Chiptune DJ

Chiptune DJ

I love chiptunes, and I love rhythm games. This giant turd gives a bad name to both.

There are 13 songs, and they’re all musically mediocre or better, some are quite good, but musically only.

I beat all 13 songs at least once and it didn’t unlock anything new, so I guess that’s it.

The gameplay both in terms of rhythm game, and general fun, is complete garbage, as is the UI. Even if you’re passing all notes perfectly, the off-timed bloops of hitting the notes (successfully) makes the song sound shitty compared to hearing it on its own.

Real player with 0.6 hrs in game

Pretty well done Stepmania/Osu! -like rhytm game with amazing chiptune music (and great UX/graphics to go along with it). Right now the major downside is a lack of an editor/composer for custom tracks, as the “standard” library is pretty limited, and I’m pretty sure the community would do wonders in this regard.

Some other minor nitpicks I noticed:

  • The game doesn’t remember the last song played when returning back to the song picker, and jumps back at the beginning of the list. This is not a big deal right now, but might become one when the library grows.

Real player with 0.2 hrs in game

Chiptune DJ on Steam

Music Racer

Music Racer

Today is May 24, 2020. I recently realized that my review for Music Racer was probably not written in the best state of mind, so I’m back with a good night’s rest under my belt. I opened the game up in non-Legacy mode.

Grading Criteria:

non-Legacy vs. Legacy (pre 5/27/19 update)

I. Graphics

II. Gameplay

III. YouTube plugin works?

IV. Replay Value

The non-Legacy version is the version of the game made after the 5/27/19 update, which broke the game for a lot of users at first (but now it’s fixed, so +1).

Real player with 46.1 hrs in game


Read More: Best Retro Music-Based Procedural Generation Games.


You may be confused why I’m reviewing this game with barely any playtime. It’s because I’ve played the mobile version of this game, and after just a few minutes of playing I can see the pros and cons of the PC version.

I recommend this game, however, I will give a rather critical review.

This game in a nutshell: Beat Sabre with cars.

This game in an essay:

You have to choose a car, the colors of the rims and the body if you’d like, a map, and a song from either your computer or YouTube. I recommend using local files, as some songs may not show up on the YouTube option.

Real player with 25.9 hrs in game

Music Racer on Steam

Music Killer

Music Killer

After Audiosurf made revolution in rhythm genre by letting us turn our personal MP3 files into custom racing levels, we’ve got all sorts of things with similar concept. It’s kinda fun, but, even though Audiosurf had a lot of space to improve, nobody ever tried to seriously compete with it. I mean, we’ve got quite a lot of rhythm racing games. We’ve got Music Racer, we’ve got Rhythmic Retro Racer, we’ve got Rhythm Race and so on. But those were just quick ways to make money. None of those ever tried to compete with Audiosurf for real. While games that actually tried to deliver something real? They just went for the other sub-genres.

Real player with 32.9 hrs in game


Read More: Best Retro Shooter Games.


When I first got this game I was really hyped because it was brought to us by the same people who made Music Racer, which already was a fantastic game. The graphics, game play, and the overall beat recognition was amazing and also trippy AF.

The problem I first had with the game was that it wouldn’t play YouTube songs, nor would it even play my own audio files. So that made me really disappointed. I read reviews that other people had posted about the game and they all seemed to have the exact same issue. A lot of people were saying that the developer stopped working on the game. At this point in time I believed them and I haven’t touched the game since.

Real player with 1.6 hrs in game

Music Killer on Steam

OutDrive

OutDrive

A Vaporwave Game have Awesome Synthwave Songs

80’s retrowave style, neon lights and colors. Whenever I see this theme, it seems like it reminds me of something I’ve lost. It is as if I lived in those times, I am so familiar with everything. The glowing illuminated streets of the big city, synthwave music and darkness. The game is exactly like a piece from this world. The music and the visuals take you to other places. The game itself, like it’s soundtrack, is not intended for everyone.

Real player with 10.3 hrs in game

OutDrive

Riding the Retrowave in this 80s styled neon-rider.

The background is kind of distrubing yet enjoyable. You are an unkown greaser riding along the infinite synthpop highways to keep your date alive. Your date lives from momentum - you must neither go to fast nor to slow or she will die.

The Key-Mechanics:

Well you only need to do three things:[olist]* Accelerate* Break* Keep on track

[/olist]

Sounds easy enough? Well it is and that is what makes this game what it is. You feel challenged all the time while failing is actually a challenge. However even if this may sound as a downside just keep on reading and you will get the deal…

Real player with 10.3 hrs in game

OutDrive on Steam

Twin Horizons

Twin Horizons

While I found the concept of the game really interesting, I found being forced to sit through the tutorial and play the boring content, not being able to map your own keys was a little frustrating

I’m not completely writing this game off, I know a lot of updates are planned, hopefully with a level creator system as well as the things mentioned above, but there is just little things to work on like being locked out the Full mode at the beginning, when it is the actual unique feature of this game.

Real player with 0.3 hrs in game

Twin Horizons on Steam

DanielX.net Paint Composer

DanielX.net Paint Composer

I love this game, is exactly what I expected from a music compositor. Beside the limitations of scales it was really helpfull and allowed me to compose small pieces of chiptune. I like the interface and the instruments also the option to add effects is amazing (I wish Dev add more soon).

My favorite part is how easy you can export your creations (on mp3 format) and share it with friend

I recommend this app for eveyrone that want to just have fun with music or want to create their own game soundtracs and even if this app is free on the dev website you can buy the steam version and support this great project cause it totally worth it.

Real player with 212.9 hrs in game

This is an early access review and may not be fully applicable to future updates. That said, what we have here is a nostalgic take on a Mario Paint style music composer, with many more options than the old SNES game ever did. Much more precise note placement with the ability to snap to different note positions, sharps/flats with convenient keyboard shortcuts, and most importantly, the ability to copy and paste to save on the tedium of repeating notes!

The UI still is a bit rough around the edges in a couple areas such as the save/load interface and lack of full documentation, and the interface for editing song sections is not intuitive at first. But those should be smoothed out in future updates, and there are no show-stopping bugs that I could find.

Real player with 16.6 hrs in game

DanielX.net Paint Composer on Steam

Neon Drive

Neon Drive

An 80’s Love Letter That Just Falls Short

Don’t let my “Not Recommended” rating dissuade you - Neon Drive is the most intense, addicting, visually arresting rhythm game that I sadly cannot recommend outright to everyone. It’s at times like these that I wish I had a different option other than a simple “Yes/No” answer. This game is good - very good in fact - but it has problems that prevent it from being great. If you love rhythm games, challenging difficulties, or the 80’s aesthetic then you’ll probably love this game as much as I do. However, if not then don’t let this game be your introduction.

Real player with 21.8 hrs in game

I had fun with this game but can’t recommend it due to issues that make the hard/insane difficulties far more difficult than they really need to be.

The plane level has a loop that basically doesn’t interact with the music at all, forcing you to just figure it out via trial and error.

The falling traffic section has cool music that doesn’t help you in any way. It’s just falling enough times to memorize a safe path through.

The Robot level has a series of hurdles that require the first jump made be well timed. There is no useful music for the first jump, in fact there’s a misleading series of notes that will get you killed if you use them. The following hurdles all have super useful notes to help, but this doesn’t matter if your first jumps timing is off, you’ll die on the later hurdles if it is. ((I guess it’s possible to ajdust your timing between hurdles, but that’s like, tasbot levels of reaction time. Not what rhythm games are about)) This problem exists on other levels, but it’s not as pronounced as it is in the robot level, due to its unique mechanics.

Real player with 15.6 hrs in game

Neon Drive on Steam

Retro/Grade

Retro/Grade

Retro/Grade is a game that I was not expecting. Browsing through the games on Steam, I came upon this game, and after watching the video, I had to purchase it immediately. If you’ve ever been a fan of side scrolling shooters, rhythm games, or even just colorful games that give your eyeballs this wonderful explosion of bright vivid colors that would satisfy even the most skeptical player. It’s so much fun to watch, and even more fun to play.

This game is a very pattern oriented reverse rhythm shooter, and it’s the only game like it out there. This is why it needs to be played.

Real player with 36.7 hrs in game

Retro/Grade is a well executed mash-up of the Rhythm and Scrolling Shooter genres. When I first started the tutorial I was expecting to be playing (reverse) Gradius to the beat of an awesome soundtrack; But instead what I got was Guitar Hero executed in a way that I had never thought of: To keep the music going while avoiding enemy fire!

The graphics on the game are very vibrant and the colors perfectly compliment the 2-5 lane system. Each lane uses the same color coordination as all the well-known plastic guitars out there for other rhythm games; Not only was it a blessing in disguise to be given something so familiar to me within the genre, but the mixture of colors on-screen from all the attacks made a fantastic light-show! Sometimes the screen could get cluttered with different colors and certain attacks could get very hard to see through all the explosions and other effects on screen, but with enough practice with each level has a pattern that you can follow or sometimes predict to compensate for this problem.

Real player with 24.8 hrs in game

Retro/Grade on Steam

Rhythmic Retro Racer

Rhythmic Retro Racer

This game made me feel like in the 80’s. It is very nice that the movements of the cars are compatible with the rhythm of music so that I can be caught up myself in the rhythm of the music and feel the music.

The game soundtracks are very good, I think it was created specifically for the game. It is open to development, the menu style is nice, I think the brightness could ought a little less.

The pleasure I got was worth the price for I paid absolutely. I am ready to pay 7$ just for the soundtracks in the game!

Real player with 4.1 hrs in game

Bought this game to play casually while in COVID-19 lockdown. Not at all disappointed.

If you are a fan of 80’s retro/outrun aesthetic, this game delivers.

Pros:

-Original Outrun/Synthwave style soundtrack

-Lighting and reflections are awesome

-Satisfying to play

-3 difficulties and a practice mode for each level

-Developers are accessible though Discord

-Realistic goals for Early Access

Cons:

-Menus (Early Access)

-Currently there is no 4K support, control bindings, or controller options.

Real player with 2.7 hrs in game

Rhythmic Retro Racer on Steam

Tadpole Treble

Tadpole Treble

Ah, Tadpole Treble. A game I have been waiting for since BiTF finished quite a while ago. As somebody who highly enjoyed the musical strips, I was looking forward to see what Taronto would do with his own game. And what do I think of it?

First off, lets talk about the absolute best feature of the game: the music. It’s such a wide variety of genres, and yet EVERY one sounds good. All of them. I suspect witchcraft was involved. Obviously, being a music-based game, this is fantastic, as you’re going to be hearing those tracks a lot. Which brings me to…

Real player with 36.0 hrs in game

FULL VIDEO REVIEW:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-uEsP1a1Nc

PROS:

  • Frankly some of the best music I’ve heard in an indie game. Each song is catchy, fun and makes the soundtrack alone worth the price of the game.

  • A ton of hidden objectives and unlockables that make the game have a surprising amount of replayability. Additional game modes and developer commentary for each level just to name a few.

  • Free demo of the entire composition mode available at: http://bitfinitygames.com/composition-mode-demo/

Real player with 21.1 hrs in game

Tadpole Treble on Steam