I was once seven years old playing Jet Set Radio: Future on an original Xbox in a camping chair. (You know, one of those folding, canvas ones. It was bright orange and honestly kind of uncomfortable.) I didn't realize it at the time, but with my controller set on the floor while munching on chips, I was forming a core memory: Beat stood motionless amidst the crowds of Rokkaku-dai Heights, while I listened to Scapegoat Wax's "Aisle 10 (Hello Allison)," the evening sun barreling down on him. Five or so years of school and a home-move later, I finally rediscovered Scapegoat Wax's ode to customer-service-based lust, and by extension, Jet Set Radio on 2010-era YouTube. I realized then and there that I'd formed a deep-seated desire for more games just like it: the true "flow state" game. The kind where you just *go,* exploring a handful of lovingly crafted, stylized urban environments by skating, grinding, and busting out insane tricks. Plenty of very talented people have tried to recreate this feeling, but none have gotten as close until August 2023.

Team Reptile has completely nailed it. Y2k-informed, scrappy, and ripped straight out of the alternate universe sixth console generation— Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is everything that a fan of *this kind of game* wants while being its own entity. It's abundantly clear where it came from, (if you know, you know, and you're here already,) but it's not one-to-one mimicking its inspirations. It's very similar, sure, but it's also learned from years of game design in this particular genre, drawing from the endangered pool of both extreme sports games and stylish platformers. It knows why you're here, it knows what you're here for, but it's not going to aggressively wink and nod at you the entire time while expecting your approval. It respects you enough to serve up an experience you'll love, while at the same time coolly saying: "do your thing." It's a game simply interested in being a game— Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is *just* Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, and it is, in fact, 1 second per second of advanced funkstyle. It is exactly what I've been asking for, and I couldn't be happier. (In fact, this is probably the happiest I've been playing any video game in a pretty long time.) The only complaint I have is that I wish I didn't have to leave so soon.

You can't go home again, but a team of skilled developers, artists and musicians can certainly make it feel like you have.