As soon as Bomb Rush Cyberfunk was announced it was immediately turning heads. Since becoming pretty much dead in the water, the Jet Set Radio series left a big gap in the gaming scene, and it was only a matter of time til another title picked up where it left off. Enter Bomb Rush Cyberfunk – a street-skating, graffiti-splashing adventure set to one of the bounciest video game soundtracks I’ve heard in a long time!
Not having had a Dreamcast or Xbox back in the day, Jet Set Radio flew right over my head. The legacy of the series however stayed strong, and despite fans clamouring for a new game and some re-releases, nothing really ever popped up. Bomb Rush Cyberfunk aims to scratch this itch, and it’s exactly what I imagined this sorta spiritual successor would be – radical, funky and fun.
Jumping into New Amsterdam, you’ll join the Bomb Rush Crew and vie for control of the five burroughs in an attempt to go All-City. Rival crews ain’t gonna give up their territory so easily though, so you’ll have to go graffiti-crazy to up your rep and get their attention, then challenge ’em to skate-off’s. If you’re up to SNUFF you’ll uncover the past of your amnesia-prone protagonist and his newly transplanted cyberhead, and even stop creepy DJ Cyber and the ultra-authoritarian police force.
Gameplay-wise, its easy to pick up but hard to master. As someone who played a lot of Tony Hawk Pro Skater back in the day, Bomb Rush Cyberfunk’s combo system was pretty foreign to me at first, but once I got it, I really got it. I was running huge lines and racking up massive scores. The graffiti system is simple yet effective – directional inputs determine what piece you’ll throw up so memorise your favourite zigzags. As you play you’ll unlock more graffiti to add to your repertoire, plus new bikes, skateboards, rollerskates, characters and music tracks. Every chapter or so you’ll be thrown into a trippy dream sequence where you’ll have to trek through platformer-style in order to progress. These were my favourite moments of the game, like Raz from Psychonauts grinding through mindscapes using a skateboard.
Bomb Rush Cyberfunk has a huge throwback quality and leans into it. Besides the obvious JSR comparison, the game makes no attempt to go modern; blocky character models, visible pixels and an old-school game feel. Now that the game’s had a physical release it would honestly feel at home on a shelf with your Gamecube collection.
The soundtrack does bridge this gap a little however, full of bangers by modern indie musicians with some oldschool inspiration. Made up of breakbeat, hip hop, funk and techy stuff, its excellent backing music for skating and spraying. The game even features some tunes by Hideki Naganuma, the dude most famous for scoring Jet Set Radio and its sequel back in the day, as well his other projects over the years and being a general troll online. Safe to say I added a bunch of these tracks to my liked songs on Spotify.
I encountered a pretty heinous bug in my playthrough where the game would crash between chapters. Whenever it crashed I rebooted the game and crossed my fingers, hoping that my progress hadn’t been lost. And it hadn’t, thank goodness, because I’d just slogged it through back-to-back boss battles, cutscenes and tricky dream sequences. There’s also a bit of a difficulty spike as you progress, so if you’re not getting the hang of running long lines you’re likely to get left in the dust. Some of the later bosses have that old school smack-ya-if-you’re-not-careful quality, whereas other bosses are piss easy – a realthrowback in itself. So get good!
Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is a brilliantly niche title. Apart from Jet Set Radio 20 years ago, it seems no one has attempted to capture this kinda 90s/2000s skater-graffiti counter-culture in a video game since. And I’m glad that Team Reptile did, because Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is just what I was hoping for! Fully sick!
Rating: 4.5/5
