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FAST Racing NEO is a futuristic racing game originally released on the Wii U's eShop service. It was developed and published by Shin'en and is the sequel to FAST Racing League released on WiiWare in 2011. FAST Racing NEO is different from most racing games in the way that your vehicle can change "phases" to take advantage of speed boosts.
Whilst the game had originally been released on the eShop service, it was later released as an actual video game product itself for the Wii U as Nintendo eShop Selects edition in European and Australian regions.
A DLC pack, referred to as the "NEO Future Pack", was released on September 30, 2016. A rerelease of this game, titled Fast RMX, was released as a launch game for the Nintendo Switch on March 3, 2017.
Background[]
Set sometime after the year 2112, and after the success of the anti-gravity, phase-shifting races hosted by the FAST Racing League, FAST Racing NEO makes a triumphant return of the high speed vehicles designed to zip through several locations across the galaxy.
Phase shifting, a unique mechanic of the FAST Racing vehicles, consists on reversing the energy field's polarity of the machine. Given this, across every track exists energy strips that, if match the color of the ship, will give you a boost, but if it is the opposite color, it will slow down the vehicle.
Also, there are several energy orbs scattered across the racetracks that serve to refill the boost bar, which gives you additional thrust besides the energy strips. A technological advance from the FAST Racing League races, is that these orbs are no longer required to shift the energy field's polarity, doing it at will even with an empty boost bar.
Gameplay[]
Cobalt Cup[]
Scorpio Circuit.
- Scorpio Circuit: The first race available in the game. Despite it being an introductory course, it is elaborate in its visual presentation. It has several twists and turns, and a few parts of the track where the road is broken into sections. There is one early obstacle in the form of slowly spinning fans in a halfpipe/tunnel. There is also a nearby tornado and a few monstrous sandworms that leap over the racetrack.
- Alpine Trust: This race occurs during a snowstorm in a mountainous region. There are lots of slippery ice patches on the racetrack, as well as a few icicles that vehicles may crash into. Phase changing is not only necessary for using the speed boosts but also the jumps that allow you to avoid the large snow pits in the race course.
- Mueller Pacific: This racecourse takes place above a body of water, with a small portion of it taking place underwater via a glass tunnel. There is a part of the track that rotates a full 180 degrees. Near the end of the race is a place where shipyard containers are carried across the racetrack, creating a fairly hazardous obstacle if a vehicle hits one of them.
- Chuoku City: This race winds through various buildings in a sprawling metropolis. Several parts of the track are in segments where the vehicles race off part of the road, sail through the air and land on a distant piece of the road further down. There are fortunately no obstacles on this racecourse.
Xenon Cup[]
Daitoshi Station.
- Zvil Raceway: This race appears to take place in a mountainous region. One notable part of Zvil Raceway is the trio of swaying tracks that occur early in the race. Another notable part is the huge pitfall that happens midway through the race. There are a few waterfalls that pour onto the racetrack, and while they are arguably not obstacles the spray of the water can briefly block your vision. The last waterfall that appears actually hides a detour with boost pads and boost orbs.
- Sunahara Plains: This dusty racecourse is set in a dry, barren landscape, with part of the racetrack overlapping over itself. The most prominent aspect of this race is the blast of flames that erupt in certain sections of the track. Fortunately, there are red strips that precede the flame outlets to warn vehicles racing by.
- Kamagori City: The racetrack in Kamagori City seems fairly straightforward with some turns here and there. The most outrageous feature in this race, though, is the hulking spider-like robot that stomps through the city, including onto parts of the track. Besides avoiding the robot's legs, there are no other obstacles and no pitfalls. A few jump pads allow vehicles to fly over bridges and obtain boost orbs in the air.
- Daitoshi Station: This race takes place in space with views of the moon and the Earth (or an Earth-like planet). There are two sections during the race where there is no racetrack at all, instead, vehicles are briefly suspended in the air as they weave through meteoroids spinning around in space. The back half of the racetrack is pummeled by meteoroids crashing into the road the vehicles are racing on.
Titanium Cup[]
Avalanche Valley.
- Storm Coast: This race occurs during a massive rainstorm in the middle of the ocean. The race track is split into segments with some parts of the track sitting on islands of rock. Making use of jump pads are essential to completing this race as they are the difference between making it over a pitfall or falling into the sea.
- Kenshu Jungle: This racetrack is set in a tropical setting with trees and branches hanging over the road. The track is fairly narrow, possibly the most narrow track in the game. There is a fork in the road near the midpoint in the race: To the left is a section of the road that is slightly submerged underwater and a boost pad that appears before the road reconnects; to the right are several boost orbs and some sort of spinning metal panel situated in the middle of the road.
- Sunahara Desert: The second Sunahara racetrack differs from most tracks in that there is a severe lack of borders along the track. Poorly timed turns could send vehicles hurtling into the desert. Meanwhile, a giant aircraft hovers above the race course, following along most of the track and kicking up dust along the way.
- Avalanche Valley: This area is best characterized by its undulating racetrack. The road snakes around a snow-capped mountainous region with occasional wave-like bumps in the track. True to its name, there is an avalanche of rocks near the start of the race, with the bigger rocks threatening to slow racers down.
Neon Cup[]
Sendai Outpost.
- Sendai Outpost: This race takes place among the clouds, high above a large city. This track can often feel like a rollercoaster ride, especially with the massive dip that sends vehicles down, then up the racetrack decorated with alternating boost pads. There is brief alternate path early in the race for those brave enough to fly away from the intended track.
- Willard Mine: Parts of the track in this race are composed of pipes with their own gravitational pull. You can drive a full 360 degrees along the pipe's’ surface, as long as you are at the top when you reach the end and need to make that next track across a gap. There are numerous obstacles to watch out for in Willard Mine. If the pillars placed on the track don’t get you, the boulders rolling out of tunnels and racing towards you on the track possibly will.
- Cevo Canyon: This track is located in a scenic canyon sitting in a large body of water. What's most interesting about this track is that many of the boost pads here take the form of glowing arched portals. There are seemingly no obstacles, though there are a couple of places where driving off the track is possible.
- Hibashira Speedway: The final available race in the game takes place above several lava lakes. Despite the fireballs and distant flashes of lightning, this track is arguably tamer and less difficult than most of the previous tracks in the game. There are a few outrageous jumps in the game though, in which the use of boost jumps are vital.
Vehicles[]
Zvil Corp vehicle.
- Kamagori Clone Tech
- Bliss LLP Racing Team
- Spaarc Unlimited
- Ziro Industries
- Fulcon Capital
- Xisle Geo Transform GmbH
- Mueller PLS Alien Pet Exchange
- Willard Labs
- Rochdale Trust
- Zvil Corp. Civil Space Exploration
Reception[]
FAST Racing NEO received "generally favorable" reviews from critics according to Metacritic with a current Metascore of 81/100.
| Reception | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Aggregator | Score |
| GameRankings | 82.79% |
| Metacritic | 82 |
| Review scores | |
| Publication | Score |
| Destructoid | 9/10 |
| Game Informer | 7.5/10 |
| Nintendojo | A- |
| Nintendo Enthusiast | 8.5/10 |
| Nintendo Life | 9/10 |
| Nintendo World Report | 9/10 |
Gallery[]
| Main article: FAST Racing NEO/gallery |
External links[]
- FAST Racing NEO at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- FAST Racing NEO at GameFAQs
- Official site
- FAST Racing NEO at Nintendo.com