Bomb Rush Cyberfunk Review

Bomb Rush Cyberfunk’s story begins as you’re introduced to the main character Faux, one of the famed Big 3 gang members who finds himself in jail for reasons unknown. Or should I say this is where it ends? Because, just after the tutorial ends, Faux gets decapitated. But rather than die, you wake up in the headquarters of the Bomb Rush Crew with a gigantic ro🦋bot head, now going by the moniker of Red.

Bomb Rush Cyberfunꦇk never shies away from its unique world-building and ridiculously far-fetched storytelling. In this action-packed skating game, you have to explore the different boroughs of New Amsterdam and spray paint graffiti across other gang territories. From the get-go, your main objective is to pique DJ Cyber’s attention, and when he refuses to give back Faux’s head, you chan♒ge to the more aggressive plan of claiming the whole city, amassing enough influence and power to force him.

Tryce, Bel, and Red skating through new amsterdam in Bomb Rush Cyberfunk.

Once you wake up from that untimely headache, you will find yourself in New Amsterdam, a retro-looking cyberpunk city, freshly baked from the Sega Dreamcast era; and boy, doe𒅌s it feel good to be back. The city vibrates with a cartoonishly colorful aesthetic, full of nooks and crannies to explore or destroy, as you skate arou🌺nd trying to uncover its many secrets.

However, one of the most vital aspects of this game is the music that accompanies the vibes. You can make your way through the city listening to the funkiest jams from great DJs like 2Mello, tunes from famed musicians like Hideki Naganuma, w💞ho composed the original soundtracꦍk of Jet Set Radio.

After you get acquainted with your crewmates Tryce and Bel, you try to amass reputation throughout the various areas of the city, challenging sever🐠al gangs with the objective of recovering your original head from the hands of DJ Cyber. To do this, you must get out 💙there and travel around the five boroughs, covering every possible tag you find with your own until you rack up enough Reputation points to pique the interest of the dominating crews in those areas.

The skating gameplay feels satisfying and fun to learn as you reach longe♊r combos and unlock new stunts which in turn unlock new areas of the map. However, it can feel a little bit imprecise when more subtle stunts are required. It’s also worth noting that the tagging mechanics are fun enough without disrupting the flow of the skating gameplay, and more graffiti is unlocked as you progress, ending up with many styles to choose from as you cover the walls of New Amsterdam.

Faux standing in front of a graffiti in Bomb Rush Cyberfunk.

Unfortunately, a dissonant aspect is the police, whose presence can be constantly felt. As you do your tricks and tags, you will accumulate heat until the cops pop out of some weird tubes, ready to hunt you, and the🅺re are some fighting mechanics involved. But where the skating and graffiti-related mechanics feel cl🌃ean and fun, the way you kick and fight the cops in those encounters feels clunky at best, and it quickly gets boring, even before you finish the first big battle against them.

All being said, I never believed I would live to see the day a worthy successor of Jet Set Radio material🍸ized into existence, and yet, here we are. For better or worse, Bomb Rush Cyberfunk embodies the vibes and fun of the early 2000s era in video games and succeeds in delivering a great experience, whether you’re a fan of that era or not.

Score 4/5. A copy of the game was provided by the publisher.