Star Wars Galactic Preview: Now This Is Pod Racing

There really is something uniquely exciting about the prospect of a Star Wars racing game, and over the years, there have been some absolute doozies. That sterling legacy started with the release of Star Wars Episode I: Racer in 1999 (though the 2000s Dreamcast version is the one to play), and continued with releases like Star Wars Racer Revenge and Star Wars: Super Bombad Racing.

The next game up to the proverbial plate is Star Wars: Galactic Racer, which releases at a time when technology has greatly improved, and the potential of an official racing tie-in is higher than ever. Happily, from what I've seen so far, this won't only be the best racing game linked to the franchise so far, but it might be one of the better Star Wars games of all time.

This preview is limited to the single-player portion of the game, and in that respect, the first element that really jumps out is the effort that the developer has put into building a genuinely intriguing story. Taking place in the New Republic, after the fall of the Empire, you (slightly unwillingly) set out to compete in the Galactic League, created by the likeable Darius Pax.

This is the premise that serves as the background for the main campaign, and from there you'll be working through a series of races across several iconic worlds (and some new ones) to hopefully come out on top in the Galactic Tour. This takes the form of a run-based system, where you'll need to complete each race to progress on to the next.

This doesn't come without jeopardy, as you'll need at least one League Entry Token to continue competing. These can be lost for not finishing in the top three in certain races, or for crashing too many times in others, and if you run out, then you are booted back to the start of the portion of the tour where it all went wrong.

The biggest contributing factor to whether you succeed or not is, of course, your vehicle, which you can upgrade by spending rewards and currencies you earn for finishing well or meeting certain criteria. This is where you really have the freedom to make the experience your own, with each stat and upgrade making a real difference to how fast the speeder goes, or how well it handles.

For the most part, you'll be racing the aforementioned speeders during the campaign, and goodness gracious are they fun to handle. You get access to a regular afterburner, as well as the ramjet, which gives you an enormous boost of temporary spin at the risk of crashing into a wall at 400mph.

Handling is difficult to get used to, but so rewarding when you get it right, while the chaos of being ever so slightly out of control feels absolutely appropriate for the type of racing we're doing. Along the way, you'll also be chatting to a myriad of different characters (many of whom hate your guts), and earning your position as a legend in the world of racing.

Galactic Racer also features an Arcade Mode, which allows players to take part in curated events using all of the vehicles and locations featured in the campaign. This was the format we sampled Podracing in, and its here where the game really starts to shine.

As well as being the iconic type of racing that we were introduced to in The Phantom Menace, the crafts feel significantly faster, and successfully navigating a full race without slip-ups, not to mention finishing in first, is hugely rewarding. Plus, Sebulba is one of the characters you can compete against, and who doesn't love beating that insufferable little twerp.

A big part of the overall experience in Star Wars: Galactic Racer is the multiplayer, and you'll have to wait to hear our thoughts on that, but taking the single-player in isolation, developer Fuse Games have absolutely nailed it, as it stands. There's every world where this game offers full value for money without you ever having the need to engage with the online elements. If those can deliver, then this could easily be an all-time great franchise release.