Fast Fusion Review

Can you believe that the very first time the Fast series hit Nintendo systems was on WiiWare – the online storefront for Wii – all the way back in 2011 with Fast Racing League? Since then, German outfit Shin’en Multimedia has graced gamers the world over with Fast Racing Neo on Wii U, the superbly complete package of Fast RMX on Switch (an updated edition of Neo), and now brand-new title, Fast Fusion, on Nintendo Switch 2’s eShop.

There are advantages and disadvantages of hitting a console’s launch day, and Fast Fusion has faced both in its efforts to land on eShop from the get-go. Developer Shin’en Multimedia is renowned for its technical prowess, always managing to squeeze the best out of hardware that other teams sometimes struggle with in the early days. Just looking back at the miracle performed on WiiWare with Fast Racing League goes a long way to highlight this. The tweaks, special techniques, compression, and downright wizardry involved in crafting such an intense, high-octane futuristic racer and packing it into a ~46MB download still boggles the mind to this very day.

Now, with an extra fourteen years of experience with Nintendo systems under its belt, and a wealth of additional power under the hood of Switch 2, the tantalising prospect of what the German outfit could produce to complement the lighter-hearted Mario Kart World at launch has landed, and it doesn’t disappoint. It may have arrived with only a handful of tracks, no online multiplayer, and a lack of online leaderboards, but there is still a lot to sink your teeth into for a wallet-friendly £13.49 ($14.99/€14.99), especially following its 1.4 update, which introduced three revamped tracks from Fast RMX for free, as well as a new photo mode to show off vehicles in fantastic new ways.

The premise focuses on anti-gravity vehicles, in a similar vein to racers like F-Zero and Wipeout, but with a twist that switching between two ‘phases’ can result in timely boosts when zipping across similarly-coloured strips along the track. That means not only can regular boosting take place to up the ante, but rather than generic boost pads, perfect timing is required for aligning vehicles to the correct phase to benefit most from the hotspots. The same boost meter, though, which depletes rapidly if not wisely utilised, also acts as a shield, meaning numerous explosions are likely if running on empty.

Actually, saying that, explosions galore are likely to come whether the shield is depleted or not, since until mastering particular crafts there will indeed be smash, crash, bang, wallops in abundance, considering the hefty velocities reached. More often than not flying off a track will occur, clipping a bridge, or being spun out by ramming into on-track competitors. Brace yourselves for a plethora of breathtakingly spectacular explosions! That’s even on the lower speeds and early stages.

There is plenty of chance to replay the same stages repeatedly, though, in order to become more of a pro over time. In fact, progression through Fast Fusion to unlock other cups and tracks relies on such repeated play, almost to the point of growing a touch tiresome at times – something that has actually been acknowledged by the development team and tweaked in a recent update to lower the threshold required to unlock some cups.

Fast Fusion is a visual masterpiece, whether it’s the standard tracks flying by at an eye-blistering pace, or the sublime graphical touches to make it feel like you’re actually there in the environments – from droplets of water splashing on-screen, to steam blurring your vision, and even clouds and whirlwinds whipping up a storm. Tracks vary from forest locales to Alpine peaks, futuristic cityscapes, treacherous volcanic-style vistas, and other inventive creations – most new, some revamped from past Fast entries.

Everything is truly a real delight on the eyes, running in the highest quality, and totally adaptable to user preferences, since graphical levels can be tweaked in the settings for purists that like tinkering for the best balance between non-stop adrenaline pumping performance and graphical fidelity. It’s not just the ocular-spectacular, though, as Fast Fusion brings with it an extraordinary aural treat. From the techno beats on the winners’ podium screen, to the rip-roaring trance rhythms featured on specific courses, quite frequently the music will grab the attention so much that everything else becomes secondary.

Shin’en has such a knack at producing instrumental smash hits that it’s also squeezed in past soundtracks that can be unlocked by garnering more currency by beating tracks repeatedly, overcoming developer times in the trial mode, achieving elite status by hitting certain targets in Hero Mode, and more. 

As if the regular cups, time trials, and hero mode antics weren’t enough, Fast Fusion packs in split-screen multiplayer for up to four local friends to challenge each other, as well as making use of GameShare. Sadly, there is a lack of online leaderboards or match-up global racing, and no guarantee they will be upcoming features rolled out further down the line. That feeling of competing against others around the globe never grows old, and it’s something Fast Fusion could definitely benefit from.

For now, however, there is the addition of fusing vehicles together to increase the craft totals and give players a taste of extra customisation and achieving the right balance between speed and handling. Also, there is a hyper jump option during races that leads to all sorts of shortcut opportunities arising to make working through the initial twelve – now fifteen, post-free DLC update – courses slightly more intriguing. With only a limited amount on offer, though, the courses can lose some appeal, especially when they need to be played through again and again to gain more currency for unlocking tracks, modes, music, and so on. Hopefully things like more past remixed tracks will come as DLC, and perhaps even the idea of a reverse cup, mirror cup, or even a reversed-mirrored cup being unlocked in the future.