Sayonara Wild Hearts is celebrating its 5-year anniversary today, September 19, 2024. Below, we examine how it feels to revisit the game and its soundtrack time and time again.

The more time passes, the more nostalgic I grow for Sayonara Wild Hearts. The "pop album video game" by developer Simogo--known for the likes of Year Walk and 2024's moody Lorelei and the Laser Eyes--is an atemporal arcade cabinet. The structure of bite-sized levels, paired with a steep scoring system engulfed me back in 2019 and hasn't let go since. The presentation is encouraging enough to return to it sporadically. Five years later, however, I'm still surprised by how the experience gains more significance with each revisit.

Sayonara Wild Hearts is one of the few games that have remained installed on my PC since launch. At first, I'd hand-pick one or two levels whenever I had some downtime for a quick play session of something other than a roguelike. Over time, it became my go-to escape to clear my head or wind down after a long week. Sometimes I play it from start to finish, which can be done in about an hour. But even when I'm not, I always finish the session playing the last two stages, resulting in a euphoric gut punch.