Posts Tagged ‘rhythm’

April 24th, 2014 Featured, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, Reviews, Sony Systems 1 Comment »

Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA f Review

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Developer: SEGA, Crypton Future Media
Publisher: SEGA
Platform: PSN – PS3, Vita

It’s a joy to see Hatsune Miku slowly, but surely, becoming fully recognized in North America. Heck, she’s even opening for Lady Gaga! The best part, however, is that we’re getting Project Diva games published here now. I already played Project DIVA F on PS3 last year and loved it, but I wanted to see if its handheld counterpart was an even better experience.

Like any other rhythm game, you press buttons to the beat of the music in Project DIVA f. There are also moments where you must swipe either the front or back touchscreens. With faster songs and higher difficulties, swiping quickly enough feels almost impossible, especially with the fact that they are sometimes not recognized. In any case, the more accurate you are with your timing, the better your score.

Miku-5

Paired with a selection of over 30 catchy tracks, Project DIVA f‘s main gameplay will have you hooked. It can get really crazy and demand your utmost attention and reflexes, but it sure as hell feels good to do well on that super difficult song that you’ve had trouble with for so long.

When you want to take a break from the main portion of Project DIVA f, you can interact with Hatsune Miku and the other Vocaloids in their rooms. This includes dressing them up, giving them gifts, and redecorating. It’s oddly satisfying.

Other modes include Edit Mode and Portrait Mode. Edit Mode allows you to create your own music videos, which is sure to please creative folks out there. Portrait Mode, on the other hand, lets you take photos of Miku in your environment.

Customization

Having played both versions of Project DIVA f, I can safely say that I vastly prefer the Vita version. Although it’s lovely seeing Miku dance and sing on a large television screen, the gameplay feels much more suited to a handheld platform.

Why choose Project DIVA f over other rhythm games? Well, its appeal lies heavily in the Vocaloid franchise. So, if you’re not interested in Hatsune Miku and her friends, you’re probably better off skipping over Project Diva f. But for those of you that are fans, even just a little bit… Definitely add it to your gaming library and help show support for Miku in the states!

Pink Score: 44 out of 5 alpacas

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January 13th, 2014 Featured, PC, Reviews 1 Comment »

Goscurry Review

Goscurry Logo

Developer: Holoville Games
Publisher: Holoville Games
Platform: PC – Direct

Some video games make you tense, while others make help players unwind. The question is, is it possible to relax right in the middle of a fast, challenging experience? If you think so, then Goscurry is definitely for you. The game is certainly a bit odd, but also an incredibly cool experience. Just make sure you can relax before giving it a shot.

Goscurry is a sort of rhythmic racing game. Players take control of a small craft and fly above polygonal cities and landscapes via incredibly narrow pathways. These air streets build only a few meters in front of you, so you’re never sure if they will keep extending forward or have tons of turns. Turns aren’t as bad as you might think though, as they only go left or right at 90 degree angles. Of course, cruising down the futuristic one-lane highway reveals other tricks…

Simply making precise turns isn’t all there is! Once out of the tutorial mode, you’ll quickly encounter obstacles in the form of walls and gaps. Short walls and gaps can both be jumped over, while walls in the center of a road need to be dodged. It can be hard to get the timing for these down, at least it was for me. Harder modes even change the orientation of the camera, making the once “easy” task of driving around winding paths incredibly difficult again. This is one hard game.

Goscurry Featured

Unfortunately, there’s not too much to encounter while playing at the moment. There are a handful of difficulties, vehicles, and cities to fly over but it doesn’t feel like Goscurry is quite there yet. All the same, I have had a heck of a time playing it. It’s definitely one of those games that gets you in “the zone”. Once there, it’s possible to rack up higher scores than ever before and beat out (most) everyone on the leaderboard. Secondly, the music is phenomenal and you can purchase the soundtrack for a few dollars more.

Some won’t feel that this isn’t a very feature-filled game and they’d be right. If you need your games packed with content then go elsewhere for now. However, if you’ve ever had a taste for arcade games, experimental rhythm titles, or simply love zoning out with a game then Goscurry is perfect for your needs! Every time I want to put Goscurry down I can’t help thinking “just one more try” and getting sucked in again.

Score: 4

4 out of 5 alpacas

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May 15th, 2013 Featured, Microsoft Systems, Reviews, Xbox 360 No Comments »

0D Beat Drop Review

0D Beat Drop Boxart

Developer: Cyclone Zero
Publisher: Arc System Works
Platform: Xbox 360 – XBLA

Ever since the massively successful Tetris first hit the scene, developers have been trying to find any way to cash in on a similarly addictive formula. Sometimes they get pretty close. Usually though you end up with something ranging from mediocre to creative. Which camp does 0D Beat Drop fall into?

Thankfully, the game succeeds quite well. It feels at first like a mix of Lumines and Puzzle Fighter. Almost every mode pits you against at least one player (human or CPU). From there, you work to match four or more colored blocks in various orientations. If you succeed, then some of your blocks will be dropped on the enemy. Similarly, if they do well, you’re likely to get their blocks tossed onto your side.

0D Beat Drop Featured

What connects this to Lumines? Well, 0D Beat Drop employs a musical system for the casting of blocks from one side to the other. Simply lining up four in a row won’t clear them. Instead, you must hit the proper button on the background music’s beat for it to work. This starts out easily enough but quickly becomes more challenging, as each successful hit causes your window of accuracy for the beat to become much smaller.

It creates a fairly enthralling experience when you’re not only focusing on blocks but on the beat. Unfortunately, there are only a handful of songs available (with more as DLC). Still, there are a couple of varied modes available that extend the package between 10 stages. Give it a look if you’re a fan of rhythm-based puzzling.

Score: 2

2 out of 5 alpacas

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May 7th, 2013 Featured, Microsoft Systems, Reviews, Xbox 360 No Comments »

Beat’n Groovy Review

Beat'n Groovy Boxart

Developer: Voltex
Publisher: Konami
Platform: Xbox 360 – XBLA

Konami is the undisputed king when it comes to rhythm/music games as far as I’m concerned. Unfortunately, outside of DDR, they have really squandered the Bemani label in the West. With tons of bankable properties, they instead continually release misguided versions of their classics to supposedly appeal to American tastes. They create awful, old-looking versions that no one is interested in.

Such is the case with Beat’n Groovy. The game itself is modeled strongly after the successful (and Japanese-only) Pop’n Music. Okay, Pop’n saw US release on Wii but it was one of those bastardized versions. This game is played by using a 3 or 5 button layout to hit keys as they fall down the screen. It’s easy enough, and the standard model for Beatmania as well.

Beat'n Groovy Featured

The problems come in when you look at the paltry songlist – only 9 tracks in all. There may be downloadable content available, but people would only be interested in buying that if the base property is sound. It isn’t. Sure, the play is still adequately Pop’n style, but the music they selected was extremely poor. Most of it sounds like the early days of Bemani, and some of the tracks (as far as I could tell) are legitimate Bemani properties. But if you’re trying to appeal to the US then you’ve got to make a “modern” tracklist that appeals to current tastes.

Check out the demo if you’re set on having a Western version of Pop’n but this is probably the worst version you could get. It’s a shame, because if Konami could ever have success via a non-DDR rhythm game then they might be willing to put actual effort into others.

Score: 1

1 out of 5 alpacas

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