Back in the late 90's and early 00's there was a fascination with retina-searingly fast tough as nails racing games, the most notable titles were Wipeout, F-Zero and Extreme-G, we all had our favourites depending on our consoles of choice at the time or what systems our friends owned, I was more an F-Zero kind of guy, having owned the original on the SNES and then X on the N64, both of which I loved for the skill needed and the split second timing between a glorious victory or humiliation. This is the first thing you'll find with FAST Racing NEO, it is brutally unforgiving, let your focus drift for even a nano-second and you're toast. Try to stop and take a look at the stunning visuals and you'll find yourself in trailing in last place, at times I found myself purposefully losing and just cruising around the courses to take in the scenery, for a game that moves so fast it really is beautiful to look at, from snowy mountain ranges to deep space moon bases each location has its own identity and no two of the 16 tracks look the same. The music and sound really help to give the game a great atmosphere too, thumping dance beats give a futuristic feel to the title and harken back to the racers of old but without feeling dated and coupled with the often subtle sounds and the over the top announcer it makes the game feel as if you should be sat in an oversized fake cockpit in an amusement arcade somewhere surrounded by tweens all waiting to have a turn. The vehicles all have a unique look and feel to them, an initial roster of 3 opens up to 10 as you make your way through the cups, each offering slight differences in acceleration, top speed, and handling which in the right hands can lead you to dominate over the other 9 racers.
This game is all about being as fast as possible for as long as possible, dotted around each course are coloured boost strips which if hit will propel you forward at a greater velocity, but only if your ship is lit the same colour, tapping the appropriate button allows you to switch between the orange or blue phases but get the colour wrong and you'll find yourself being slowed and losing vital seconds.
As well as that you'll find coloured orbs floating around the stage which recharge a seperate boost meter, collecting enough of these will give you an extra boost of speed when you may need it or even let you plough into the back of a rival racer causing them to explode and lose their position, the only real weapon at your disposal is speed and you need to use it wisely.
The arcade mode gives you a go at each of the cups at increasing difficulties, getting yourself an overall top three position unlocks the next cup and maybe even a new vehicle, it's then onto the next league with faster and harder rivals. Get yourself some friends over and you can enjoy up to 4-player local splitscreen racing or failing that the game has online multiplayer which I found quick and easy to get into but even more difficult racing against other human players than AI racers, something I should have expected really.
The main problem is this titles lack of depth, complete the leagues, push yourself at the time trials, take on a few online challenges, and you've seen it all, don't get me wrong it will take you time to get good, but asides from unlocking all the crafts there is little else that will keep you coming back.
For those feeling the need for quasi-futuristic speed, this game is the perfect stopgap until we see ourselves graced with a new version of F-Zero, which many fans would say is long overdue.