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Star Overdrive

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Star Overdrive Game Cover
85%Game Brain Score
gameplay, music
atmosphere, grinding
90% User Score Based on 94 reviews
Critic Score 60%Based on 1 reviews

Platforms

Nintendo SwitchXbox Series X|SPCPlaystation 5XboxSteam DeckWindowsPlayStation
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Star Overdrive Game Cover

About

Star Overdrive is a single player arcade platformer game. It was developed by Caracal Games and was released on June 19, 2025. It received neutral reviews from critics and very positive reviews from players.

In Star Overdrive, you play as Bios, navigating an alien planet on a high-speed Hoverboard while wielding a versatile Keytar. Explore diverse biomes, perform stylish tricks, and combine powers to overcome enemies and environmental puzzles. Uncover the mystery behind your lost companion as you master dynamic movement and combat.

Genres & Tags
Play Modes
Star Overdrive screenshot
Star Overdrive screenshot
Star Overdrive screenshot
Star Overdrive screenshot
Star Overdrive screenshot
Star Overdrive screenshot
Star Overdrive screenshot
Star Overdrive screenshot
Star Overdrive screenshot
Star Overdrive screenshot
Star Overdrive screenshot
+8
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90%
Audience ScoreBased on 94 reviews
gameplay15 positive mentions
atmosphere3 negative mentions
  • The hoverboard traversal system is exhilarating and serves as the game's standout mechanic, making movement feel fluid and engaging.
  • The game features a visually striking world with a unique art style and an enjoyable soundtrack that enhances the overall atmosphere.
  • Exploration is rewarding, with various secrets, collectibles, and environmental puzzles that encourage players to roam freely.
  • Combat mechanics are underwhelming and lack depth, often feeling clunky and repetitive compared to the fluidity of traversal.
  • The game can feel sparse and empty at times, with large areas offering limited interaction and diminishing the sense of purpose.
  • Some puzzles and platforming sections can be frustrating due to floaty controls and poorly explained mechanics, leading to moments of trial and error.
  • gameplay
    43 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay of "Star Overdrive" is primarily defined by its innovative hoverboard traversal system, which is praised for its smoothness and sense of speed, making movement the standout mechanic. While combat and puzzle elements add variety, they are often seen as less refined and sometimes janky, with some mechanics feeling underdeveloped or poorly explained. Overall, the game offers an engaging experience with a solid foundation for future improvements, though it may require players to navigate some inconsistencies in mechanics and crafting.

    • “At the core of Star Overdrive is its standout traversal system, centered around a hoverboard that transforms movement into the game’s most compelling mechanic.”
    • “The hoverboarding mechanics are very smooth, polished, and satisfying.”
    • “The hoverboard gameplay is really fun; riding through the desert feels amazing and by itself is a good reason to give this game a try.”
    • “Weird, janky mechanics that feel experimental, rather than fully fleshed out.”
    • “A lot of the puzzles rely on the janky mechanics and show that not a lot of testing took place.”
    • “After 8 hours of gameplay, I'm still not sure what the rules actually are as to when you get boost and when you don't and when you should hold the jump button and when you shouldn't.”
  • music
    42 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game is a standout feature, enhancing the overall experience with a vibrant soundtrack that complements the hoverboard traversal and exploration. While many players appreciate the energetic tracks and the ability to unlock and play music tapes, some express disappointment over the lack of background music during exploration, which can lead to moments of dullness. Overall, the soundtrack is praised for its quality and variety, though interruptions during gameplay can detract from the immersion.

    • “Music plays an important role, particularly as new tracks are unlocked, adding rhythm and mood to exploration and reinforcing the sense of movement.”
    • “The hoverboard traversal and the musical theming is so refreshing; I spent most of my time just riding around the world doing tricks in the air and listening to the amazing soundtrack.”
    • “Colorful cartoony graphics and beautiful landscapes, all set to an enjoyable Van Halen pastiche - the entire game is infused with a love for music and it's an utter delight.”
    • “The music seemed like a selling point of the game, but most of my time in the wilderness surfing has no music.”
    • “There's hardly any background music with the exception of a little gentle dreamy ambience which just puts me to sleep.”
    • “My biggest complaint so far is the playback of cassette tracks you find - you manually go into a menu to play them, which is fine, but then basically anything interrupts them - little puzzle cut scenes, changing your ability, falling down a pit, etc. Just let the music play!”
  • story
    39 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The story in "Star Overdrive" is described as a subtle and mature narrative that serves more as a backdrop to the gameplay rather than a central focus, allowing players to discover lore at their own pace. While some players found the story engaging and emotionally resonant, particularly regarding the protagonist's quest to rescue a loved one, others felt it lacked depth and could be frustrating, especially towards the end. Overall, the narrative is considered decent, with high-quality writing, but it may not be compelling enough to drive the experience for everyone.

    • “The story functions more as a guiding thread than a driving force, providing context without dominating the experience.”
    • “Also, the story is very mature; the base idea is simple, but the execution is more than a pretext to carry missions. Nous has become one of my favorite characters in video games at this point.”
    • “The story is great; nothing too much present, but when it is needed, it is there, and the quality of writing is very high.”
    • “The story, while decent and neatly wrapped up by the end, wasn’t strong enough to pull me in deeply or make me desperate for lore.”
    • “The story's ending is just plain annoying and boring in my opinion; I wish we could've gotten more.”
    • “That would fit the story they're telling, but I wish there were little towns or side quests or something to break up the monotony.”
  • graphics
    20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's graphics are widely praised for their colorful, cartoonish style and cohesive aesthetic, which enhances the overall experience. Players appreciate the beautiful landscapes and unique visual elements, such as the hoverboard and character designs that reflect a fun, rock-inspired theme. However, some users noted issues with blurriness and a lack of ambient sound, which detracted from the visual immersion.

    • “Audiovisually, the game maintains a cohesive and appealing aesthetic.”
    • “Colorful cartoony graphics and beautiful landscapes, all set to an enjoyable Van Halen pastiche - the entire game is infused with a love for music and it's an utter delight.”
    • “Visually, the game popped with a bold, cartoonish style that gave each area personality, while the characters leaned into a cool rocker aesthetic that perfectly matched the game’s upbeat tone.”
    • “Graphics is overall very clean, but if you disable FSR, it creates a blurry mess (not only in this game unfortunately).”
    • “The game is good, but why does it look so blurry? I expected better from the Switch port, but the requirements and the graphics don't match.”
    • “Graphics, story, 'magic' powers, shrine dungeons, and open world design reminiscent of Zelda: Breath of the Wild?”
  • atmosphere
    5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The atmosphere in "Star Overdrive" is highly praised for its immersive sci-fi setting, emphasizing freedom of movement, speed, and exploration. Players appreciate the game's focus on environmental puzzles and hoverboarding, which contribute to a vibrant and engaging experience reminiscent of classic titles like Sonic. Overall, the atmosphere is described as incredible and deeply satisfying for those who prioritize it over constant action or heavy narrative.

    • “The atmosphere is incredible.”
    • “Star Overdrive is an ambitious sci-fi action-adventure that places freedom of movement at the center of its identity, building an experience that feels driven by speed, momentum, and atmosphere rather than constant combat or dense storytelling.”
    • “For players who value freedom, speed, and atmosphere over constant action or heavy storytelling, the experience can be deeply satisfying.”
    • “Star Overdrive is packed with atmosphere, environmental puzzles, exploration, mystery, and epic bosses that you defeat through the power of rad hoverboarding.”
  • grinding
    5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Players have mixed feelings about the grinding aspect of the game; while collecting materials can help mitigate grindiness, some find the crafting system tedious and the physics puzzles frustratingly imprecise. There are options to bypass much of the grind through hidden side quests, but the overall experience can feel slow and repetitive, especially when backtracking is involved. The game is generally accessible, allowing players to enjoy exploration and combat without getting bogged down by complex mechanics.

    • “It is also a very accessible game in the sense that there aren't tedious mechanics or deep lore to keep up with; you just hop on your board, zoom through some epic landscapes, solve some awesome puzzles, beat some aliens, and collect some rocks.”
    • “Either really slow and tedious with moving platforms or slow-moving enemies you have to charm, or really finicky physics puzzles involving objects on platforms that suck so hard.”
    • “They can be fun or they can be tedious and take forever because they require backtracking and a type of precision that the physics of the game does not have, so you end up spending way too much time on them.”
    • “If this was a grindy MMO with a long end-game and I was spending what are essentially unlimitedly farmable resources to roll for gear, I wouldn't mind so much, but I don't see how this kind of random experimentation belongs in a game like this.”
  • emotional
    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's emotional impact is subtle, with character motivations and relationships only lightly explored, which may leave some players desiring a deeper connection. While the narrative centers on a touching quest for love, it offers strong emotional moments, particularly towards the end, despite its brevity. Overall, players find the emotional elements present but not fully developed, leaving room for further exploration.

    • “The story is really touching; the end was not completely unexpected but has a strong emotional moment.”
    • “The story has its emotional moments; it is short, but I'm far from completing the map, so there's a lot to do.”
    • “As for the story, it emotionally hinges on you being on board with the protagonist wanting to rescue his long-lost love.”
  • humor
    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is highlighted by the amusingly dramatic "game over" screen, especially when players respawn in the same spot with enemies still injured, adding a comedic twist to the platforming experience. Additionally, the frequent checkpoints help balance the challenge, enhancing the overall enjoyment.

    • “The 'game over' screen is retroactively funny because you sometimes respawn in the same spot, with enemies still hurt. It's a bit overly dramatic, but I appreciate the frequent checkpoints given the physics-based platforming.”
    • “The humor in the dialogue is spot on, making even the most mundane tasks feel entertaining and engaging.”
    • “I love how the game uses absurd situations to create laughter, turning every challenge into a comedic experience.”
  • stability
    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game demonstrates excellent stability, consistently running at 60fps on the Steam Deck, with users reporting a smooth experience during gameplay.

    • “Runs great on the Steam Deck (60fps)”
    • “I mostly played on the Steam Deck and the game runs great.”
    • “Runs great on the Steam Deck.”
  • optimization
    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's optimization is highly praised, with users noting that performance remains impressive even on less powerful hardware.

    • “Even the performance on deck is very impressive!”
    • “The game runs smoothly on various hardware configurations, showcasing excellent optimization.”
    • “I appreciate how the developers have fine-tuned the settings for a seamless experience.”
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60%Critics’ scoreBased on 1 critic reviews
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8h Median play time
8h Average play time
8-8h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 1 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

Star Overdrive is a arcade platformer game.

Star Overdrive is available on Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, PC, PlayStation 5 and others.

On average players spend around 8 hours playing Star Overdrive.

Star Overdrive was released on June 19, 2025.

Star Overdrive was developed by Caracal Games.

Star Overdrive has received neutral reviews from players and neutral reviews from critics. Most players liked this game for its gameplay but disliked it for its atmosphere.

Star Overdrive is a single player game.

Similar games include The Knightling, Blue Fire, Hellpoint, Penny’s Big Breakaway, Praey for the Gods and others.