Skybolt Zack is what happens when Sonic riffs on Guitar Hero

Unpick the notes of a Guitar Hero game and drape them across a side-scrolling platformer – that’s Skybolt Zack in a nutshell. Colour-coded chords become bullets to deflect with your fists, frets become doors to pummel through. There’s a touch of Sonic to the rhythm of it all, the need to keep going fast. And it is fast – each level a crescendo of button mashing until the colour-based combat becomes a blur.

Mechanics are introduced in quick succession: new ways to keep up your combat chain. Enemies dangle in the air like a string of gaudy Christmas lights for you to zip towards and thump in a satisfyingly staccato snap, longer distances can be bridged via a tap of a shoulder button, while holding down a button for slightly longer locks you onto an enemy through walls.

Skybolt Zack announcement trailer Watch on YouTube

But it all comes back to those colours. Green for A, Red for B, Blue for X, Yellow for Y. More complex enemies might have armour one colour and then innards another. Or come in a procession of poster paint flavours for you to quickly alternate between. Or separate off into various paths, offering multiple routes through a level.