I have a huge weakness for arcade racing games. While the term is so inclusive that it includes games like Ridge Racer and Daytona USA, what I'm really talking about is those arcade racing games that can be found in the same building as the bowling alley. Rarely do these high-profile cash leaks feature actual classic cars, instead focusing on big names. There's usually a Walking Dead game so violent it's in a curtained booth, a Jurassic Park shooter, Space Invaders but new, some kind of VR minion monster, a massive wheel that you spin, a Nerf light gun shooter that I used to be able to flush for tokens until my local alley wised up and increased the required points, and the hydraulic Fast and the Furious launcher. You wouldn't believe how much money I spent on the latter with my kids, and this is the game that made it to home consoles and PC.
“I saw the trailer and it looks rubbish. Why the hell are you writing about this on Eurogamer when you haven't even bothered to look at the review?” Ninja Gaiden 4?” I hear you asking. “You're lazy and you should be ashamed of yourself,” you add before I get the chance to block your account. Here's the thing: Fast and Furious: Arcade Edition isn't a great game. It's rough (there's some pretty blatant stuttering when starting boost), it doesn't have much content for a modern racing game, it's there's a lack of depth, and its handling model is more geared towards moving forward at speed than on a race track… but it's charmingly fun nonsense and I'm glad it exists.
If you've never played the arcade version of the game, The Fast and the Furious is a series of amazing multi-lap races, each of which also has a specific goal – like stopping a rocket or landing a plane on the ground. The tracks are littered with alternate paths and shortcuts, and there's no shortage of environmental interference as larger obstacles come into view. The vehicles don't worry about actual physics or durability: all design decisions allow you to move forward towards your goal, accelerating as quickly as possible and enjoying the ride.
Sorry for the simple screenshots – the game pauses mid-game when you take a photo, so it's pre-race.
If this sounds familiar to you but you can't quite figure out how to do it, then you may have played the arcade or Nintendo Switch port of Cruis'n Blast. This game was developed by Raw Thrills, the same studio behind The Fast and Furious Arcade, and it shows. The two games are remarkably similar: they offer similar racing experiences, the same thrilling action, and a lack of sophistication that can easily be mistaken for a lack of quality. This Fast and the Furious sentence tickles the same part of my brain that craves excitement without having to think too much.
I'm currently planning some Game of the Year coverage, and rest assured, Fast and Furious: Arcade Edition won't even come close. Likewise, I wouldn't put Burger King's plant-based Whopper or Greggs' vegan sausage on my list of best foods, but that doesn't stop me from wanting to eat them every chance I get. Perhaps it's that I'm old and longing for simpler times, a bygone era when you spent £40 on a PlayStation game and it would be nothing more than three tracks and a bunch of cars racing around them – that's £25, six tracks and eight cars – but I firmly believe there is a place and an audience for these types of games.
A copy of Fast and Furious: Arcade Edition was provided by the publisher.
