You move your heroine left and right to grab hearts which boost your score, all while traveling at impossible speeds.

The pace of that quick setup moving into gameplay is fast and exciting. A young woman destined to be a heroine falls from her apartment chasing after a small, fairy-like creature, landing on her longboard and suddenly launching into the first level as she careens down a street while an upbeat soundtrack accompanies her efforts to collect hearts scattered along the ground. Sayonara begins with just the right amount of cryptic narration (voiced by Queen Latifah) about intersecting astral highways, divine arcana, and other abstract ideas, effectively setting up an enticing ethereal tone more than it establishes the beginning of a sensical story. In its efforts to elevate the soundtrack, Sayonara succeeds undeniably, but as a compelling video game with engaging interactive mechanics it comes up a little short – still, I was happy playing it the whole way through.

It reminded more of Daft Punk’s 2003 animated film Interstella 5555 or Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s trippy 2001 musical shooter Rez than a typical music video game, more concerned with highlighting its catchy music and filling your eyes with pleasant, colorful imagery than telling an overt story. More visual musical album than traditional video game, Sayonara Wild Hearts’ is packed with vibrant imagery, high-speed motorcycle chases, impressively seamless animations, and just a pinch of magical girl anime inspirations.

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