HomeReviewsBomb Rush Cyberfunk
Bomb Rush Cyberfunk review: stylish, funky and flawedFun police
Fun police
Image credit:Team Reptile
Image credit:Team Reptile
A big shout out to indie games that are successors to existing games in all but name. It’s gotta be one of my favourite trends. Fed up of waiting for a big publisher to revive a series that’s been lying dormant for decades? Simply do it yourself instead. 11 years after the release ofJet Set Radio Future, and with Sega seemingly unwilling to exhume their cult-favourite rollerblading series outside ofweird crossoverswith Ubisoft’sRoller Championsof all things, Team Reptile have done exactly that.
EnterBomb Rush Cyberfunk, as authentic a sequel toJet Set Radioas you can get. Dripping with style and oozing cool, the team have crafted a carefully observed love letter that both respects and advances the original duology in meaningful ways, while taking a step back in others.
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Bomb Rush features a steady flow of interesting narrative beats that are repeatedly brushed aside in favour of hanging out in a way I find absolutely fascinating. There are multiple twists, surprise character reveals, a conspiracy that threatens the already fragile morality of the city’s police force and a persistent thematic undercurrent about the physical form and what makes us human. But all of this takes a back seat to breakdancing, doing a cool backflip on a half-pipe or tagging a billboard in a shopping centre.
Each chapter ends with a platforming gauntlent in a dream-scape that remixes enviromental details from the district you just liberated. |Image credit:Team Reptile
However, while score-attack battles are an integral step on your quest to conquer the city, Bomb Rush’s trick system lacks bite. Outside of a handful of basic grinds, air tricks and combo linkers such as manuals and sliding, there’s not a substantial amount of depth to be found here. Comparisons to Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater would be unfair, as Bomb Rush clearly has no desire to replicate that game’s approach to tricks and scoring, and I couldn’t help but wish there was more to chew on as I repeatedly cycled through the same meagre selection of moves. A missed opportunity, perhaps, for a slightly more engaging way of interacting with this world and its structures.
These little robot fellas challenge you to high-five them all within a single combo. Sparingly used, they force you to engage with the make-up of a level in ways I would have liked to have seen explored further. |Image credit:Team Reptile
Image credit:Team Reptile
Image credit:Team Reptile
Or at least, it would be. As is so often the case, the police are here to ruin a good time for no justifiable reason. I get that cops were an important part of Jet Set Radio, a militant force using extreme methods to counter a victimless crime. Fighting back against fascist forces determined to enact violence against harmless and diverse groups is arguably a more relevant and just narrative beat in 2023 than it was in 2002. But on a mechanical level, the police in Bomb Rush seem designed to break your flow so effectively that it can make actually playing the game a miserable chore.
Graffiti enough spots and you’ll start to build up a heat metre, with each level flooding the map with a different type of police officer. Standard officers are a nuisance that can be largely ignored, until the second half of the game when they start shooting at you. Huge machines shoot chains that attach to your limbs and pull you off rails and other platforms. Snipers and armoured officers stand in your way and take pot shots at you from afar. All of these mechanics run counter to the sense of flow that makes Bomb Rush, you know, fun to play. Outside of a handful of boss battles that serve as an extension of the movement and graffiti system in a way that is dynamic and interesting, the police are a frustrating hindrance that sours the whole experience. Don’t even get me started on the combat, as the game pulls you into weightless fist fights that are genuinely terrible.
While 90% of the game is “Dreamcast-like in a good way!”, combat is very much “Dreamcast-like in a bad way.” |Image credit:Team Reptile
