Jet Set Radio-inspired indie freebie plays best on Xbox thanks to Game Pass

One of the latest additions to Xbox Game Pass this week is a must-play joyride through dystopian Japan.

Xbox Game Pass isn’t a perfect subscription service by any means, but compared to the likes of Nintendo Switch Online and PlayStation Plus it’s definitely the best value for money.

The most-expensive tier, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, gives you access to hundreds of games at no additional cost. From first-party titles like the upcoming Halo: Campaign Evolved to the latest, greatest indies, such as Denshattack.

Denshattack joined Xbox Game Pass Ultimate on July 16 and will take players through a whistlestop tour of Japan. It’s vibrant, bombastic, colourful and most importantly heaps of fun.

Any retro fans with an admiration for the SEGA classic Jet Set Radio are going to have a blast with this one, as would anyone who’s fond of skateboarding games like Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series or Skate 3.

The game’s premise is simple. You play as the Emi who’s fighting to resist a corrupt megacorporation hellbent on making Japan’s citizens conform to their rules.

You’ll race across the country in your customisable train, hitting ollies, flips, spins and plenty of other tricks as you weave in and out of danger.

You can drift around bends for speed boosts, jump over obstacles blocking the track and even hop onto different tracks should they provide safe-passage to your destination.

There’s a bit of a learning curve at first, but once you get used to the rhythm you’ll quickly find yourself wanting to repeat levels for a perfect run.

It’s oozing with style and flair, and we can honestly say we’ve not played a game like it for quite some time. It’d be the perfect way to close out your week if the stresses of life have been getting you down.

Denshattack is available on all platforms, but feels right at home on Xbox Game Pass

In case you’ve been living under a rock for the past few weeks there’s been a startling amount of controversy wreaking havoc throughout the game industry.

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PlayStation and Rockstar Games have both come under fire for separate reasons, the former for killing physical media, and the latter for locking in-game content behind paywalls.

However, both companies came under fire simultaneously when it was revealed GTA VI allegedly “plays best” on PlayStation 5, even though the game is set to be capped at 30fps even on the PlayStation 5 Pro.

Denshattack launched on PlayStation 5 the same day it did on Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC, and while it probably does run better on Sony’s console a worrying majority of consumers don’t want anything to do with the company right now.

Of course the game is also benefiting from its inclusion on Xbox Game Pass. The subscription service’s superpower if you will has always been encouraging users to try games they otherwise wouldn’t.

Denshattack is yet another stellar addition to Xbox Game Pass, but we’d obviously encourage you to play it on whatever platform you feel comfortable with.

2026 has been a fantastic year for indie games up to now and we’re excited to see which ones are nominated for the Game Awards in December.