I read a comment about Star Racer somewhere that I quite liked, the gist being that it’s the latest in the ‘F*** it, I’ll do it myself’ genre. This describes a release where an indie developer has decided to fill a gap left open by a bigger studio.
The clamour for a new mainline entry in the F-Zero series has touched on melodrama for years. On one side, there’s the constant demands calling for something…anything new (my voice included). In response, figures from Nintendo have developed an ascetic attitude, often responding with something along the lines of ‘What would be the point?’
Excuses have ranged from the cost of a new game being prohibitive to a more famous idea that the series has been effectively bled dry, that only a clever new idea on the formula would justify another day at the intergalactic races. Ironically, back in 2023, when we first became aware of Star Racer thanks to its Kickstarter, Nintendo had, indeed, just announced and launched the multiplayer-focused F-Zero 99.
I’ll inevitably then have to compare these two games a little — Star Racer and F-Zero 99 — the indie upstart versus its Nintendo-led rival. After all, they’re both pixel-art inspired retro takes on Nintendo’s futuristic second (or third?) favourite racer.
At first glance, both seem inspired by the franchise’s SNES heyday while incorporating gameplay evolutions from later games like the spin attack and — after the completion of one lap — the ability to boost at the cost of some health.
The battle-royale element of 99 may make the following statement more overt, but both these games are something a little more than just ‘mere racers’ – they’re more like ‘survival racers’. Not everyone gets to cross the finish line, and balancing health is a huge part of the risk-reward buzz of the experience.
Before going on, let’s first acknowledge Star Racer’s ‘clever new idea’. Here, flying has entered the mix too, transforming the gameplay into something like a racing F-Zero/Star Fox hybrid – for better or worse. More on this in a second.
F-Zero games have a steep learning curve, and my first impression of Star Racer was appropriately daunting. The first minute or so — as I smashed into the walls at 800kph, pinballed between barriers, and fell off tracks hopelessly out of control while the other 15 drivers sped off into the distance — I was convinced I was in over my head. But with four difficulty settings available and the lesson learnt that it is very important to release the accelerator when approaching a tight corner, I had space to master the basics. On the easiest difficulty settings, I quickly started competing. Progress.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/switch-eshop/star-racer
