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ARCADE
Tanuki Sunset Classic Review: A Raccoon on a Longboard Just Saved Arcade Games From Themselves
I've played approximately 4,000 endless runners that thought slapping a retro filter on generic gameplay was enough. Then a skateboarding raccoon showed up and actually nailed the vaporwave aesthetic while making me care about drift combos again.
Paul
January 30, 2026
7.6
Overall Score
"Tanuki Sunset Classic is what happens when developers actually understand the assignment."
First Impressions (Or: When Furries Meet Tony Hawk)
Look, when I saw the thumbnail of a raccoon in sunglasses on a longboard, I fully expected this to be another ironic meme game that mistakes aesthetic for substance. I've been hurt before. The indie scene is absolutely drowning in games that think slapping a synthwave filter over mediocre mechanics is a personality. But Tanuki Sunset Classic surprised me within the first 30 seconds, and I hate being surprised because it means I have to revise my cynical worldview. The game opens with you as this cool-as-hell tanuki cruising down a procedurally generated coastal highway at sunset, and it just works. The controls feel immediately responsive—drifting is satisfying, the speed feels dangerous without being unfair, and the whole vaporwave aesthetic isn't just window dressing. It's the entire point, and Rewind Games actually committed to it. I found myself doing one more run, then another, then looking up and realizing I'd been playing for 90 minutes straight. This hasn't happened since Hotline Miami made me question my life choices back in 2012.
Gameplay: Drift or Die (But Mostly Drift)
The core loop is deceptively simple: longboard down an endless procedurally generated road, drift around corners to build your combo multiplier, collect Tanuki Bits, avoid obstacles, and chase near-miss moments by skating dangerously close to walls and oncoming traffic. It's the kind of arcade purity I thought died when actual arcades became Spirit Halloween stores. What makes it work is the drift system—you're constantly balancing speed with control, pushing your luck on every corner to extend your combo. Get too greedy and you'll slam into a guardrail or an oncoming car. Play it safe and your score suffers. The Bonus Roulette Meter adds a risk-reward layer that kept me invested even when I should've been writing other reviews. The procedural generation means every run feels slightly different, though after a few hours you start recognizing patterns. Controller support is solid—I used my Xbox controller and the analog drift felt precise enough that when I crashed, I knew it was my fault. Keyboard controls work too, but you're fighting against binary inputs where this game really wants that smooth analog drift. It's not reinventing skateboarding games, but it's executing the fundamentals better than most attempts I've seen in the last decade.
Visuals and Audio: Synthwave Done Right (Finally)
I need to address this directly: the synthwave aesthetic is executed with actual understanding of what made that era of design appealing. The seaside sunset setting isn't just purple and pink gradients vomited onto the screen—there's genuine art direction here. The road winds along coastal cliffs with palm trees and geometric shapes that feel pulled from 1980s arcade cabinets, but rendered with modern clarity. Your tanuki character model is simple but expressive, and the way the lighting hits the ocean during golden hour moments genuinely looks beautiful. I hate that I'm using the word beautiful for a game about a raccoon on a skateboard, but here we are. The audio design deserves special mention because the music is absolutely critical to making this work. The synthwave soundtrack pulses and builds with your combos, and while I can't tell you specific track names because the game didn't shove them in my face, I can tell you that the audio made me feel like I was in an 80s arcade fever dream. Engine sounds, drift squeals, and collision effects are punchy without being obnoxious. This is a game you want to play with headphones on, which is rare praise from someone who usually mutes indie games within minutes.
What's Missing (Because Nothing's Perfect)
Let's talk about what Tanuki Sunset Classic doesn't do, because my job is to be honest even when I'm enjoying myself. The procedural generation, while solid, starts showing its seams after extended play. You'll begin recognizing obstacle patterns and road configurations, which slightly diminishes that endless runner magic. There's no progression system, no unlockables, no meta-game to chase beyond your high score—it's pure arcade action, which is simultaneously its greatest strength and biggest limitation. Some players are going to bounce off this in 20 minutes because there's no carrot on a stick beyond self-improvement. The game also doesn't explain its scoring system in detail, so you're left experimenting to figure out what earns maximum points. Near-misses and tight squeezes are huge score multipliers, but the game never tells you that explicitly. I spent an embarrassing amount of time figuring out optimal drift angles through trial and error. Also, and this is minor but worth mentioning, the camera occasionally clips through obstacles when you're hugging walls, which broke my immersion exactly twice during my entire playtime. For a free game, these are nitpicks, but they're the kind of polish issues that would matter more at a $15 price point.
The Replayability Question
Here's where things get complicated. Tanuki Sunset Classic is built entirely around score-chasing and improving your skills through repetition. There are no levels to unlock, no story to complete, no alternate modes beyond the core experience. This is absolutely intentional—it's chasing that pure arcade high score mentality where your competition is yourself and maybe a leaderboard if you care about that sort of thing. For players who grew up pumping quarters into arcade cabinets, this will feel like home. For everyone else, your mileage will vary wildly. I kept coming back because mastering the drift timing and learning to read the procedural road layouts scratched a specific itch I didn't know I still had. The Bonus Roulette adds some variance to runs, and chasing personal bests remained compelling longer than I expected. But once you've hit your skill ceiling and achieved the scores you're satisfied with, there's not much pulling you back except nostalgia for that feeling of flow state. That said, it's free, so expecting 100 hours of content would be absurd. I got about three solid hours of focused play plus another hour of casual runs, which is more than some $20 indie games have given me this year.
Final Thoughts: Reluctant Respect
I started this review expecting to mock another indie game trying to coast on retro aesthetics and low-polygon charm. Instead, I'm sitting here having genuinely enjoyed my time with a raccoon on a longboard, which is not how I expected my week to go. Tanuki Sunset Classic succeeds because it understands what made classic arcade games compelling: tight controls, clear risk-reward systems, and a focus on pure skill expression. The synthwave presentation isn't just a marketing gimmick—it's integrated into every aspect of the experience. Rewind Games made something focused and confident, which is rarer than you'd think in a marketplace flooded with scope-creep disasters and unfinished early access nightmares. This won't convert people who hate endless runners or score-attack games, but if you have any nostalgia for arcade racing games or just want something that respects your time while still being challenging, this is worth your attention. The fact that it's free on itch.io means there's zero risk in trying it, which makes my job easier because I can recommend it without worrying you'll blame me for wasting your money.
Rating Breakdown
Quality
7.5
Surprisingly polished for what could've been a meme game—procedural generation works smoothly and I encountered zero crashes during my shamefully long play session.
Innovation
6.8
Third-person longboarding with a raccoon isn't revolutionary, but the near-miss scoring system and synthwave seaside vibes create something I haven't seen since Outrun actually mattered.
Value
8.2
It's free on itch.io and I got three hours out of it before realizing I'd missed dinner—that's better value than most $20 Steam releases I've rage-quit in 45 minutes.
Gameplay
7.8
The drift-focused scoring kept me chasing one more run way past my bedtime, which I resent but must acknowledge as actual game design.
Audio/Visual
8.5
Finally, someone who understands that synthwave isn't just purple and pink gradients—the sunset seaside aesthetic is cohesive enough that I didn't immediately want to claw my eyes out.
Replayability
7
Procedural generation and score-chasing give it legs, though once you've mastered the drift timing there's not much left except your own neurotic need to beat your high score.
What Didn't Annoy Me
Actually understands synthwave aesthetic beyond surface-level purple gradients
Drift mechanics feel precise and rewarding in ways most modern arcade games completely miss
It's free and gave me three hours of quality gameplay, which is basically highway robbery in reverse
Procedural generation works smoothly without the usual janky transitions I've learned to expect
The sunset seaside visuals are legitimately beautiful when the lighting hits right
Controller support is solid and makes the analog drift feel exactly as responsive as it should
What Made Me Sigh
No progression system means once you've peaked skillwise, that's basically it
Procedural generation starts showing patterns after extended play sessions
Scoring system could be explained better instead of forcing trial-and-error learning
Camera occasionally clips through obstacles during wall-hugging moments
The novelty of raccoon longboarding wears off faster than the actual gameplay does
Final Verdict
Tanuki Sunset Classic is what happens when developers actually understand the assignment. It's a focused, polished arcade experience that nails its aesthetic while delivering genuinely satisfying gameplay. The drift-focused scoring kept me engaged far longer than I'm comfortable admitting, and the synthwave presentation shows real art direction instead of lazy nostalgia-baiting. Yes, it's an endless runner with limited long-term hooks beyond score-chasing, but it executes that premise with more confidence than most indie games manage with ten times the scope. For free on itch.io, this is an easy recommendation—it's better than half the paid arcade games I've reviewed this year, and I'm genuinely annoyed that a skateboarding raccoon made me feel things again. Download it, play it with headphones, and prepare to lose an evening chasing one more perfect run. Rewind Games earned my reluctant respect, which is about as close to a rave review as you'll get from me.
Tanuki Sunset Classic
Tags
arcade
endless-runner
longboarding
synthwave
vaporwave
score-attack
procedural-generation
retro
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