Bomb Rush Cyberfunk

Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is the kind of game I’ve been waiting to play for two decades. Jet Set Radio Future was a truly formative game for me, and I’ve been waiting for years to play something that truly gets what made it work. While I typically find an attachment to nostalgia to be damaging to any work of art, Team Reptile has not let it bog them down. This is one of the freshest games you’ll play all year, and with its quality of life improvements and new modern flair, I think it has surpassed the games it was inspired by.

It’s easy to glance at Bomb Rush Cyberfunk and see a cheap imitation. A work whose value is found in what it takes rather than what it creates. But Team Reptile has proven that derivative art can surpass its inspirations. I can recall nearly half a dozen instances of me starting Jet Set Radio with the hope that it would finally click, that I could finally enjoy moving in that world as much as I enjoyed being in it, only to never make it past the second level. In a year chock full of landmark releases, I’m booting up Bomb Rush Cyberfunk again to make up for all the lost time, to play the game that I always hoped existed. Now that I have it, I simply just can’t get enough.

If you enjoyed Jet Set Radio, Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is the game for you. I wish it did a bit more to stand out, but we don’t really get many games like this, and Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is a polished and straight up fun experience with an amazing vibe and superb soundtrack. It is held back by some technical issues on Switch though.

Eerie and loving by turn, Bomb Rush Cyberpunk is a gloriously haunted video game.

Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is fresh, funky and full of incredible, yet slightly frustrating nostalgia.

The soundtrack and visuals are beyond reproach, and the mostly fun skate gameplay sees Bomb Rush Cyberfunk grappling with repetition and really annoying cops.