5 things Star Wars: Galactic Racer has Taught us!

More than the sum of Sebulba’s brilliant mentorship, we feel Fuse Games has shared some key things that might shape a championship future for all and sundry...

If you haven’t played Star Wars: Galactic Racer because you either don’t know the developer or the publisher, or just think “Star Wars racing? Sounds arcade lame to me”, you are wrong. Dead. Last. Wrong. Not only is this one of the better Star Wars outings of the past few years, it’s also arguably one of the best racing experiences, wildcarded among a heady grid of would-be starters and finishers with pedigree worthy of an F1 Series pit lane and garage all to themselves, in the real-world, this year. But that’s because the pedigree of Galactic Racer is of the best stock, which is something we know all-too well, because some of this team presented to us, eons ago at an E3, a running demo of a racing game they envisioned would change the genre forever.

That backroom E3 demo was an early glimpse at Burnout...

Fuse Games, made up of ex-Criterion folks, among others, knows what it’s doing. Some of this team has also worked on Star Wars titles in the past, specifically DICE’s Battlefront series among a handful of others, so equally knows this IP. And the result speaks for itself. Galactic Racer is a stunning and fast racer posing as an arcade experience, yet packing beneath its makeshift ‘scrap’ hood a deep and rewarding roguelike that taps into the studio’s roots in the original Burnout, while also paying some of the best possible homage to Star Wars: Episode 1 - Racer -- the only other best Star Wars-based racing game ever released. Yet it also does this by equally tapping into other similar styles of game such as F-Zero, WipEout and the more recent Redout series. Hell, there’s even the sense that Mad Max might have had a hand in inspiring parts of the game, both thematically and dramatically. Jakku in particular tickles that nod, but in glorious Star Wars fashion, no less.

And while Galactic Racer has been garnering a mixed bag of reviews, for us it’s begged a few questions post-release about what it taps into, what it demonstrates is possible and just how much this studio has yet to give.

Read on, dear Backer...

Star Wars: Galactic Racer

Genre: Racing-Rogulike
Developer: Fuse Games
Publisher: Secret Mode
Release Date: October 6, 2026
Classification: PG
Author: Stephen Farrelly
Date: October 21, 2026

This Team Can Make a Standalone Star Wars Adventure not Beholden to Racing

There was a Star Wars series on N64 and then GameCube from Factor 5 called Rogue Squadron that, to this day, remains a fan-favourite. Its early entries in Rogue Squadron and Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader were all aerial and space combat in gameplay approach, meaning you always controlled a vehicle. A third entry, Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike offered up options to fight on foot and even swap vehicles inside of missions. As fan-requested as that feature was, it didn’t translate very well and Rebel Strike remains one of the lower points in that series.

"It’s in its writing and VO delivery that Galactic Racer shines. It’s quirky, and adventurous in its portrayal of an admittedly small cast, but each race and each’s background story feels intimately lifted from Star Wars canon..."

Galactic Racer has already shown us what Fuse Games can do with a basic avatar in Shade running around not in a vehicle, and it’s glorious. Not only is it an over-the-shoulder perspective more in line with modern third-person action-adventure outings, but he moves well and the world around is as detailed as anything. And while most other characters and elements in your paddock are fairly static, we don’t foresee that being the case given how much attention to detail still exists both in front of you, and far off into the horizon. And, if we take a look at both Respawn’s Jedi Survivor series and Massive’s Star Wars Outlaws, those games’ protagonists suffered respective issues in animations and movement to the point we feel Fuse's effort already outshines, even with limited movement.

But more even than Shade’s movements or the game’s visual presentation, it’s in its writing and VO delivery that Galactic Racer shines. It’s quirky, and adventurous in its portrayal of an admittedly small cast, but each racer and each’s background story feels intimately lifted from Star Wars canon, whether it Biddy Blas and his small-alien syndrome or Soren Zaks and his adventurous journey from rebel engineer to Galactic League racer -- everyone’s story is fleshed out, easy to digest and yet tantalising in us wanting more. Not just from them as characters, but from Fuse Games as writers.

Sebulba’s Galactic Racer ‘Cameo’ Should be Just the Tip of His Iceberg

Speaking of memorable characters and great writing, Sebulba definitely steals the show in Galactic Racer. His interactive flashback moments turn up much-needed volume on his own life before and after his showdown with young Anakin in Episode 1, and with Galactic Racer we also get a glimpse into the odd camaraderie he had with his fellow pod racers, such as Ody Mandrell, Ben Quadinaros and Dud Bolt, to name a pit few.

"He’s just enigmatic and fun and hugely entertaining. We might not need something solo around him from an expansive storytelling perspective, but we need to see more of him beyond Galactic Racer..."

Equally, delivery of his lines in his distinct Huttese is as good as it was in the Phantom Menace, thanks in large part to the studio bringing back OG voice actor, Lewis MacLeod, for proceedings which simply leans into the authenticity of it all. And MacLeod never misses a beat. 

Sebulba’s nuggets of wisdom and reluctance to be ‘old’ also flesh him out as a kind of Star Wars Mr Miyagi though not in charge of Force teachings for would-be Jedi. This equally helps us realise the whole of the Star Wars universe from a different perspective, almost in line with the likes of an Andor where we were privy to everyday life for galactic citizens (to a degree). Naturally his story is far less important in the grand scheme of change (outside of his Anakin clash), but that doesn’t make him any less important. More than all of that, though, he’s just enigmatic and fun and hugely entertaining. We might not need something solo around him from an expansive storytelling perspective, but we need to see more of him beyond Galactic Racer. 

He’s a gem.

The “F” in F-Zero Could Stand for “Fuse (Games)”

We couldn’t shake the want for this team to also be approached by Nintendo to finally bring F-Zero into modernity. The last proper instalment in the franchise was way back in 2003 by the then A-teams in arcade racing, Amusement Vision and SEGA, with F-Zero GX (which also spawned an actual arcade cabinet version titled F-Zero AX). The last 23 years, though, have only seen the series’ main protagonist, Captain Falcon, appear from the franchise and that’s not even in a racing environment, but rather the ever-evolving battlegrounds of Super Smash Bros. And the fans are getting tired of the lack of an F-Zero proper with current systems.

"A roguelike setup for an F-Zero campaign featuring racing and intergalactic bounty hunting between Captain Falcon and his ragtag group of racers, up against Dark Million and its leader, Black Shadow, is kind of begging for a Galactic Racer-like green light..."

Of course, there is F-Zero 99, which is a suped-up version of the SNES classic with up to 99 players, but we’re not counting that because we want a modern, up to date and expansive F-Zero experience, and we reckon Fuse Games would be the perfect partner to bring this to life. The studio’s racing pedigree has already been accounted for in this feature, but now we can also highlight its ability to apply sci-fi aesthetics and ludicrous speed to its arsenal, as well as storytelling. In fact, a roguelike setup for an F-Zero campaign featuring racing and intergalactic bounty hunting between Captain Falcon and his ragtag group of racers, up against Dark Million and its leader, Black Shadow, is kind of begging for a Galactic Racer-like green light.

Please make this happen Fuse and Nintendo. And remember, dear patron, you read it here first.

It’s So Good it Deserves an Official Sim Rig (and VR)

Finally, and in concert with our praise for it thus far, we just think an official sim rig option should be there for the cashed-up or engineer-centric die-hards. Workarounds are already out in the HOTAS wild, but against that pedigree we’ve championed throughout as far as Fuse Games’ background, we just think the fans deserve something in the official basket of offerings.

"The game-world per track is simply stunning and while you’d probably get a headache from all the crashes caused by extensive sight-seeing, it’d probably be worth it - especially in the podracing flashbacks..."

Obviously a full three-screen setup with the option for throttles or steering would work, such as this podracer example, but we also feel throwing in VR for the whole sim experience also makes sense. The game-world per track is simply stunning and while you’d probably get a headache from all the crashes caused by extensive sight-seeing, it’d probably be worth it -- especially in the podracing flashbacks. We can already feel the Gs!

Right now there’s no word on anything being officially supported, but the game is currently critically successful and continues to hover around the top of global best seller charts, so the thinking is this could find its way into future updates. Hopefully alongside a few quality of life fixes and potential DLC (new planets, racers and Sebulba memories would be very welcome). So, if you’re one of the HOTAS community, stay tuned. 

For everyone else, if you haven’t yet played Galactic Racer, hopefully all of the above gives you enough of a reason to jump on in. It is arguably the best new entry in the Star Wars gaming sphere in some time, and is also a wonderful and exciting debut title from a studio we now have set firmly in our ‘dev faves’ rollerdex.

We just… we really want these guys to make the next F-Zero -- get on it, Fuse Games.

About the author

Written By Stephen Farrelly
Stephen Farrelly is a veteran journalist and editor with more than two decades experience in the worlds of gaming, entertainment, lifestyle and sport. He is a proud pug dad, loves art in all forms (particularly street and tattoo culture), and is the director of Swear Jar Editorial and Media Pty Ltd, this site's owner and publisher. When not dispensing words, he's also dispensing boutique beers as a taproom fixture at Bracket Brewing in Marrickville, NSW...
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