Trains are known around the world for their reliability, consistently bringing their passengers to their destination at fast but steady speeds. Despite that, they’re not the best option for every journey. They are limited by set schedules and can only travel on rails, limiting their reach. But if you’re a punk Denshattacker in a ravaged Japan, these flimsy rules of reality don’t apply to you.
In the not-so-far future, Japan is ravaged by the climate crisis. The Miraido corporation has constructed massive domes over the major cities to protect its inhabitants, with the underground Vactrain to connect them. However, only the privileged are allowed to live in the domes, with everyone else in the countryside left to fend for themselves among the rubble. The many rural regions do have one source of life: the Denshattack, a challenge between the many gangs to see who is the best at tricking trains through the ravaged infrastructure using the abandoned railroads. Emi, a girl from the southern island of Kyushu, uses her train to deliver ramen, but when she’s scouted by the passionate photographer Fernando, she becomes a bona fide Denshattacker and goes on a Japanorama tour to take the country by storm.
Denshattack’s story is as much a thrill ride as its gameplay. Emi’s a great protagonist: she’s full of boundless optimism, with enough daredevil attitude to stand out and fit the game’s rebellious themes. Throughout her journey, she’ll recruit an equally lovable cast of characters. Granted, much of their character depth is tied to optional scenes (more on that later), and the anti-capitalist, anti-AI themes are about as subtle as a train doing a cancel kickflip through a window, but it’s undoubtedly infectious and entertaining.
Denshattack is all about doing skateboarding tricks with a train, and breaking multiple laws of physics along the way. Outside the surveilled domes, the only rule that applies is the rule of cool. In order to one day break down Miraido’s doors, Emi will need to master the Denshattack spirit of using her terrain to her advantage, cause anarchy, and look cool doing it.
You only need to hit the gas once, then Emi’s machine automatically accelerates along the track. But she doesn’t rely on normal track switching, as you’ll easily hop to adjacent tracks, or charge ZR to do a jump to reach farther tracks. You’ll also need to hold and release the brake button on time to drift between tight corners to boost along the tracks. These features alone would make for an action packed platformer, but throughout your journey north, you’ll be introduced to many obstacles that require difficult solutions, like riding on walls, through water, and many other crazy things you wouldn’t expect a train to do. This game gets so crazy with its gimmicks, to the point I wasn’t even fazed when Emi’s machine attached itself to cables to ride like a monorail. Though confusingly, detaching from the cable requires the brake button instead of the jump button, which caused many a crash for me.
One of the key aspects of Denshattack is the stylishness, so you’ll need to master tricks, executed by flipping the right stick while you’re in midair. There are tons of different tricks, with increasingly difficult stick movements for the tougher maneuvers for more points. Using the same trick in repetition yields fewer points, while doing more tricks in succession without messing up an input or crashing increases the multiplier. However, if you do crash, you lose ALL the points accumulated in the combo, so you’ll need to balance upping the multiplier versus finishing the chain to avoid losing it. Aside from that, crashing isn’t too punishing, as it results in a quick cutaway, a voice line from an ally, and you resetting at a nearby checkpoint. It keeps the action going, but you do still lose time.
Overall, Denshattack’s core gameplay is tight, fast-paced, and incredibly addicting. While many of its systems take a good while to get used to, let alone master, it feels rewarding. Not everything felt equally intuitive, and I did experience the occasional clip through the surface, but Emi is absolutely right about Denshattacking being an absolute blast.
You’ll be racing the tracks through pretty much all of Japan’s prefectures, each showing the local environment, making for visually varied levels. You’ll be drifting over rails all the way from the beaches of Kyushu, the snowy valleys of Nagano, and naturally the many metropolises surrounded by Miradio. Not every stage is equally memorable, but many of them are, especially those in the megacities, like freeing wild deer in Nara or causing chaos along Tokyo’s famous Yamanote line.
While most levels have you travel from point A to B in the most radical way possible, your trip will be more varied than that. Challenge stages have you gain as much points from tricks as you can within two minutes. Races are self-explanatory, putting you against numerous NPC rivals, and objective-based missions require you to do several tasks around an open zone. While every objective is marked with arrows, you do need to focus on them; if you’re not paying enough attention and focus on tricks, it’s easy to miss an exit or drive in circles. And of course, there are also action-packed boss fights, each with crazier gimmicks than the last.
Naturally, your performance is always scored, between no medal, bronze, silver, or gold. Aside from your time taken and trick score, you’ll also want to do dares, special sub-objectives, like clearing without crashing, honking at certain setpieces, doing a specific trick a set number of times, etc. There are also many collectibles scattered all throughout the area with many different functions; more on those later. Some of these collectibles do require you to use a certain feature: the Yaoyorozudo. Charge energy by doing tricks, and if the gauge is filled, rainbow tracks start appearing, leading to better trick opportunities, shortcuts, collectibles, and more. Some levels also have hidden “onsen” exits, and going through them unlocks hot spring levels, which are conversations that give you more insight into the cast.
You’ll be collecting spray cans, gears, and film rolls on your journey. The latter can be used at (EN)ZINE facilities for Fernando to write up his Denshattack magazine, giving you additional information about the local gang, characters, and culture, which makes for excellent worldbuilding. The other items are used at castles, where you can customize your ride. Spray cans can be exchanged for new paint jobs, and gears for new trains, each coming with unique abilities. Additionally, you can even input certain “cheat codes” at castles to unlock paint themed around certain content creators.
A concept as bold as doing skateboarding tricks in a train while rebelling against a megacorp that has taken over Japan needs a bold presentation to match, and Denshattack delivers in spades! The environments are colorful, vibrant, and nail both the rural and urban Japanese vibes. The character designs also pop, and the UI is a dream. Combined with the zines giving you fun facts about the local culture, this game is such a love letter to the country of Japan that I was shocked to learn the devs are from Barcelona.
And that’s not even getting into the way this game sounds. When I started the Kansai boss fight, I immediately recognized Lotus Juice providing the vocals, but when I looked the song up and learned that it was also composed by Shoji Meguro, my jaw dropped. Not only are all the songs excellent, but the number of guest artists they got on board is also extraordinary, from the aforementioned Persona series composer, as well as Alice Peralta, The DO DO DO’s, Ironmouse, and more. Speaking of the latter, when inputting those “cheat codes” I mentioned earlier, you also unlock those content creators as announcers, in case you want your Denshattack skills judged by CDawgVA, Rin Penrose, or that guy they used to call the drift king back in college. Lastly, I played the game with both Japanese and English voices, and both casts were great.
Denshattack is all about rebelling against the system, and looking cool while doing it. This game is an off-the-rails thrill ride, prioritizing the rule of cool over any other law, both legal and physical. While the action platforming can be tough to master, especially when you’ve just been introduced to a new feature, nailing your combos and navigating varied terrain is incredibly satisfying. Combined with a lovable cast and punk story, Denshattack is an absolute must-play if you like action-packed, stylish gameplay, rebellious vibes, or Japanese culture. And if you like all three, then just hop on that train already!
Denshattack! gets a 9/10.
