Hover: Revolt of Gamers Fills The Void Left By Jet Set Radio

It's been over ten years since we had a new Jet Set Radio game. For many, this is a void which can only very rarely be filled. Enter: Fusty Game and Midgar Studio - two European dev teams who took the fast-paced skating gameplay Jet Set fans love so much, threw in some Mirror's Edge cyberpunk flavor and platforming, and created Hover.

Upon entering the neon-tinted world of ECP17 (aka Hover City), you take control of a clone and join up with an underground rebellion (known as Gamers) in order to help defeat the city's authoritarian leader The Great Admin. You'll skate, parkour, and graffiti your way throughout the city and meet a ton of colorful characters along the way. You can also rewind time for yourself (think Tracer from Overwatch) in order to get a second shot at a failed jump or speed up platforming puzzles. Gameplay is incredibly simple, with only a few buttons necessary in order to streamline the process. The world is sort of an MMO-lite, with a hub world populated by other players not unlike the Tower in Destiny (though it can be played solo as well!). The game can be played in first- or third-person, and the story is complemented by an open world full of collectibles and side quests.

Aesthetically, the game combines a gritty city underbelly with bright neon lights to create a completely unique experience. The soundtrack (by none other than Jet Set Radio's own Hideki Naganuma) is the perfect sequence of synthy instrumental hip-hop that sets the mood like no other.

Hover isn't perfect by any means. Even after a reasonably long stint in Steam's early access program, the game is riddled with bugs, typos, and a cluttered UI that can get pretty distracting. Movement, while very fluid and fun once you get the hang of it, feels clunky and awkward until you get some practice in. There is no voice acting in the game, which makes the sections without music feel hollow in comparison. The game ultimately feels unfinished. With that said, however, Hover is still great fun once you really get into it. I can't even count the hours I spent just hopping around the main hub, grinding on rails and spraying graffiti and beating up government spies. Hover: Revolt of Gamers may not be the best game ever, but it definitely fills a hole in the market that has gone empty for far too long. You can feel the love the small development team put into designing their characters and environments, and the game is that much better for it. If nothing else, I have a lot of respect for this game and can see that it already has a very loving and dedicated community. I say you should give it a shot.

Hover: Revolt of Gamers is available on Steam for $19.99 USD

​-Justin

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FULL DISCLOSURE: This game was provided to A-to-J Connections free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of review.