At the start of each year, our Editor sits down to work out the games that should be on everybody’s radar, but this time around, he is doing something different. This year, he is reducing his choices to three games for each genre. These might not be the most anticipated titles or the best releases, but they are games that have huge potential and a chance of doing something exciting or new within their genre. Welcome to “Games to Watch – 2026 Edition.” We are now diving into the worlds of sport and racing. It is worth noting that we are purposely excluding known quantities like Forza and NBA 2K here.
Games to Watch in 2026 - Racing/Sports
Screamer
I’ve been lucky enough to have some hands on time with Screamer and I can tell you it is bringing some pretty interesting aspects to the arcade racing genre, along with some long-overdue innovation. A twinstick driving method where one stick controls the direction of the car, while the other stick controls drift, is just one of the innovations that really stuck with me from my time.
But since my preview, it has been revealed that the game has a full-on Anime story that is bringing the drama to street racing as various factions go against each other. It is looking like a wild ride and one that could really bring something fresh to an underserved genre. Check out Screamer when it lands on the 26th of March.
Mario Tennis Fever
I don’t know about you, but I found all of the Switch-era Mario sports games a little light-on, especially in the realm of single-player content. That seemed especially true when it came to Mario Tennis Aces, which had great gameplay, but bugger all to do for folks without friends nearby. Mario Tennis Fever, thankfully, is looking to fix that.
Featuring double the amount of selectable characters, a full story that includes an open-world to explore and a host of other additions, Fever is looking to be the most feature-complete Nintendo sports game in quite some time. I really hope that the classic gameplay, along with this new focus on giving players more, is a success, because we all need more whimsical sports games in our lives. Mario Tennis Fever serves up on February 12th.
Star Wars: Galactic Racer
It has been quite some time since we’ve had a Star Wars racing game, but the remaster of Pod Racer a little while ago proved that people are still keen to hit top speed in a galaxy far away. With that in mind, Fuse Games has come to the rescue, and we now have Star Wars: Galactic Racer coming our way.
The really exciting part of this is that it is being made by Need for Speed and Burnout veterans, which means that there is almost certainly going to be some top-notch racing with an amazing sense of speed. The trailers are also giving me a bit of a Wipeout vibe, which is absolutely a good thing. We don’t have a release date as yet, so expect this one in the back half of the year.
