Highlights
- Bomb Rush Cyberfunk draws inspiration from Jet Set Radio, creating a spiritual successor with funky vibes and graffiti-centric gameplay.
- Team Reptile plans to explore more games in the Cyberfunk universe, potentially revisiting a scrapped rhythm game concept.
- While multiplayer in Bomb Rush Cyberfunk may be possible, Team Reptile has no interest in pursuing a live-service model.
A developer from Team Reptile, the indie studio behind Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, commented on the franchise's future, hoping to work on more games set in the same universe. Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is an indie platformer game that first launched on Nintendo Switch and PC last August. Players control a new member of the Bomb Rush Crew, Red, where they use their inline skates and other extreme sports equipment to spray paint the city of New Amsterdam.
A lot of Bomb Rush Cyberfunk's influence stems from the Jet Set Radio games, with many fans of Sega's franchise treating Team Reptile's indie game as a spiritual successor due to the shared cel-shaded art style, funk rock soundtrack with contributions by Jet Set Radio composer Hideki Naganuma, along with the graffiti-centric gameplay. Bomb Rush Cyberfunk received critical acclaim for its gameplay and visuals, though some critics and fans were split on whether its faithfulness to its inspiration was a detriment or a positive. Team Reptile co-founder, Tim Remmers, has commented on how the team wants to continue working on the indie franchise.
Bomb Rush Cyberfunk Modders Add Sonic the Hedgehog-Inspired Maps
Bomb Rush Cyberfunk modders create some custom levels and maps inspired by some popular levels from the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise.
In an interview with EDGE Magazine (archived by Nintendo Everything), Remmers briefly touched upon how the team is interested in further Cyberfunk titles. He notes that the team is unsure of what type of game they will develop next. Remmers does mention the developers had a scrapped rhythm game concept based on Cyberfunk's dancing that the developers could possibly pursue and revive. Considering other indie rhythm games, such as Sayonara Wild Hearts, Team Reptile developing a Cyberfunk dancing title would be an interesting premise. "We had a whole rhythm game based on the dancing before that had been scrapped, so we’d definitely like to revisit that mechanic and see what we can do with that," said Remmers.
Team Reptile Will Not Be Pursuing Live-Service Model
One type of game that Team Reptile won't be pursuing is a live service game, even if multiplayer in Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is a possibility. Dion Koster, the studio's other co-founder, says that there are ways to facilitate multiplayer modes in ways the studio would love to pursue, but it will firmly not be a live service multiplayer game, saying "We're pretty much the anti-service."
We had a whole rhythm game based on the dancing before that had been scrapped, so we’d definitely like to revisit that mechanic and see what we can do with that.
Bomb Rush Cyberfunk's inspiration, Jet Set Radio, is also making a comeback, as Sega announced a new Jet Set Radio was in development with the original creators in charge. Some gameplay footage of this new Jet Set Radio game was briefly shown during The Game Awards 2023 alongside a number of other announcements from Sega, reviving other older IPs like Crazy Taxi, Golden Axe, and Streets of Rage. While not much has been revealed about the new Jet Set Radio game, it should be an interesting topic for fans of both games to compare and contrast the two.
Bomb Rush Cyberfunk
Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is a skateboarding game revolving around crews that battle it out through the art of graffiti. In search of his missing head, Red joins Tryce and Bell as part of the Bomb Rush Crew, setting them on a journey to become the city's top skaters and graffiti artists.
- Platform(s)
- PC , Switch , PS5 , PS4 , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S , Xbox One
- Released
- August 18, 2023
- Developer(s)
- Team Reptile
- Publisher(s)
- Team Reptile
