Let’s go back in time to 1999. We were on the verge of the new millennium, and while people were excited about it, or terrified due to Y2k paranoia, there was something else that year that had people even more excited. That was the return of Star Wars with Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. While the film didn’t live up to people’s expectations, it did introduce everyone to podracing and the idea of high speed races in a galaxy far far away. This was only heightened with the release of Star Wars Episode I: Racer. Now over 27 years later, we’re getting the spiritual successor to that game with Star Wars: Galactic Racer. At Summer Game Fest earlier this month, we got to go hands on with the game, and it felt so good playing this new arcade racer.

We got to spend an hour playing the opening of Star Wars: Galactic Racer’s single player campaign as well as got our hands on the separate podracing game mode. The campaign puts players in the racing boots of the mysterious character Shade who gets roped into competing in the Galactic League by its founder, who even gets Shade to deliver his own speeder to compete, to take down the best racer in the league. The campaign takes place after the events of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi and takes you to tracks on multiple iconic planets such as Jakku and Lantaana. The campaign has you go through a chart which is usually linear for what race you tackle next. There are points where you can choose a different split path with a different race though.

There are multiple types of races for you to compete in as well. Standard Races are the typical race where you are aiming for first place. Elimination Races have you competing against other racers where the last place racer is eliminated at points throughout with the goal of making it to at least the top three places, and then win. Then, there are Field Tests which has you taking a certain speeder out to achieve a goal such as going a certain distance or completing a track in a certain amount of time. Races need League Entry Tokens to compete in, and if you lose all your tokens your run is over and you must start again. Depending on your placement in the race, you earn Galactic Credits that you can spend on a variety of Upgrades between races.

The gameplay of Star Wars: Galactic Racer is a blast. Racing overall feels great and controls exceptionally. The tracks have many different twists and turns and different paths you can take. I even replayed a few races just to find the most optimal route and possible shortcuts. Coming from developers that worked on Burnout, you’re also able to cause other racers to crash by running up against them and forcing them into a wall or obstacle. However, this also applies to you as well, and if you crash too many times you end up Wrecked and automatically lose the race. Once you’re able to master which speeder you have and know the course, you’ll be flying through them with little to no risk from the NPC racers. However, when we switched to the podracing mode, I don’t think I’ve ever crashed as many times as I did there as the speed of those races feel on a completely different level compared to the races in the campaign mode.

Star Wars: Galactic Racer looks to be a great return to racing in such a beloved universe. Fans won’t have to wait long as the game is set to release later this year on October 6, 2026 for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series S|X.