There are plenty of Star Wars games that sell you the big fantasy. Be a Jedi. Blow up a Death Star. Command a fleet. Save the galaxy before lunch. Star Wars Episode I: Racer does none of that. Instead, it looks at one of the loudest, dustiest, most gloriously unhinged scenes in The Phantom Menace and says: “You know what? Let’s build an entire game around this insane space go-kart death sport.” And somehow, LucasArts absolutely nailed it. If you’ve been exploring our Complete List of All Star Wars Games Ever Made (1979–Present), this is one of those entries that reminds you how wonderfully unpredictable Star Wars games could be in the late ’90s. It launched in 1999 and was developed by LucasArts as a racing game built around the podracing sequence from Episode I, later appearing across multiple platforms and eventually getting modern rereleases as well. One movie scene,…
Star Wars Episode I Racer
Star Wars Episode I: Racer – Celebrating the Podracing Classic That Still Holds the Throttle
Back in 1999, a little thing called Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace hit theaters. Among the many things it brought to the Star Wars universe—like double-bladed lightsabers and midichlorians—was one particularly thrilling scene: the podrace on Tatooine. If you watched that and thought, I need to do that… minus the risk of fiery explosions, then Star Wars Episode I: Racer was your ticket to speed. Released on this day in 1999, Star Wars Episode I: Racer threw players right into the pilot seat of Anakin Skywalker’s podracer, letting them blast through the canyons of Tatooine, dodge asteroids on Ando Prime, and squeeze through the narrow tubes of Oovo IV. It was blisteringly fast, occasionally frustrating, and absolutely iconic. The Fastest Game in the Galaxy Back in the late ’90s, the idea of racing at 600 miles per hour through desert canyons wasn’t just ambitious—it was practically ludicrous….