Skybolt Zack is what happens when Sonic riffs on Guitar Hero

It's EGX 2019 weekend! Over the next few days we'll be bringing you quickfire impressions of some of the highlights from the show floor here at London's ExCel centre. You'll find them all here - and if there's anything out there you want to bring to our attention let us know!

Unpick the notes of a Guitar Hero game and drape them across a side-scrolling platformer - that's Skybolt Zack in a nutshell. Colour-coded chords become bullets to deflect with your fists, frets become doors to pummel through. There's a touch of Sonic to the rhythm of it all, the need to keep going fast. And it is fast - each level a crescendo of button mashing until the colour-based combat becomes a blur.

Mechanics are introduced in quick succession: new ways to keep up your combat chain. Enemies dangle in the air like a string of gaudy Christmas lights for you to zip towards and thump in a satisfyingly staccato snap, longer distances can be bridged via a tap of a shoulder button, while holding down a button for slightly longer locks you onto an enemy through walls.

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