Hover Critic Reviews

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.

It may never reach the highs of a Mirror’s Edge or even a Jet Set Radio game, but Hover offers an entertaining parkour-skating racer to Nintendo Switch owners. The menu system needs to be fixed, the camera isn’t perfect, and the frame-rate can be a bit rough at times, but there is still fun to be had with Hover.

Hover is a delight to play and a great example of the open world genre, set in a futuristic and oppressed hub. Featuring numerous missions and interesting online capabilities, it's worth your time.

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.

I don’t recommend Hover: Revolt of Gamers on the Switch at all. Even after five years of development, it feels incredibly undercooked. The user interface is not intuitive, and the gameplay and camera together make it feel like a bad VR game. Maybe it’s more fun on a powerful desktop PC, but it just doesn’t feel at home here.

I have to be honest and say I was disappointed with Hover. It feels like the game is fighting against you in most places when it gives off the feel of being about freedom of expression and movement. I really hope it can be built upon because the passion for the project can definitely be felt through a lot of the game, but the cohesion of all the parts just doesn’t work as well as it could.

The game mostly looks the part, but the gameplay is just far too loose and repetitive to make it a compelling play for all but the most desperate of gamers looking to scratch the Jet Set itch. Then again, even some of those players might be turned off once they actually have to deal with the horrible menus. The fact that the music is pretty decent and the game isn’t unplayable might satisfy some out there, but I think most gamers are better served by simply skipping this one.

Hover may feature an interesting art style and concept but the overall gameplay experience is a major disappointment. Due to its disengaging mechanics, regular framerate problems, maladjusted camera angles and overall feeling of repetitiveness, Hover ends up falling short of its major objectives.

It misses all the marks on the most crucial elements, with a game that's constantly let down by its physics and controls and a story about "Gamers" fighting back against "anti-leisure laws" that seems to entirely miss the point of anti-authoritarianism as a concept.