Fast Fusion (Switch 2) Review

I’ve always been a fan of Shin’en’s Fast series — and not just because I’m an F-Zero tragic. They’ve consistently delivered Fast games that take up minimal space, push the hardware to its limits (often even at launch), and prove there’s still plenty of fun to be had with sci-fi anti-gravity racing. Fast Fusion’s hook this time isn’t just its sharp new 4K visuals — as the name suggests, you’re now fusing racing ships together to improve their stats. More on that in a minute.

Fast Fusion has a few modes, but the first you’ll encounter is Championship Mode. Here, you’ll race across the game’s tracks, unlocking new ones using in-game currency. As before, you’ll switch between two colours while racing to activate zip-pads and chain together smooth laps.

This time, however, there’s a new addition: a jump button. It adds flair and opens up new shortcuts, opportunities to collect more currency, and the chance to take bolder risks. You can still blast through the courses at full speed, but if you integrate jumping into your racing style, you’ll be rewarded — both on the podium and in your wallet.

So, what do you unlock with all that money now? Well, there are more tracks — but there are also the titular Fusions. Fusing vehicles together creates an entirely new machine, combining both the stats and visual elements of the originals. It’s up to you to find a pair that enhances your racing style. And if the result doesn’t work for you, all you’ve lost is a few credits — easily earned back just by racing again.

Elsewhere in the single-player space is Time Attack mode, where you’ll race against staff ghosts for a prize — and good luck with that, because it’s not exactly easy. Also challenging is the new Superhero mode, which actually feels more like F-Zero than the Fast series ever has. This time, you’ve got a boost meter tied to your vehicle’s health. You’ll need to unlock tracks in Championship Mode before trying it out.

The kicker with Superhero mode? You need to finish first, avoid crashing (even just once), and watch your jumping — because now, jumping drains your shield energy. It’s an absolute sadist mode, but if you’re up for the challenge, it’s incredibly rewarding.

Multiplayer is back and offers quite a few options. There’s split-screen for up to four players, and you can also play with two people via GameShare. GameShare works both online and locally — even someone on an original Switch can join in. Locally, it worked well in our testing, though others have reported issues. You also lose around 20% of the screen to a black border, and the game’s high frame rate and visual clarity can get muddied in the bit-rate soup.

I mentioned Shin’en’s graphical prowess earlier, and Fast Fusion is no exception. Now in the world of 4K, we’ve got toggles for performance and quality modes. Performance mode sacrifices resolution for frame rate, and quality mode does the reverse. In docked mode, you’ll get more options, and it’s up to you to choose what suits your Fast Fusion experience best.

Whichever mode you choose, though, it’s clear Shin’en are using some form of dynamic upscaling to get this level of performance out of the Nintendo Switch 2. This results in some shimmering and visual artefacts, but Shin’en have said they’ll address this in an update, which will allow players to disable upscaling for a more raw visual output.

Fast Fusion’s least exciting mechanic might actually be the one in its name — the fusions themselves are fine, but let’s be honest: we’re all here for more anti-gravity racing that pushes the Switch 2 to its limits — and we’re only a couple of weeks into the system’s life. For the hardcore, there are the added challenges of Time Attack and Superhero modes, but for everyone else who just loves a good race, Fast Fusion still delivers the fun.

Rating: 4.5/5