The launch of a new Nintendo console always gets my hype engine running-new hardware, new potential, and, hopefully, new games to justify day one excitement. I’m what you’d call a “lineup snob”: I want to play things that my friends can’t, stuff I’ll remember as the opening act of a system. This time, with Switch 2’s Mario Kart World making the obvious waves, I felt left cold by the endless parade of ports and upscales. But after a browsing spiral on the eShop-fueled by curiosity, caffeine, and hours to kill-I gambled on Fast Fusion, an eShop-only racer from Shin’en Multimedia that asked for just 15 euros and a leap of faith. Fifteen hours later, I’m not just a convert—I think this game is the real secret MVP of the Switch 2 launch window.
I played all my Fast Fusion time docked on a 4K OLED TV with a Pro Controller—I needed every edge for the hair-raising speeds—and squeezed in some couch multiplayer with a buddy just to test the game’s local chops. My review? It’s complicated, but exciting: Fast Fusion is the platonic ideal of a budget arcade racer, ambitious and satisfying, but also a little bare-bones when you start to dig deep.
Let’s be real: Fast Fusion ain’t subtle about its F-Zero inspirations. The chunky, glowy vehicles, the sci-fi speed, the brutal difficulty—all immediately familiar to any fan still mourning the Blue Falcon’s absence. As soon as the first track loaded, I did a double-take; this thing looks more “F-Zero GX Remixed” than some official attempts I’ve seen over the decades. But once I squeezed the trigger and the world blurred, a dumb grin took over my face. The sense of speed is genuinely wild. My first three races were a blur of neon and panic, trying to keep my reflexes one step ahead of disaster.
Surprise hit number one: the soundtrack. Shin’en’s always had a weird streak of over-achieving in audio (their old GBA games had no business sounding that good), and here they deliver a pounding, contemporary electronic score. Cranking my TV, I just felt cooler. But there’s a flip side: the vehicle sound effects themselves kind of suck. I don’t want a futuristic racer to sound like my neighbor’s lawn mower at 6am, but here we are.
After that initial rush, the learning curve body-slammed me pretty quickly. Even on “Novice,” Fast Fusion does not want you to coast. There’s a color-switch mechanic—lifted from classics like Ikaruga, which I’ve obsessed over for years—where you toggle between blue and orange shields to match acceleration pads. Get the timing wrong (blue shield on an orange pad, or vice versa) and you’ll lose speed instantly. It’s a cruel but brilliant twist, because you have to process track color cues, shield state, and optimal racing line, all with microsecond timing.
Then there’s the turbo. Bottom left of the HUD, you’ve got a boost bar that charges as you collect tokens or bash into rivals (think Wipeout’s aggressive shunt, but less chaos). Mastering turbo is the difference between fighting for tenth and snatching those top-three finishes: get enough juice, boost out of a corner, then immediately need to switch shields for the next turbo section. Layering these mechanics becomes second nature—eventually. My first few runs, I wiped out far more than I finished, but that just lit my competitive fire. Every lap, you learn one more split, one more tricky jump, one less embarrassing crash.
And speaking of jumps, here’s where Fast Fusion shakes up its own formula: player-triggered jumps. Forget track-placed ramps—in this game, your controller’s L-trigger gets you airborne. At first, this felt finicky and even counter-intuitive. I must have sailed off the edge and into oblivion twenty times before I “got” the timing. But once it clicked, it started feeling awesome. There’s real satisfaction in timing a jump perfectly, skipping a huge corner, or finding an unexpected shortcut. A couple of tracks downright require air-time mastery to survive, and I’ll admit, I sometimes cursed the designers for how unashamedly savage it could get.
I’m a completionist, so the structure grabbed me: you start with just three vehicles and a single championship (a measly three tracks). What looked like a bummer on paper ended up being pretty compelling in practice. Winning races and unlocking new cars and circuits kept my lizard brain buzzing with dopamine hits. Every new unlock felt earned—those last few tracks especially, with their devious layouts, gave my muscle memory a real workout.
The vehicle lineup is more than just stat tweaks. After spending some time hopping between featherweight flyers and chunky brutes, I started appreciating the spectrum: lighter crafts dart around like nervous squirrels (but have miserable acceleration), while heavy tanks can muscle through but turn like boats. Switching felt almost like learning a new game each time—a fresh challenge, but also the source of some epic frustration as I bounced between finish placement and spectacular wipeouts.
What’s even cooler is the “fusion” system, which, hilariously, I almost missed completely. There’s zero tutorial, and the fusion menu hides in the shop—so if you don’t poke around (like I almost didn’t), it’s easy to overlook. I only found it because I was trying to buy another unlock and wondered what the extra menu option was. Once you find it, it lets you mash two vehicles together (as long as neither is already a “fusion child”) to combine their stats. I made some bizarre chimeras before settling on a super-craft that finally let me finish the highest difficulty. Admittedly, though, after some experimentation, I realized the trick: combine your two best (read: most expensive) craft, and you’ll probably break the game’s difficulty curve.
I also tried local multiplayer with a friend, and the result was pure chaos—in a good way. The split-screen holds up decently (though it’s not exactly visual fireworks in this mode), and the feeling of elbowing your pal off the course with a perfectly-timed turbo never gets old. Bonus points: there’s a smart Game Share function, so only one person needs to buy the game if your buddy’s packing another Switch 2. That’s the kind of feature I wish more budget digital titles embraced.
There’s one glaring letdown, though—you’ll see it after a few hours. Fast Fusion simply doesn’t have that many tracks. I unlocked almost everything in about twelve hours, and beyond the fifteen core tracks (which you can also play in mirror mode), it started to feel thin. A handful of these are recycled from earlier Fast RMX entries, which didn’t bother me, but might annoy longtime fans hoping for all-new material. The Super Hero mode is basically Hero mode from previous games—mirror tracks, one crash and you’re done, turbo doubling as shield/life. Fun, but familiar.
If you’re looking for a single-player time sink, those fifteen tracks won’t go the distance. There’s time trial (which I only used to chase better laps after unlocking everything else) and the aforementioned progression system. But after reaching 100%—sans the full jukebox, which unlocks the (genuinely banging) soundtrack—a sense of “too little, too soon” creeps in. You don’t get addicted to the game as much as to the unlock treadmill… and then, poof, treadmill gone.
There’s another minor gripe: the total lack of in-game tutorials or explanations. I’m the kind of person who normally skips tutorials, but in Fast Fusion’s case, a little guidance on features like fusion or nuanced jump timing would help newbies a ton. I had to experiment for a solid half hour before the advanced mechanics clicked. Had I not had a healthy dose of retro arcade stubbornness, I might’ve given up earlier.
Last, those vehicle sound effects. Yes, I’m repeating myself, but when every vehicle sounds like it might spit grass clippings out the back, the immersion takes a hit. Switch 2 can handle better—even twenty-year-old arcade racers nailed the audio ‘punch’ better than this.
This is where the game legitimately impresses. On my OLED setup, Fast Fusion was buttery smooth—even with a dozen craft on screen and boosts chaining, I never felt a single hitch or frame drop. Colors are vibrant, UI is clean, and though the art design is a touch “budget,” it sells the illusion of futuristic tracks flashing by at 1000kph. Handheld mode also gets the job done; it’s not quite as eye-popping, but the framerate stays rock solid. If I had to nitpick, it’s that environmental variety across tracks is pretty limited: everything’s neon, chrome, or desert, but again—fifteen bucks.
Menus are brisk, loading times are almost comically fast, and I only hit one tiny bug: a trophy popup got stuck until I quit to the home menu. Otherwise, totally stable.
If you’re hungry for a modern F-Zero experience and not afraid of a game that makes you work for your wins, Fast Fusion is a must-try. The difficulty curve can be savage, especially for casuals used to the friendlier, rubber-band world of Mario Kart. But if timing, twitch reflexes, and brutal AI sound fun, you’ll find a rewarding skill loop here. Arcade purists and speedrunners will be in their element; younger kids or people looking for tons of “content” might bounce off after a weekend.
And if you host game nights or have a rival on the couch, get ready to see grown adults toss controllers. The split-screen chaos is classic, and the Game Share function is a little bit genius in a landscape where digital games are often “locked” to single consoles.
I didn’t expect to be writing this, but Fast Fusion is exactly the kind of game I want more of on new consoles: fierce, focused, and happy to punch above its price point. After 15 hours, I’d unlocked almost everything, found my new favorite racing track, and even convinced a friend to try and best my time trial… which hasn’t happened since the Wipeout Pure days. Is it short on content? For sure. Do the flaws matter once the speed clicks and that soundtrack is vibrating your couch? Much less than you’d expect.
In the bloat of launch window remasters and expensive first-party safe bets, Fast Fusion is a wild-card risk that pays off. If you’re looking for the next big “hidden gem” to show off the Switch 2, this just might be it.
Final Score: 8/10 — A glorious adrenaline rush with just enough rough edges to keep you coming back… at least for a few weeks.
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