Bomb Rush Cyberfunk

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

With bumping tunes and Y2K inspirations, Bomb Rush Cyberfunk reminds us that, sometimes, looking back can be a way of moving forward.

This is a shame because there's a fun game here – it's just trapped in a hollow shell. Its final sin is having a miserable story hardly even worth bringing up. It's boring and bad; we can leave it at that. There's room for games that want to recapture some old glory – to remind you how cool games used to be – but to do that, you have to add something new to the conversation. Neon White is a great example of a game that did this right. Bomb Rush isn't interested in adding anything new. It just wants to have the same conversations we've been having for years. Jet Set Radio was cool. Go play that instead.

This spiritual successor to Jet Set Radio has the same stylish look and feel, though with better gameplay for the outlaw street gang

Complete with Sega-blue skies, a funk-filled soundtrack and visually distinct crews, Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is the Jet Set Radio sequel you've been waiting for.

Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is no doubt a worthy successor to Jet Set Radio. That’s not to say the game is perfect; there are some notable issues, such as falling through the floor on occasion, as well as the aforementioned poor combat sections. But those issues don’t detract from this still being one of the most fun games released this year.

No matter how excellent its soundtrack or sense of momentum may be, there's no shaking the sense that Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is in a race against its own sense of nostalgia. The game rips, but more often than not it feels like that's because Jet Set Radio ran before it. That's not to say it's bad, but part of what makes Jet Set Radio so fun and unique is its raw originality. Bomb Rush Cyberfunk feels like a sequel in everything but name-for better and for worse. For every banger in its soundtrack, there's a moment of jank or a feeling that this game hasn't left 2000. Again, it's still a great time, but it's lacking that lightning-in-a-bottle feel that JSR had. That's totally fine, and for people who missed out on it, this will feel much fresher.

If you’re an old school Segahead, there are definitely a few holes in your heart in need of filling. Jet Set Radio, which hasn’t seen a new game since the Xbox, is one of the biggest. Bomb Rush Cyberfunk has appeared like a beacon of hope to fill that void, and it does so while bringing new stuff to the table. This game is like a long-lost Dreamcast game in so many different ways, and most of them are good. Clearly, the developers at Team Reptile understand the concept of love.

Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is a game that's clearly wearing its inspiration on its sleeve. With mechanics that are pretty easy to get into and a great soundtrack to boot, fans of Jet Set Radio and 3D platformer games in general should feel very pleased. While the game has some shortcomings that prevent it from being a masterpiece, it still delivers some memorable beats.

Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is the perfect spiritual successor to Jet Set Radio, as if released in the 2000s. The style and soundtrack are almost impeccable, with a surprising plot connecting the game world. While the repetitive process of unlocking districts may be a downside, collectibles and challenging achievements help mitigate the lack of broader gameplay variety. A must-play for JSR fans.