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Fast RMX (Switch) Review

 
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At A Glance...
 

Formats: Switch
 
Genre: ,
 
Year:
 
Publisher:
 
Developer:
 
Final Score
8.0
8/ 10


User Rating
2 total ratings

 

We Liked?


  • Shows the graphical potential of the Switch console
  • Real turn of speed and great handling
  • Great pick up and play title for on the go gaming

Not So Much?


  • Light online play options hold this title back
  • Glitches during online play
  • Overly aggressive AI can at times feels unfair


Final Fiendish Feelings?

Fast RMX is a Wipeout clone… if that’s not culturally exciting for you then perhaps we could try – Fast RMX is an F-Zero clone? Powerdrift? No….? Regardless of your touchstone for this genre five minutes with the game and you’ll forget all about the titles it borrows from.

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Posted March 25, 2017 by

 
Final Fiendish Feelings?
 
 
F

ast RMX is a Wipeout clone… if that’s not culturally exciting for you then perhaps we could try – Fast RMX is an F-Zero clone? Powerdrift? No….? Regardless of your touchstone for this genre five minutes with the game and you’ll forget all about the titles it borrows from.

With the Nintendo Switch having a somewhat (read: VERY) limited launch line-up finding something other than Zelda: Breath of the Wild to sink time into has been tricky. Developer Shin’en have stuck with the age old tradition of launching a racing game with a new console and they’ve done a pretty great job here.

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To be unfairly reductive Fast RMX is basically an update take on Wipeout with a dash of Ikaruga thrown in. You have a series of snazzy looking hover vehicles that hurtle around equally snazzy looking futuristic looking race tracks. Everything is shiny, everything is clean and highly stylized. It’s a great looking game for the new system – probably the best looking technically on the platform and rendering at a smooth 720p in hand-held mode and 1080p in docked.

The usual twists, turns and jumps are in evidence here but the added twist is that the usual boost pads are now colour coded. One will be blue the other red meaning you have to swap the active colour of your vehicle using the X button to take advantage of those boost pads. Not only essential for winning a race but some jumps can only be activated using these boost pads. It becomes not only a game of strategic racing, but of knowing and utilising these pads too.

There is a constant internal battle for the “right” path to take. Should I boost now (boost is filled by picking up small power balls on the course)? Should I take this jump (as being in the air is slower than on the ground) as it might lead to a shortcut or small boost? Memorising track layouts and boost pad colours helps but there’s still the constant evaluation that stops races getting too repetitive.

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Vehicle selections are varied and each does give a slight variation in handling, speed and boost. Piloting the craft is responsive and feels good – often a killer of any potentially good racing title. The game also has a sublime feeling of speed to it. You really get the sense of hurtling through these courses.

With 30 courses spread over 10 challenge cups of 3 races each, 15 vehicles and split-screen and online multiplayer all for £16.99/$19.99 this is an absolute steal. Each of the career/challenge races can be played on one of three difficulty levels with even the lowest offering a moderate challenge at the later stages. The online play is limited but OK. Not many options and not very smooth online when encountering other player in your proximity – the update of their position gets very jerky. There’s also not currently a way to join up with specific people )so race your buddies online), but that is promised in a future update.

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Final Thoughts

The lavish visuals, the great music and silky smooth racing action all combine to make Fast RMX an essential purchase for the Switch console. There are a couple of issues (the game sometimes feels a little unfair on the AI front for example) here and there but nothing to detract from the pure adrenaline enjoyment of the game.

Fast RMX mixes a couple of titles together for inspiration and makes a surprisingly tactical and thoughtful adrenaline fuelled racer.


Zeth

 
Zeth is our EU ninja and Editor in Chief. He's been writing about video games since 2008 when he started on BrutalGamer. He's pretty old and has been a gamer since he played Space Invaders as a young boy in the 80's. His genre tastes lean towards platformers, point-and-click adventure, action-adventure and shooters but he'll turn his hand to anything.


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