Faaast Penguin

Genre: Racing Game / 3D Platformer

Players: 1-40 Competitive (Online)

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Review:

WARNING: THIS GAME HEAVILY PUSHES ITS PAID SEASON PASS

Faaast Penguin, released in 2024 on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch, is a family-friendly free-to-play online-only multiplayer-focused Racing Game with 3D Platformer elements that has players sliding down courses as a penguin, trying to get past the finish line before their opponents.

This game includes a pretty sizable group of 40 players at a time (with cross-play compatibility across platforms), with each subsequent race in a series eliminating the slowest racers, and this combined with the game’s colorful art style and wacky presentation puts me in mind of Fall Guys. However, unlike the Nintendo Switch version of Fall Guys, Faaast Penguin actually plays pretty well on Nintendo Switch, with only slight framerate dips and some pop-in from time to time, but otherwise the game’s bright, colorful, cartoony 3D visuals and good sense of speed work remarkably well here. These visuals are backed by a lighthearted energetic soundtrack that works well for the game, even if it isn’t especially memorable.

While the multiplayer mechanics and presentation of Faaast Penguin remind me of Fall Guys, the gameplay here feels very reminiscent of the penguin slide race sections of Super Mario 64, with players sliding down a path and occasionally jumping over obstacles or to reach new platforms. The levels here are pretty well-designed to accommodate this, offering multiple diverging and converging paths that give added opportunities to players who can keep themselves on higher, more narrow passageways, and players who collide with a treasure chest can even open up locked shortcut passageways.

However, the really clever thing Faaast Penguin does is its attacking mechanic. Players can attack opponents who are in range directly in front or nearby them using a forward somersault attack. Connecting with such an attack will slightly stun them, but also launch you forward into the air, not only giving you a boost of speed but enabling you to reach higher platforms or bypass obstacles, and players who are skilled enough can chain these attacks, bouncing from one opponent to the next (or using pink walrus mole creatures on the track for this if an opponent isn’t nearby). However, failing to connect with this attack will trigger a cooldown, keeping you from using it again for a few seconds.

Not only does this provide an excellent risk-reward strategy to the gameplay, but it gives players a reverse slippery slope to get back ahead when they fall behind, as the frontrunner can’t very well attack anyone if there’s no one in front of them, but players who can leapfrog nearby opponents have the potential to propel themselves back into a competitive placing.

Another important element to this game are sardine cans strewn around the track like Mario Kart’s coins. Collect ten of these, and you can use an ultimate ability that has you riding a killer whale down the track at high speeds, unfazed by enemy attacks or course hazards. Think of it like a combination of Mario Kart’s super star and bullet bill items, but without bullet bill’s automated driving.

All of this make for a Racing Game that has a great balance of accessibility with simple, easy to understand controls, as well as depth, with strategy around choosing your routes and positioning yourself to exploit your opponents to get ahead. And while this game does have a season pass to entice players into spending their money, this is only used for cosmetics, so I can’t really fault it.

No, the main fault I have with this game is that it’s a bit repetitive. Unlike Fall Guys, which has players doing a variety of activities, this is only about racing. And that’s totally fine, except the number of tracks to race on here is pretty limited. While the game’s creators are continually adding new courses, the way they reuse themes makes many of them look samey, so when a new wave adds four courses that share a visual theme, it doesn’t feel like as much of an addition to the game as it should.

Still, Faaast Penguin is an easy pickup for anyone looking to add a fun online multiplayer game to their collection without spending any money. The healthy mix of accessibility and depth makes for a great all-ages Racing Game, and even if there’s not as much variety here as I would like, it’s hard to complain too much when it costs nothing to play the game and the monetization isn’t bad. It’s not likely to take Mario Kart 8 Deluxe‘s place as the top racing game on Nintendo Switch, but it’s enjoyable and unique enough to be well worth getting even if you own Nintendo’s Kart Racer.

tl;dr – Faaast Penguin is a family-friendly free-to-play online-only multiplayer-focused Racing Game with 3D Platformer elements that has players sliding down courses as a penguin. The gameplay here is both deep and accessible, with a good sense of speed and frenetic fun, monetization that isn’t overly-burdensome, and the performance on Nintendo Switch is decent. I would have liked more track variety, but overall this is a Racing Game that’s definitely worth downloading and trying out.

Grade: B

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