Buy the game on steam here https://store.steampowered.com/app/13...

I bag on sonic so much in this, but let it be known, Sonic is rad. Excited for that new Sonic Superstars.

Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is the video game equivalent of saying "fine I'll do it myself". But you might be wondering how we got here. let's get some backstory about what "it” even is, because this game is burdened to forever live in the shadow of another game.
Published by Sega in 2000 on the Dreamcast Jet Set Radio was a Tony hawk game about low level vandalism being punished by an over militarized police force. Some things never change! Graffiti, Better bust out the tanks!

In summary the game is made of tight explorable zones accessible via sick grinds and wall riding. You have a time limit to hit all the graffiti points as the level slowly fills up with pork products. The true challenge isn't the cops, they're just there to fluster you as you try to master controlling your own character. It feels like your controlling a heavy cloud on rollerskates.

This game helped pioneer cell shading in games as well as taking Sega's love of rage inducing slopes to the third dimension. Getting sonic going on a slope without the wind up feels like one of those slow motion nightmares where you're being chased but you can't run.

Without this game we may not have Wind Wakers iconic look when it released three years later. And we definitely wouldn't have sunset overdrive, Hi Fi rush, or Hover.

A spruced up sequel called jet set Radio future landed two years later on the Xbox and blew my tiny mind. It improved on it's predecessor in almost every way and landed critical acclaim across the board but failed to make all the money in the world. Turns out critical acclaim is about as useful as all that work you did just for the exposure. You can't buy food for exposure unless your exposing yourself on onlyfans. So Sega walked away from the franchise for the next twenty years. Instead focusing on trying to see how bad a sonic game could really be, for science.

A universal port came out for the original game in 2012 but Radio Future remains in the grave to this day. Xbox’s Phil Spencer even tried lobbying for it to be on Game Pass. Rumours are that perhaps they Couldn't renew licenses on the music but it could be just as likely that they accidentally wiped the drive the source code was on to fit more pictures of sonic and tails kissing.

A sequel in the Wii was rejected by Sega, as well as a PlayStation 4 version in 2017.

There have been rumours and leaks of a possible new game so I'm cautiously holding out hope that this video ages as fast as shaved ham left out in the sun.

So since Sega has slept on it for twenty years now the kids who grew up playing it are going ahead and making the spiritual sequel themselves, it's called bomb rush cyberfunk and I just have to say, it's fucking awesome.

The frustration of controlling your character has been ironed out completely, and when coasting isn't appropriate you can snap into parkour mode at a moment's notice for tighter control over platforming sections. There are a bunch of different modes of transport each with their own ability that can be used on the environment to get to different spots.

Bomb Rush Cyberfunk isn't trying to make Jet Set Radio, It's making it the way you think you remember Jet Set Radio.

Levels are largely wide open playgrounds with nooks and crannies to explore with cosmetic rewards for difficult to reach zones and graffiti spots for level progression. Tag as much as you can to piss off the local crew and do trick challenges against them to progress to new zones and unlock boss encounters which requires you to do even more skating. You know I can't think of a single argument that couldn't be solved by skating up my opponent's arm and tagging their face. It's the perfect conflict resolution.

The game is short and the price is pricey.
Let’s just say you’re paying two and a half Overwatch skins for the game and call it a day.

I think the pattern I'm starting to see is that the cult classics we grew up with are now being expanded upon now that we’re the age to call all the shots. My video about mega man battle network touched on this and the battlebit video is another great example. I wonder if part of the reason is that as fans we are neither restricted by the conventions the original laid down, but equally there's no obligation to add more clutter and gimmicks to an already perfect concept. We've sat with these games for years and we know what we want from them and what we'd change.
What I’m saying is, in 20 years there’s going to be fucken awesome Roblox clone.