Hover
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Critic Reviews for Hover
No one on God's green Earth loves Jet Set Radio as much as the developers of Hover, and it shows in every strand of its DNA. The fast, trick-focused movement model is pure Dreamcast, and with spray-painting, challenging races and an anti-authoritarian attitude, this is probably the closest we'll ever get to a full franchise revival. The problem is the elements it brings to the mix - such as its shared online world, the variety of its mission types and the crux of its story - never manage to live up to the legacy of an 18-year-old game.
Hover had all the right qualities to be the true successor to the Jet Set Radio games, with solid high-speed parkour action, a stylish presentation, and an excellent soundtrack. Sadly, these do little to alleviate some of the game's biggest issues, such as unfocused narrative and bad mission design, issues that prevent the game from being nothing more than an acceptable title.
Hover could have been something more ambitious, thanks to its concept and interesting art style. Unfortunately its flaws and errors end up making this a repetitive and lacklustre experience, with the game's framerate problems, camera issues and tiresome navigation adding up to Hover's shortcomings.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Overall, Hover is an enjoyable game that gives the player a lot to do. I would recommend it, and say it is worth its current price of $24.99. If nothing so far about the game seems to interest you enough to spend that much, I would wait for a sale before giving it a go.
Hover is a game with fundamental design and movement flaws that limit theoverall appeal of the game. However, surrounding these problems is a great universe that is matched by solid mission variety, a unique level-up system, and interesting energy mechanics. In addition, the game's robust basketball-parkour mode, Gameball, is an absolute highlight, and offered the most fun Hover has to offer. Depending on how much these design issues affect your enjoyment will largely depend on what you prioritize in games, and as such, Hover is difficult to give a blanket recommendation.
Hover ultimately feels like a sincere effort by passionate developers to recapture the spirit of a long dead concept. Unfortunately, whether it was a matter of time, resources, or talent, they simply didn't have access to the means to fulfill that desire.
Midgar Studio & Fusty Games have created an interesting game with Hover: Revolt of Gamers. It mixes elements from different types of game to produce something original that's a lot of fun to play and has an incredibly high replay value.
