Mini Review: Fast & Furious: Arcade Edition (PS5) – An Overpriced Racer That Loses Its Grip

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We’ve never wanted to recommend a racer more than Fast & Furious: Arcade Edition.

This PlayStation 5 version of a 2022 arcade game comes from Raw Thrills, an American developer created by arcade game legend Eugene Jarvis.

If you haven’t visited an arcade in a while, you might remember the studio from their surprisingly good game, Cruis’n Blast, on the Switch. It’s a racing game with over-the-top courses that feature huge jumps and drops.

Fast & Furious: Arcade Edition keeps the high-octane action going, letting you race through real places around the world, including locations like Yellowstone and Hong Kong.

Every race track feels grand and immersive, capturing the spirit of its real-world location with unique features. For instance, the Abu Dhabi track lets you dramatically break through the glass facade of the Marina Mall.

You can select from a range of officially licensed supercars, with many designs based on famous movie vehicles, like the Dodge Charger R/T.

But while each car has different stats attributed to it, they all handle largely the same.

One of the biggest issues with the game is how the controls feel on the DualSense controller. The developers, Cradle Games, haven’t successfully adapted the original steering system, resulting in cars that feel unstable and difficult to control.

Unfortunately, races often become simple dashes to the end, relying on a mechanic that artificially keeps competitors close until the final stretch. If you’ve built up enough boost and stayed near the front of the pack, you’ll likely win.

That’s essentially how the game works. You play through each race one after another, and the outcome – winning or losing – isn’t the main point.

If you win all the races with a specific car, you’ll unlock its Furious mode, letting you replay them with ten Nitros instead of just three.

Aside from local two-player split-screen, the game doesn’t offer much beyond the main experience. There are no unlockable features, extra game modes, or side activities. Considering it costs £24.99/$29.99, it feels quite limited in content.

Even though it’s quite basic, we could overlook that if it controlled better and cost less. Some of the tracks are so over-the-top that they’re actually enjoyable.

Right now, this game only offers a small taste of what fans want – it doesn’t have enough content to truly satisfy them.

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2025-10-26 22:07