More a playable pop album than a classic rhythm game. You glide through dreamlike vignettes set to a gorgeous soundtrack, in a burst of color and motion. Very short, but the experience is so fluid and exhilarating that you happily come back for more.
Your verdict
Category
Rhythm1 player7+
Description
A young woman on a motorbike races through the night to mend a heart broken into pieces. Published by Annapurna, released worldwide in 2019. Action timed to the beat across twenty-three stages, chases, duels and stunts chained to a spellbinding electro-pop soundtrack.
Sayonara Wild Hearts review
MAX
Art direction
★★★★★
"Iconic"
MAX
Music
★★★★★
"Legendary"
2/5
Story
★★★★★
"Classic"
A pop music video in motion: saturated neon, an electric pink-and-purple palette and transitions choreographed to the beat. This dreamlike synthwave aesthetic, where every scene flows like a chorus, makes the game a visual and sonic trip of heady fluidity.
Created by Daniel Olsén and Jonathan Eng, the synth-pop album is the game's true engine: every level is a song, every action snaps into the beat like an interactive music video. Glittering pop melodies, ethereal vocals and dance pulses carry a dreamlike ride. You simply can't separate the experience from this album you'll loop again and again.
Gameplay
"Masterful"
Racing a bike, crossing swords, twirling to irresistible electro-pop: it all comes down to the seamless flow of a staging that strings its twenty-three tableaux together in one breath. The challenge is deliberately gentle, more sensory voyage than test of skill, so anyone craving real bite may feel shortchanged. Yet the grace of the motion and the visual brilliance stay arresting. An hour of pure thrill, wholly intact.
Fun
"From the very first seconds"
Everything races by in a neon deluge where the music drives every turn, jump and strike. No game over breaks the momentum, just one hypnotic pop tableau after another that you replay for the sheer rush of it. Short, intense and impossible to put down before the final note.
Short but dazzling, this playable album strings its scenes together like music videos where the beat drives every move. Its brevity drew criticism, and it blurred into Annapurna's crowded catalog. Yet its rhythmic flair, neon-pop art direction and infectious energy make it a one-of-a-kind ride. Perfect for a night when you just want to be carried by the sound.
Is Sayonara Wild Hearts still worth playing in 2026?
Sayonara Wild Hearts is less a rhythm game than an interactive pop video of dazzling elegance. Its twenty-three tableaux string together motorcycle chases, duels and acrobatics over an electro-pop score that carries everything, and the experience is best savored in one sitting under an hour. The challenge is deliberately mild, making it more a sensory journey than a test, and some will miss that bite. Yet the fluidity of the staging and the visual beauty stay striking, and the theme of a broken heart rings true. A short, sensory work that has lost none of its charm.
