Hi-Fi Rush is by its own merits a brilliant game, delivering a punchy 10-12 hour experience that never overstays in welcome. In an age of expansive 50-100 hour adventures full of mind-numbingly dull side quests and bloated story beats it’s incredibly refreshing to experience something like Hi-Fi Rush. Harkening back to the early period of 3D gaming that saw the mascot platformer dominate the major release cycles, Hi Fi Rush could be the start of something special if its success so far is anything to go by.

Just missing out on the advent of 3D gaming, for the record I’m a 1998 baby, meant that my formative experiences in vidya games came through Ratchet & Clank, Sly Cooper, and Spyro. My PS2 meant everything to me, in time I’d come to love many genres, characters, and series, but these foundations have stayed with me after all these years, and they definitely inform my tastes even to this day. Maybe it’s my nostalgia for this time, but this era of more care-free, laid-back, and vibrant games feels all too distant in 2023.

If we’re being pedantic Hi-Fi Rush isn’t technically a 3D-platformer really, but in a similar style to the aforementioned Ratchet & Clank series it combines platforming sections with frequent combat encounters resulting in a 3D action platformer I guess?! Ah, genres are a tough one anyway, all you need to know about Hi-Fi Rush is that you’ll do a lot of platforming and you’ll fight a lot of robotic enemies, 3D action/combat platformer anyone?

Anyone For Chai Tea?

Hi-Fi Rush is whimsical from the start, and that includes the overarching story that is definitely written primarily for laughs, although there are some genuinely heartwarming moments near the conclusion that stand out despite their comical surroundings. The games main character, Chai, perfectly fits the world Tango Gameworks have created in Hi-Fi Rush, and even his most egregiously cheesy dialogue moments caught me chuckling to myself after an involuntary groan at what I’d just heard.

After a experimental augmentation goes wrong, Chai is left with a MP3 player for a heart and this is where I tell you to suspend all disbelief before continuing. All good? Sure you’re ready? Ok, so Chai now has a music player inside him, and the people who botched this surgery, Vandelay Technologies, are determined to take him out because of his ‘defective’ status. I mean if someone had somehow turned my heart into a MP3 I’d probably be a little confused why they were so determined to kill me, but again belief is suspended.

The beauty of this musical mixup is that every element of the world that surrounds Chai is now synced to his MP3 player. This is where you truly start to see the vision of Hi-Fi Rush, this entire adventure plays out alongside a solid catalogue of both licenced and original music tracks. Environments pulse and bounce to the beat, you’ll realise pretty quickly that all of this movement around you acts as a metronome, it’s so clever and truly genius game design!

Chai’s journey starts as a solo trip, but you’ll quickly encounter the firey Peppermint. Technically you meet her robot cat 808 first, 808s name is a brilliant reference to the Roland TR-808 drum machine, but more importantly she’s a useful ally who’ll accompany Chai across his whole journey. You’ll encounter a few more allies during your adventure, each bringing the same charismatic energy and charm that Chai does. They’ve all got fairly decent character depth too, especially considering how whimsical Hi-Fi Rush is in pretty much every area. Each possess a fairly solid motivation for working alongside Chai, and a family dynamic quickly forms that endeared me to each member of my motley crew by the games conclusion. They’re important to gameplay too of course, but more on that later.

Hi-Fi Rushing To The Rhythm (Combat + Sidekicks)

The core element of the Hi-Fi Rush experience comes through its stellar combat offerings. Beating a horde of colourful robots for the first time is a truly exhilarating experience, and one that is made even better by the realisation that fighting sequences take place in the form of a real-time rhythm game that rewards players for performing actions to the levels soundtrack.

In an interesting change of pace from most games that employ rhythm-based elements, Hi-Fi Rush rewards you from staying on beat, but doesn’t punish you from straying away from it. On-beat damage is boosted, and allows players the chance to create some awesome DMC-esque combinations as you jump and swing your way to victory. Failure to act on the beat only reduces the damage you’re dealing, and there’s some great accessibility options such as a visual metronome to help keep you on track.

As a result of this single gameplay decision, Hi-Fi Rush prevents any of the usual frustrations that could occur when players inevitably lose track of the rhythm in the heat of action. The core combat system revolves around two types of attack (light and heavy), a dodge, and a jump. Despite such basic ingredients, the ability to generate a whole host of unique combo attacks is really impressive. The majority also possess brilliant music-themed animations and it’s an area in which HI-Fi Rush further shows off its commitment to showcasing a world obsessed with music.

There’s more… Each time a new member of the party joins the adventure, you develop the ability to summon them to your side during combat. Peppermint, Macaron and Korsica all add brand new elements to combat, and add enough variation along the way to ensure that combat never gets too stale even after 10/12 hours. Peppermint’s guns give you some great options for ranged attacks, Macaron perfectly encapsulates the classic ‘tank’ character class, and Korsica’s batons are used in a more support style role. They can all be combined too, naturally, only further highlighting the terrific heights that can be achieved through a eclectic variety of combo attacks to discover.

Inevitably, the biggest combat tests come in the form of end-of-level bosses. I’d say this is the biggest area in which Hi-Fi Rush both excels and also frustrates. For the record, I enjoyed pretty much every boss fight in the game, each encounter demands your full attention and you’ll need to carefully study enemy attack sequences in order to defeat them. Every chunk of standard combat is bookended by a rhythm-based mini-game of sorts that operates on a call and response system, they’re a welcome change of pace, but I definitely felt they become a little stunted during some of the later boss fights.

Aside from this, boss encounters are pretty fun, low-stake affairs, I died a few times across the whole game, but don’t expect a punishing experience that will require hours of practise. Even mistakes aren’t punished too heavily, with Hi-Fi Rush preferring to indulge you in the overall spectacle these fights deliver.

I thoroughly enjoyed the combat in Hi-Fi Rush, it’s not perfect, but it’s fun, something I think too many games overlook nowadays. There’s some clear area of improvements from my own perspective, a bit more enemy variety would be welcome for example, but the overall combat package perfectly fits the general atmosphere of Hi-Fi Rush, and it is the clear highlight of the game.

Scaling Familiar Heights

If you’re not in combat, you’ll be navigating Chai through a linear set of stages full of increasingly complex platforming sequences. These feel ripped straight out of the early 2000s, lava plumes, gaping chasms and much, much more await you on the path to victory. These semi-open 3D playgrounds are packed with collectibles to locate, and crates to smash for currency, there’s even hidden power ups to discover if you stray far enough off the beaten track.

Whilst relatively simple at first, as you unlock new skills as well as the ability to summon different party members, the complexity of these sequences steadily rises. Each party member has abilities that are taken advantage of during platforming, Peppermint’s guns can break through shields for example. These platforming sections remind me a lot of those seen in the classic Ratchet & Clank games, unfortunately they fall a bit flat of those lofty heights, and often took the winds out of my sails after a hectic bit of combat.

It just all feels a little bit slow, as if I’m jumping and dashing my way through each level at 80% speed. It’s honestly my biggest issue with Hi-Fi Rush and it’s a shame that the platforming sections fail to match the high-octane combat sequences that they’re squeezed in between. Are the levels themselves too long? Not in my opinion, they certainly could be compressed a bit, but I still think the core issue with these sections of the game are fully linked to the slow movement speed.

As a self-titled 3D platforming connoisseur, the one thing you need to nail is movement. Make it fun, give players a few different ways to explore the environments you’re dropping them into, and most importantly make it smooth. What works so well for Hi-Fi Rush in combat just doesn’t translate well to exploration, it all just feels a wee bit lethargic. It’s disappointing that the exploration of such a well-crafted world is hampered because it just isn’t that enjoyable to explore it.

Vibing In Vandelay Industries

It will come as no surprise that every aspect of Hi-Fi Rush‘s presentation is near-perfect. Both music and visual design combine to deliver a memorable and immersive experience into this fantastical universe that Tango Gameworks have created.

As I mentioned earlier, every inch of this world is brought alive by the music that constantly pumps around you. Buildings and trees bounce along to the beat, wherever you focus on the screen there’s some brilliant animation at work. There were many occasions in the first few hours of my personal playtime that led to me stopping what I was doing and just taking in the environments around me. It’s all so clean, and a testament to the important conversation regarding visual design in videogames.

I don’t think we’ll see many better looking games than Hi-Fi Rush this year. Cutscenes feel straight out of a high-budget serialised anime, and Hi-Fi Rush manages to sell this idea to the player at every possible turn.

The music and aural design is equally as superb, with a set of well-chosen licensed songs accompanying an excellent original soundtrack. Hits from groups such as The Black Keys, and The Prodigy, smash the nostalgia-meter up to 100, but they work so well and are a great complement to the games original tunes. You’ll never stop bobbing your head, ever, which is of course pretty helpful considering the rhythmic nature of gameplay! I’m not a massive rock-head, but Hi-Fi Rush has definitely made me reconsider that somewhat, and it’s a huge credit to the complete aural package that the game offers the player.

Don’t Stop Believin’ (That We Can Have More Games Like This)

A few flaws aside, it’s hard not to recommend Hi-Fi Rush to anyone who’s got a clamouring desire to time travel back to gaming landscape of the early 2000s. It’s a game that left me smiling from ear-to-ear near-constantly, and is a refreshing reminder that games can in fact be colourful and fun! I’ve not found a more satisfying combat system in a game released this year, and I’m still in awe of how Tango Gameworks have managed to produce such a gorgeous and alive world. The story is a bit weak in places, and the cliche dialogue may push some away, but the entire package is fantastic, and offers a 10-12 hour experience that is unlike the majority of games that release nowadays.

I hope that Hi-Fi Rush shows more studios and publishers that there’s still a huge desire for more succinct experiences, that focus on fun and engaging gameplay first, throwing to the side the need to grind and explore dull maps for 100s of hours. A lot of games forget to be fun nowadays, luckily we have stuff like Hi-Fi Rush to remind us why we fell in love with this medium in the first place…