Hi-Fi Rush is a game focused on delivering a good and fun time. You can rock out to some good music while seeing the colorful world and characters bounce around the place. However, Tango Gameworks has worked in numerous Easter eggs and references to other media that should have you pointing at the screen, like Leonardo Dicaprio. Here are our favorite Easter eggs that appear in Hi-Fi Rush.
Related: Hi-Fi Rush is a rocking good time throughout its toe-tapping setlist – Review
Every Easter egg and reference in Hi-Fi Rush
Deluxe Edition shirt reference to GTA: Vice City
If you purchase the Deluxe Edition of Hi-Fi Rush, you will get the Proof of Purchase Shirt that you can equip to Chai. The text on this shirt says, “I bought the Deluxe Edition, and all I got… was this stupid shirt.” Players are pointing this to be a reference to the shirt you receive in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City for completing the game 100%, which says something very similar.
SEB-AAA looks familiar
In various portions of some chapters, you can find two HR manager robots. The taller one, SEB-AAA, is an obvious roboticized version of Sebastian Castellanos, the protagonist of The Evil Within games, which Tango Gameworks developed. His smaller partner is a reference to Joseph Oda from the same games.
Sequence breaking conversations
There are multiple spots throughout the game where you can break sequences or throw off the continuity by going back to the hideout before finishing a chapter or using your abilities from later in the game on earlier portions. For example, if you use Macaron to destroy the first Z shield robot before you would have met him, CNMN will pop up and say you are cheating and then run the original cutscene of you losing that fight even though you won.
Scott Pilgrim’s dress sequence
After Chai gets his arm replaced with a robotic one at the beginning of the game, the camera zooms around him as he puts on his clothes. This is essentially the same thing that happens in the Scott Pilgrim vs. the World movie when Scott is getting dressed to go fight Gideon. The only difference is Chai is trying to get the back of his shoe on while Scott ties his laces.
Superbowl shark
During the 2015 Superbowl Halftime Show, Katy Perry was performing music alongside many people in costume. Immediately beside her were two people in blue shark costumes. One of these backup dancers quickly earned internet fame by going off-script, and a bit off-beat, from the music playing. In the lead-up to reaching Mimosa for a boss fight in Track 9, Chai puts on the same exact shark disguise. Unfortunately, we did not receive an awkward dance from Chai.
The Evil Within Mirror
In Track 8, as soon as you enter the museum, go to the left of the stairs in front of you to find an area where Korsica’s pictures have been thrown away. On top of the boxes is one of the Tango Gameworks snails that can be found all over the game, but this one, in particular, gets pulled into a mirror, another reference to The Evil Within.
Twin Peaks snapping and dance
When Korsica captures Chai, he dreams of being back in the hideout with the crew. When they tell him to snap out of it, they begin snapping similarly to a snapping sequence in Twin Peaks. 808 also starts dancing similarly to Michael J. Anderson in the show.
Xenogears disc two recap
When Chai comes up with an idea to break into Kale’s offices, he sits on the couch, and the tone oddly changes quickly. His friends appear in and out, telling him how it’s a bad idea, and his music player is seen swinging from the top of the screen. This is all a reference to Xenogears, which had a very similar odd opening on disc two to welcome players back to the RPG.
Zanzo’s Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure poses and Castlevania quote
Pretty much everything Zanzo does is a Jojo reference. He is constantly taking weird poses in cutscenes that are exact copies of various poses taken in Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. Additionally, when challenging Chai to a battle in his test chambers, Zanzo says, “But enough talk, have at you!” This is a quote taken directly from Dracula in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.
