Review: Gripper - Slick, Akira-Style Biking Action With An Equal Measure Of Frustration

The music's good, though.

Heart Core’s Gripper has a lot to like at first glance. Motorcycle slides inspired by the classic anime, Akira? Yes, please. Starring a stylish half-cybernetic young man named None? Weird name, but cool. A slick art style and a heavy synthwave soundtrack? You’re speaking our language.

The opening cinematic introduces an intriguing setup. Returning to find his home world destroyed, None finds out that a disembodied robot head – reminiscent of Andross in the original Star Fox – called Zero is responsible. Zero isn’t very nice and beats None to a pulp. His old robotic feline pal, Cat-Kit, pieces him back together with a twist: to live, he must remain connected to his motorcycle to keep his new half-cybernetic body charged. Cat-Kit then reveals he also must rip out the hearts of four Guardian robots to save his world and defeat Zero.

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