The best Star Wars racing game is still Star Wars Episode I: Racer, from 1999, and you can still buy it on PC, where GOG is the store to use. Racer Revenge, its 2002 sequel, is a close second and the one to play on a PlayStation. Super Bombad Racing is third, Sega's Racer Arcade cabinet is fourth, and Kinect Star Wars is last.
That is the whole field. In 27 years Star Wars has produced five racing games worth ranking, and three of them are nothing but podracing. Galactic Racer arrives Tuesday, October 6, and it is the first new one in a long time. It is unscored and unranked here, with a note at the end.
How we ranked them
Two questions, in this order:
- What did critics say? Metacritic where a score exists. The 1999 versions of Episode I Racer came out before Metacritic covered them, so we used GameRankings for those.
- Can you play it today, and for how much? A game you can only play on a 25-year-old console with a disc from a secondhand shop drops below one you can download tonight.
Racer Arcade has no aggregate score anywhere we looked, so its place is our judgment, and we say why in its entry. Kinect Star Wars is a collection of modes, and podracing is only one of them. Its score covers the whole disc.
The five at a glance
| # | Game | Year | Score | Where to play it | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Episode I Racer | 1999 | 75.78% N64 (GameRankings); remaster 70 Switch | Steam, GOG, Switch, PS4, Xbox One | $9.99 Steam; $14.99 consoles |
| 2 | Racer Revenge | 2002 | 73 | PS4 and PS5, as a PS2 classic | $9.99, or PS Plus Premium |
| 3 | Super Bombad Racing | 2001 | 71 | PS2 disc only | Not sold |
| 4 | Racer Arcade | 2000 | None | Arcade cabinet | Not sold |
| 5 | Kinect Star Wars | 2012 | 55 (whole game) | Xbox 360 with Kinect | Not sold |
Prices are US store prices as we checked them in the week of September 27.
The ranking
Star Wars Episode I: Racer 1999
LucasArts
- Metacritic
- 70
- Sold
- 3.12M
The podrace from The Phantom Menace, built by LucasArts with more than 20 pilots, a parts shop run by Watto and a boost you have to manage against your engine temperature. Its 1999 scores are the best on this list: 75.78 percent on GameRankings for the Nintendo 64 version, 75.42 on Dreamcast and 73.79 on PC. It also won Console Racing Game of the Year at the Interactive Achievement Awards, and Guinness's 2011 Gamer's Edition listed it as the best-selling science fiction racing game, at 3.12 million copies.
The score above is Metacritic's 70 for the 2020 Switch release by Aspyr. The PS4 version has 63 and Xbox One 60. Reviewers liked the frame rate and the sharper image, and called it more re-release than remaster: no online play and no difficulty settings.
- Where to play it: on PC, Steam sells it for $9.99 and GOG for $9.99 regular. GOG had it at $3.49 the week of September 27, so check there first. Both ship the 1999 build already patched to run on modern Windows, and Valve rates it Playable on Steam Deck. Switch and PS4 are $14.99, and the Switch version runs on Switch 2. It launched on Xbox One at $14.99.
- Before you start: the PC version has a few known crashes and wants a frame-rate cap. Our modern PC guide has every fix, and our best podracer guide covers who to race with and what to upgrade first.
Star Wars Racer Revenge 2002
Rainbow Studios
- Metacritic
- 73
Rainbow Studios' sequel for PlayStation 2, and the meaner of the two: wrecking rivals is the point, and the tracks are built for it. Critics liked it slightly more than the Episode I remaster: Metacritic 73 from 34 reviews, with IGN at 8.4 and GameSpot at 7.1. X-Play gave it 2 out of 5, so it had detractors.
It sits second because the original's 1999 reception was stronger and because Episode I Racer is easier to get. Racer Revenge never came to PC.
- Where to play it: on PS4 and PS5, as a PS2 classic, for $9.99 on the PlayStation Store. It is also included with PS Plus Premium, and the classic renders at 1080p with trophies. Our PS5 guide lists it with the other PlayStation classics.
- Who it is for: PlayStation owners who have finished the first game, or anyone with Premium who wants a free night of podracing.
Star Wars: Super Bombad Racing 2001
LucasArts
- Metacritic
- 71
A kart racer with big-headed prequel characters and weapons, made by Lucas Learning for PlayStation 2 in 2001. Metacritic averages 71 from 21 reviews, which reads better than its reputation. Game Informer gave it 2.5 out of 10 and, in 2015, named it the second-worst Star Wars game ever made. It comes up in our worst Star Wars games ranking as a close call the numbers kept off the list.
Planned versions for Dreamcast, Windows and Mac were cancelled after the PS2 version sold poorly.
- Where to play it: not sold. It never got a digital or PS2 classic release, so you need a PS2 and the original disc.
- Who it is for: collectors, and anyone who wants to settle the argument between Metacritic and Game Informer for themselves.
Star Wars Racer Arcade 2000
Sega
Sega's podracing cabinet from 2000, built with LucasArts on Sega's Hikaru arcade board. It has four tracks, including the Boonta Eve Classic, four pilots (Anakin, Sebulba, Ben Quadinaros and Gasgano) and a 50-inch deluxe cockpit cabinet that can link up to four machines. It was the fifth most successful dedicated arcade game in Japan in August 2000.
We found no aggregate score for it anywhere. We put it fourth on our own judgment: it was a hit where it ran, but four tracks is a short game, and you cannot buy it.
- Where to play it: not sold. It was never released at home, so it is a cabinet in an arcade or a collector's garage.
Kinect Star Wars 2012
Terminal Reality
- Metacritic
- 55
Terminal Reality's motion-controlled game for Xbox 360, released in April 2012. Podracing is one mode out of several: you hold your arms out as throttles and pull one back to steer. The rest of the disc is a Jedi campaign, a rancor rampage and the Galactic Dance-Off. Metacritic's 55 covers all of it, and it lands at number six in our worst Star Wars games ranking.
- Where to play it: not sold. Kinect games do not work through backward compatibility on Xbox One or Series consoles, so you need an Xbox 360, an original Kinect sensor and the disc.
The ones we did not rank
These are racing games, or racing inside something else, with no score to rank them on.
Episode I: Anakin's Speedway (2000)
A children's game from Lucas Learning for PC and Mac: you assemble a podracer, learn a little about what the parts do, then race it. It is aimed at young kids, and its game hub has the details.
The LEGO podraces
LEGO Star Wars (2005) and The Complete Saga both include a podrace level. They are levels inside larger games, so they do not count as racing games here. The Complete Saga hub has the rest.
Racer Rush (2012)
A top-down Flash podracer on StarWars.com, with three tracks on Hoth, Tatooine and Naboo, made for the 3D re-release of The Phantom Menace. The site that hosted it is gone, and so is the game.
Star Wars Journeys: The Phantom Menace (2014)
A $6.99 iOS storybook app from Disney with a podracing game tucked inside: twelve Tatooine tracks, a garage for customizing your pod and no in-app purchases. We could not confirm whether it is still on the App Store.
Star Wars: Beyond Victory (2025)
ILMxLAB's podracing piece for Meta Quest 3, at $19.99, using both VR and mixed reality. We did not have a score for it when we built this list, so it stays unranked. Its game hub has the details.
Star Wars: Galactic Racer (October 6, 2026)
The one coming Tuesday. Fuse Games' racer is out October 6 on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, set in the New Republic era with podracing among its vehicles. Standard is $59.99 and Deluxe $79.99. Fuse's creative director, Kieran Crimmins, told PCGamesN the studio plays Episode I Racer and Racer Revenge "all the time." It goes on this list once there are scores and we have played it. Until then, our preorder guide says which edition to buy and whether to wait, and the launch page has the countdown.
Which one to play
You want the best one: Episode I Racer on PC, from whichever store is cheaper that week. Then read the PC guide.
You play on a console: Episode I Racer at $14.99 on Switch, where it also runs on Switch 2. Our Switch guide covers the rest of that shelf.
You have PS Plus Premium: Racer Revenge costs you nothing extra. Start there.
You are waiting for Galactic Racer: the $9.99 Steam copy of Episode I Racer is a cheap way to spend the weekend before Tuesday.
The details
- Episode I Racer's original scores are GameRankings averages: Nintendo 64 75.78 percent, Dreamcast 75.42, PC 73.79, Game Boy Color 69.44. The 2020 remaster's Metacritic scores are Switch 70 (17 reviews), PS4 63 (4) and Xbox One 60 (1). Its sales figure is from Guinness World Records 2011: Gamer's Edition.
- Racer Revenge (73, 34 reviews), Super Bombad Racing (71, 21 reviews) and Kinect Star Wars (55) are Metacritic scores. Racer Arcade has no aggregate score.
- Prices are US store prices checked the week of September 27, 2026. GOG's $3.49 for Episode I Racer was a sale and may have ended. The Xbox One price is the launch price; we could not load the current store page.
