PixlBit

I play alot of different games from any genre, I try playing different games because it's good trying to play games you'd never played before because it gives you a new experience. I'm pretty open when it comes to games, I loved every single game I've had a chance to experience, well there may be one or 2 exceptions. However there is one type of game or genre that I haven't tried and given a chance to: Rhythm Games.

I am a big stranger to those types of games, they have never really interested me just like shooters but my opinion of them changed when I tried the Metroid Prime games. Rhythm games on the other hand get a no from me. I don't know if games like Guitar Band or Rock Hero count as rhythm games and yes I know I got the names wrong, since that was a joke. But that's another story. I mean the only time I was even remotely interested in those games was for DDR Mario Mix, but I never got that. But mostly because of this:

                                             

                                                           Yep, not gonna happen

However I did give the genre a chance with 3 games. These 3 games well technically 4 but I'm only counting 3 because the last one is basically 2 games and to make this blog short, I'll just merge the 4th into the last choice. The first game that gave me a taste of the rhythm genre was an odd mix, heck it was a platformer and I don't think it was either a platformer or a rhythm game. Whatever you ant to call it, well here it is:

 

                            

                                                   Yep, I don't know what to call it either

Donkey Kong Jungle Beat was the name and rhythm platforming was the game, if you even want to call it that. I read about it in a Nintendo Power magazine and one of the things that really caught me eye was the way you played the game, or rather how you controlled DK himself and get this: you used a special controller for it called the DK Bongos. And your guess is as good as mine at the time. They actually showed the controller and my first question was were are the buttons for this thing?

 

                                

              Okay it has the start button, but were is A and B? And no D-Pad or Analog?!

I was a bit puzzled but hey, it caught my eye so I knew I had to atleast try it before I judge it. (Note, I always try a game before I give an opinion on it because judging it from first glance is idiotic) Of course I had to wait for it to make it to stores and to get some money. I finally did and found the game at Gamestop, I knew it was going to be expensive so I saved up a bit more than I needed.

                       

          I actually bought it for 55 bucks but they were selling them for 5 bucks at one time.

When I got home I popped the game in the Gamecube and hooked the bongo controller(?) to the Cube. Still wondering how I was going to navigate the menus, but it suddenly all made sense. You bashed (or banged lol) the left to go left and right to move right in the menus, as for the game, it did give you a tutorial before going into the actual game which was nice. I finally played the game and it finally all made sense, you bashed the left to go left, right to go right, both to jump, and you clapped to grab bananas. Yes you had to clap to play this game too.

You can get pretty into this game but people who just come in to see what you're doing will tell you what are you doing? It'll be hard to explain that you played this using bongos but hey, you can also play games using a guitar to it's not too farfetched to explain. The game was a surprisingly good game, you traveled through 3 stages, 2 platforming stages and one boss fight, like in Sonic but instead of Sonic you had DK. Some levels are themed from jungles to deserts to downright weird like in the sky with giant fruits and jell-o. The point of the game is to collect as many bananas as you can, you can jump grab them but if you do beats, when you grab them, they multiply, the more beats you have in a combo, the more bananas you'll get. This can involve from doing stunts, beating up enemies, riding on animal friend, clapping to make DK grab bananas far away and more, without getting hit and touching the ground.

As for the boss fights, sometimes you fight the same enemies, usually one or 2 at once but the main bosses are the other Kong Bosses. My favorites to fight have always been Karate and Ninja Kong because of the stages you fight them in.

            Fighting in a log in a river and getting bitch slapped is one of the better fights

To defeat them you usually just bash on the drums but you have to time your moves, you also have to dodge attacks, and if you time your moves well you can counter to dish out more damage. Donkey Kong Jungle Beat was certainly one of the most quirky and interesting games I ever played on the Gamecube next to Chibi-Robo but this next game makes DKJB seem like a normal game.

A long time ago, around 2008 I was excited for a new installment of my favorite fighting game franchise, if you want to call it a fighting game that is. Super Smash Bros Brawl was almost here and after many delays it couldn't come soon enough. I naturally got it on day one and I couldn't wait to get home and when we did I was considering on skipping dinner to play it. I couldn't so I finished my meal in under 5 minutes because fucking Smash Bros! As time passed by I got trophies, no not the ones from PSN but the ones from Smash Bros, you know the ones that are actually rewarding. I was looking through them when I saw a particularly interesting one:

                                                    

                                                      Your guess is as good as mine

And here is their bio/trophy info: Members of a secret governmental agency, characterized by their black suits and sunglasses. Led by Commander Kahn, the agents serve to assist individuals around the world who are in crisis, responding to their cries for help. The groove that resonates from their dances inspires the troubled, helping them overcome their predicaments.

Yep.

It seemed like a weird game, sure but I had an urge to try it. As some of my 1up peeps know, 2009 was not a good year for me, literally a living hell but sometime 2010 once that was over I went to a store I was pretty familiar with. It was a cool store that deals with awesome japanese imports, like games, toys, anime, you name it, and they carry a good selection of domestic games. Their stuff is a bit pricy but fair since it is the only store close by my area, if close means 20-30 minutes away. I was browsing and I saw this:

                          

                         Agent J was point at me to buy this game, I couldn't refuse his offer.

Since 2008, I have been searching game stores for this game and had never found it but as luck and maybe fate might have it, I finally found it. For 20 bucks. It may have been too much or too little for it but there was no way I was missing out on it. I was excited but I was thinking, what if this game isn't good? Well I had it and there was nothing else to do but try it.

When I got home I inserted it in my DSi and was pretty impressed by it, I had to play it a bit more to give a good impression on it. As I kept playing, I liked the game more and more, it was really that good. I loved how the story, unfolded on the top screen and the gameplay was on the bottom with the Agents singing and dancing. One of the things I liked was the artstlye they used for the game, they had a sort of anime/manga sort of asthetic and the style lent itself well for the way the story plays.

As for the story, well they are more like missions and each one involves helping someone meet their goal. It can be from a pirate looking for treasure, to the agents shrinking to micrscopic size and going inside an athlete to make him feel better to win (I think that was an episode in the Magic School Bus), and the son of a car company going ninja on their rivals to get their car blueprints back. All of them are pretty strange scenarios but it's pretty fun.

                          I like how Chieftain looks like a total badass in that image.

As for the gameplay itself, it was one of the best uses of the touchscreen I've ever seen, the only other game that has accomplished that feat imo was Kirby's Canvas Curse. You play to the beat of the music in the game and while some say the music leaves alot to be desired, I have not problems with it. There are some touchscreen segments that could of been better like the wheel scrolling thingy but everything else is flawless. But it's always tapping on the screen matching the beat of the music. You know, the rhythm. As for the premise, it's pretty weird making it one of the strangest games I have ever played but it also makes it one of my favorite DS games on my DS library and I'm damn proud it's part of my collection.

And yes I count this game as a rhythm game because it has music and you use the touchscreen controls to match the beat of the music. As for this last choice, it isn't a rhythm music, but the way you fight can be considered a flawless rhythm to keep your combo going. Some might know what game(s) I'm talking about. Alot of you might have played the critically acclaimed Batman Arkham Asylum and now that I have mentioned it I bet you're wondering "what the hell does Batman have to do with rhythm?"

Well here is a quote from Sefton Hill: "We went off in some slightly crazy directions to begin with. In fact, one of the earliest versions was like a rhythm action game and saw you judging when to hit the 'notes' (i.e. punches), which was an interesting idea but never really worked."

                          "Let's dance" said Batman as the Joker prepares the music

Seems strange when you think about it but it really isn't far off from what we actually got in the end. In the actual game, you actually become Batman, from his detective skills to his gadgets, to his fighting moves. The combat basically works like a rhythm like in this other quote:  I'm a big kung-fu fan and when you watch the fights in those films there's a lovely natural rhythm to it. That's something we wanted you to feel when you were playing Batman; that you're in control at all times. We wanted it to look choreographed, but with you being directly responsible for every move and attack."

And I agree with that quote. When you're beating up thugs, you have to time your moves carefully and you rack up combos, carefully stringing moves, not just mindlessly punching, counters, and gadgets in a rhythm that looks like a choreographed dance. It's kinda hard for me to explain but you know what I mean when you play it. Arkham City made the combat way too easy for my tastes, I mean I could pull out combos with 100+ moves without ever trying but still a good game even if the core aspect of the "rhythm combat" is the same.

 

 

                                                 Can I have this dance Bats?

You may not consider the Arkham games "rhythm" games but they had that aspect at it's core of it's combat and it was going to be a rhythm game even though it never really came to be. Still you had to wonder how the game might of actually been if it was a full on rhythm game. It could of been good, it could of been bad, I'm just glad we got what we have now.

So there you have it, games that I have atleast tried from a genre I never cared for but gave a chance. I'm willing to give any game a chance (as long as it's not singing) because I'm pretty open when it comes to games. So, is there a rhythm game you've ever tried that's awesome? Have ever tried a game from that genre or do you stay away from it? Thanks for reading and later.