I’ve been a platformer fan ever since I started playing games (shout-out to Mickey’s Wild Adventure, you never forget your first), so 2024 has already been a banger year for me thanks to gems likePenny’s Big Breakaway,Pepper Grinder,Animal Well, andPrince of Persia: The Lost Crown.
As great as those games are, you’ll notice that most of them are 2D platformers, or in adjacent genres focusing on the second dimension. But I’ve always had a particular soft spot for 3D platformers likePsychonauts,Jak and Daxter,Sly Cooper, and pretty much any other game that pops into your head when you think of the good ol’PS2days.
While the 3D platformer lives on throughNintendoand the indie scene, they’re still a lot harder to come by in this generation and have started to feel like a relic of the past. So, when RKGK (also known as Rakugaki)sprung out of nowhere with its eye-catching graffiti aesthetic, I was as keen as a runner-and-jumper bean.
A Gorgeous Tribute To Graffiti Art
Immediately, Rakugaki reminded me of Jet Set Radio andBomb Rush Cyberfunk. But as important as graffiti is to those two, I’d be hard-pressed to remember any of the designs I spent hours tagging their maps with since they mostly blur together in a haze of spray-paint doodles.
That’s not the case with RKGK, though, which puts its love for the art form at the forefront with some of the most stunning and creative graffiti I’ve ever seen in a game. Every time protagonist Valah unleashed a new design on Cap City, I couldn’t help myself stopping to smell the noxious fumes. RKGK’s creative use of spray paint as you skate around a drab world and bring it to life already makes it a feast for the eyes, but the stylish and creative graffiti that you cover levels with turns it into a banquet.
RKGK also pays tribute to anime and manga at every chance it can get, including several costumes inspired byDragon Ball, Hunter x Hunter, and Akira, to name a few.
While I can’t say enough good things about how RKGK shines a heartfelt spotlight on graffiti and finally makes it feel like more than set dressing, I didn’t fall as hard for another key part of its presentation and style - the techno music. I’m more of a drum-and-bass guy myself, but even with that noted bias, I found the OST to be background noise at best and repetitive and unmemorable at worst.
Saturday Morning Cartoons Brought To Life
The cast of heroes and villains are equally as memorable as RKGK’s visuals. Valah is a bubbly and loveable hero with just as much charm as her art, while the main antagonist Mr Buff, is a cartoonish villain with some great one-liners that reminded me ofCrash Bandicoot’s Neo Cortex. I just wish a bit more energy was spent on telling a captivating story, as Valah’s quest to liberate Cap City is kept simple and doesn’t take the time to explore the deeper side of her motivations.
I expected RKGK’s art style to be the highlight, but excellent platforming mechanics means that there’s a lot more to enjoy here than just good looks. Each level has Valah racing around a different part of the city and bringing it back to life by covering soul-sucking screens with graffiti, which she does by making creative use of spray paint.
The highlight of Valah’s moveset is an ability that lets you surf on a wave of paint that boosts your speed while leaving a colourful trail of art in your wake. This central mechanic transforms RKGK from a relatively simple platformer into a fast-paced speedrunner’s paradise that is akin to some ofSonic’s 3D outings. Don’t worry, I mean the good ones.
Jet Set Radio Meets Sonic Adventure
At first, getting used to Valah’s moveset and combining paint-surfing with the usual tricks of the genre like jumping around and sliding is a little complicated, but once you get the hang of it, RKGK has a great sense of rhythm and momentum that results in some incredibly speedy levels that I had a blast trying to race through.
I love it when a game hands you a relatively simple moveset and lets you master them to feel feel like a platformer god, and that’s exactly what RKGK does. Some of the best levels are completely optional skill checks that take the mechanics to their breaking point, such as an early-game one that focuses on the paint surfing and the extreme speeds it can reach.
Another memorable optional level is one that places you in the dark and has you skillfully using your graffiti to light a path forward.
RKGK’s platforming is top-tier and a glorious reminder of why I love 3D platformers so much, but it does occasionally stumble. Chief among these is the combat, which is incredibly simple and doesn’t add much to the experience beyond slowing you down and keeping you away from the high-octane movement that RKGK does so well.
The levels themselves can also blur together due to their purposefully lifeless design and lack of unique gimmicks. There are a few that stand out, like one that focuses on gravity and another that has you running around a sewer, but they generally feel near-identical to one another. They do at least have a ton of optional objectives to incentivise replays when you’ve mastered the mechanics, but it’s the one time when RKGK’s visuals feel like they work against it.
Even if these minor issues prevent Rakugaki from fully filling the hole in my heart that the equally colourfulHi-Fi Rushleft, its incredible style and fast-paced platforming make it one of the year’s best hidden gems and a strong entry into the genre that shows that its heart is still beating strong.
