Neon White pulls from many genres, and yet it's a wonder how it wasn't already made before. The marriage of first-person-shooting and platforming isn't entirely novel--insert Source Engine game here--but when you wrap those tight movement mechanics with linear, hyper-focused level design with bright, angular enemies, it feels like its own thing. Sure, Neon White maybe takes inspiration from those that came before it, like Mirror's Edge, SUPERHOT, or even Katana Zero, but there is a very strong sense of confidence and style imbued in the 120 levels of Neon White that are a joy to play.

I can appreciate and admit when things are my fault. Throughout this game when you fall or die there's no one to blame but yourself. Accept this fact before even booting up your system. But recognize this as a major kudos to the developers who ground out 120 levels to just the right amount of polish so the player can feel good about speedrunning a level. Lots of times I got the Ace medal first try, but I definitely squeaked by with a few silvers and bronzes on my initial attempts as well. It only made me want to play it over again and do better.

I won't remark on the story, which does in fact have a moral and is voice-acted nicely, albeit with minimal visual emphasis. Regardless of some shortcomings, you should feel immersed into the arcade limbo that is "heaven" between the angular graphics of the level and the breakbeat/industrial dnb that Machine Girl pumped out for an aesthetic that is nothing short of badass. Ben Esposito and company focused on where it counts.

The important takeaway is that it was fun to replay levels. Neon White is all about optimization and replayability. If you don't like bite-size levels, platforming, or speedrunning, maybe stay away from this (or Super Mario Bros 3 for that matter), but otherwise, you're in for a great game that shouldn't take too much of your time unless you want it to.

Perhaps it's how it plays on the nostalgia of Y2K aesthetics, or how it evokes a positive sense of futurism in a rather bleak point in history, a game like Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is special.

What should be understood is this kind of game rarely seems to come out because it's probably hard to tackle. With obvious influence from games like Jet Set Radio, the THPS series, and SSX, developing Bomb Rush Cyberfunk probably took a lot of care on how it interpreted extreme sports. I'm more than happy they approached it with a more comic book stylization, something that is outlandish, imaginative, and most importantly fun. It's cool when a new character is introduced and it's stunning when a new level shows twisting rails and big landmarks to trick off of. I believe this was very intentional from Team Reptile and it was executed so nicely. And to prevent any potential gameplay fatigue, they implemented inline skates, skateboard, and BMX all for you to pick up and just go. Sick.

With an emphasis on collectibles (clothing, music, and characters) you explore a distant-future, colorful piece of earth that's run by punks, at odds with systems like the police and enemy crews, with only one goal in mind: conquer every zone. That is so beautifully simple and video-gamey that I almost forgot that's what video games are supposed to be like. I won't rant about the greater state of games, but reigning in the focus of this project's story to focus on stylish trick mechanics and platforming, ease of traversal, and enjoying the art of your graffiti is a welcome idea. I'm attempting to 100% this game not only because I really want to, but I feel like it actually CAN do this too. That should tell you something about other games...

The only other thing that this game offers and is worthy of touching on is how it explores some psychology of expressing yourself. Interviews with one of the lead developers has shown this was an important part to include in the game because it's important for participating in these kinds of subcultures irl, ones where art and dance, rule-breaking, and team loyalty converge at an intersection that only you, the protagonist of your own world, can find inside yourself and put back out. As dense and deep as a topic as that is, I would disagree with anyone that this was ever overstated or overexerted throughout the entire Bomb Rush Cyberfunk campaign. It only adds a layer of personality to an otherwise standard plot.

I think this game deserves its hype before and after release, and it probably even deserves a sequel. However, I would just as equally love how it exists as is, cemented in 2023 as a successful indie release which made some waves and was fun to play. I maybe didn't justify every point or star for scoring, but the best way to see what I described above and justify for yourself is this: launch the game, get on some inline skates, find your way to the top of a tall building, and do a 1080 California Roll off of it. Now you'll understand why this game rules.