Kickbeat Review

A game based entirely on the beat, rhythm and tempo of music is far from an unusual concept; Parappa practically coined the genre back in the 90s. There have been imitators, brilliantly inspired games of a similar ilk and of course the various Guitar Hero and Rock Band games that took the genre to lofty new heights. The fad is over, that much is undeniable, but Kickbeat, a plucky little title from Zen Pinball devs Zen Studios, proves that there’s still a little life in the music game scene. It’s an intriguing title that’s likely to turn a few heads, and in terms of originality this scores top marks. While it’s a little lacking in depth as well as overall content, it could be a great, if novel, addition to your library.

The concept is bizarre, although simple in reality. The game, much like any other rhythm title, tasks the player with matching buttons to a series of keys in time with the beat and rhythm of certain songs. The catch here is that the gameplay is blended with a kung-fu presentation; you don’t just lay down beats, you also physically beat down a bunch of henchmen. Pressing the keys in time allows your character, Lee or Mei, to take out one of the various goons that you’ll be battling during the entirety of the track. There are three different types of enemy and four different keys to be pressed, providing plenty of challenge and variety. The standard yellow enemies are your simple one note beats, the blues bring fast combinations of beats, while the reds appear in pairs and require some quick button pressing.

It’s a concept that’s easy to find appealing. If Hollywood has taught us anything, it’s that if there is one thing more awesome than beating up bad guys, it’s beating them up to some quality tunes. There’s a sweet sense of satisfaction to the whole experience; while it’s certainly pleasing to hammer home a great combination of notes on Rock Band, clearing a room full of enemies in Kickbeat is even more exciting. The game revolves around killer moments when you’ve built up a long combo and can really feel the music flowing through your fingers. I’ve been playing the PC version using a keyboard, probably the less satisfying way of playing, and it still manages to feel as though I’m providing the beats to every song, not to mention the chins of my enemies.

The game features a two-part story mode which takes the player through all of the songs included in the game (around 20) and tells the story of a mystical musical orb which powers all of the music in the world... even Justin Bieber. That’s almost a direct quote, by the way, and a perfect example of the less than serious approach Zen have taken to the story of Kickbeat. It’s a good fit to the gameplay and pleasingly humorous at times. The story certainly isn’t enough to actually grab your attention, but it’s a nice addition to the standard play and some well drawn cutscenes make it all worthwhile.

The gameplay itself is fast, fun and simple; although on the harder difficulties and when you first start playing, it can be very, very tricky. There’s a skill involved with watching the movements of the bad guys and anticipating the placement of the next set of notes. In time, you begin to learn how each enemy works and the attack patterns they use. What’s interesting is that there were times when I almost forgot that it was a rhythm game and simply enjoyed kicking the hell out of my opponents. Lee’s animations are cool to watch, although doing so will probably cause a few timing issues. On the other hand there were times when I completely forgot about the kung-fu setting and had to focus entirely on the placement of the four notes. Generally, the more difficult the level was, the less I was interested in the actual kick bit of Kickbeat.

Those songs I mentioned before, 24 of them to be exact, are all well chosen, although some are certainly better than others. As you might expect, a lot of this comes down to personal taste, but if you’re not a fan of electronic-rock/drum and bass then there’s going to be very little to interest you in the core soundtrack. While it is a somewhat limited variety of music, they do fit the gameplay extremely well. Loud bass and varying notes provide frantic levels that are often really enjoyable. It’s more fun with songs you know; the Celldweller version of Propane Nightmares for instance, was by far my favourite choice. A bonus system where you gain extras like more points, health, mana and a shockwave attack bring a bit of variety to the mad gameplay, so even the dullest of songs (of which there are a few) have a bit of life to them.

As you’d expect from a game like this, you can also place your own songs into the mix and play along to them. Unfortunately, Kickbeat features probably the worst ‘personal tunes’ system ever invented. Rather than the game automatically tying the song with the mechanics, the player has to manually insert the tempo by tapping the spacebar along with the beat of the song. For those who aren’t exactly McCartney-esque in their musical ability (myself included), it’s a real pain in the ass. Saying that, even when I got the tempo correct, the game did a really poor job of creating a level based around it. The beats/bad guys were still badly timed and it felt nothing like the collection of original songs. Titles like Beat Hazard have proven that custom music can work perfectly well in games like this, so it’s a real shame that Kickbeat is a failure in this department.

Visually, this is one of the better looking indie titles out there. As is typical with small, cheap games, there’s nothing technically astounding here, but the combination of bright, vibrant lighting and pleasing cartoony visuals make this a pretty game on the whole. Within the first few hours of play you could easily be fooled into thinking that this game is a revelation, a true diamond in the rough. Sadly, the novelty of it begins to wear off towards the end of the first story mode (which actually only lasts around two hours). The second story section is pretty much identical to the first, even down to the same songs, so provides little in the way of replay value. While freeplay and survival modes exist, the lack of original songs makes these modes a bit unnecessary. There’s ultimately not enough content in Kickbeat, and it really hurts the overall quality of the game.

Fact is, though, the gameplay is still brilliant fun. Kickbeat is a great idea that hasn’t been executed to its full potential. Playing the story mode through is a genuinely enjoyable experience and the increasing difficulties provide a bit of extra play time. Despite this, the additional modes and doubled-up story can’t hide the unfortunate lack of songs, while the custom song option only causes more problems. For the low price which Zen is offering Kickbeat, it’s definitely worth a go, just don’t expect to be plugging tonnes of hours into it.