SAYONARA WILD HEARTS PS4

Stream it on Spotify if you don’t believe me. Your only choice is to retry and improve, and the game makes these re-treads worthwhile by accompanying the action with a pop soundtrack that’s an absolute pleasure. It’s just so moreish miss those coveted gold ranks on each stage and it’s impossible to settle for just silver – or even worse, the lowly bronze. The game is always playing with new visual variety, without overcomplicating the actual way you play. It reminds me most of Tetris Effect, last year’s incredible musical take on the block-smashing classic. I decided to compare all three versions of the game for this review to give those with multiple.

SAYONARA WILD HEARTS PS4

Then you’re atop the back of a deer, hurtling through a block-colour forest. Sayonara Wild Hearts launched on Nintendo Switch, Apple Arcade, and PS4 at the same time officially.

Then you’re racing through neon streets on the back of a motorcycle in a high-speed chase. In one stage you’re skating, in another you’re engaging in fisticuffs. Instead, Simogo manages to surprise and delight with each new stage. Developed by Sweden-based studio Simogo and published by Annapurna Interactive, the BAFTA award winner Sayonara Wild Hearts is a dreamy arcade game about riding motorcycles, skateboarding, dance battling, shooting lasers, wielding swords, and breaking hearts at 200 mph. You’re not restrained to a single structure or formula this is not a K-pop Guitar Hero, nor merely a hand-held dance mat. But Sayonara Wild Hearts eschews a lot of the rigid familiarity of that genre at the same time.

If you had to label it, this would be a rhythm action game – boil it down and it’s essentially a chase for high scores set against beautiful backdrops, punching stylised enemies and swerving to catch neon hearts in high-speed chases.

Sayonara wild hearts