Galactic Racer takes the podracing sequence from Episode I and turns it into a whole game, and the reviewer says it’s one of their favorite Star Wars games in years. The game follows a new character named Shade who wants to beat Kestar Bool, a smug champion racer whose family took over Shade’s planet. The setup is simple: race, win upgrades, and avoid getting blown up.
The core loop is a roguelike progression system. Each season starts with a cheap, broken vehicle, and you win races across planets like Tatooine and Ando Prime to upgrade it. Crash too much or lose a few key races, and you restart with a new vehicle and a fresh set of random events.
Fast Machines, Fast Tracks
The variety of vehicles is the star. Landspeeders drift well but take time to reach top speed. Skimmers use movable fins to turn tightly and never slow down. Speeder bikes burst ahead with incredible acceleration but offer little protection against racers who try to bash you off the track. Podracers move faster than anything else and feel like they’re about to explode at any moment.
Boosting and Blowing Up
Boosting adds a layer of tension. There’s a basic turbo button that uses a meter, and there’s a Ramjet super-boost that’s even faster. Use it incorrectly, and your vehicle blows up mid-race. You can still win if you cross the line as you explode.
Dodging hazards like acid and lava while managing shields and a boost meter is a lot to juggle at once. Early on, the reviewer crashed into a lot of rocks and lost a lot of races. As the handling improved, the racing felt smooth and fast.
Broken Parts and Quick-Time Events
Crashes build toward failure. Smash into walls or other racers too much, and your vehicle picks up negative status effects, like drifting in one direction. There’s a small QTE mini-game to avoid picking up those effects, and nailing those made the reviewer feel like Anakin Skywalker flipping switches in his podracer.
Fail too much, and your benefactor will ditch you. The game rewards winning and completing challenges on the track with upgrades and new parts.
Story Mode and Its Roguelike Setup
The campaign mode is built around the season structure, with Shade taking on Kestar Bool. You can develop rivalries with the other NPC racers, some of whom are real assholes. These rivalries can lead to one-on-one challenge races to prove who is the best.
Play your cards right, and by the end of the story, you might win over some of these bastards to help take down Kestar Bool.
The Roguelike Core
Galactic Racer is an arcade racing game with roguelike elements and competitive multiplayer. The roguelike progression system makes each race more intense, since every crash builds toward a restart.
The game’s focus on racing rather than the larger Star Wars story is a strength. Not every Star Wars game needs to connect to Luke Skywalker or the Rebels.
What We Liked
- Fast, varied racing across multiple planets
- Different handling for landspeeders, skimmers, speeder bikes, and podracers
- Competitive multiplayer with rivalries and challenge races
- The QTE mini-games tied to vehicle repairs
What We Didn’t Love
Kotaku‘s review notes some dents and imperfections, but none of them held the game back from finishing strong.
The back-of-the-box quote sums it up: “A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far away… I did a sick drift and hit a ramp.”
Source material: “Star Wars: Galactic Racer: The Kotaku Review,” Kotaku.
Get the Notebook.
The day's best stories and every fresh verdict, in plain English, in your inbox by seven. One email a day, no more.