What a way to kick off 2025 with Synth Riders: a nostalgic trip back to the 80s with their second DLC pack of classic pop from the decade, which is out now on Meta Quest 2&3, PSVR 2, Steam VR and Apple Vision Pro.

I enjoyed the first 80s Mixtape DLC (Side A), which featured Take On Me by a-aha, Starship’s We Built This City, Whip It by Devo, Sussudio by Phil Collins and New Sensation by INXS. Yet (and I know this may be controversial) none of them bar Take On Me felt particularly essential, as much as I do like each song.

There’s a much higher hit rate for genuinely enjoyable songs in Side B; perhaps it is just a personal taste thingy, but I felt like each song deserved its place, with a cheesy pop track or two among some genuinely excellent songs.

So, Side B’s list of songs is as follows:

• Queen: Don’t Stop Me Now
• Wham!: Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go
• Toto: Africa
• Simple Minds: Don’t You (Forget About Me)
• The Cure: Just Like Heaven
• Daryl Hall & John Oates: Out of Touch
• Rick Astley: Never Gonna Give You Up

See? Banger after banger, and just the presence of Don’t You (Forget About Me), which is one of my all time favourite songs, truly elevates the pack on its own, let alone the other classics it finds itself amidst.

Kluge have done a weird thing with the barriers in this pack, which I haven’t noticed in any other DLC; they’re sometimes arranged in the shape of objects, such as a plane in Don’t Stop Me Now, a tree in Africa, or raindrops in the Simple Minds song. It’s a little odd, and given how the brilliantly sensory Experiences work in Synth Riders, with animated objects and scenery all through the levels, it does feel a little lazy.

Still, that’s a very minor nitpick. If you’re an 80s music fan, this is going to be essential; it does still feel a little weird playing these tracks in Synth Riders, with the overall aesthetic being such a cyberpunk/synthwave style vibe, but there’s always the retro cafe stage to play them through if it bothers you that much.

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