Infinite runner mobile games were my childhood. “Temple Run” sent adrenaline coursing through my veins with its freakish demon monkeys, and easy boss fights against Vector in “Minion Rush” made me feel like I was living in the “Despicable Me” movies.
However, one game stuck with me all the way to high school.
When searching for a quick reset, I still revisit this treasured relic of my past, called “Subway Surfers.” The game has been consistently updated, which is something I rarely see with most games relying heavily on nostalgia for their fanbases.
SYBO Games, the creator of “Subway Surfers,” further proved its loyalty to its audience with the release of “Subway Surfers City” on Feb. 26. This revamped version introduces a new game structure, rewriting basic gameplay with a contemporary vision.
When I first downloaded “Subway Surfers City,” the detailed graphics immediately caught my eye. From the beautiful docks to the futuristic metropolis, the stunning environments nearly distracted me from the gameplay itself, quickly becoming my favorite part of “Subway Surfers City.”
Throughout these maps, the potential to take new routes allows me to discover unique nooks and crannies, further immersing me in the game.
In the original “Subway Surfers,” the terrain is limited to tracks, the tops of trains or, very rarely, a rooftop. However, the new game expands maps to let players cover underground routes, fly across hypermodern cities, weave between metal construction fragments and so much more.
To bring more customizability to explore these new environments, the characters of the franchise have also received a visual revamp.
This new installment slightly alters the looks of familiar characters, transitioning from their initial cartoonish looks to more realistic ones. But surprisingly, instead of killing nostalgia, these more refined looks keep parts of the original alive while incorporating artistic novelty.
Despite its many positive attributes, some of the new game’s changes fail to entice me.
“Subway Surfers City” features less diverse characters and hoverboards, as well as generic maps that no longer tour and represent various parts of the world. This disappoints me, since I love exploring the distinctive designs and monthly map rotations that cater to different cultures in the original.
Additionally, there seems to be no time-based events like those in the original “Subway Surfers,” with new content coming in large packages rather than small, more frequently released batches. Without rotating special events and limited-time characters, “Subway Surfers City” is currently too static to stay relevant.
That being said, their larger updates do tend to satisfy. In a May 6 update, the game added specialized levels for “The Undertracks,” the newest map region. Players like myself, who had finished the other custom levels, now have a new task at hand and are even more incentivized to play.
Considering this, SYBO Games has clearly compromised to make everyone happy, keeping the entire franchise updated so that regardless of what a player values, they can enjoy a high-quality experience through either iteration of the game.
“Subway Surfers City” is a love letter to fans of the franchise, with SYBO Games recognizing the potential for change while keeping a path to memory lane open. This sequel-of-sorts proves that when a company tries, they can successfully create newer, and possibly better, versions of an already acclaimed product.
