It’s finally here. Top Run by Katata Games is available pretty much everywhere: PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, Steam, and mobile. But ever since I got my copy, I’ve had Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” stuck in my head. I can’t figure out why though.

Maybe it’s because Kevin, the protagonist of Top Run, says something similar to “I’m never gonna give you up” when you free Joy from her cell.  Or maybe it’s because I got on Fortnite and they have the Never Gonna emote where your avatar dances while the song plays. Or it could be because Valentine’s Day was a few days ago and pretty much everyone was singing it. 

I think that might be part of why I enjoy the game so much. There’s no big mystery; no having to search through the website’s code (that I know of); no messing with image brightness to see the hidden message. You just run. I don’t feel like I need some kind of masters in cryptography to understand it. In a time of shared universes and theory-hunting AR games–where everything has to have a cliffhanger, it’s nice to see one that doesn’t have all that…weight. The game does have a backstory; it tells you how Kevin got his powers and that’s all you need.

Also, the controls are simple and easy to master. It did take me a couple minutes to change over from the app controls to controller buttons; but once I figured out the button layout was basically the same as it was on the app, I was back in my groove.

I also appreciate that once I pay the purchase price, I don’t need to pay out more. The skins and upgrades are purchasable by collecting pixels. The upgrade/skin prices are also fair. I don’t feel like it takes forever to collect enough pixels to buy a skin, but the price isn’t so low that I can purchase all of them after only a few runs. They are a difficult goal to reach but not impossible.

Speaking of reachable goals, the objectives are similarly difficult yet obtainable. None of the game objectives seem that difficult–some are harder or take longer to complete than others but all seem doable. 

But enough gushing for a moment. I have noticed that some glitches have carried over from the mobile game. Sometimes the cell holding a friend will fall through the floor. Other times the cell will just be laying on its side. Coming from my own time coding programs and games, I’m sure this glitch comes from the cell’s random generation. The cell generates in an open space and falls. Even with a billion numbers to choose from, sometimes you get a one.

Another glitch is a little more comical. Sometimes the dash wears off and I end up running right into a foe, usually a Bikey Mikes; but instead of dying, we collide. Kevin and Mike run into each other and just stop. Kevin continues to run and Mike continues to ride but they aren’t going anywhere. It looks like two people going, “Get out of my way!” “No, you get out of my way!” “Why don’t you move?” “Why don’t you move?!” A couple seconds later, the game catches up and it’s Game Over.

The last error I can find is that the invincibility after a power-up wears off or when you rescue a friend can sometimes feel a little random. Sometimes, it seems to be only a second; but one time, I was able to survive a blast from a Hack like five seconds after freeing Ben.

However, for like 99.9 percent of the time, the game runs smoothly–unlike some other games that have a tendency to crash now and then.

So…I’m still not sure why I keep wanting to play Top Run over and over. It could be the simplicity. Or it could be the added perk of annoying everyone around me by playing the Beckett soundtrack endlessly.

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