One of the few games I’ve given a perfect 10 reviewing here was Sayonara: Wild Hearts, a title with gameplay I can’t get out of my head and a heartfelt emotional experience. With only a gameplay trailer to go off of, I saw Road 96: Mile 0 was coming up and knew I wanted to dive into this adventure mere seconds into the trailer.

I loved the thought of traversing a level with music as the visual influence coupled with an adventure into a dystopian city-state. I had never even heard of Road 96 before learning of this prequel. However, I was still invested and had a good feeling about this game. Does Road 96: Mile 0 capitalize on its acclaimed successor?

Road 96: Mile 0 puts you in the shoes of both Katio and Zoe, two rebellious teenagers that live in a city where workers are exploited for their labor and the rich get richer. I’m immediately reminded of my time with Life of Strange 1 and 2. These coming-of-age tales also show strong emotional vulnerability, actions bearing consequences, and the culmination of events leading to different endings.

You can choose to be either faithful to your upbringing or free-thinking, with tons of dialogue choices and moments within each song deciding how you want Kaito and Zoe to be at a vital point in their lives. These choices really do matter. Road 96: Mile 0 (like the original game) tailors its events based on your decisions, as you’ll see the game calculate your choices in each loading screen.

The music sections in Road 96: Mile 0 are positively sublime, but they’re a few steps short of perfection. You’re faced with obstacles that you must swerve to avoid, jump over, and duck under. It’s easy enough to anticipate which of these actions you need to do.

However, I found myself cheaply failing more than a few times, whether it be due to the camera not keeping up with the breakneck pace or the placement of diamonds leading me to take risks I couldn’t surpass. If you hit an obstacle, you’re back in the action in less than a second, and checkpoints are plentiful. There’s a wonderful spread of genres, and I was pleasantly surprised to skate along to the likes of The Offspring and The Midnight.

When you’re not skating about in Road 96: Mile 0, you can expect to adventure in the city of Petria interacting with tons of citizens and workers to further your narrative. This includes some minigames that I had a blast playing, which somehow made tasks like delivering papers and hammering some nails a bunch of fun. From an early point, I knew which way I wanted to steer both Kaito and Zoe.

The choice was pretty clear-cut and I found myself agreeing with the aligned schools of thought. It was compelling seeing it all come to a head in the climax, and I’m going to go buy Road 96 as soon as I’m done writing this review. This is in must-play territory for adventure and rhythm gamers and, being a fan of both will be an unforgettable experience deserving to be in the same conversation as genre greats.

A PC review code for Road 96: Mile 0 was provided by Ravenscourt for this review.

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Road 96: Mile 0

19.99

9

Score

9.0/10

Pros

• Great Variety in Gameplay
• Fantastic Story
• Choices Really Matter

Cons

• Music Sections Need Perfecting