Denshattack! Review

By Psy White / July 15, 2026

Denshattack!’s reveal trailer is one of my favourites in recent years. Accompanied by a flighty drumbeat and upbeat piano, it starts with some gorgeous cel-shaded views of Japanese architecture and nature, with a very teasing bright yellow grind-rail across a bridge.

“Wow!” you think, “this really reminds me of Jet Set Radio!”. And then a graffiti’d train does some mind-boggling skating acrobatics whilst you scoop your brain back into your head.

Speaking to various outlets, including Nintendo Everything, the developers at Undercoders expressed that they had the kinds of jitters you’d expect before your game is broadcast to the millions watching GamesCom’s 2025 Opening Night Live. They were concerned that people would see their idea and think that it was “stupid”.

Well, Denshattack! is stupid… and that’s why it’s so wonderful. The immediate reaction to the concept of grinding rails as a train car - let alone seeing it for the first time - is almost certainly one of laughter. And honestly, I kept laughing and smiling all the way through the game.

Denshattack! is set in a near future version of Japan that is ravaged by the climate crisis, with major populations now living in domes across the country under the watchful eye of the Miradō corporation. Between these domes live outlaws, scrounging to make a living and doing ollies and heelflips in decorated trains in a new hobby called Denshattack.

Emi - a ramen-delivery-driver - finds herself deeply entrenched in this world thanks to a chance meeting with photographer/fanzine editor Fernando. The pair embark on an insane quest across all of Japan, confronting and befriending the leaders of various gangs, and together standing up to the might of the Miradō machine.

It’s tough to deny the inspirations that Denshattack! takes and, yes, you won’t be surprised to read that there is a lot of Jet Set Radio in its DNA; from the core gameplay, the neon visual and audio stylistics, and the “fight the Big Corpo police state with your rad attitude” heart of it’s story. There’s also comparisons to be made to Persona in its aesthetics (particularly the UI) and, when my train landed on a ferris wheel and suddenly I was controlling the wheel as it rolled down a hill for the first time, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the playful lunacy of Katamari.

You'd think that the insanity would drive you to numbness but it's doled out rather well. Sure, I got over the bizarre sight of 540 flips in a train surprisingly fast but then I was randomly finding myself in the mouth of a shark, learning the dark arts of flying through wind tunnels 100ft in the air and riding on bits of a skyscraper in a tornado; whooping, hollering, laughing and saying "what the fuck" joyously to myself

But, you may ask, abject weirdness is such a common trope in gaming these days, especially those that could be considered indie. Surely it’s just a gimmick? Thankfully, I never felt as though Denshattack! was just trying to one-up itself for the sake of it. Not every track has a completely gonzo moment to outdo the last, and some are just about the majesty of flipping your vehicle in circles over jumps to kickass music and gorgeous visuals. The game also has its characters converse at least a little between every single event which breaks up the mania and reminds you that your team of misfits inhabit this world and, to them, this is all very normal.

Speaking of perfectly natural, let’s talk about the controls.

As someone who has never really clicked with much in the way of skating games (and probably wants to like Jet Set more than they actually do) I was excited to play Denshattack! but apprehensive from the get-go. With the speed that the game moves, and the tight demands of the controls (all of which are on triggers and sticks by default), the first non-tutorial mission saw me collide into numerous barriers along the way.

But, unlike other skating games, which I have often found embarrassing to play due to my poor co-ordination, the best thing that Denshattack! does is never make me feel like a fool. Sure, the game is about developing good reaction-times and the controls naturally becoming an extension of yourself (as is standard, repeating the same tricks gives you less score so you’re rewarded for being mindful of how you rotate that right stick) but it’s also incredibly forgiving too. You came off the track? No worries! There’s no fail state here. You get put right back on just feet from where you fell and go again.

And, in this way, it gave me unlimited opportunities to correct my mistakes and understand what it wanted from me, better than being kicked back to the menu screen would’ve done. And when it did all start to click… Oh baby, I felt like a genius.

Drifting around corners; jumping, spinning in the air left and right to land on parallel tracks; bouncing from one vertical wall to another and hitting perfectly-timed manuals felt better and better with every passing stage. For the most part, since Denshattack! has a progressing storyline, it wants you to succeed and merely getting to the goal is usually enough to move on. What form this goal takes can be different every-time: a little A to B, a race, a score/time challenge, open stages with a check-list of objectives… and so on.

That said, the challenge lies in each stage’s optional time and score attacks, as well as a list of “dares”. These generally include collectibles, completing without a single crash, and then a selection of various demands such as pulling off certain tricks or interacting with the environment in some way. Often this is by using your train’s horn to scare away pigeons, get a cheer from sports fans or blow up some poor accountant’s perfectly organised filing as you blast through their office. Dares keep your eyes extra busy as you look for the right route to grab each collectible, whilst your fingers twitch away at jumps and flips.

That’s not to say that the game doesn’t have the odd difficulty spike but I found that they all came at precisely the right moment. And, because the game otherwise just wants you to have a good time, it’s so easy to see these as a chance to learn to be a better Denshattacker. The first genuine race, for example, took me a few attempts but I was so much better for conquering it. The following levels saw me operating at a higher level because of my triumph and, therefore, the second race was a breeze (eat my dust, suckers). The same thing happened with the later score attack stages: I appreciated the chance to really test that I had a thorough understanding of the mechanics.

Less of a challenge and more of a spectacle, the game features boss fights at the end of each region and they’re all completely insane. The first is a showdown with a Gundam-like construct which suddenly ups the epic anime-esque stakes in the game’s first truly “wow” moment. From there, there’s all kinds of stuff; like a mountain that is actually a robot with a vinyl player inside, or the Denshattack! version of Dune’s Shai Hulud.

Being a game quite literally on rails doesn’t mean that Denshattack! can’t have variety. The track designs are masterful: rocketing in rollercoaster-like spirals, landing vertically on walls, driving suddenly upside-down and blasting into the open air before slamming down into valleys below. When your charge meter hits maximum, suddenly new rainbow-coloured rails spawn to see you take increasingly wilder, weirder and faster routes in a slightly supernatural fashion.

This is just one of the few mechanics that Denshattack! slowly introduces through the story, such as coming off the tracks to loop around tunnels or hanging from monorail lines and swinging left to right to avoid obstacles. With a campaign clocking in easily at over 10 hours, it’s hard to overstate how well paced the entire affair is. This is, of course, aided by just how moreish the gameplay is. I missed a collectible on the stage I most recently played and saw it fly by me… I should probably just boot it back up to get it, right? And I can go for a better score since I’m here…

And thus, the hours pass.

Like how the game will let you bypass higher challenges and get to the end of each stage should you wish, its lore is also optional too. If you want a deeper look into the characters, trains, geographical history and its genuinely interesting take on a post-climate future then this is tucked away in fanzines that are completed by picking up photo reel collectibles in each stage. It’s all totally non-compulsory but presented in a way that completely fits with Denshattack!’s scrappy aesthetic. There’s also a hidden sauna in each region of the country that allows our characters (with towels barely holding onto their incredibly lean frames) a chance to get to know each other better. Again, all completely optional.

The visual variety is also immense, as Emi and her growing group of rag-tag rebels explore Japan from west to east. For over 60 levels, there’s a lot to see here - blossom-lined forests, mountains and the caves within them, disused docks, futuristic cities, dried-out canals and so much more, all in a bright, cel-shaded style. There are, of course, different trains to purchase through the games all with their own advantages and disadvantages, as well different cosmetic choices to make therein.

Naturally, being a colourful, joyful and fast-paced experience, Denshattack! needs a soundtrack to match and that’s where the likes of Tee Lopes, Sean Bialo, Andrew One and various other guest musicians and groups have stepped up to the plate. As varied as anything else in the game, the Denshattack! OST bounces from J-rock to hip hop to pounding electronic music. There’s some serious bops in here, and I was elated to read the soundtrack will be dropping at the same time as the game.

My particular standout is the tune that plays when you complete a stage, which features train horns and “choo choo” sounds naturally woven into its composition. Brilliantly catchy as it is brilliantly silly.

I did suffer a few bugs and glitches on my playthrough but they were relatively minor. Upon restart, one stage launched with a really choppy frame-rate for reasons unknown. I had a few occasions where I went off the track and then just respawned out of bounds, adding a further few seconds to my finish time. Only once did I have to leave an event entirely because the game just refused to put me back on course. That said, each stage tends to be short enough that it was never an issue starting from scratch. It’s very easy to forgive these issues which will surely be ironed out in due time.

Denshattack! also has a variety of accessibility options, as highlighted very well by the developers themselves. Various aspects of the game’s UIs have been designed with accessibility in mind, and there’s plenty of options to hopefully tweak to suit your needs, as well as full control customisation.

Truly, considering the generous length of the game, it feels greedy to ask for more, but all that Denshattack! is missing is a competitive multiplayer component of some kind.

Maybe what Denshattack! lacks in brains it makes up in heart. The team very clearly put their all into this, delivering on a clearly unified vision, and crafting a final product so much more complete than the scratchy idea of “what if skating game but train” implies. Rewarding progression, fluid controls and an incredibly engaging world turn Denshattack! from could’ve been a mock concept worthy of a laugh with friends or a silly TikTok reel into one of the best games of the year.

I am itching to get back behind my Beppu Star, hit a running start, and twist off into the sunset again. Denshattack! is a reminder that, sometimes, the best ideas are the stupidest ones.

Review Score: ★★★★★

Game code supplied by publisher for review, played on PlayStation 5.