Review: Star Wars Galactic Racer Satisfies a Decade-Long Burnout Itch

Star Wars: Galactic Racer can unironically claim to be the next great game in a storied list of Star Wars racing titles that existed almost exclusively during the prequel trilogy era. Despite the mixed reaction to the podracing scene in The Phantom Menace, the games born from that moment are fondly remembered by gamers and Star Wars fans alike. There aren’t a lot of games that let one player use two Nintendo 64 controllers at the same time, but Star Wars: Episode 1 Racer being able to make it work well enough that it’s not a total embarrassment is an amazing achievement that still gets brought up by all sorts of retro game content creators on social media.

At the same time, Star Wars: Galactic Racer can also unironically claim to be the next great game in the Burnout series. Developed by Fuse Games, which is composed of devs who previously worked at Criterion, the team behind the legendary arcade racing and car crash simulator. Galactic Racer is able to capture that Burnout magic of chasing a rival down a narrow path or a secret alternate route at impossible speeds in buttery smooth frame rates and seeing it all end with a visceral slow motion crash. The feeling of going so fast it looks like you're out of control when you’re actually locked in was a Burnout speciality that now has its successor, in a Star Wars-themed game of all places.

But can Star Wars: Galactic Racer unironically claim to be the next great game in the overall Star Wars series? It’s been a strong year in that field, as both Galactic Racer and the tactical turn-based Star Wars Zero Company have turned the tide from the less than stellar narrative that has plagued the franchise since the disappointing reception to Star Wars: Outlaws (a good game that got caught up in internet nonsense). But where Zero Company is a good game for its genre, Galactic Racers is a great game in any context and easily a Game of the Year contender.

What is Star Wars: Galactic Racer?

Galactic Racer is an arcade-style roguelite racing game that was released on October 6, 2026 for the Playstation 5, Xbox Series S and X, and the PC. The game is available in both physical disc and digital versions for $59.99, a steelbook Deluxe Edition with bonus liveries and content for $79.99, and a now sold-out $159.99 Collector’s Edition with all of the Deluxe Edition extras and a landspeeder replica, physical art book, and other collectibles.

The premise for Star Wars: Galactic Racer should appeal to fans who are into the deep lore of the franchise, especially the parts where there is little to no Skywalker involvement. Taking place during the New Republic era, the underworld aims to revive high speed racing to its glory days. However, unlike the past, the races take place on the unsanctioned, unsafe, and probably unsanitary Outer Rim. The locations include familiar planets like Tatooine, Jakku, Ando Prime, and others. Interestingly, through in-between race dialogue with rivals, you learn that podracing is the most dangerous form of racing and is outlawed. But because it’s a video game about racing in Star Wars, it would be silly for podracing to actually stay unavailable. Just don’t expect it to be unlocked right away as you get your fix in landspeeders, skim speeders, and speeder bikes early on in your career.

While Galactic Racer includes the usual menu of race types and time trials, the unique execution of the game’s story mode is one that should keep people coming back when they’re not racing against their fellow Padawans online. With its roguelite structure, every league that your character Shade joins is its own unique journey. As you team up with organizer Darius Pax and your mechanic Hibi to take on Kesta Bool, aka the Lance Stroll of the Galactic League, your path diverges after a race event as you try use your winnings to upgrade your craft or meet up with an unscrupulous character who might try to sell you on upgrades that come with a costly tradeoff. While you can progress through the early parts of the game without actually winning or making a podium, you will eventually feel underpowered against superior racers and be eliminated either by crashing enough times or not hitting a required position in an eliminator race. And when you do lose a run, you lose almost all of your upgrades before starting over again in a new league. The roguelite nature of the game means that when you converse with other characters, they will remember you. Progressing through multiple leagues and character storylines will lead to unlockable driving styles, liveries, and other updates that you carry over to future runs. And while the scummy and villainous vibes are alive and well in Galactic Racer, you can’t deny the power of Biddy Blas.

Who is Biddy Blas?

Only the best new Star Wars side character in decades, of course. Homey looks straight out of a George Lucas brainstorming session during the original trilogy. The character has achieved viral status and the voice actor could not be any happier about it. Scrib doon…

How is the actual racing?

Epic, and it’s not just the racing. The Burnout influence mixed with some classic Wipeout is evidenced from the first time you hit top speed. Races begin with a small button pressing minigame that gives a minor stat boost or a slight jump at the start. The sense of speed blurs the screen as all you can focus on is getting the right blend of Afterburner and Ramjet (the game’s alternating boost modes that have to be managed correctly or you risk blowing up), drifting to avoid hard brakes, not crashing because the game can sometimes be obtuse about where to go, and maybe ramming into an opponent so they can fall back a few spots. Barrelling down Jakku as you whiz by a downed Empire Star Destroyer is just one of the amazing visuals that relay the scope of where you are.

Another obvious homage from the Burnout team is the after effect of you crashing into someone. When a crash occurs nearby that you either directly or indirectly caused, the game will cut back to the mayhem in slow motion. Unfortunately, once the replay ends, the game occasionally discombobulates you and places you at a spot that messes up your flow and you need to regain a sense of direction. While it’s an option that can be turned off if you just want to focus solely on the face without distractions, the idea of doing so might annoy a Burnout purist. And with most races lasting between 90 seconds to three minutes before the Galactic Tour gets into the more difficult endurance runs, it’s an easy pick-up-and-go experience, even if it is nerve racking to see most races go down to the wire with the most tense pieces of Star Wars music encouraging you to get to the finish. Not for nothing, Sebulba’s hyping of podracing rings true when you’re finishing races in the time it takes to heat up a slice of cold pizza.

The game’s online modes offer a number of race types that range from the casual quick race to the more involved tours that keep you grouped with a number of racers for 5 to 6 go-arounds. Like the Galactic Tour, the multiplayer tours give you time in between races to upgrade your rig before moving on to the next thing but with less time to spend talking trash with Biddy Blas. Time Trials have never been a thing I go back to beyond the cursory try, but the brevity of Galactic Racer’s tracks nails down how precise you have to be to shave milliseconds off a run.

The Rating: 5 Out of 5 Stars

Galactic Racer is the best racing game of any discipline to release since Burnout Paradise from the PS3 and Xbox 360 era. While Paradise was the apex of Criterion’s beloved franchise, there was a valid grumbling from fans who wanted both the potential for an open world Burnout and the closed-off linearity from previous entries. Galactic Racer feels like the acknowledgement of that desire to go back to where it all started, but with a splash of Star Wars whimsy to entice people to give it a chance in a way that they never gave Burnout (2010’s Paradise was the last entry in the series save for re-releases and remasters). While we are a long ways away from Fuse Games writing Star Wars Paradise on their vision board, Galactic Racer will carry on the Burnout legacy. Well, it’s that and Biddy Blas.

This review is based on a retail copy of Star Wars: Galactic Racer for the PlayStation 5.

Juan Martinez

From video game journalism to veteran of the sneaker blog era to podcasting about well, everything, Juan is smiling through it all and can't believe this is his life. His current hot take is that people are really underrating the Psyduck trading card market. Email: juan@soleretriever.com Instagram | Twitter | Bluesky | Threads : @ezyville