Denshattack! Is Tony Hawk With Japanese Trains, for Train-Lovers, by Train-Lovers

David Jaumandreu and I are expected to beryllium having our interrogation astir his upcoming game, Denshattack, successful a workplace built retired to look similar a train. And we will, eventually, arsenic you’ll spot from the video above. But earlier we sprout the video version, we chat for my written portion successful a precise antithetic setting: a dungeon.

Jaumandreu is sitting connected an inexplicable throne, similar you’d find successful a king’s palace, portion I beryllium atop a antithetic benignant of throne: an existent toilet. There are fake shackles against the chromatic walls astir us, and bars connected the window. Behind us, done a sliding door, is the bid workplace we’ll beryllium utilizing successful 30 minutes.

Myself and Jaumandreu successful the dungeon workplace down the bid studio.

I don’t person a clever mode to modulation Jaumandreu and my dungeon escapade into thing astir Denshattack!, oregon adjacent trains. But Jaumandreu is effusive astir the silly mounting we’re in. He has each crushed to beryllium blessed close now: he’s successful his favourite spot successful the world, aft all.

No, I don’t mean the dungeon. I’m talking astir Japan.

Jaumandreu has traveled halfway astir the satellite to beforehand his upcoming game: Denshattack!, which helium describes arsenic “Tony Hawk with Japanese trains.” He’s starring its improvement arsenic the workplace manager of Undercoders, which was founded successful 2005 successful Barcelona. It began arsenic a mobile improvement workplace and yet transitioned to DSi improvement and aboriginal to console with games similar Conga Master and Treasures of the Aegean. The halfway squad is conscionable 12 people, adjacent a whopping 20 years aft its founding, though Jaumandreu says they bash enactment with outer developers connected things specified arsenic euphony and animation erstwhile enactment is needed.

So what’s a Barcelonan workplace doing making a crippled that’s hyperspecifically focused connected Japanese trains? Put simply, Jaumandreu loves Japan, and helium loves the bid strategy there. That’s the agelong and abbreviated of it.

“I came [to Japan] successful '98 for the archetypal time,” helium tells me, speaking from the throne. “I came conscionable for tourism. My begetter utilized to question a batch for work, truthful I had the accidental to travel him connected 1 of his trips here, and it captivated maine truthful overmuch that I conscionable wanted to travel backmost again and again and again.”

Jaumandreu was 16 connected that archetypal travel - he’s a fewer decades older now, and has been backmost to Japan astir yearly since that archetypal trip.

“There's truthful overmuch to like,” helium continues. “When I came here, it was evidently due to the fact that I was a kid. I loved Dragon Ball, I loved video games, you know? And backmost then, Japan was the biggest unit successful making video games. Nintendo, PlayStation, whatever. But I came done this fascination, and past got fascinated by the state itself. Its history, it's ace interesting, its culture. Whenever you get to cognize it more, determination are much layers of absorbing worldly to get. The cinema is fantastic, the nutrient is incredible. Pop culture. No, it's a premix of a batch of things, and whenever you get deeper into the country, you find much absorbing stuff. So of people the archetypal clip I got present was Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto. Then you commencement exploring much the agrarian side, and that's what it started to get to me.”

Of course, Jaumandreu particularly loves Japan’s bid system. He rode the subway connected his archetypal visit, the Yamanote enactment that runs successful a ellipse done Tokyo’s biggest areas. At the time, trains successful Japan didn’t person immoderate English voices connected the intercom oregon English words connected the signs, truthful each helium had to spell connected was his guidebook for navigation. “It felt similar a large adventure.” Especially, helium says, compared to trains successful Barcelona, which were bully but not astir arsenic precocious technologically. “To enactment it successful perspective, backmost erstwhile I came here, the quality was it was similar looking 20 years successful the future, and present we've benignant of reached that point, I guess.”

Then, Jaumandreu got to thrust the Shinkansen, the slug train, and helium was blown away. “It's incredibly accelerated and soundless astatine the aforesaid time, truthful it feels ace calm, and you're going truthful fast. It feels, I don't know, discontextualized. The unthinkable velocity that you're going, and it doesn't determination oregon shingle oregon whatever. It's a ace creaseless ride. It's ace comfortable.”

It was retired of this emotion that Denshattack! Was born. One day, Jaumandreu says, helium was playing with a small artifact bid helium had, and the ideas began to flow.

“I was, you know, digit skating with a train. Like you're bored. And I was doing this and that. I was like, ‘Whoa, this is cool. We could marque a crippled retired of this.’ I started reasoning astir it and giving a batch of thought to however that would construe into gameplay. And I utilized to skate, and I’m large instrumentality of the Tony Hawk games especially, and it was like, ‘How would you bash this? How would you power this?’ So yeah, I brought a bid portion to work, started showing the squad immoderate moves, and past I presented to the remainder of the squad and they told me, ‘They're shit.’ ‘Are you crazy?’ And past [my coworker] who is ace accelerated successful Unreal, I deliberation helium spent mates of days with that and helium came retired and said, ‘There's decidedly a crippled here. It's ace fun.’”

Denshattack! has been successful improvement present for 3 years. It’s visually inspired by Jet Set Radio, Hi-Fi Rush, and Persona, and acceptable to euphony by Sonic Mania’s Tee Lopes. In it, you power a bid arsenic if you were controlling a skateboard, wherever the landscape, cities, and different landmarks go a skate park. Jaumandreu describes gameplay successful 2 parts: there’s a “flow state” gameplay wherever you’re focused connected getting from constituent A to B, doing tricks and avoiding derailing arsenic you go. And past determination are missions wherever you’ll contention rivals, effort to get a precocious people from doing tricks, oregon adjacent combat bosses similar elephantine mechs. And Denshattack! combines each this with a Shonen anime communicative astir recovered family, rebellion, and making friends with your rivals.

As we wrapper up our interrogation and hole to determination retired of the dungeon and into the bid workplace to record, I inquire Jaumandreu 1 last, captious question. What’s his favourite ekiben, oregon bid bento box?

He starts to accidental his favourite is the ones that self-heat erstwhile you propulsion a small tab out. But past helium brings up an adjacent much apropos answer: helium likes the kid’s meals, due to the fact that they travel successful a container shaped similar a train.

Denshattack! is planned for merchandise successful outpouring 2026 for PC, Xbox Series (including connected Game Pass), and PlayStation.

Rebekah Valentine is simply a elder newsman for IGN. You tin find her posting connected BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a communicative tip? Send it to [email protected].