History VideoGame / FAST

* SkillGateCharacter: Rochdale in ''NEO'' and ''RMX'' has excellent cornering and acceleration, making it good for beginners, but its middling boost and lackluster top speed allows faster machines like Bliss and Mueller to, in the right hands, leave it in the dust.

* LevelInReverse: All tracks in [[ArrangeMode Hero Mode]] are laterally mirrored.

* ArtisticLicenseSpace: The Kuiper Belt course appears to be set dangerously close to the Sun, meaning that it cannot possibly be near the actual [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuiper_belt Kuiper belt,]] the inner rim of which is at least 2.7 billion miles (or the distance from the Sun to Neptune) away.

* RemixedLevel: The six new courses in ''RMX'' are mishmashes of existing ''NEO'' courses. As examples, Chuoko Habitat features ''Chuoko'' City's massive urban sprawl environment and music and Zenshou ''Habitat''[='=]s instant-kill lasers, Tepaneca Haze combines ''Tepaneca'' Vale's nighttime setting and boost-jump pillars with The ''Haze''[='=]s sky-high environments, music, and [[GustyGlade giant fans]], and Cameron Raceway has ''Cameron'' Crest's [[GhibliHills lush green environments]] and music and Zvil ''Raceway''[='=]s dangling roads.

''FAST'' is a futuristic racing game series similar in style to the ''VideoGame/FZero'' series and made by developer [[Creator/ShinenMultimedia Shin'en]], creators of ''VideoGame/JettRocket''. It is set in the same universe as ''VideoGame/{{Nanostray}}'', with a lot of locations and fictitious brand names taken from that series.

!!''FAST'' provides examples of:

* ActorAllusion: The announcer in these games is Jack Merluzzi, who also provided the announcer voice for ''VideoGame/FZero AX'' and ''GX'', another set of games centered around supersonic vehicular racing.

* HardModePerks: Hero Mode turns your Boost meter into a Boost '''/ Shield''' meter, but also allows you to recharge the meter by driving over boost strips and boost ramps (which provide boost but not meter in other modes).

* RemixedLevel: The six new courses in ''RMX'' are mishmashes of existing ''NEO'' courses. As examples, Chuoko Habitat features '''Chuoko''' City's massive urban sprawl environment and music and Zenshou '''Habitat'''[='=]s instant-kill lasers, Tepaneca Haze combines '''Tepaneca''' Vale's nighttime setting and boost-jump pillars with The '''Haze'''[='=]s sky-high environments, music, and [[GustyGlade giant fans]], and Cameron Raceway has '''Cameron''' Crest's [[GhibliHills lush green environments]] and music and Zvil '''Raceway'''[='=]s dangling roads.
* SkillGateCharacter: Rochdale in ''NEO'' and ''RMX'' has excellent cornering and acceleration, making it good for beginners, but its middling boost and lackluster top speed allows faster machines like Bliss and Mueller to leave it in the dust.

The series' signature mechanic is the ability to "phase shift" or change the color of your car (from white to black in ''Racing League'', and orange and blue in ''NEO'' and ''RMX''), which allows you to take advantage of different parts of the track. Matching the phase of your car to the phase of the track gives bonuses such as boosts and jumps, and not matching your phase on the other hand can slow down your car or even send it careening to its destruction.

* DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist: Dying by falling off the course or hitting an obstacle only sets you back a few places, rather than making you forfeit the race as in ''VideoGame/FZero''.

* GratuitousJapanese: Most of the opposing racers' names are in Japanese, as are many league and course names.
* TechDemoGame: This installment's minimalism allows it, a full-fledged 3D racing game, to be crammed into the 40 megabytes that [=WiiWare=] games are restricted to.

* DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist: {{Averted| Trope}} in Hero Mode, where blowing up [[GameOver fails you the race]].

The series' signature mechanic is the ability to "phase shift" or change the color of your car (from white to black in ''Racing League'', and orange and blue in ''Neo'' and ''RMX''), which allows you to take advantage of different parts of the track. Matching the phase of your car to the phase of the track gives bonuses such as boosts and jumps, and not matching your phase on the other hand can slow down your car or even send it careening to its destruction.

Like Shin'en's [[VideoGame/JettRocket previous]] [=WiiWare=] game, ''FAST Racing League'' manages to [[SugarWiki/GeniusProgramming cram an impressive amount of graphics and gameplay into so just 40 megabytes of data]], pushing the Wii to its limits. In 2015, a sequel, ''FAST Racing Neo'', was released on the UsefulNotes/WiiU, followed by ''FAST RMX'', an UpdatedRerelease of ''Neo'' on the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch, in 2017.

* GratuitousJapanese: Many of the opposing racers' names are in Japanese as are the course and league names. Downplayed in later entries, with greater numbers of Western-sounding names.

** ''Neo'' and ''RMX'' use Subsonic (easiest), Supersonic, and Hypersonic (hardest).

* NitroBoost: In all games, you can get a boost by matching the color of your car to that of highlighted portions of track, or at any time by shaking the Wii remote (button press in the sequels) at the cost of energy.

* TechDemoGame: ''League'' in particular is able to cram a full-fledged 3D racing game into the 40 megabytes that [=WiiWare=] games are restricted to.

[[folder:''Neo'' and ''RMX'']]
* ActorAllusion: The announcer in the HD games is Jack Merluzzi, who also provided the announcer voice for ''VideoGame/FZero AX'' and ''GX'', another set of games centered around supersonic vehicular racing.
* ArrangeMode: In the HD games, Hero Mode is a lot like the standard race format, except your Boost meter now doubles as a Shield meter and can be refilled by driving over boost strips, collisions take away from your Boost/Shield meter with one at zero meter causing a crash, and unlike in other modes, a crash or going out-of-bounds ends the race in failure. The courses are also mirrored, forcing the player to break up their [[DamnYouMuscleMemory muscle memory]].

* CastFromHitPoints: In Hero Mode in ''Neo'' and ''RMX'', your boost meter starts out full and doubles as a shield meter.

* DamnYouMuscleMemory: Hero Mode in the HD games mirrors the courses, which coupled with the game ''not'' respawning you if you crash can quickly lead to a "Please try again!" for those who don't adapt quickly.

* GustyGlade: The Haze in ''NEO'' and ''RMX'' has giant fans on straightaways with no rails, potentially sending you off-course if you don't adjust accordingly. ''RMX'' has them reprise their role in Tepaneca Haze.
* HardModePerks: Hero Mode in ''RMX'' turns your Boost meter into a Boost '''/ Shield''' meter, but also allows you to recharge the meter by driving over boost strips and boost ramps (which provide boost but not meter in other modes).
* LargeHamAnnouncer: ''Neo'' and ''RMX'' in particular have a very enthusiastic announcer: [[https://twitter.com/ShinenGames/status/646665055807868929 the same]] [[https://twitter.com/ShinenGames/status/827541687367036929 one]] featured in ''VideoGame/FZero GX'' and ''F-Zero AX'', no less!

* NewNeoCity: The Neo UsefulNotes/{{Kyoto}} course in ''Neo'' and ''RMX''.
* OrangeBlueContrast: Orange and blue are the two phase colors used in ''Neo'' and ''RMX''. Switching to the correct color when going over a corresponding element will provide a speed boost.
* RemixedLevel: The six new courses in ''RMX'' are mishmashes of existing courses. As examples, Chuoko Habitat features '''Chuoko''' City's massive urban sprawl environment and music and Zenshou '''Habitat'''[='=]s instant-kill lasers, Tepaneca Haze combines '''Tepaneca''' Vale's nighttime setting and boost-jump pillars with The '''Haze'''[='=]s sky-high environments, music, and [[GustyGlade giant fans]], and Cameron Raceway has '''Cameron''' Crest's [[GhibliHills lush green environments]] and music and Zvil '''Raceway'''[='=]s dangling roads.
* SkillGateCharacter: Rochsale in ''NEO'' and ''RMX'' has excellent cornering and acceleration, making it good for beginners, but its middling boost and lackluster top speed allows faster machines like Bliss and Mueller to leave it in the dust.

* UpdatedRerelease: ''RMX'' features all content from ''Neo'', including 6 new tracks and 6 new ships.

* NumericalHard: The A.I. hardly changes behavior on the higher Leagues; the Leagues simply change vehicle top speeds.