Top Speed: Drag & Fast Racing Review

Saying Top Speed: Drag & Fast Racing is a drag racing game is probably the best and worst way to describe it. I mean there’s more to it than that, but at the same time you won’t find anything new here if you’ve played anything similar before. Still, it’s a simple kind of fun.

Like any good racer, your goal in Top Speed is to climb the ranks and earn more money. So you can climb the ranks even further and earn even more money. You get to purchase and upgrade new cars along the way, of course, but if you don’t like the idea of racing in a straight line this probably isn’t the game for you. Just getting that out of the way right now.

There’s a bit of nuance in how you race, which keeps the action in Top Speed from getting too stale. At the start of each race you have to tap the gas pedal in order to keep the needle in the sweet spot and have a perfect start, but failing to do so isn’t an automatic loss most of the time. Once you’re off and running you also have to keep an eye on the gages and tap the shift button to change gears at the right time. Assuming you’ve bought a nitrous upgrade you’ll also be able to trigger a temporary speed boost while you’re doing all of this shifting, which should make leaving your opponent in the dust a bit easier.

Now I have been having a fair bit of mindless fun with Top Speed, but it’s not what I’d call a very rewarding experience. Jumping into a race or two passes the time, and having boss and ranking races as a goal helps to keep me motivated. My problem is I lose interest after a few races because they’re all the same. Sure I might lose against one person and completely smoke another, but all I’m doing is tapping a button to shift. It’s not terribly compelling.

Top Speed: Drag & Fast Racing is a simple and entertaining distraction, but it’s not very fulfilling.