For all its screaming electric guitars and raucous drums, "Hi-Fi Rush" is surprisingly subdued. Smashing killer robots to the beat of licensed rock tracks by artists like Nine Inch Nails, The Black Keys, and The Prodigy is exciting at best. It's like going for a run and syncing every step to the album you're jamming to. It's like playing "Devil May Cry," but every drum hit in "Bury the Light" (open in new tab) is a chance to keep the combo going. But after a killer opening establishes the hook, Hi-Fi Rush's high energy begins to wane.

Hi-Fi Rush has a bright, cel-shaded world and top-heavy killer robots with a goofy aesthetic that would look great on a blurry TV screen in the background of an episode of "NCIS." This simple aesthetic is enhanced by the music combined with a small animation style. Trees, lampposts, and pipes bounce to the soundtrack, and the main character, Chai, is constantly snapping his fingers, each time creating a small comic spark.

The story takes place at Vandelay Technologies, an evil corporation that has accidentally replaced Chai's heart with a Walkman. At first, the company manufactured robotic limbs for people in need, but then changed direction to selling helpful robots that become an army with a software update. The man at the top, Kale Vandelay, has a plan to use the implants for mind control, just like a cartoon villain.

In "Hi-Fi Rush," everything works with classic cartoon logic. Chai casually unwinds after being punched through a wall, and in one scene he turns to the camera in shock just before plummeting down a chute like a Looney Tunes character. He is not bright, but neither are many of the characters in Hi-Fi Rush. At times, Chai sounds frighteningly close to Joss Whedon's character. There is no doubt that he did the "Well that just happened." in the first hour.

Chai's ineptitude is the point, and the game quickly bounces back, pairing him with a crew of more interesting and engaging characters. Peppermint and her cute robot cat 808 team up with Chai to take on the CEO of Vandelay. Eventually, they meet Macaron, a pacifist robot psychoanalyst with a metal sidekick named CNMN (pronounced like cinnamon). And, I won't spoil it, but there is also a fourth character who is fun to be with, even if you don't understand his accent at all.

All of these characters (except CNMN) are available as summonses during beat-based combat. Chai has both heavy and light attacks, and can combo to the tune and finish with a finisher. At any time (or as a finisher) it can draw a teammate to help. Peppermints are needed to blast enemies with guns and punch through their shields. Macaroons can shatter armor, and the last character you get can put out pockets of fire in the arena.

As you progress and defeat bosses that test your parry timing and sometimes become a literal rhythm game, you can purchase additional moves and passive bonuses. Toward the end of the game, I was able to grapple toward a robot, launch it into the air, and call Peppermint to fire a huge laser beam. Enemies just attack on the beat, with lines and circles drawn on the ground that can be easily dodged or parried to inflict damage. Some attacks could only be dodged, but if you parried when the timing of the song was just right, you were almost always safe.

I don't know if it was because I spent most of my upgrades on lowering the cooldown of the summons, or because I played on Normal difficulty, but Hi-Fi Rush eventually stopped being a rhythm game halfway through. The game started using original songs, but they all had similar tempos and were not particularly memorable, and the battles lost some of their intensity. Suddenly I found myself playing a character-action game that cycles through summons in each battle, performing simple combos until the score screen comes up. Aside from a few gimmicky boss mechanics, there is little that "Hi-Fi Rush" pushes back with button mashing. Nor is there any obvious music or challenging tempo changes, so everything is in harmony.

The only music that matters is in the sections between each battle arena. Lava geysers and other environmental hazards make up the platform sections. Before the next beat comes, you must time your jumps and quickly call your teammates to break through shields and doors. At times, the camera locks up and the game becomes a side-scroller. Getting through these parts without dying or losing your rhythm is like clearing a Mario level with pure reflexes. The songs guide you through the obstacles. You hardly have to look at the screen.

The exploration section is where the mid-2000s vibe starts to feel a bit like a curse. There are crates to break, collectibles to find, text logs to read, and hidden strength and ulti meter power-ups on each level, all of which only slow the game down. After only a few hours, I had had enough of whatever Hi-Fi Rush threw at me and the limited number of texts I could read about robotic labor abuse and incompetent bosses. Nostalgia for this era of gaming (if I ever had any) can never make up for the hours I spend dashing past a bunch of stuff I don't need.

The attention to the game's margins that "Hi-Fi Rush" mimics is impressive in its specificity, but makes one wonder if it would have retained its retro vibe without it. It's hard to match the energy of the game's first few hours with a lackluster lead, more interesting secondary characters, and just a handful of solid licensed rock songs. Another version of the game might have swapped the chai for peppermint and filled the track list with sharper rock and punk hits that match the anti-capitalist message the game is going for, but it would have failed to grab me by the end.

As a surprise from a developer known for horror games, "Hi-Fi Rush" is a promising concept. A sequel with a similar level design, more polished combat, and more songs included could be just the game I was hoping for in Hi-Fi Rush. As an average action game with a handful of great moments that relies heavily on a rhythm-based structure, it's not worth choosing from the other great choices in the genre.

"Hi-Fi Rush" is like listening to a song from your teenage years all over again; Sugar, We're Going Down is still incredibly hard, but Fall Out Boy's latest song (open in new tab) is a nod to their roots and a new incorporating production and compositions that are modern enough to sound like something new. Hi-Fi Rush's set list is too limited to fully embrace the music of their chosen era, and too dated to resonate with what's hot right now. It is stuck, unable to fully commit to its own pitch and capture the moment. It is a strong invitation to a more cohesive game, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will come someday.