Sayonara Wild Hearts

What to Know

Critics Recommend

Average Score

Total Reviews: 47

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Sayonara Wild Hears is half music album, half video game. The experience is unique, albeit quick, and the catchy pop score and variety of levels will give you a decent challenge.

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Critics Recommend

Critic Reviews: 47

Critics Consensus

# Reviews: 47

Sayonara Wild Hears is half music album, half video game. The experience is unique, albeit quick, and the catchy pop score and variety of levels will give you a decent challenge.

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Critic Reviews for Sayonara Wild Hearts

Reviews

High Score - 100/100

Low Score - 60/100

Gold TIER

30% of scored reviews fell within the range of 86 to 92 / 100

Jenna Stoeber (Polygon)

Recommended

“Sayonara Wild Hearts feels like the perfect game to relax to just before going to bed, with hopes of washing my dreams with the pink-purple colors of a neon sunset, surrounded by beautiful people who fight as if they’re falling in love.”

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Jeff Cork (Game Informer)

7/10

“Sayonara Wild Hearts crackles with style, but is an ultimately inconsequential ride”

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Paul Tamayo (Kotaku)

Recommended

“It’s undeniably cool, and if it’s not your thing, then Sayonara Wild Hearts is like, whatever. It wants to take whoever does love it and ride off into the neon sunset with them.”

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Read the Reviews (47 total)

Outlet	Author	Score	Date	Quote	Read
CGMagazine	Kenneth Shepard	6 / 10	09-24-2019	Sayonara Wild Hearts’ is gorgeous and packs an incredible pop soundtrack, but the actual levels the music accompanies never feels as natural as its audiovisual splendor.	Read review
COGconnected	James Paley	92 / 100	09-29-2019	Aside from its length, Sayonara Wild Hearts is basically a perfect rhythm game.	Read review
Daily Star	Jordan Oloman	5 / 5 stars	10-13-2019	Don’t sleep on this one, it’s a trip.	Read review
Destructoid	CJ Andriessen	8 / 10	09-23-2019	Sayonara Wild Hearts is what you’d get if Robyn ran the Grid from Tron. A stunning collection of music, action, heart, and radiant setpieces, it’s easily one of the most inventive and unpredictable games of 2019. And it could have been one of the best too if only the developers had made the decision to present this album as a whole upfront rather than take players through it track by track.	Read review
Digital Chumps	Nathaniel Stevens	10 / 10	05-10-2019	Sayonara Wild Hearts is a perfect experience. It may not last long, but it will certainly draw you in with its story, keep you there with its variety of gameplay, and then bring the entire experience together with its amazing visuals and music.	Read review
Digitally Downloaded	Harvard L.	5 / 5 stars	09-27-2019	Sayonara Wild Hearts is the kind of game which opens my eyes to new possibilities that games can provide, and I’m desperately awaiting this style of design to properly take off.	Read review
DualShockers	Chris Compendio	9.5 / 10	09-23-2019	Short, sweet, and simple, Sayonara Wild Hearts is a package of positivity, with music and visuals that will sure to win anyone over.	Read review
Eurogamer	Christian Donlan	Recommended	09-17-2019	Maybe this is perfume, following the shape of the breeze. From top-note to drydown, vividly here and then vividly gone.	Read review
Everyeye.it	Marco Mottura	7 / 10	09-28-2019	Sayonara Wild Hearts will certainly mesmerize you with a stunning audiovisual trip that will take your breath away, but at the same time it can also be a limited experience in terms of gameplay and interaction. It might not even be a proper video game, but instead a glorified music visualizer built around an obscure and fascinating representation of love. It’s all very pleasing and undoubtedly worth celebrating, yet not so easy to universally recommend at 20 literally cents per minute.	Read review
FNintendo	André Pereira	9 / 10	10-02-2019	Sayonara Wild Hearts is a hallucinating journey through a short but intense game world that plunges the player into a neon cyberpunk aesthetic coupled with a fantastic soundtrack and delivers an effort that would be close to perfection would it not come to an end just when the experience feels like it’s reaching its climax.	Read review
Game Informer	Jeff Cork	7 / 10	09-19-2019	Sayonara Wild Hearts crackles with style, but is an ultimately inconsequential ride	Read review
Game Revolution	Camden Jones	4.5 / 5 stars	09-17-2019	Sayonara Wild Hearts is a fleeting game, yet, like the best records, is worth flipping over, restarting, and putting on repeat once it wraps up its last track.	Read review
Gameblog	Thomas Pillon	8 / 10	09-18-2019	Sayonara Wild Hearts is much more than the rhythm game it looks like : it is a whrilwind of visuals and sounds, where electro-pop music depicts a wild chase, sets in a neon-looking city. As short as it is intense, this experience is like no other, and find its inspiration in many genres. Like a good LP, it will plays over and over, until you know it by heart.	Read review
GameCrate	Nicholas Scibetta	7.5 / 10	10-04-2019	Wild Hearts is a game with a ton of charm, but it left me wanting more. It feels like it could have made the leap from good to great with some relatively minor additions and tweaks.	Read review
GameMAG	Unknown	9 / 10	12-14-2019	Sayonara Wild Hearts is an interactive art product that combining game elements and a digital representation of the future. The small length of the gameplay is compensated by incredible dynamics and vivid emotions that you experience during the walkthrough. And this is a great achievement in the world of soulless clones, social projects and serious dramas.	Read review
Gamerheadquarters	Jason Stettner	9 / 10	10-02-2019	Sayonara Wild Hearts is a simply stunning and lovely experience, with heart pulsing music driving the action.	Read review
GameSkinny	Mark Delaney	10 / 10	02-26-2020	In its one-hour runtime, Sayonara Wild Hearts transcends video games and becomes not just a playable pop album, but a hypnotic self-help soundtrack. It’s an endorphin factory.	Read review
GameSpew	Kim Snaith	8 / 10	09-20-2019	The true beauty of Sayonara Wild Hearts is simply enjoying the exceptional music and getting lost in the visuals. Mistaking this for a simple rhythm game is to do it a disservice. It may be less than that in terms of gameplay, but it’s a hell of a lot more in terms of audiovisual accomplishment.	Read review
GameSpot	Kallie Plagge	6 / 10	10-04-2019	Sayonara Wild Hearts has moments of brilliance, but too often, movement and timing issues disrupt its enchanting aesthetic.	Read review
GamingTrend	Nathan Anstadt	85 / 100	09-24-2019	Sayonara is an experience first and game second, so it is not one that should be played if you are only interested in the high scores, but if you take the game as a whole, then it can be deeply rewarding.	Read review
God is a Geek	Chris White	8 / 10	09-17-2019	Sayonara Wild Hearts isn’t particularly long, but the catchy pop score and variety of levels give you a decent challenge.	Read review
GotGame	David Poole	9.5 / 10	01-01-2020	Don’t let the short length of the game fool you, Sayonara Wild Hearts is a genuine, heart-filled blast. The music has the potential to send you through waves of bliss and make your spirit soar.	Read review
Hardcore Gamer	Kyle LeClair	4.5 / 5 stars	09-24-2019	Let it be known that one needs to really play Sayonora Wild Hearts in order to truly experience it.	Read review
Hey Poor Player	Heather Johnson	4.5 / 5 stars	07-31-2020	An instant mood-booster with a lot of love to give, Sayonara Wild Hearts is absolutely anyone’s game. Music fans, retro gaming fans, gamers young and old, casual and hardcore, or those simply looking for something new will find at least one level that blows their mind, walking away from the experience impressed and uplifted.	Read review
IGN	Kyle Hilliard	7.9 / 10	09-17-2019	Sayonara Wild Hearts’ music and art combine for a stirring, unique experience.	Read review
IGN Spain	Unknown	8.3 / 10	09-26-2019	Sayonara Wild Hearts is a wonderful half music album half video game, which leaves us wanting much more thanks to its great approach and execution. If you like video games, give it a chance.	Read review
IND13	Rahul Shirke	4 / 5 stars	01-04-2020	It’s hard not to recommend Sayonara Wild Hearts, simply because it works so well as both an album and a video game. Step aside music videos, we’re doing music video games now.	Read review
Kotaku	Paul Tamayo	Recommended	09-18-2019	It’s undeniably cool, and if it’s not your thing, then Sayonara Wild Hearts is like, whatever. It wants to take whoever does love it and ride off into the neon sunset with them.	Read review
Luis Alamilla	Luis Alamilla	10 / 10	09-18-2019	Sayonara Wild Hearts is a true masterpiece. From the moment I started my play-through, I couldn’t stop playing and by the end of it, I was eager to jump back in. Its music is hypnotizing and in conjunctions with the stylish visuals and clever gameplay integration, I already new I was hooked from the start. Sayonara Wild Hearts is a game that shouldn’t be missed, it grips you instantly until the moment it’s time to just say, Sayonara Wild Heart.	Read review
New Game Network	Josh Hinke	85 / 100	09-26-2019	Sayonara Wild Hearts is a joy to play. It’s a visual thrill ride and the music will have you bopping in place while you zip through the levels. The scope might be small, but the action is big and ridiculous. And while the story isn’t its strongest aspect, the themes of heartbreak, anger, and forgiveness give the game an emotional center.	Read review
Nintendo Life	Chris Scullion	9 / 10	09-18-2019	Sayonara Wild Hearts is the video game equivalent of Prince: it’s extremely short and its journey maybe ends a little sooner than you’d hoped, but it packs so many varied and beautiful ideas into its brief life and masters so many different styles that even though there’s a real disappointment it’s over so quickly, what it did give you will remain with you for an extremely long time. A true creative masterpiece.	Read review
NintendoWorldReport	Neal Ronaghan	9 / 10	09-17-2019	It’s the absurdity and wonder of some Eurovision performances made playable. Like a good record from a band I like, I’ll spin this game often. That makes the secrets beneath the surface more appealing as Sayonara Wild Hearts might be one of my favorite music albums of the year in addition to being a killer video game experience.	Read review
Noisy Pixel	Brad Crespo	9 / 10	09-25-2019	While the journey is a little short, with its unique premise and gameplay, and unbelievable soundtrack and visuals, Sayonara Wild Hearts is the best and most unique endless runner I’ve ever played. It’s a beautiful work of art that needs not only to be played but also listened to and remembered for years.	Read review
PCGamesN	Jacob Ridley	9 / 10	02-13-2020	Sayonara Wild Hearts is a shot of pure positivity to the heart, delivered with excellence, fun, and finesse through a staggeringly bold and bop-worthy soundtrack.Jacob Ridley	Read review
PlayStation LifeStyle	Chandler Wood	9.5 / 10	09-25-2019	Sayonara Wild Hearts is a unique blend of music, visuals, and interactivity, allowing players to experience a stunning concept album in a way that connects them with the music and themes on a deeper level. Each player will derive their own meaning from the music, visuals, and gameplay, latching onto certain elements that resonate with them most. Like any great album, I’ve returned to Sayonara Wild Hearts on multiple occasions, either to play the game in full, challenge myself on a few select tracks, or even just listen to the soundtrack on Spotify. It’s an experience unlike many others; magical, memorable, and full of heart.	Read review
PlayStation Universe	John-Paul Jones	9 / 10	09-23-2019	A beautifully made score chaser which has that rarest of things	Read review
Polygon	Jenna Stoeber	Recommended	09-23-2019	Sayonara Wild Hearts feels like the perfect game to relax to just before going to bed, with hopes of washing my dreams with the pink-purple colors of a neon sunset, surrounded by beautiful people who fight as if they’re falling in love.	Read review
Push Square	Graham Banas	7 / 10	09-26-2019	Despite its short length, this is still very much a trip worth taking.	Read review
Rock, Paper, Shotgun	Alice Bell	Recommended	01-09-2020	I think Sayonara Wild Hearts reminded me of all the cool things I’ve liked over the years, because it’s not saying anything deeper than “Cool things are great, and being cool is great too.” Which is fine. It’s all said in this incredibly alluring wash of pink and blue and purple, this brief flowerbloom of a game, this stylish, inescapably cool thing that references Tarot without, you know, trying too hard about it.	Read review
SpazioGames	Francesco Corica	8.1 / 10	10-21-2019	Sayonara Wild Hearts is really difficult to describe: it’s an unique audiovisive experience and we believe that any fan of pop culture should try it out.	Read review
TechRaptor	Nick Maillet	9.5 / 10	12-23-2019	Sayonara Wild Hearts is easily Apple Arcade’s first “killer app” and a must play if you’re a subscriber, interested in music games, or just want to try something new. The synergy between the visuals, gameplay, and music raises the bar for the genre.	Read review
TheSixthAxis	Dominic Leighton	10 / 10	09-17-2019	Truly incredible, Sayonara Wild Hearts is a pop-culture gem that celebrates music and games in a passionately individual way. There has never been anything else quite like it, and if you have even a passing interest in gaming’s inherent value you need to play it. And then play it again.	Read review
USgamer	Nadia Oxford	4 / 5 stars	09-17-2019	Sayonara Wild Hearts is a quick but intense ride through a landscape that’s been made dangerous and jagged by broken hearts and pop music. Its unusual style makes the road hard to see from time to time, but people who love Simogo’s games will love riding with The Fool.	Read review
Video Chums	A.J. Maciejewski	8.4 / 10	02-29-2020	Even with its shortcomings, Sayonara Wild Hearts is an absolutely mind-blowing experience that gamers of all types must play.	Read review
VideoGamer	Colm Ahern	9 / 10	09-18-2019	Everything works in concert in Sayonara Wild Hearts. It’s sublime.	Read review
We Got This Covered	Eric Hall	4.5 / 5 stars	09-27-2019	Visually marvelous and musically infectious, Sayonara Wild Hearts is a unique experience unlike almost anything else out there. It may not be for everyone, but for a certain audience, it’s going to be dynamite.	Read review

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Game Info

Game Description / Storyline:

Sayonara Wild Hearts is a euphoric music video dream about being awesome, riding motorcycles, skateboarding, dance battling, shooting lasers, wielding swords, and breaking hearts at 200 mph. As the heart of a young woman breaks, the balance of the universe is disturbed. A diamond butterfly appears in her dreams and leads her through a highway in the sky, where she finds her other self: the masked biker called The Fool.

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Sayonara Wild Hearts

What to Know

Critics Consensus

Where to Play

Critic Reviews for Sayonara Wild Hearts

Gold TIER

Game Info

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