Star Overdrive Review

Take Hi-Fi Rush, Breath of the Wild, and Sonic Riders and put them in a blender, and Voilà, you have yourself your next favorite indie game. What an amalgamation of stellar titles such as those; you should be excited about your next favorite indie game!

While some of the big-boy AAA companies are off busy developing some truly uninspired cash grabs, the indie scene is bursting with inventive games that retain those carefree vibes of yesteryear. These are the games where you can truly shut your brain off and bask in pure video game goodness.

In today's case, I am talking about Star Overdrive, a game that features a heavy emphasis on physics-based gameplay and even heavier guitar riffs! Pick up your slickest hoverboard and buckle up (or hover on?) as we take on Star Overdrive.  Star Overdrive was developed by Caracal Games, a small independent game development studio based in Rome, Italy, according to their site. Taking a quick glance through their small but mighty catalog of games proves the proof is in the pudding– this is one talented team.

Titles under their belt include, but are not limited to: OkunoKA – a colorful platformer that pays homage to Super Meat Boy with challenging levels and tight gameplay – and 2021: Moon Escape, an interstellar action game inspired by the Game Boy, green graphics, and all! In addition to their repertoire of games, Caracal Games works with major publishers on their projects, including games like Martha is Dead and Blanc. Star Overdrive is easily Caracal Game's most ambitious title to date, featuring an immersive 3D open world to explore and plenty of goodies to find.

Star Overdrive is an open-world action-adventure game set on the vast alien world of Cebete, a planet inhabited by hostile creatures yet paradoxically adorned with gorgeous landscapes. You are Bios, a space-faring gamer who loves to rock out with his keytar. He receives a distress call from his former flame, Nous, and sets out to the strange planet to find and rescue her.

As he journeys to Cebete in search of Nous, his ship is suddenly stricken by an energy blast that crashes and lands his ship on the planet below. Bios takes up his mighty keytar and hoverboard as he makes his way past the crash site and into the unknown in hopes of finding Nous. Swinging the keytar around in combat feels great, producing fun lightsaber-esque noises as you slash your way through enemies. Your combat abilities are initially limited, but as you progress through the game, you will obtain nodes that you can use to power Bios up via a skill tree.

The real meat and potatoes of Star Overdrive is how you traverse the huge game world with the use of your hoverboard, as I mentioned earlier. Blasting through peaks and valleys on the hoverboard was easily one of my favorite aspects of my time in Cebete. Star Overdrive features a sprawling sandbox that is begging to be explored. The more adventurous gamers will have a field day uncovering different ways to cover more ground quickly.

For instance, if you hold the jump button while accelerating on your hoverboard and then immediately detach at the peak of your jump, you will soar into the air. There, you can easily find terrain with ramps on which to land and launch yourself even further! Your available movement options only increase from there as you gain access to special abilities via the keytar. Clearing the main objectives will unlock new ones, not unlike the rune abilities featured in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

These new powers are acquired at underground levels reminiscent of the shrines in the classic, as mentioned earlier. Your hoverboard double jump mechanic is neutered, as you must utilize the newly acquired ability to complete the puzzles to make your way out of the underground area. The puzzles in question are never unfair, but some are a real brain scratcher.

This makes it all the more rewarding when you figure them out. These segments are a total blast and showcase Caracal Game's game design prowess, teaching the player how the power works and having fun in the process! They can be used in a variety of ways, too. The bounce pad ability allows Bios to gain height without using a jump, allowing you to ascend even higher with your hoverboard's jetpack boost. What is really neat about it is if you lay a bounce pad far away from you and jump on it, it will actually send you higher in the air due to the velocity!

Star Overdrive features a heavy emphasis on physics-based gameplay. Remember how I said the adventurous gamer in you will be rewarded? Yes, the more you discover how it all works, the more fun the experience is. In addition to that, you will use keytar abilities on enemies to employ a bunch of different effects.

Not only is making enemies bounce around fun to look at, but it also increases your damage output when you hit them. You can also use all of your keytar powers in tandem with your hoverboard to cover more ground in a variety of inventive ways, so have fun experimenting!

The skill tree I mentioned earlier is good for increasing your vitals, damage output, and other new abilities on foot; however, your hoverboard is the real star of the show. In between taking down the bad guys and missions, you will want to scavenge for as many collectibles as possible, as they are funneled into crafting new parts for your hoverboard.

Scattered around Cebete are workbenches that Bios can use to craft these parts to improve multiple facets of his board. You can suit it to your specific gameplay style, but if you are anything like me, improving top speed and boosting are paramount. It is a gigantic map, and you will want to make sure you can go zoom! Needless to say, there are plenty of time trials that will be much easier to tackle with a capable board.

Like a broken record, I remind you this map is big, but it is also beautiful, even on the aged Switch hardware. There are certain moments where you can see the texture quality is reduced when far away, but it is nothing more than a minor eyesore from that distance. You will quickly close in on the surface, where the texture visibility is greatly enhanced.

This really is a marvel of a game for such a small indie team with a lower budget than the big guys. There are different areas that are either filled with lush greenery, bodies of water, or sprawling deserts. The cel-shaded graphics were a good call by the team for such a big game and served to make Cebete and its inhabitants pop.

Cebete is quite desolate, but you are always on the go, so it never feels like a critique against the game. You will find yourself fighting the adorable yet hostile life on Cebete before you know it. If anything, it enhances the atmosphere and makes you feel the loneliness that Nous must be feeling.

Speaking of atmosphere, Bios loves to rock out to some killer tunes! Star Overdrive leans into Guardians of the Galaxy territory, with our hero reminding me of a certain Starlord who likes to defeat his enemies in style to good old rock music. If you are a rock music fan, you will undoubtedly enjoy the soundtrack in Star Overdrive.

This is where I was quickly reminded of the cult classic Hi-Fi Rush, where kicking ass to some killer music is the law of the land. Even when you finish an enemy encounter, a little riff plays, signifying you bested the nasties. Nuances like this add meaningful depth to the experience. There are cassette tapes labeled "Star Overdrive" that add a new song that you can play while in the game.

Star Overdrive never overstays its welcome, with my runtime lasting about 10–15 hours. The story wraps up in a cohesive manner and is serviceable, but clearly takes a backseat to the gameplay.. The physics-based nature of traversal was easily the most fun I had in Star Overdrive.

Bios lack facial expression, making certain cutscenes lack the emotional impact they should have. When compared to other silent protagonists such as Link, he at least grunts when in pain and emotes strong facial expressions when he is freezing, for example. My only other critique is the skill tree. I was able to complete Star Overdrive quite easily with a skill tree that wasn't even 20% unlocked. There isn't much of a reason to go back after finishing the story unless your inner completionist needs satisfaction.

Overall, Star Overdrive is a fantastic title from Caracal Games, and I'm glad Nintendo gave them their flowers when they were featured in a previous Nintendo Direct. This is a game that knows what it does best — gameplay — and leans into it hard. The narrative may not be the star, but the moment-to-moment action more than makes up for it.

Performing tricks on the hoverboard looks cool and increases your boost speed, making for immensely satisfying traversal! With a bigger budget, the cutscenes would have come alive to immerse players more in the story. At $34.99, Star Overdrive is priced fairly for the content offered and the wide scope of the game. Star Overdrive shoots for the moon and lands among the stars. Hit the sand dunes and shred on.