Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, the highly-anticipated spiritual successor to Jet Set Radio, is finally out and in players’ hands. I know I often bang on about not comparing indie games to other games, but Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is a special case. It’s been over 20 years since we had a Jet Set Radio game, with fans frequently clamoring for it, and Sega remaining tight-lipped. Bomb Rush Cyberfunk really exists to fill that niche; it goes far past being inspired by Jet Set Radio and instead looks, feels, and was marketed as the sequel we never got. That is, by far, its greatest strength — but one that highlights its weaknesses, too. Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is “Super Jet Set Radio,” but it’s also just “Super Jet Set Radio.”

Let’s talk about the music first. It’s one of the most enduring elements of the Jet Set series, and one of a few things that Bomb Rush Cyberfunk had to get right to earn its desired position as a spiritual successor. Hideki Naganuma is one of the most well-known video game composers of all time, largely due to his work on the Jet Set games. I mean, “Concept of Love” still stands strong as one of the most famous, recognizable video game tracks to ever exist. Although Team Reptile would bring Naganuma on as a guest composer, I think they were smart not to follow Jet Set’s formula here too closely. As opposed to having a single/primary composer, Bomb Rush Cyberfunk opts for a more eclectic style. It doesn’t have its own soundtrack the way that other games do; it has its own mixtape.

There are over 25 different artists listed on the game’s official OST, with a few tracks — such as BX’TREME’s “AGUA” — being created by independent musicians for their own projects, and later selected to be featured in the game. Alongside them you have commissioned works, like the nine minute “Hideout Mixtape” (really “Light Switch” by SkyBlew x Navo The Maestro) and the aforementioned Naganuma guest tracks “GET ENUF” and “DA PEOPLE”. Not only does this mixtape theme tie in directly with the world, story, and overall punk concept of the game itself, it also serves to further distinguish Bomb Rush Cyberfunk as its own work, instead of a wholesale Jet Set Radio clone. As much as I enjoy Naganuma’s work, and although I’m sure droves of Jet Set fans were clamoring for another 45 minutes of electronic breakbeat since music only exists in video games to them, I don’t think Team Reptile could’ve done a better job with the OST. It’s an expertly created and curated mix of different styles within the electronic-hip hop family, from rap and funk to trap and dubstep. It’s nice to hear/see more Black folks on the soundtrack, too, since virtually every aspect of culture — and especially music — within both the Jet Set series and Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is owed to Black communities.

I don’t think anyone in their right mind could knock the art style, either, even taking into consideration the legacy of Jet Set Radio. It takes the original games’ style and naturally builds upon it, just as young fashionistas reimagine the styles of the 90s-00s today. It's a wonderful blend of the Y2K and hip hop elements we most quickly recognize with an even more sleek and contemporary vision, incorporating not only those current style reimaginings, but new fashion subcultures, too.

Even without knowing a thing about the game’s setting, development studio Team Reptile, or game director Dion Koster, Bomb Rush Cyberfunk’s fashion is clearly European, informed by real subcultures from the region. (Side note: As much as the internet has brought us all closer together, there’s still a world of distance and history between me and Europe. I’m not as educated on European fashion subcultures as I am on American ones. Just sayin’.)

It’s great to see so many practical and athletic (“gorpcore,” if you wanna be trendy about it) elements in Tryce’s design; it blends in well with his status as a self-made street punk who started his own gang. It’s even possible he was inspired by his graffiti idol’s style, as Felix himself wears very outdoorsy garments: a cropped gilet, 3/4 zip athletic jacket, and high tops. There’s also DOT EXE representing the breakdancers, wearing the classic EU b-boy uniform of head-to-toe tracksuits (clearly Adidas here, good lads). ECLIPSE immediately reminded me of Mugler’s Amazons, with their hyper-lengthened legs and massive shoulder pads. And if we’re talking about European fashion subcultures, I’d be remiss not to mention the unlockable character Rave (you knew raving originated in Europe, right?). She’s wearing bright orange overalls as pants, allowing the suspenders to hang freely about her waist. Based on the big bands around the pant legs as well as the shade of orange, you could assume at least some of it’s 3M — construction-safe, highly reflective material, perfect for a rave. On top is a skimpy little thing, a black bathing suit of sorts with plenty of straps to wear in creative ways around the chest and arms. It’s an absolute banger of a rave fit, and Bomb Rush Cyberfunk in a nutshell: equal parts modern and vintage.

BRC’s environments aren’t quite as strong as its fashion, though, and that’s when it starts to feel less “vintage” and more “dated.” While they’re well-designed in the sense that they’re beautiful, bright, and creative, they aren’t designed for the humans of this world, or for pedestrians — they’re designed for the player, the skater. That may sound like a silly gripe since this is, after all, a skating game, but this approach leads to a world that feels much less real, alive, or lived in... and some obnoxious level design to boot.

There's one true method of fast travel in the taxi. Unlike the platonic ideal of a taxi which can be called from anywhere, though, he can only be summoned at a taxi sign, and there’s only one per level. There’s also no “abandon mission” prompt; that is, there’s no way to return to the Hideout (the “lobby”) without a taxi sign or riding there manually.

These taxi locations have to be interacted with to be unlocked, and they are an absolute bitch to find. Grind rails come in two colors (yellow and red), though they’re almost always yellow. Untagged graffiti also glows yellow, occasionally flashing. To unlock a fast travel location (or even just use it), simply find a small, yellow sign on a yellow stick in a sea of yellow sticks and glowing yellow walls. While searching for one, you may want to go into a port-a-potty to change clothes to get the cops off your back. These are also yellow, and placed in a manner so completely nonsensical I struggle to understand the decisionmaking behind it.

The thing about Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is that its environments are inspired by extremely common real world ones — city streets, transit stations, malls. Regardless of our countries of origin, we all have vaguely the same understanding of the layouts of public spaces, and would innately understand where to find a public toilet. Instead of placing them somewhere that makes sense, such as next to the food court or in plain view of entrances/exits, Bomb Rush Cyberfunk opts to place them on top of buildings, nestled in corners on the edge of the map, blocking doors, or on inaccessible platform ledges. They’re not placed on skating thoroughfares or near heavily graffitied areas, either. There are no rules to their placement from either a real or game world perspective, and therefore no way for a player to anticipate where they may be. Maybe it's supposed to be part of the challenge: keep your eye out for randomly-placed, human-sized objects that don't stand out in a large level while moving at speed so you can avoid the annoyance of a primary gameplay element later on.

That “gameplay element” is the police presence, or Heat level. More tagging means a higher Heat level; the higher the Heat level, the more threatening types of police will enter the area, and spawn endlessly. Foot soldiers deploy at Heat One, handcuff turrets at Heat Two, riot officers at Heat Three, snipers at Heat Four, gunner ships at Heat Five, and a large mech at Heat Six. Keep in mind, though, that the maximum Heat level begins at one and is only increased as the player progresses through the campaign.

Bomb Rush Cyberfunk’s design necessitates that these enemies shouldn’t really be deadly, but rather inconvenient. The two pillars of gameplay here are in achieving the highest score by pulling off long, uninterrupted combo chains and exploring open areas to graffiti bomb them. Other skaters exist to beat your score, and the police exist to stop you in the overworld (they’re conveniently cleared out during crew battles, combo missions, and races). While those skaters provide a challenge, a goal, rivalry, the police just… annoy you, during the campaign and postgame. As a gameplay system it feels imported; included without context or consideration from Jet Set Radio, and not something thoughtfully included as an advancement on its predecessor.

The foot soldiers, riot officers, and snipers may as well not exist. They’re rendered ineffective simply by moving (which, of course, you’ll be doing anyways). The gunner ships and mech can be avoided by moving, too, only faster — the speed with which their guns can track you actually puts you at risk of dying. That makes sense since they’re recycled minibosses, initially encountered in large, empty, closed-off arenas. Only the handcuff turrets feel really designed, as they actually require you to interact with the game’s systems. Building speed on rails, boosting, and tricking will break a chain, preventing the speed and aerial maneuvering penalty that comes with being cuffed. Or, instead of bothering with all that, you can just run up to the turret, kick it, tag it, and be done with it.

Yeah, there's combat. Although I appreciate the ability to beat up cops instead of the samey and low-octane chases of Jet Set, it's by far the worst part of Bomb Rush Cyberfunk. Combat is basic, floaty, unresponsive, and unrefined. Cops swing lamely in your general direction, and then you press the left face button until they fall over. Jet Set veterans will instinctively try to tag the regular officers, but would be surprised to find that nothing happens. On first spray, they stumble back a bit; maybe that’s just to push through a crowd without having to get off your skates? Those same veterans, perhaps having completed Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, may be surprised to learn that pressing the jump button without skates on will cause surrounding officers to be launched into the air, regardless of their remaining health. Now, in just about any hack-and-slash combat system, this means that they’re open for an aerial combo. Not so in Bomb Rush Cyberfunk. The game never, ever explains it to you, but tagging an enemy while they’re knocked into the air will instantly execute them.

That’s right: there’s a facet of the combat system in Bomb Rush Cyberfunk that ties in better to the game’s themes and primary gameplay elements, completely circumvents the existing combat system, was already in the Jet Set series, and the game never teaches you that you can do it. Although the game has actual tutorials, short strings of dialogue and text messages between BRC, and instructive missions, it neglects to teach the player basic things like this. How is someone who hasn’t played Jet Set meant to figure this out? There are three verbs to interact with the world: move, tag, and fight. The player is put into situations where there’s no point of egress from the cops except to fight them. Tagging them on the ground does nothing, but players are to intuit that they should enter a combat stance, jump, and tag when they’d normally kick? Sure, tagging can destroy the machines, but that makes sense from a game world standpoint — these random street punks can’t kick through metal, and we need some way of dealing with them.

Bomb Rush Cyberfunk’s combat system is mediocre at best, and I can say without hyperbole that its two major, story-critical, unique bossfights rank as some of the worst I have ever played. Every combat encounter, though, is hindered by poor tutorialization. However, that's far from the only time weak communication hinders the experience. Random gameplay elements will remain — practically or actually — unknown to the player without an outside source, while others are taught early and with complete clarity.

There’s the aforementioned “carpets” that allow you to slide endlessly, a factoid the game never makes a point to mention. You can figure this out during DOT EXE’s mission: one of the pre-crew battle challenges is to slide down a long hallway lined with this carpet and gather up every boostpack in your path. Again, the carpets are never directly mentioned, but you could surmise that their presence here is necessary, instead of just decorative.

There’s the fact that you can perform a super jump by getting off your skates, doing a melee attack, and pressing jump with specific timing. There’s exactly one location in the entire game where it’s necessary to reach something, meaning that this hidden and near-useless tech is vital to a 100% run.

Also, each piece of movement equipment — rollerblades, skateboards, and bikes — has its own unique “ability,” as opposed to solely being an aesthetic or character choice. Horizontal glass can only be broken by sliding while wearing skates, bicycle garages can only be entered while riding a bicycle, and fire hydrants can be extended by awkwardly latching onto them and repeatedly mashing the trick buttons while on a skateboard. With the exception of the bicycle garages, which are quite obvious, I don’t know how you’re supposed to figure these out. When I first encountered horizontal glass in the first zone, Versum Hill, I was still using a skateboard, as that’s Red’s signature style. I attempted to slide and boost on it as anyone would; when nothing happened, I was left to assume this was an ability I would unlock later. But, no, I just needed to be wearing skates instead. Confusion aside, I just don’t see the point of these.

I’m being pretty negative here, but gameplay overall isn’t bad — core gameplay is, in fact, very enjoyable! Skating feels smooth, fluid, and you can achieve an absolute breakneck pace compared to the Jet Set games. I can’t help but feel that it’s a bit simple for a skating game released in 2023, but, at the same time, I enjoy that simplicity. I’m curious what others will think of the tagging minigame, too. In Jet Set Radio, players had to perform a QTE-esque sequence, where they were taken out of regular gameplay to follow on-screen prompts. Jet Set Radio Future instead went with a more buttonmash-y approach, where graffiti spots have a number of sections to be filled in with a button press, proportional to their size.

BRC splits the uprights, and I love the system they’ve come up with. Instead of stopping gameplay for traditional QTEs like Jet Set Radio, it zooms into a slow motion sequence, preserving the player’s speed both in actuality and visually. A directional pad appears, with more directions for larger pieces, and the player has to create a unique pattern between each point to tag. It’s kinda like an Android lock screen pattern, where each pattern paints a different piece of graffiti art. I appreciate the casual level of self-expression this allows for. There’s no need to spend hours carefully preparing bespoke work, lest you have to pick from the tiny little library of available art. Instead, players will continuously unlock new graffiti from real world artists, and develop a muscle memory for their favorites. Although I found myself wishing for an autocomplete mode during my 100% run, the pace is right for the campaign — the fact that you no longer need to collect spray paint cans as you did in Jet Set is extremely welcome. It’d be nice if that pace didn’t get obliterated every time you ratcheted up a Heat level, causing a bland, invariant cutscene to play, but, regardless…

Where Bomb Rush Cyberfunk most deviates from the norm set by the Jet Set series is in the story; y’know, by actually having one. And a protagonist, too! The original series had a narrative to string along the levels, but it was pretty scant: the Rudies form gangs and wanna expand their turf as far and wide as possible by being the best skaters and taggers. The cops don’t like that, and don’t like them, and will happily exert lethal force on them. Those cops are owned by a company, the Rokkaku Group, the CEO of which wants to take over the world by doing evil supernatural shit. The player gang, the GGs, stop him. There are some minor twists and turns, especially in Jet Set Radio Future with its whole double agent subplot, but everything about the narrative is kept so simple that that’s not enough to complicate nor elevate it. One benefit to the simple plot and lack of a true, singular protagonist in Jet Set is how much it encourages and pseudo-canonizes your personal choice of unlockable character. By contrast, BRC often delegitimizes your preference by switching you to the main character, Red, during important sequences like boss fights. Unlockable characters feel like strictly postgame entities, although they aren't, and unlocking them in the postgame is usually a worse experience.

Bomb Rush Cyberfunk puts a lot more emphasis on its story, and attempts a significantly more complex narrative with a core theme of identity: where you come from, what you do now, and how that makes you who you are.

At least… that’s the core theme on paper. I’ll spare you a full synopsis — that’s for another time — but Bomb Rush Cyberfunk’s story is clunky and unsubtle, taking what could be a simple, introspective character story and mixing in other disparate parts until its only recognizable ones emerge in hamfisted highlighted text. It has a peculiar emphasis on the police side of the plot, where our villains and antagonists most clearly reside, while simultaneously attempting to retain the drama of plot twists — seemingly forgetting that the player already knew what was happening, and what was going to happen. The story is an absolute chore to get through, shining the most, as you might expect, in its moments of visual storytelling. The opening sequence is an excellent setup; it’s striking, unexpected, and leaves you wondering where it’ll go next. If the answer was, “Nowhere, really, but it’ll look cool,” I’d be happy. Instead, it walks a meandering and obscured path only to shout its thesis in a visually exciting, but overall impactless end sequence. It’s a real shame.

There’s an elephant in the room I've been avoiding speaking on directly, and that’s the status of Bomb Rush Cyberfunk as a spiritual sequel to Jet Set Radio. But, well… Jet Set Radio already has a sequel, a flesh-and-blood one, Jet Set Radio Future. It’s not as well-known nor well-loved compared to its predecessor despite offering up a lot of refinements on the formula (this is in no small part due to the fact that it hasn’t been remastered or ported and is a pain to emulate, mostly confining it to the original Xbox and Xbox 360). At the same time, I myself prefer the first game because the art style is Jet Set’s defining characteristic to me, and I vastly prefer the original’s vibrancy to the sequel’s comparative realism and emphasis on sci-fi elements.

Bomb Rush Cyberfunk feels quite advanced over the first game, and just so over the second; though, certainly not advanced enough for a period of over 20 years of game design. It’s a case of divergent evolution, where Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is in the strange position of being the late-blooming “Jet Set Radio B” to Jet Set Radio Future’s “Jet Set Radio 2.”

Its greatest points of growth are in its art and music, and I don’t wanna gloss over that. It does, legitimately, have a new and interesting artistic point of view — one that has to look back, reference, and build upon the past, simply for its place in time. It has a point of view for its story, too, but one that it isn’t at all capable of executing on. Core gameplay is great, but drags on not infrequently, with lots of vestigial organs from Jet Set Radio that should’ve been lopped off a decade ago instead of encouraged to grow and weigh the whole project down. Overall, its greatest downfall, which comes to color every aspect of the game but pure aesthetics, is its poor communication skills.

Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is decent. For the diehard Jet Set fan, it’ll either soar above that or deliver a disappointing, but stylish, dud; it all depends on what mattered most about Jet Set to you.