Hyperyuki: Snowboard Syndicate, an upcoming arcade-y snowboarding game with some big Jet Set Radio vibes, isn’t trying to hide what it is. Hyperyuki is an attempt to make a new SSX Tricky game while EA is too busy being bought by Saudi Arabia and making live-service slop. And while it isn’t the first game to try to replicate the SSX formula, it is by far the most successful and stylish yet.
I was recently given early access to a PC demo for the upcoming Hyperyuki: Snowboard Syndicate which, weirdly enough, is being published by a revived Acclaim. What’s available in this slice of the snowboarding game is three levels, a few modes, a handful of characters, and a lot of great music.
Anyone who has played SSX Tricky will immediately be at home with Hyperyuki and its SSX-inspired controls and gameplay. Tricks are pulled off by pressing different combos of the shoulder buttons and triggers. Landing tricks gains you points and boost, which is used to go faster and higher, letting you do even wilder tricks. Eventually, if you land enough big combos, you’ll enter a super mode where you can do the most advanced tricks in the game, which also reward even more points.
So yeah, Hyperyuki: Snowboard Syndicate is basically SSX Tricky 2, but with a more cel-shaded, anime-inspired art style that looks fantastic, even in this not-finished version of the game. Within minutes of playing, I was pulling off massive combos across ramps and rails thanks to my SSX muscle memory kicking in. And unlike a past attempt to recreate SSX Tricky, Snowboard Syndicate doesn’t have any weird control quirks that screw up the flow. It’s just bliss, baby.
Screaming across the demo’s three snowy courses made me feel like I was 11 all over again, crammed into the hot, dark back room of my house playing PS2 until 3 a.m.
But Hyperyuki: Snowboard Syndicate isn’t just trying to recapture your nostalgic memories of SSX Tricky. This spiritual successor features more modes than what was found in most SSX games, including a Challenge Mode that turns each level into a Tony Hawk Pro Skater-like experience where you have to complete a list of objectives like collecting letters and finding a hidden golden board. Folks, I can’t be mad at a game deciding to merge Tony Hawk and SSX. Like peanut butter and chocolate, they go great together. The demo on PC even supports up to four-player splitscreen, which is awesome and something I wish more PC games included.
I can’t wait to play the full, completed version of Hyperyuki: Snowboard Syndicate when it launches later this year on PC. Console ports are also planned to arrive at an undetermined date.