Part ninja gaiden, part metroidvania, all good. The number one strength this game has for it is that it is so fun to move around the world. The level design and game progressing is good but not excellent. But, I honestly don’t mind getting lost or having to backtrack when I can just try to chain slashes and jumps on or around enemies. Coupled with great visuals and aesthetics (those colour palettes, yum) and bopping music, this was a great experience the whole way through.

This game nails the aesthetic, controls/design, modes, and progression. Aesthetically, I just adore the tuning culture made popular in the early 2000s. The midnight streets with ambient lighting is resonant in real life, and the sounds of the car boosting and screeching isn't unique to this game but they didn't screw it up which is great. Definitely a podcast type game, soundtrack fits great but no standouts besides the title theme. Controls wise, part of why I like this is due to a great handling model. Turning feels good, I can usually move around cars even when boosting, drifting is generous with keeping momentum while in it and smooth exiting. Part of it is design, if I don't move around a car in time the crash feels good with slow-mo but also doesn't put me too far behind. If I do start a turn too late, most courses have walls that don't slow my momentum too much. I'm not a person who puts on the brakes, and this game doesn't force me to do so to feel good. Modes are numerous. We have normal lap race in Circuit, tighter lap race in Street X/URL, and no lap race in Sprint. We have drifting modes which, due to the generous controls, feel great to rack up dummy points. Either competing in a circuit against opponents or against a set score in a downhill jam. Then the drag races require crisp timing for shifting gears and feel nice to master, and if you lose you only wasted 15 seconds of your life. No complaints about any of them. Finally, the progression. It has an limited open-world type progression, where you're in one part city that all of the races take place in and they're located around the map. The size isn't too big where you'd get lost, but big enough where race locations don't feel same-y. You have certain story progression parts, including a sick final race, and even doing every race on the map only requires around 25 hours. A very manageable 100% that does not overstay its welcome given how many modes it has.