Philip's Rhythm Game Wishlist

On 04/20/2013 at 10:01 PM by daftman

Despite my love for music, I've never played very many music or rhythm games. Not that I haven't played any, of course. I dabbled in the music portion or Mario Paint. I played Rhythm Heaven on the DS (which I had a shockingly difficult time with lol) as well as Elite Beat Agents (one of the best and most original DS games) and Donkey Konga, but I've missed on plenty of good ones over the years. If I ever manage to catch up, these are the games I'd most want to play.

1. PaRappa the Rapper

The granddad of rhythm games (at least in popularity), PaRappa is famous for its unique art style and quirky soundtrack. While not very long (or so I'm told), it's fun and challenging and readily available on PSP (which I didn't know till just now when I looked it up on Amazon). If nothing else, I can play its PS1 sequel, UmJammer Lammy, which was a free game when I first joined PlayStation Plus.

2. Gitaroo Man

I don't even know what this game's about (and Julian's MIA feature only helps a little bit) but it has a real cult following and man, I love me some weird Japanese games now and then.

3. Rez

It's the on rail shooter rhythm game! You play as a computer hacker, um, hacking into a supercomputer and deleting viruses and stuff. I'm not sure about the story and I doubt it matters much because the game has fun gameplay, sweet tunes, and trippy visuals. Tetsuya Mizuguchi's masterpiece has only gotten better with its various rereleases, culminating in the HD release on XBLA...which I would totally download if my Xbox hard drive wasn't tiny

4. Theatrhythm Final Fantasy

This celebration of the Final Fantasy series' music is a no brainer (as I'm sure Carey will agree) and I hope to get it sooner or later. I'd be particularly excited for the tracks for FFVI, my personal favorite in the series.

5. HarmoKnight

I'm most excited for HarmoKnight because of Drill Dozer, a Game Boy Advance game published in 2005 that was developed by Game Freak. HarmoKnight is actually the first non-Pokémon game since DD that Game Freak has developed. Drill Dozer took the tried and true...and somewhat stale...platforming genre and crafted a extremely memorable adventure by using a unique mechanic (drilling) paired with excellent level design. From what I've heard, Game Freak has done something similar with the rhythm genre and I'd love to try it. Makes me wish they would branch out more often.

There are other good rhythm games—heck, I never even put much time into Guitar Hero—but given the choice, these are the ones I'd play

Super Step Contributing Writer

04/21/2013 at 05:46 PM

I'd like to play these as well; didn't realize Harmoknight was made by Pokemon people.

daftman

04/21/2013 at 07:01 PM

Yeah, they don't get out much but when they do, it's a good thing. I suppose that shouldn't be surprising considering the consistent quality of the mainline Pokémon games.

transmet2033

04/22/2013 at 09:08 AM

it is nice to see that you spell your name correctly.

Nick DiMola Director

04/22/2013 at 11:12 AM

If you want to play Rez on the 360 - you have options! Presenting: Qubed.

This collects Every Extend Extra Extreme, Luminues Live, and Rez HD all on one disc. I'm not really sure what it costs these days, but I think I nabbed my copy at Toys R Us for a fiver when it hit the clearance bin.

04/22/2013 at 11:27 AM

Oh my word, I had no idea that existed but it's perfect! Thanks for the heads up, Nick, I will be looking for this

atrophycosine

04/22/2013 at 03:52 PM

I love rhythm games! When I read your list I was excited to see that I've played all of these in one incarnation or another except for HarmoKnight. I've never even heard of that one before.

I've got a few that I really enjoy as well:

Mad Maestro, Frequency, and Amplitude are all excellent rhythm based games for the PS2. If you haven't you should at least give them a try.

04/22/2013 at 04:49 PM

Yeah, there were a lot of rhythm games for the PS2 but I didn't have my own till a couple years, so I missed out on those. Now I just keep an eye out for games like that when I go to used game stores.

HarmoKnight just came out on the 3DS eShop. It sounds really good, so you should try it if you have a 3DS.

PixlBit