The Fast And The Furious franchise had a successful launch in 2001. While the movie was largely well-received, no one could have predicted the juggernaut it would soon become. This cinematic universe is continuing to expand with both sequels and spin-offs.
But just like any other flashy racing franchise with expensive cars, there have also been several attempts to take this concept from the big screen to video games. Adaptations like these can certainly turn out to be unexpected hits, although they equally result in a few financial disasters. The Fast And The Furious games have definitely had a rocky timeline and have struggled to find the right formula. Even to this day.
10 The First Was Canceled
Considering the initial Fast And The Furious movie was performing so well, Universal Pictures got to work on a sequel. To capitalize on the brand further, they began producing a brand new video game alongside developer Genki.
While rudimentary box art was released for the project, as well as some general details about the game were revealed at E3, it was eventually canceled around 2003. The game was supposed to coincide with the release of 2 Fast 2 Furious.
9 The Original Had A Spiritual Prequel
The first game in the line was released in 2004 and was titled The Fast And The Furious. This took well-known basic concepts of the movie franchise and combined them with simplified gaming mechanics from a spiritual predecessor.
Previously, a similar game entitled Cruis’n had been released, which had been developed Midway Games and Raw Thrills (who had also worked on The Fast And The Furious). These games were so similar that when the title was brought to the Wii, it was titled Cruis’n again, with no links to the Fast series.
8 Mobile Games As Early as 2004
The first game wasn’t released onto consoles straight away. While it did make its way to the Nintendo Wii in a completely different form, the first release of this was actually as a mobile experience.
It’s difficult to imagine a mobile game working well in 2004. However, to rush the release of the game, it was created as a 2D racing experience. The final result ended up being quite disappointing to fans of the movie. The game would eventually get a bit of an update though.
7 There Are Multiple Arcade Games
Not content with just mobile platforms, a spin-off of sorts was created in the form of an arcade version of The Fast And The Furious. The game was popular and has therefore spawned a number of other adaptations to the arcade format.
There has been plenty of takes on this racing franchise with arcade games, with a memorable one ditching the cars and allowing players to ride motorbikes instead in Fast And The Furious: Super Bikes.
6 2 Fast 2 Furious Mobile Game
The second game in this franchise was a mobile sequel to the original mobile/arcade game and linked to the release of 2 Fast 2 Furious. This made up for the cancellation of the console game that was supposed to release around the same time.
It was created by Digital Bridges and dbi Games, and expanded the world further compared to the initial mobile release. It was also a 3D release for the franchise and continued the tradition of making this, mainly, a racing game, rather than a larger Fast And The Furious experience.
5 PlayStation Exclusive
2006 saw the release of the first console video game from the franchise, coinciding with Tokyo Drift. Imaginatively titled The Fast And The Furious, the game took elements of what had already been released and updated them for console players to enjoy.
The release of the game resulted in a mixed critical reception. At the time, Universal Interactive were supposed to release the game, but they ended up closing down. This meant that the first major game of the series was only released on PS2 and PlayStation Portable, with the Xbox iteration getting dropped.
4 Multi-Platformed
These games have largely been focused on mobile content over the years, likely because the racing genre is very accessible to players on mobile devices. For the release of the game, coinciding with Fast Five, multiple versions of the product had to be created.
At the time of its release (2011), a change was happening in the mobile industry. Smart phones were becoming more popular, but there were still a number of older devices around. Because of this, the mobile game was released on both devices, creating both a 2D and 3D racing experience.
3 Forza Exclusive
In 2015, The Fast And The Furious did something quite rare for any brand. It teamed up with a titan of the industry. The Forza games have been known to create great partnerships in the past, including the popular Top Gear.
Forza Horizon 2 saw a slightly different style of release, with a version of the game entitled Forza Horizon 2 Presents: The Fast And The Furious. The game allowed plays to take control of a new storyline where they could unlock cars from the 7th film in the series.
2 A Crossroads For The Franchise
In its long history of video game development, The Fast And The Furious franchise went all in on the development of Crossroads. Pitched as the ultimate video game for the series, it was unfortunately delayed several times due to the global situation.
When it was finally released, it came to previous gen consoles, including, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and interestingly, PC. Yet, it was deemed one of the worst moments in the franchise ever, with reviews criticising the game for its mechanics and story. Strangely, it’s one of the few in the series that included characters from the films.
1 Only 9 Games In Total
Despite the range of properties that this franchise has created, there are actually only 9 games in total that have been released. This is a shocking number considering the amount of years the franchise has been going on and the number of films that have released in its cinematic series. Needless to say, game developers can’t quite find what really makes the brand tick in a video game format.
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