The Fast & Furious Spy Racers: Rise of SH1FT3R video game is based on the family-friendly Netflix animated series of the same name, and features high speed racing, sleek sports cars and paintball. Paintball? Yep, that was my first clue that this was a kid’s game and not based on the more adult movies of The Fast and The Furious franchise. You won’t find any guns in this game that aren’t the paintball variety. And the explosions and bombs are all paint as well! So I sat down with my 6-year-old son to give these fancy cars a spin and maybe splatter some paint too.
Fast & Furious Spy Racers: Rise of SH1FT3R
Fast & Furious Spy Racers is rated “E” for everyone, but is aimed at ages 6+. I think younger gamers might have trouble catching on to some of the specific moves required to make your car spew paint grenades or perform its special feature. The game is available on Switch, Xbox, PlayStation and Steam, including next gen consoles. My son and I gave it a try on the Nintendo Switch, and after a short tutorial, we were up and racing.
Click here to find the Fast & Furious Spy Racers: Rise of SH1FT3R on Amazon!
The game story centers on Tony Toretto, who’s been recruited by a government agency to infiltrate a criminal organization called SH1FT3R. Tony and his friends are given five missions in Spy Tournament Mode, that ultimately lead up to a showdown with the leader of SH1FT3R to stop him from stop winning the ultimate high-tech vehicle.
My son and I mostly played in Quick Race or Multiplayer (up to 6 players) with the split screen. In Quick Race mode, you choose where to race and then have to make it three times around the track. Good driving, getting air and drifting will fill up your energy meter and every time you use weapons or a special skill it depletes some of the meter. You can unlock a total of 13 cars in the game, each with their own distinct look, performance and unique skill.
I’ll admit, I pretty much immediately forgot how to do any of the special moves and would start randomly trying buttons whenever my meter was full. And neither my son nor I really got the hang of drifting, although we both managed to do it a few times. I do think it would be easy to catch on after playing it for a little while though.
The game is aimed at fans of the animated series, and they get to race as characters of the show. It’s not going to impress adult racing fans who play games like Forza, but it is going to entertain the younger Mario Kart crowd. And that’s exactly the gaming audience it’s aimed at.
Overall, it’s an entertaining racing game, but I will add that I have one complaint- there’s a guy that pops up and says, “This could be my best race!” over and over in Quick Race mode, and a few other phrases that were repeated over and over and it was a little annoying after a bit! I didn’t investigate whether I could turn that off or not, but that would be a nice option. But I honestly don’t think my son even noticed that.
So if you have a little racing fan that wants a new challenge, definitely check out Fast & Furious Spy Racers: Rise of SH1FT3R available now on all platforms.
Geek Mamas 