PlayStation 5 Critic Reviews

A musical delight from start to finish, Mixtape sets a new standard for coming-of-age stories in video games and does so with a masterful sense of style.

Mixtape is an immersive game as you follow Rockford, Slater, and Cass on the last night of High School. Spanning the highs and lows of the evening, the game’s Mixtape includes music from Devo, Iggy Pop, Lush, The Cure, and more. A full game you can complete in a 4-6 hour span with an hilarious, emotional story that will leave many in tears. If you’re a fan of 80s and 90s nostalgia, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off-style cutaways, and an ode to outcasts, you’ll enjoy Mixtape.

Mixtape is a coming of age tale that hits all the right notes from beginning to end. While it's a short game that you might only play once, that does not take away from how special the journey is along the way. Witty, hilarious writing, incredible voice performances, gorgeous art direction, and consistently creative gameplay beats are paired with a flawless soundtrack that serves as the backbone for every single scene perfectly in a '90s period piece that knows exactly what to drive home. The result is a wholly unique gaming experience that's loaded with nostalgic charm, great humor, and many poignant moments that will make you reframe how you think about your own personal memories of youth. I cannot recommend it enough.

Beethoven & Dinosaur's Mixtape is a deeply nostalgic, coming-of-age masterpiece that beautifully captures the emotional weight of three friends facing their last day of high school. Through its inventive gameplay, stop-motion-inspired visuals, and stellar soundtrack, it delivers a profound and unforgettable experience about growing up and the bittersweet nature of goodbyes.

Mixtape is a tribute to "the best years of your life." It combines authentic nostalgia for being young, with witty commentary on how life doesn't actually end just because you didn't have a Hollywood-style last night in town. The game's use of music is pitch perfect, and heavily contributes to Mixtape being one of the best coming-of-age games of the modern era.

Mixtape’s style, soundtrack and unique storytelling flair all combine to elicit feelings both new and long forgotten. Simple moments make you appreciate life for what it is: a continuous evolution rather than a static state of being. Our adolescent selves relished in that freedom, and Mixtape seeks to recapture the magic.

An example of games as art with the polish and sheen to achieve mainstream acceptance, Mixtape is a pitch-perfect slice of nostalgia that remembers that maybe it's not the time we miss, so much as our ability to appreciate a part of what could make said time special.

Mixtape is one of those games that leaves a lasting impression and reminds you of your own experiences growing up, featuring excellent music throughout.

Even if I wanted to try ponder, this game leaves no room for any "buts." The combination of visuals and sound is a true spectacle; the narrative magically blends story, pacing, and direction; and the experience proves to be a catharsis that's hard to shake off. Mixtape is simply, without any qualifiers, a real masterpiece.

A game that should be a movie? A playable movie? Regardless of where you stand in this debate, Mixtape is what it is: a bold project inspired by an era that feels very distant and different from today, with a very clear vision to discuss a subject of the utmost importance, the Music.