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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 \u2013 a street-skating, graffiti-splashing adventure set to one of the bounciest video game soundtracks I\u2019ve heard in a long time!<\/p>\nNot 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\u2019s exactly what I imagined this sorta spiritual successor would be \u2013 radical, funky and fun.<\/p>\n
Jumping into New Amsterdam, you\u2019ll join the Bomb Rush Crew and vie for control of the five burroughs in an attempt to go All-City. Rival crews ain\u2019t gonna give up their territory so easily though, so you\u2019ll have to go graffiti-crazy to up your rep and get their attention, then challenge \u2019em to skate-off\u2019s. If you\u2019re up to SNUFF you\u2019ll 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.<\/p>\nGameplay-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\u2019s 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 \u2013 directional inputs determine what piece you\u2019ll throw up so memorise your favourite zigzags. As you play you\u2019ll unlock more graffiti to add to your repertoire, plus new bikes, skateboards, rollerskates, characters and music tracks. Every chapter or so you\u2019ll be thrown into a trippy dream sequence where you\u2019ll 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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s had a physical release it would honestly feel at home on a shelf with your Gamecube collection.<\/p>\nThe 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.<\/p>\n\n
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