On long trips, the landscape outside becomes a playground for the imagination. Mountains look like slumbering dinosaurs. The distance between street lights take on a rhythm. For game developer David Jaumandreau, he saw the potential for a whimsical video game.
He said when he goes on the train and looks out the window, he thinks about doing skateboarding tricks along the environment in the distance. Those two ideas have melded together in Undercoders’ upcoming project “Denshattack!”
AN UNUSUAL COMBINATION
It’s a game, in which players perform skateboarding-inspired tricks, but instead of a wooden board, it’s done along tracks with players controlling a massive train engine. It’s a quirky combination of “Tony Hawk” and a train simulator, but somehow, it appears to work.
Aside from the unusual combination, “Denshattack!” draws inspiration from manga and Japanese culture. The team was impressed with the train culture on the island nation, and how intricate and expansive it is. Train lovers can go 3,100km from the southern point of Kyushu to the northern island of Hokkaido.
“Denshattack!” features unusual boss fights and tracks. (Fireshine Games)
A FIGHT FOR THE RAILWAYS
That admiration bleeds through the storytelling, which focuses on a postapocalyptic Japan, where a climate catastrophe has left the rich living in dooms and traveling to each settlement through a corporate-run underground tube system called VACTRAIN. Meanwhile, those on the surface have reclaimed the legacy rail network. Gangs have divvied up the tracks and the territories around it.
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The single-player campaign focuses on a rebellious group, trying to change things. That will take players through more than 50 levels that come in three flavors — exploration zones, trick-focused areas and racing tracks. The exploration levels are the biggest and present players with different objectives. Players may have to paint buildings or destroy communications towers.
The developers described the trick-focused stages as the “Tony Hawk”-style levels, in which players have to get from point A to point B in the most stylish way possible. Players can retry it multiple times to max out combos and achieve high scores.
Lastly, racing levels pits players against a rival and they have to reach the goal before competitors, using tricks and combos that help unlock shortcuts.
In the “Denshattack!” campaign, players will face off against several gangs in story that’s reminiscent of shonen anime. (Fireshine Games)
MANGA AND ANIME INSPIRATIONS
Players start off simply, learning the trick basics, but as they travel to other territories, they challenge other gangs and learn new techniques. The team said the journey is reminiscent of a shonen anime, and to complete the experience, “Denshattack!” will have English and Japanese voice acting.
One element of the campaign that the team is particularly proud of is the boss battles, according to lead producer Angel Beltran Palau. “The bosses look spectacular,” he said. “Players will look forward to what’s coming next. You’ll see fight against a mecha. There’s a sense of surprise.”
“Denshattack!” is scheduled for release in 2026 on PC, Xbox Series X and Series S and PlayStation 5.