time. The mixture of events staves off repetition too. Stages vary between standard races, field tests where you complete a set trial in a specific vehicle, and riskier eliminator races where you have to finish in the top three if you want to advance without losing a life. Kestar Bool is a bit of a stock villain (Secret Mode) There are random elements as well, via mystery encounters. In one example, Kestar Bool doubled the amount of eliminator races on the grid. A separate encounter with rival Biddy Blas, meanwhile, presented the choice of accepting from him an unknown rare part to use in our vehicle, which despite offering short term gains, led to a myriad of errors several races later. When you throw in contracts which offer credits if you complete certain tasks within a run, a series of playable podracing memories with Sebulba, and in-race betting systems which can lead to separate head-to-head showdowns, Galactic Racer’s campaign is far more robust – and thoughtful – in its execution than you’d perhaps be expecting. This carries over to the story and new characters, who are all endearing (shout out to the Scouse engineer Hibi) despite staying within basic Star Wars archetypes. The game is set after Return Of The Jedi, in the New Republic era (so around the same time as The Mandalorian) and paints a neat picture of the role racing plays in the universe, where outsiders with grudges to settle – or nowhere left to turn – seek to escape the past in the lawless Outer Rim. It also sketches in some extra back story for Sebulba, who is now an aged racing legend somewhat past his prime. Multiplayer is a highlight – but it’s only online (Secret Mode) Galactic Racer is generous in its quality and breadth of content but it has cut corners in some areas. The campaign mode features small explorable hubs where you interact with characters, repair faulty parts, and buy upgrades, but the layouts of each are copy and pasted from one planet to the next. More disappointingly, there’s no local multiplayer options, or an offline practice mode where you can actually choose a track to race on. At the moment, the closest is arcade mode, but these are time trial challenges on specific tracks with pre-assigned vehicles. Our only other complaint, which might be seen as a positive, is we simply want more. There are multiple tracks across the six main planets, ranging from Sentinel I’s acid rivers to the cinematic red salts of Crait from The Last Jedi. They’re brilliantly realised, with unique hazards and layouts on each, but a couple more would have lent some visual variety to each campaign run. Similarly, more vehicle types would have been welcome, especially as it’s easy to lock into your favourite (podracers aside) and ignore the other two. Incredibly, we’ve come this far without even touching on the online multiplayer, which might be Galactic Racer’s secret ace. You can jump into quick races – whether podracers or otherwise – or try out the multiplayer tour, which translates the roguelike campaign loop into a series of five races for up to 12 players, complete with upgrades in between. There are incentives beyond the pure thrills too, with new characters and customisation unlocks tied to your online rank. The multiplayer tour is a superb distillation of Galactic Racer’s achievements, as both a racer and a quasi-roguelike experience. Even if you’re at the bottom of the standings after the first few races, the next round of upgrades, or a smart refinement of your build’s parts, could flip the script. Like the best games in the genre though, it still relies on your skill on the track for success. Galactic Racer could have been a cheap nostalgia play, targeted at millennials who have hazy memories of the podracing game on the Nintendo 64. Instead, Fuse Games has over delivered on almost every front. The racing is electric, the surprises consistent, and it’s wrapped in a smartly designed run-based structure which has rarely worked before in the genre. The bar isn’t high when it comes to the best Star Wars racing game, but with Galactic Racer, it’s cleared a generational peak for sci-fi racers at large. Star Wars: Galactic Racer review summary In Short: The best Star Wars racing game ever made, which nails the high-speed fantasy while delivering depth, flexibility, and a surprisingly great campaign. Pros: The racing is a propulsive, thrilling spectacle, with lots of versatility in its upgrade system and abilities. The campaign makes great use of the Star Wars licence and its roguelike run-based structure. Great online multiplayer. Sebulba is given the spotlight he deserves. Cons: No local multiplayer options. The lack of any standard time trial or practise mode means you, bizarrely, can’t just set up a race yourself on any track. Could do with some extra planets and vehicles. Score: 9/10 Formats: PlayStation 5 (reviewed), Xbox Series X/S, and PCPrice: £49.99Publisher: Secret ModeDeveloper: Fuse GamesRelease Date: 6th October 2026Age Rating: 16 All the vehicles have their quirks (Secret Mode) Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. Arrow MORE: Ape Escape return teased by insider as hopes raised for new Astro Bot game Arrow MORE: Games Inbox: What Amiga games deserve a remake? Arrow MORE: Ace Combat 8: Wings Of Theve review – highway to the danger zone GameCentral Sign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content.