While consoles ultimately live and die based upon their killer apps, you always need the smaller releases to keep the ball rolling. You know the kind, the sort of lesser known and often gimmicky titles to hold an audience’s interest between the likes of Mario, Samus or Link showing up with their mega-hits. This is what Fast RMX seeks to be more than anything else, as it’s flashy, direct and with brief tracks, but constantly engaging, exciting and extremely flashy at every turn.
The premise is simple: There’s a track, you have a high speed jet car, and you need to finish first. There’s little else to it, and by the time you see the glowing neon coloured strips in the road, you’ll probably realise this is effectively F-Zero lite. With that said, while it may be wearing its influences on its sleeve, it has put such inspiration to very good use. While speed is essential, precision and muscle memory are core to winning any race, as you need to remember the layouts of split-second turns and speed boosts at the drop of a hat.
The choice of tracks and racers is also extremely varied, even from the outset. Some extremely brief and enclosed jungle races force you to risk death over and over again, while the more open air tracks concentrate more upon timed jumps and controlled breaking. These aren’t just minor colour swaps either, as many feature entirely unique visuals and sections, such as Independence Day style UFOs or fast moving cargo crates capable of ruining your day.
The main failing of Fast RMX lies in its longevity. It can be easy to burn out on the game and, despite their obvious diversity, the core essentials on each track always remain unchanged. Even now many of the online lobbies are largely empty as a result of this, meaning you’ll have a hard time playing anyone outside of local multiplayer meet-ups.
Still, combined with the fact each half of the Switch’s controller can serve as a mini-controller for this title (thus meaning you can have couch co-op ready and on offer from the moment of purchase), all this makes Fast RMX an excellent purchase alongside Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Those hungering for an excellent party game should consider grabbing this one at the first opportunity.
FAST RMX / DEVELOPER & PUBLISHER: SHIN’EN MULTIMEDIA / PLATFORMS: NINTENDO SWITCH / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
