There is something about a game’s first impression. If a game leaves a good first impression, I’ll keep playing. If a game leaves a bad first impression, it’s over, there’s no coming back from it… unless you are No Man’s Sky, but this is not that game and it took years to accomplish. The point is, Star Overdrive leaves a nasty first impression. It is a game that advertises: “See the hoverboard? The hoverboard is awesome. You’ll love the hoverboard!” If you go on the eShop and look at the marketing materials plus watch the trailer, the hoverboard is front and center. There’s a reason for that. Its the best part of the game. I’ll give it that. Hoverboarding is fun. The issue is, you have to come off your board for most of the game, and that is where Star Overdrive simply falls apart.
The first thing you’ll notice in Star Overdeive is you that you have tank controls, you’re locked into a strafing motion and use the camera to turn. That wouldn’t be a problem, except there are dungeons that require precision jumping, and platforming just sucks. Second, the combat is atrocious. It’s not fun, its not exciting. It’s boring and frustrating, in part because there’s no lock on. Third, there is a story, you’re this silent dude who crash lands on a planet and has to save his girlfriend, except Breath of the Wild this is not. There’s no instant connection, no enticing world to explore. The overworld is kinda barren and just not interesting. Mad Max the game had a better overworld and that was all desert.
In the end, Star Overdrive is a bait and switch. Bait you with the hoverboard, and switch it out for a bad imitation of Breath of the Wild. I don’t care if the game turns into the best thing ever. The game leaves a nasty first impression, and I’m not continuing. Sorry. Star Overdrive gets a Not Recommended with a four back-end score.
Overall: Star Overdrive is a bait and switch. The hoverboard is not the meat of the game, which is completely rotten.
Verdict: Not Recommended
| Release Date | 4/10/25 |
| Cost | $34.99 |
| Publisher | Plug in Digital |
| ESRB Rating | E10+ |
P.S. When you make a game worse than what Midnight Works did, you have a problem.
Game received for free from the publisher!
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