As I start writing this piece, I see before me the Aegean Sea, where earlier today my swimming shadow dispersed the sun’s reflection on the sandy surface below me. During that moment of tranquillity, I was reminded of how the games currently in my rotation, Denshattack! and Sonic Mania, perfectly capture and complement the summer’s spirit.

Of course, there are plenty of games that befit the summer. Out Run’s Tropicana pizzazz, Windjammers’ beach-court intensity, or Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana’s desert-island antics come to mind. Other titles, like Boku no Natsuyasami or its spiritual successor Natsu-Mon, are explicitly summer. Built around memories of days spent romping around the countryside during warm school holidays, these series offer a virtual nostos, a bittersweet escape from our dog-eat-dog working life. In their vibrant blues, lush greens, or low-stakes nature of the tasks they require the player to perform, these titles elicit the carefree nature of vacationing.

While Sonic Mania and Denshattack! share similar vivid colour palettes, it is their adventurous gameplay loops that bring out the sun. In their combination of speed and parkour, they feel like a roller coaster ride. Whether you take the form of a hedgehog or a Japanese train, they have you embark on a topsy-turvy steeplechase across various exotic locations; fan-favourite levels from prior Sonic outings and Nippon landmarks respectively.

Similarities between the two run deeper, however. Without necessarily sacrificing its own sense of identity, Denshattack! carries within it Sega’s DNA. Most evidently, Denshattack!’s cel-shaded Y2K, Shibuya Punk aesthetics and combo-based navigation have drawn direct comparisons to Sega’s cult hit Jet Set Radio. Although the former’s trick system more closely resembles the Tony Hawk or SSX franchises, Denshattack!, like Jet Set Radio, is a fast-paced, score-attack platformer set in a futuristic, dystopian, yet surprisingly colourful, Japan, where movement pushes dimensional boundaries. Even when limited to the vertical and horizontal axes, it was this maximalist embrace of speed and space that set Sonic apart from its contemporaries upon its 1991 debut. While Barcelona-based developer Undercoders might display Sega’s Dreamcast-era bravura artistry-wise, Denshattack!’s mechanical roots can be traced back to the latter company’s historical beginnings. Not only in Sonic’s sprawling levels, but even earlier, in the aforementioned Out Run’s branching checkpoints.

If summer holidays are about having adventurous, adrenaline-pumping fun with little to no limitations in movement, few titles on offer do so as abundantly in creativity and whimsy as these two. And while the emerald water currently has my Nintendo Switch beat, I sure like the idea that these titles are waiting for me when I return tired to my hotel room. Luckily, even at the beach, their head-bumping soundtrack can be enjoyed on less fragile devices.