The better part of two years have passed since Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, the spiritual followup to Sega’s Jet Set Radio series, was first revealed. Fans have had to wait patiently for any news on the game, and while they have to continue waiting for the game itself, developer Team Reptile has treated them to a new trailer that packs a lot of new information in a short amount of time.
22 years on from its debut, Jet Set Radio remains one of the more unique franchises in the medium, managing to stay with fans even though it hasn’t spawned a new title since 2003. A series where players skate through urban environments, perform tricks, mark the city with graffiti, and dodge the authorities, it boasts a unique mix of style and gameplay that fans have waited a long time to see expanded upon. Judging from the latest trailer for Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, Team Reptitle’s game will bring just that.
Gameplay in Jet Set Radio revolved exclusively around inline skating, but Bomb Rush Cyberfunk will offer more ways to get around. As the new trailer shows, players will have access to skateboards and BMX bikes in addition to rollerblades, the better to reflect the “big street culture symphony” at the heart of the game, according to director Dion Koster in an accompanying message. While this new update doesn’t go into much detail about the overall gameplay, the game’s previous trailers and official listings make it clear that it will skew closely to Jet Set Radio's, with a similar focus on performing tricks and tagging specific spots with graffiti.
Koster did offer a few teases about the gameplay, stating that players will be able to perform real-world tricks across the different movestyles, on top of more exaggerated moves like rail-grinding and wallrunning. Koster also teased that the game’s stages will be full of secrets, and that pulling off combos and scoring will be key to finding many of them.
From the gameplay to the inclusion of a soundtrack by Jet Set Radio composer Hideki Naganuma, it’s looking more and more likely that Team Reptile will succeed in scratching the itch for Jet Set fans eager for something new. As of this writing, Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is still on track to launch in 2022, and Koster closed off their message by saying that the development team is “going in hard” to finish it.
When it arrives later this year, the game will be available on “all relevant platforms,” though currently it’s only been confirmed for PC and the Nintendo Switch. What’s more, Bomb Rush Cyberfunk will be a timed console exclusive on the Switch, so what other consoles the game’s coming to will have to wait a bit before finally getting it.
Bomb Rush Cyberfunk will launch in 2022 for PC and Switch, and will come to other unspecified consoles later in the year.
Source: Team Reptile