I’m the type of person that likes things that are a little out there at times. I’ve been known to Google “Weirdest movies on Netflix” and just watch whatever the results come back with out of curiosity. Sometimes this pans out, and I find a hidden gem; Other times, I sit in disbelief of what I just witnessed.
When I received an email about getting an early look at Denshattack!, I could imagine a game with this premise showing up in a Google search of “Weirdest video games,” and I mean that as a compliment in this case for sure.
A hyper-stylish game that’s clearly shooting for a mashup ofTony Hawkand Shōnen Anime where an entire train is used as your version of a skateboard? Uh… yeah sure,you have my attention.
The game has now been shown off at Opening Night Live at Gamescom 2025, but I got to view a separate presentation with the game’s director and producer from developers Undercoders a couple of weeks ago and ask questions to get some more inside information to share with you all. Full steam ahead.
Trains + Skateboards = Fever Dream Of Awesome
Yes, Denshattack! kind of boils down in an elevator pitch as an extreme skating game where your means of tricking and locomotion is… well, a locomotive. Still, what does that actuallymean?
While Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater is clearly the maininfluencehere, as the game is complete with air and flip tricks, grinds with balance meters, wall rides, and other THPS mainstays, the vibe doesn’t simply end there. In fact, the team told us on our call that, in addition to THPS, other games such asJet Set Radio and Sonic The Hedgehog also played a part in influencing Denshattack!.
Despite the “on rails” nature, the game still manages to have cool exploration and plenty of goals to work towards in each level.
The Sonic comparison specifically really clicked in my head once I thought about the more recent 3D iterations of the blue speedster as you’re controlling him from a third-person camera perspective, hopping back and forth on rails and platforms and careening forwards at insane speeds. I can definitely see that same speedy DNA alive and well in Denshattack!, too.
That’s also where the slight divergence from THPS is more apparent. Genuine skateboarding games typically let you loose in an open arena to trick around as you please, while Denshattack! is (quite literally) on rails. While I feel like “on rails” has kind of earned a negative reputation in the industry recently, that’s not the case here. It’s simply the only way this title would make sense.
Still, don’t get it twisted. Yeah, you have predetermined paths to travel on in Denshattack!, but you’re also hopping back and forth on rails constantly, finding alternate secret paths, or simply going a different direction at a fork in the road. Despite the “on rails” nature, the game still manages to have cool exploration and plenty of goals to work towards in each level.
In addition to the story mode, Denshattack! has time attack and scoring challenge modes as you might expect, as well as three-lap races around specifically designed tracks with bots to test your speed against. Here, the track evolves every lap, and breaking out tricks and combos helps speed you up as well.
The other thing the team mentioned to us a lot was “double drifting” across multiple train tracks at once, so expect that to be a feature heavily focused on in this game as well.
Shōnen-Style Anime Story With Crazy Boss Fights
While some of the above might make you assume that Denshattack! lends itself to being a multi-player-capable game, that’s actually not the case. Instead, all of these modes take place with single-player as the designed option, and that is shown off in a major way with the main story mode that Denshattack! seems to be preparing.
The team described this as a sort ofShōnen-styleanime story, which prompted me to ask them what specific anime they consider as influences for what they’ve come up with. The answer was lengthy, but included various examples such as Berserk, One Piece, Naruto, Dragonball, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, and even Studio Ghibli (though they were tight-lipped about how Ghibli comes into play).
But they were also keen to point out that while these were some of the main influences, many designers and artists on the team had their own, hyper-specific anime loves and influences to pull from, down to some of the most obscure examples most people probably have never even heard of.
The story here is a dystopian near future where climate change has caused all kinds of havoc on the planet, shutting down the railways and other major systems across the world. Eventually, suburban gangs in Japan claim control of the rails and train systems themselves, which is where our story kicks off.
Gang leaders from various regions will pilot these trains themselves, which manifests itself into trulybonkers-lookingboss fights at the end of each section of gameplay. The trailer we saw included train bosses in the form of Gundams, as well as giant sand worms leaping from the ground.
A True Passion Project
As chaotic, insane, and cool as this all looks, there’s also a true respect and grounded nature to Denshattack! that comes through in the game’s design as well. The team is from Barcelona, but they areavidfans of Japan and its train system specifically, which is why the game is based there, using real-life locations and railways to craft the map of the journey.
I really enjoyed seeing the side-by-side images of stills from Denshattack! next to real locations in Japan. It’s a level ofattention to detail that seems to genuinely stem from a true love for the craft. The world map itself is an adjusted map of a literal Japanese train system in real life.
At the end of the day, it’s just fun to see a game from a team that clearly loves what they’re doing. During our call, we were told that the game is simply designed around “making players feel cool,” and was created from a “Why not?” sort of design perspective to come up with what they claim is the most fun video game they’ve ever built.
The last thing that stood out from our call was when Edkas, the team’s producer, told us that he used to ride trains growing up and would imagine himself tricking off of objects and rails as they passed by his window.I’d do this exact same thing on car rides growing up myself, which is enough to sell me on checking this game out once the final product is ready, if only to see how another person with my same childhood fantasy turned our dreams into a game.
Oh, andthe soundtrack rips, too.
All Aboard!
According to developer Undercoders and publisher Fireshine Games, Denshattack! is currently slated to release sometime in early 2026, though the actual date has yet to be confirmed.
The final version of the game will feature over 50 levels, so players should have plenty of content to stick around for if they choose to pick it up on either PC, PS5, or Xbox, where it will also be a Day One release on Game Pass.
The story mode of the game should take around 8-12 hours to work through, but additional game modes will help bolster this playtime as well.
Potential players interested in Denshattack! can follow along onthe game’s newly launched websitefor forthcoming updates, and alsowishlist the game on Steamif they so desire.
If you missed the game’s trailer during Opening Night Live, check it out below!
