Star Wars Episode I: Racer received generally positive reviews from critics. Several major media outlets listed it as one of the top "Star Wars" video games. , the game holds the Guinness record as the best-selling sci-fi racing game, having worldwide sales of 3.12 million and beating other series like "Wipeout" and "F-Zero". Two titles featuring podracing were released after "Episode I: Racer"'s release. "", an arcade game featuring many similar tracks and characters, was released in 2000. A sequel, "Star Wars Racer Revenge" was released in 2002 for the PlayStation 2. "Star Wars Episode I: Racer" features a variety of tracks spanning several different
Star Wars Episode I: Racer be inserted into the game card to activate vibration. The game received a digital re-release via the DRM-free digital distribution store GOG.com in May 2018. The game was met with positive to average reception. GameRankings gave it a score of 75.78% for the Nintendo 64 version; 75.42% for the Dreamcast version; 73.79% for the PC version; and 69.44% for the Game Boy Color version. It has been featured on several lists of the best "Star Wars" video games. In March 2004, "GMR" rated "Episode I: Racer" the fifth best "Star Wars" game of all time. In 2015 "PC Gamer" listed