Denshattack Review – Tony Hawk on Trains Is as Good as It Sounds

Denshattack takes the arcade format of Tony Hawk and smashes it into trains, ecoclimate disaster, and a colorful tale of human creativity. While it occasionally becomes overwhelmed by its own systems and visuals, the high-speed arcade action is deeply satisfying and builds masterfully throughout the experience. Every part of Denshattack feels deeply creative, culminating in a beautiful and deeply engaging experience.

Denshattack follows Emi, a reckless ramen delivery driver who delves head first into the world of Denshattack. Denshattack is the art of piloting trains along the ruined, abandoned railways across Japan, which now lie unused as the Miraido corporation has moved most of the population into domed cities following a climate disaster. Emi quickly finds friendship as she begins battling it out with local gangs, all of whom race, trick, and battle with their custom trains.

What this looks like is a series of small levels, designed to be replayed as you chase high scores. Each track counts your score, which is earned by performing tricks during the run, time, and special Dares, which are completed by doing challenges specific to each level and grabbing collectibles scattered throughout each track.

The magic of Denshattack comes from its inherent restrictions. Since the trains are mostly on tracks, you can’t move freely through the space. There are often multiple tracks and rails next to each other as you move forward, allowing you to move back and forth as part of combos or to avoid obstacles, but this feels like a specific single action, as opposed to steering in a skateboarding game.

Because the movement is so deliberate back-and-forth and you automatically move forward at all times, this allows you to focus on chaining combos and dealing with obstacles. This is key, because Denshattack throws a lot at you. Obstacles come in many forms; tracks or rails ending, obstacles on the track, objects that have to be avoided by slamming your train down, and more. All of these are often handled by a single action, such as jumping or swapping tracks.

On first runs, it’s a high-speed bop-it, asking you to react correctly whenever it throws an obstacle your way, which typically comes within seconds of each other. The simplicity of each maneuver only requires a single button, like timing your break to drift corners, which means it can be demanding without becoming frustrating, even on a particularly bad run. On second runs, you can learn the patterns, but you always have the added element of needing to do massive trick combos. Tricks can be done with the flick of a stick on a controller, doing skateboard tricks like kickflips and grabs. Chaining combos together by doing manuals on the track and risky dodges before hitting the next jump and adding another move in.

The higher the combo, the more points you’ll get, so keeping it going the entire level is required if you want the gold medal. This creates a fun dynamic. Trying to chain together tricks through improvisation, while also navigating a rapid pace of obstacles. Every second of gameplay asks you to do something, creating an exhilarating pace complemented by the game’s colorful art direction and killer soundtrack.

The world of Denshattack exists in the wake of a climate disaster, but the world is still incredibly vibrant. The outside world has been given back to nature, while some small towns still exist. You’ll ride your train through small towns, beautiful mountains, and seaside villages. There are the interiors of the dome cities, too, which have a more futuristic edge and a darker feel. The pop-infused, upbeat soundtrack matches not only the vibrancy of the world but also the hyper-energy of the gameplay itself.

Emi and her ever-growing gang of misfits aren’t particularly deep characters, but they do fill out the story nicely. The overwhelming fun of Denshattack, in the story itself, drives Emi to reach greater heights, becoming a more skilled driver and taking down tougher opponents. The creativity in chaining together massive trick combos nicely supports the story’s focus on human creativity. Some of the voice performances are flat, which does hinder a narrative that’s more about emotional vibes than compelling plot.

Denshattack does have fantastic pacing when it comes to adding new mechanics into the game, not only spreading them out across the whole experience but also never overloading you with new mechanics. It does, however, reach a level in the late game where I found myself getting frustrated much quicker because the speed and combination of fresh obstacles were making first runs in levels a bit brutal.