Do Tricks on Tracks with Denshattack!, the Train Skating Game

One of the coolest qualities of video games—and one of the most despised by buzzkill parents—is their ability to safely simulate dangerous situations. What is it like to steal a car? To fire a gun? Perhaps most pressing for a coward baby like myself, what’s it like to do cool tricks on a skateboard?

Many games have answered this question. Here is what it’s like to be Tony Hawk without fracturing your skull and breaking your pelvis. Here is what it’s like to do cool tricks on a board that is actually a sword hovering over sand and sea. And there’s a different artistry to a skating game than the real sport, a different skill that can be mastered. Dexterity of the hands and mind is no less elegant a manipulation of the body.

But video games are art, and it is art’s duty to answer questions that nobody has even thought to ask. Questions like, what if I could do cool tricks on a big ass train?

Denshattack! is like a skating game, but instead of a skateboard, you have control of an entire train. From the Japanese “densha,” meaning—ahem—train, Denshattack! brings you to a dystopian Japan rendered in a punchy, vibrant, animeesque art style. The game invites you to create your own unique trick style as you master its combo-based gameplay, from rail hops to barrel rolls. There are bossfights, too, with magical girl mech transformations. And yes, you can customize your train.

Just revealed during Gamescom Opening Night Live, Denshattack! is a collaboration between Barcelona-based studio Undercoders and Shadows of Doubt publisher Fireshine Games. The soundtrack, in partnership with video game music label Kid Katana, is composed by Tee Lopes, who has previously worked on titles like Sonic Mania, Streets of Rage 4, and TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge. There will also be additional music from Ryo Nagamatsu (Splatoon 3), with more guest composers to be announced later this fall.

In Denshattack! the gameplay experience consists of two parts. The first is conducting—you gotta get your train to the station before time runs out, in over 60 levels designed off of the real-life Japanese train network. You will be adapting to the changing terrain by driving as fast as you can without derailing, avoiding obstacles with a level of precision akin to rhythm games. The second layer is, of course, the tricks—including stuff you can only do on a train, like activating railroad switches and double track drifting. Chaining tricks together earns you more points at the end of the level, and also makes you look sick as hell.