With the ninth movie entry in the long-running Fast Saga on everyone’s mind (and starring my man Vin Diesel, among others), I figured it was a good time to revisit the history of Fast & Furious video games. A few were in direct connection to some of the films, while others were their own standalone product, but each one attempted to hit the NOS in its own way. Now, whether or not they were able to claim a pink slip, or even cross the finish line, is an altogether separate matter.
So let’s take a look at every Fast & Furious video game released to date to see which ones have the most mileage.
The Fast and the Furious (2004)
The first entry on our list is The Fast and the Furious (known as Wild Speed in Japan), and there were two vastly different versions of the game.
The first released on mobile devices (and is known as the 2D mobile version, not to be confused with the 3D mobile version that would release in 2005). It was developed and published by I-Play, and it came out in March of 2004. This was basically a first- or third-person (you could toggle between viewpoints) runner-style game, in that the acceleration was automatic with the player solely in control of hitting nitro boosts to gain momentary speed bursts. The object was to finish each race under a preset amount of time in order to win cash to unlock car mods.
It’s the arcade version that we all care about, though. This one came out in July of 2004, developed and published by Raw Thrills, with Taito handling the Japanese arcade release. It was modeled after Eugene Jarvis’s Cruis’n, so it featured a basic racing format: multiple tracks and cars with a straightforward design. If the player used a boost, it would cause the car to perform Dominic Toretto’s signature wheeling, which would allow the player to then perform a massive jump by hitting other cars or various ramps strewn about the tracks.
The arcade cabinet also featured a built-in numeric keypad to utilize a PIN system. This would allow the player to jot down a PIN assigned to them that stored their data. The next time they played, they could type their PIN to access their profile and in-game cash winnings; it was the arcade equivalent of a memory card.
The Fast and the Furious arcade game would see a release on the Wii in 2007, though without the Fast & Furious license. It was retitled as Cruis’n, which brought things full circle. Of course, it was panned by reviewers, and it currently has a Metacritic reviewer score of 25 and a user score of 4.0. Ouch.
2 Fast 2 Furious (2004)
The next entry on our list is 2004’s 2 Fast 2 Furious, which was a mobile tie-in meant to capitalize on the movie of the same title. It was developed by Digital Bridges and published by dbi Games. It attempted to simulate street racing on 12 different tracks, where players could win money to purchase unlocks and upgrades. One notable game feature allowed the cars could incur damage while racing — if the vehicles received to much damage, the player would be forced to forfeit the race.
Another game based on the 2 Fast 2 Furious movie was in development by Genki for the Xbox and PS2. A release date was set for 2003, with a trailer even showing up at E3 of that year, but this game never ended up releasing for whatever reason.
The Fast and the Furious 3D (2005)
A new version of the original mobile game was developed by Juice games and released in 2005. This is typically referred to as the 3D mobile version of The Fast and the Furious game, and I’ve seen the title printed as The Fast and the Furious 3D (though its official title was simply The Fast and the Furious). I’m using the 3D here to set it apart from the other games of the same title, which are also on this list.
The Fast and the Furious (2006)
This brings us to the next entry in our list, 2006’s The Fast and the Furious. Although it shares the same name as the first game on our list — as well as the first entry in the movie series — The Fast and the Furious was more aligned with the third entry in the movie series, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. In fact, the European PlayStation Portable port released under the title Tokyo Drift.
Developed by Eutechnyx and published by Namco Bandai Games, The Fast and the Furious is considered a spiritual successor of sorts to 2004’s Street Racing Syndicate. There were two different mobile versions (a 2D version and a 3D version), but this game also burned rubber on PS2 and PlayStation Portable, with a version planned for the Xbox that was cancelled before it made it to market.
The game took place in Japan, and it featured some of the garage locations seen in the Tokyo Drift movie. There were a number of licensed vehicles to round out the stable of available cars, including real-world Japanese cars and a few American muscle cars.
The Fast and the Furious received mixed reviews, much like the third entry in the movie series.
The Fast and the Furious: Super Bikes (2006)
At some point in 2006 (I’m not clear on the exact date), Raw Thrills released a follow-up to their arcade game. As its name implies, The Fast and the Furious: Super Bikes focuses on motorcycle racing rather than the cars the movie series is known for.
According to Raw Thrills’ description: “Super Bikes takes players from Sturgis to Monaco, from Chicago to Shanghai, and from Detroit to Switzerland.” The game also features 12 licensed motorcycles, which, in Fast & Furious tradition, feature NOS upgrades.
The Fast and the Furious: Drift (2007)
Next up would be another game based on the Tokyo Drift movie, The Fast and the Furious: Drift. This is kind of surprising, considering the movie’s status as the black sheep of the movie franchise.
Developed and published by Raw Thrills and released on March 28, 2007, Drift was yet another arcade cabinet with the racing gameplay you’d expect. It features all 12 tracks from The Fast and the Furious arcade game, plus seven new ones set in Japan.
What’s perhaps most interesting about this entry is that Eugene Jarvis (who’s known for the Cruis’n series, as you might remember from the first entry on this list) served as director on this game, while former Midway sound designer Jon Hey worked on the audio (he also worked on The Fast and the Furious: Super Bikes).
There’s some obscure trivia for you that you can now impress (or annoy) your friends with.
The Fast and the Furious: Fugitive (2007)
The Fast and the Furious: Fugitive was developed by Oberon Media and published by I-Play. Instead of any of the movies, this game is actually based off a ten-minute short that was originally found on the “Tricked Out Edition” of The Fast and the Furious DVD and included again on the 2 Fast 2 Furious DVD for good measure.
The Fast and the Furious: Fugitive is broken into four chapters, each set in a different city (Los Angeles, Santa Fe, Baton Rouge, and Miami), and the first chapter includes cameos by Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez.
The 2D version of the game released May 14, 2007, with the 3D version hitting on June 19 of that same year.
The Fast and the Furious: Pink Slip (2008)
The Fast and the Furious: Pink Slip is a mobile game that released in 2008. Developed by Firemint Pty Ltd. and published by I-Play, Pink Slip took the racing concept and added a gambling element to it. Basically, if you win the match, you get the opponent’s car, but if they win, they get yours.
Pink Slip wasn’t based off any of the movies — or even any of their DVD extras — and instead attempted its own take on the Fast universe. It seemed reasonably well-received — IGN even gave it an 8 out of 10.
Fast & Furious The Game (2009)
Fast & Furious The Game released in 2009 exclusively for iPhone (remember, the iPad wasn’t released until the following year). It features many elements from previous games, such as the tappable NOS meter on the left side of the screen and terrible reviews.
Fast & Furious: Adrenaline (2010)
Like Fast & Furious The Game before it, Fast & Furious: Adrenaline is an iPhone-exclusive racing title. And like The Fast and the Furious: Pink Slip before that, this one takes inspiration from the films but attempts to do its own thing within that cinematic universe.
Unlike Pink Slip, though, IGN wasn’t so kind to this one, giving it a 6.5 out of 10 — that’s the equivalent of a 3 out of 10 from anyone else.
Fast Five the Movie: Official Game (2011)
Next up is 2011’s Fast Five video game tie-in with the unwieldy title Fast Five the Movie: Official Game. Developed and published by Gameloft, Fast Five was yet another mobile-only title (again offering 2D and 3D versions).
The game pretty much followed in the footprints of its predecessors with a couple notable exceptions, the main one being that this title actually seemed to garner relatively favorable reviews. It also followed the story of the movie, which previous titles didn’t always think was important.
Fast & Furious SuperCars (2011)
Also releasing in 2011 was another arcade game from Raw Thrills, Fast & Furious SuperCars. This one’s marketing claims it features “27 scorching tracks, 10 all-new cars from the hottest makers, and a fresh new sound package.” Of course, those 27 tracks were allegedly all pulled from Drift and Super Bikes.
Fast & Furious 6: The Game (2013)
Fast & Furious 6: The Game, by Kabam and Gameloft, released exclusively for iOS. It came out just a little over a week ahead of the next entry on this list (Fast & Furious: Showdown, in case you’re too impatient to wait for it).
This should come as no surprise at this point in our journey, but Fast 6 featured 2D and 3D counterparts and centered around — you guessed it — street racing. Fast 6 would actually follow the movie’s plot for the most part, but it also featured normal races of various stripes, including a drifting mode.
Fast 6 received mixed reviews, and the game is currently sitting at a Metacritic reviewer score of 56.
Fast & Furious: Showdown (2013)
2013 would see the release of Fast & Furious: Showdown, which was developed by Firebrand Games and published by Activision. It released on the Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U, 3DS, and PC.
Showdown wouldn’t serve as a direct movie tie-in, though it allowed you to play as various characters from the Fast movies. Strangely and noticeably absent was Dominic Toretto.
A co-op car combat racer, Showdown oddly featured no online component, and would instead need to be played either through couch co-op or with an A.I. partner.
Showdown did not perform all that favorably with critics. Considering its indirect place in the Fast-verse — and the fact that it didn’t even include the father of the franchise as a playable character — this probably comes as no surprise.
Fast & Furious Legacy (2015)
Fast & Furious Legacy released March 25, 2015, for iOS and Android. Instead of adhering to just one film (or short) or creating a fresh experience inside the existing Fast universe, this one decided to hit the highlights of all seven movies (keep in mind this was 2015, when there were only seven Fast Saga movies).
Weirdly enough, the iOS version of Fast & Furious Legacy has a 77 reviewer score on Metacritic, but a 3.5 user score. Either the critics were far too kind or the user base was far to mean — or maybe a little bit of both.
Forza Horizon 2 Presents Fast & Furious (2015)
Forza Horizon 2 Presents Fast & Furious is a standalone expansion for Forza Horizon 2 that released March 27, 2015, just two days after the previous entry on this list.
Developed by Playground Games and published by Microsoft Studios, this is exactly what you think it is — a combination of Forza Horizon‘s extremely gorgeous gameplay with cars from Fast & Furious. It seems like a match made in heaven, but critics weren’t too generous with this one. Then again, it launched for free, with the price climbing to $9.99 after a couple weeks. It doesn’t seem like a bad purchase, if you ask me, especially if you got it within the free window.
Anki Overdrive: Fast & Furious Edition (2017)
This probably doesn’t count as a video game, since it’s an add-on for a racetrack toy set, but it does have an app for iOS, Andriod, and Amazon Store. We’re including it here simply because we promised to talk about every Fast & Furious game and we don’t want to leave anything out.
Basically, the Anki Overdrive system is a physical racetrack that you can set up and race cars on. The Fast & Furious edition replaces the generic cars of the base set with two cars from Fast & Furious. The app is required to play it, so it’s kind of a video game, but also it’s more of a toy than an actual video game.
Fast & Furious: Takedown (2018)
Fast & Furious: Takedown was developed by SMG Studios and published by Universal Studios Interactive Entertainment LLC. This is a mobile game that seems to have really flown under the radar — it doesn’t seem like a lot of people even reviewed it (except for Common Sense Media, for some reason).
In the game, you compete in a series of street races (obviously) while also trying to take out a terrorist who goes by the name The Wolf. Do you really think Vin Diesel and crew can’t do both at the same time?
Fast & Furious: Crossroads (2020)
The final entry on our list is currently the latest video game based on the Fast & Furious movie saga (though we can be sure there are more coming). Developed by Slightly Mad Studios and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment, Crossroads was released for PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
2020’s Fast & Furious: Crossroads offers a brand-new standalone story featuring a collection of characters from the movies, including Dominic Toretto himself. Unlike pretty much all of the other games on this list, Crossroads is a racing title that also features action/roleplaying elements.
Unfortunately — even with Vin Diesel in full force, and even with a story not hampered by being a movie tie-in, and even with a home console release instead of a mobile-only one — Crossroads received pretty bad reviews almost across the board.
It’s a shame really, because of all the movie franchises out there, Fast & Furious seems handmade for a solid video game, especially considering Vin Diesel’s history and clout in the video games industry. Maybe one day someone will crack the code and finally do right by digital Dominic Toretto and his Tekken-loving Lettie.
