So you’ve got a cast full of characters who love racing…but no podracing to be seen. Podracers are so fast and maneuverable that the danger in piloting one makes it almost impossible to hold a real, organized race. But it’s immediately apparent that there’s a legacy of podracing in the Star Wars universe, to more or less the same degree that there is in the real world. Everyone remembers podracing, and even those characters who are too young know of it and speak of it in reverent tones, recalling specific races and racers from approximately 30 years ago. And hey, would you look at that, Episode 1 and its accompanying video games are almost 30 years old here in the real world, too.
“I wanted racing back, the way it was, the way it should be!” says the game’s opening narration. “The audience has been dying to see a real podracer in the league. That is to say, they’re dying to see me,” says Kestar Bool, the rich jerkoff who’s executed a hostile takeover of the league.
Talking to these characters about the “glory days of podracing” feels a lot like listening to real motorsports fans. When a car nut talks about the Nissan Skyline GT-R R32 and gives it a nickname like “Godzilla,” or recalls with fondness the rapid advancements of a particular decade of rally racing, it gives off the same vibes. I don’t know enough about real racing to speak with authority here. But as an outsider, it sure seems like the developers were aiming for a very specific vibe, and hit it right on target.
“The glory days” of the prequels
I can’t help but analyze this through a broader media lens, too. If you’re a Star Wars fan, you probably know that it’s been very up-and-down since Disney acquired the franchise. The movie Episodes 7-9 had a reaction that was mixed at best, with a definite downturn on the final, 40-year cap to the “Skywalker saga.” The other tie-ins have ranged from surprisingly good (Rogue One and Andor) to fine, I guess (The Mandalorian, Solo, Ahsoka) to downright awful (The Book of Boba Fett, The Acolyte, and the latest movie, The Mandalorian and Grogu).