Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
So there was an Indie World Showcase early into March 2026, and the first one that turned up in it was this, with a demo made available that same day. I decided to give it a spin because the premise is so bizarre: after having gone through the demo, I can best describe it as “Jet Set Radio, but with trains.” Denshattack! seems to borrow heavily from Jet Set Radio in its aesthetic, its soundtrack, its premise, and its gameplay.
Something I should point out is that while the rest of the demo was my first run through it, the gameplay itself was on my second run. The game moves incredibly fast, and while it does not penalize you for making mistakes, it does look awkward, and you are given very little time to respond. In particular, for some reason, I was mixing up the controls for braking and for jumping, which use opposite shoulder buttons. I forgot your train has a horn, albeit it is used sparingly in the stages in this demo, though it doesn’t result in a failure, used only for a “dare” (more on that later) in one stage. This is why the train suddenly changes appearance at the beginning of a stage. There’s no editing around that.
I was striving to complete each stage without crashing (though this did not happen in 1-1-2), not necessarily executing it free of error.
Set in a cyberpunk future Japan (European games seem to love this setting, like with Lethal League/Bomb Rush Cyberfunk from the Netherlands, Hover from France, and this one from Spain, and all were heavily inspired by Jet Set Radio), the story follows Emi, a ramen deliveryperson who uses her personal train to quickly get the food to its customers. This catches the attention of Fernando, a photographer who likes observing Denshattack duels and introduces Emi to the deadly hobby. Denshattack is a competition in which participants operate trains, performing tricks and stunts. Yeah, this is as cliché as it gets, though they did do their research into Japan: the demo takes us through the southeastern coast of Kyushu, featuring the prefectures of Oita, Miyazaki, and Kagoshima, with one last portion in Kochi Prefecture on Shikoku Island to demonstrate a different stage type. Each location features landmarks of the place, or at least what they might look like among the urban ruins of the future, such as 1-3-1, set in Kagoshima, going through Kagoshima Bay and into Sakurajima, a volcano.
Your train will automatically move forward at a high speed once you start. You are welcome to start moving after the countdown. Meanwhile, in addition to braking (used to avoid obstacles and to safely get around turns), jumping, and the train horn, you can move between parallel rails, both on the ground and in midair; slam straight downwards (to dodge walls coming off a jump or to attack something on the ground); and perform tricks anytime you’re in midair, done with the right control stick. You have to do the inputs quickly, and as they involve quarter, half, and three-quarters circle movements done quickly, as well as back-and-forth circle movements and at least one dragon punch movement, those experienced in fighting games would likely have an advantage. You are given a score based not only on tricks, but braking well around turns, narrowly missing things that would crash or derail your train (Risky Dodges), hitting boost pads, remaining on grind rails, breaking things (provided they don’t crash your train in the meantime), and some stage-specific things. You also get a bonus for hitting particular signs at the goal, with their point values written on those signs. There is a “Dares” system, extra challenges for each stage: they don’t count towards your goal, but they do towards your rank. Every stage has one involving not crashing and at least two for picking up every “Collectable” (sic) of a certain type.
The demo takes you through the following:
00:00 - (Switch Menu and Start Screen)
00:51 - Intro
01:45 - 1-1-1 - Hot ramen delivery
05:58 - 1-1-2 - There’s a trick to it
09:53 - 1-2-1 - Adventure awaits!
14:04 - 1-3-1 - Seaside showdown
18:12 - 3-2-2 - Shin’s Testgrounds
The last one is set later into the game and shows a different type of stage, one where the stage itself is nonlinear and looping, and the goal is instead to achieve as high a score as possible within the time limit. I did what I could, and it seems I started encountering holographic rainbow rails, though I wasn’t fast enough to land on them—I presume my score would’ve been a lot higher if I did.
I do not know if I intend to get the full game and showcase it; I do not feel like I have recovered fully from my medical emergency, and I doubt I ever will. Besides, it seems to have taken inspiration from fighting games for its trick system, which I’ve never been that great at, and I don’t feel I’m up to do the full game that well.
So there was an Indie World Showcase early into March 2026, and the first one that turned up in it was this, with a demo made available that same day. I decided to give it a spin because the premise is so bizarre: after having gone through the demo, I can best describe it as “Jet Set Radio, but with trains.” Denshattack! seems to borrow heavily from Jet Set Radio in its aesthetic, its soundtrack, its premise, and its gameplay.
Something I should point out is that while the rest of the demo was my first run through it, the gameplay itself was on my second run. The game moves incredibly fast, and while it does not penalize you for making mistakes, it does look awkward, and you are given very little time to respond. In particular, for some reason, I was mixing up the controls for braking and for jumping, which use opposite shoulder buttons. I forgot your train has a horn, albeit it is used sparingly in the stages in this demo, though it doesn’t result in a failure, used only for a “dare” (more on that later) in one stage. This is why the train suddenly changes appearance at the beginning of a stage. There’s no editing around that.
I was striving to complete each stage without crashing (though this did not happen in 1-1-2), not necessarily executing it free of error.
Set in a cyberpunk future Japan (European games seem to love this setting, like with Lethal League/Bomb Rush Cyberfunk from the Netherlands, Hover from France, and this one from Spain, and all were heavily inspired by Jet Set Radio), the story follows Emi, a ramen deliveryperson who uses her personal train to quickly get the food to its customers. This catches the attention of Fernando, a photographer who likes observing Denshattack duels and introduces Emi to the deadly hobby. Denshattack is a competition in which participants operate trains, performing tricks and stunts. Yeah, this is as cliché as it gets, though they did do their research into Japan: the demo takes us through the southeastern coast of Kyushu, featuring the prefectures of Oita, Miyazaki, and Kagoshima, with one last portion in Kochi Prefecture on Shikoku Island to demonstrate a different stage type. Each location features landmarks of the place, or at least what they might look like among the urban ruins of the future, such as 1-3-1, set in Kagoshima, going through Kagoshima Bay and into Sakurajima, a volcano.
Your train will automatically move forward at a high speed once you start. You are welcome to start moving after the countdown. Meanwhile, in addition to braking (used to avoid obstacles and to safely get around turns), jumping, and the train horn, you can move between parallel rails, both on the ground and in midair; slam straight downwards (to dodge walls coming off a jump or to attack something on the ground); and perform tricks anytime you’re in midair, done with the right control stick. You have to do the inputs quickly, and as they involve quarter, half, and three-quarters circle movements done quickly, as well as back-and-forth circle movements and at least one dragon punch movement, those experienced in fighting games would likely have an advantage. You are given a score based not only on tricks, but braking well around turns, narrowly missing things that would crash or derail your train (Risky Dodges), hitting boost pads, remaining on grind rails, breaking things (provided they don’t crash your train in the meantime), and some stage-specific things. You also get a bonus for hitting particular signs at the goal, with their point values written on those signs. There is a “Dares” system, extra challenges for each stage: they don’t count towards your goal, but they do towards your rank. Every stage has one involving not crashing and at least two for picking up every “Collectable” (sic) of a certain type.
The demo takes you through the following:
00:00 - (Switch Menu and Start Screen)
00:51 - Intro
01:45 - 1-1-1 - Hot ramen delivery
05:58 - 1-1-2 - There’s a trick to it
09:53 - 1-2-1 - Adventure awaits!
14:04 - 1-3-1 - Seaside showdown
18:12 - 3-2-2 - Shin’s Testgrounds
The last one is set later into the game and shows a different type of stage, one where the stage itself is nonlinear and looping, and the goal is instead to achieve as high a score as possible within the time limit. I did what I could, and it seems I started encountering holographic rainbow rails, though I wasn’t fast enough to land on them—I presume my score would’ve been a lot higher if I did.
I do not know if I intend to get the full game and showcase it; I do not feel like I have recovered fully from my medical emergency, and I doubt I ever will. Besides, it seems to have taken inspiration from fighting games for its trick system, which I’ve never been that great at, and I don’t feel I’m up to do the full game that well.
