In a world made of synthwave horizons and rad raccoons, no one has successfully made it to the end of “the trail.” To get there, brave skaters must shred the long, winding roads that float high above the ground and navigate various obstacles such as cars and the occasional pile of trash. Tanuki is one of these skaters, and they are determined to be the first to reach the end of the trail and get featured in FISH Magazine. This is the world of Tanuki Sunset, a game that floats between a chill skating adventure like Skate City and a challenging marathon that isn’t forgiving, but is definitely rewarding.
Cruising down the skybound roads of Tanuki Sunset is deceptively difficult. It starts easy enough, as players are introduced to controls like controlling Tanuki’s speed via analog stick, steering the board, and collecting currency to spend later on. The first real challenge comes when it’s time to drift. Drifting in Tanuki Sunset is best described as “sharp,” as it feels like Tanuki could pull a full U-Turn almost as soon as the drift starts. This sharp drift isn’t ideal for the rounded turns, so learning how to drift correctly means consistently falling into the neon abyss, but that only makes the successful ones feel that much more rewarding.
This doesn’t mean that the trial and error is without frustration, however. The main complaint that can be levied at Tanuki Sunset is that checkpoints are borderline unforgiving. Even as players become more comfortable controlling Tanuki, one mistake can set the player back a couple of minutes. This never felt unfair, but it did get a bit annoying in the early game. That said, the overall length of the game is only a couple of hours, which makes these setbacks feel like bumps in the road rather than mistakes that make the game feel too long.
When players do reach specific checkpoints along the trail, they can take a break to visit Bob’s Skate Shop. Here, Tanuki can purchase new board parts, clothes and accessories, play the arcade machine, and occasionally pick up the phone to talk to Tanuki’s loquacious mother. For better or worse, all items in Tanuki Sunset are purely cosmetic, as new decks, trucks, and wheels lack any indication that they affect the gameplay past visuals. This may be a bit disappointing, but for a game built on vibes and flow, simply looking cool feels just as satisfying as garnering some sort of playable benefit.
One final thing worth noting is that the music sometimes cuts out, leaving only the sound effects to fill the awkwardly empty void. This definitely feels like a bug and only occurred a handful of times, but it is still worth mentioning because the phenomenal soundtrack is relaxing, driving, and perfect for the game’s aesthetic. When those songs were cut short, it felt like an integral part of the experience was missing. Thankfully, those moments were sparse and when the did happen, it could be quickly resolved. Overall, Tanuki Sunset is a wonderful game, especially for those looking for a simple, stylish game to play at the end of a long day.
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Tanuki Sunset is available on November 3 for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 and on November 4 for Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. It is currently available for PC and will launch on the Nintendo Switch sometime in the future. Screen Rant was provided with an Xbox digital download for the purpose of this review.
