Super Crazy Rhythm Castle Review

Rhythm-music games have always been a genre that I have been a fan of. Games like Guitar Hero on the Wii and Rock Band got me hooked on the musical genre. Since we haven’t seen anything from these game series in years, I am always on the lookout for some good rhythm-based titles. SUPER CRAZY RHYTHM CASTLE looked to have the music gameplay that I craved, but it was unlike any title that I had tried before, so I knew this was a title I had to try.

SUPER CRAZY RHYTHM CASTLE is a chaotic rhythm adventure that you can play on your own or recruit up to three other friends, online or locally, to conquer all the music-based puzzles inside the castle. It will require a lot of thinking outside the box to successfully complete the music challenges where you are constantly being harassed by the crazy king who is trying to sabotage you by putting challenges in your way.

When you begin playing, you get to select a character from the four available: B-Box, a super cute boombox-headed character who had gotten a letter summoning all the bumblebees to Rhythm Castle (though the letter was supposed to go to his neighbour Clive). Trinity, an animal lover with few friends and fewer limbs due to an explosion in the demon world, found both of what she was missing. Jingle is a magpie who is willing to play along with the music as long as he has a chance to win the shiny crown, and Mike, who is the Ministry of Music’s top detective, will get to the bottom of any noisy shenanigans going on.

Once you decide who to play, you start your journey with your character sitting on a path made of keyboard keys. As you walk around, the corresponding musical note will play for the key you step on. This is really cool and reminds me of the massive keyboard that Tom Hanks plays by stepping on in the movie Big. As you follow the path to your destination, piano music accompanies you, matching how fast or slow you are walking. You learn that many people have come to Rhythm Castle to challenge the king; it’s been 10 years, and no one has successfully beaten him. The game has you play a music game to unlock the door. There are three bars that will have you hitting the corresponding keys at the right time to hit the notes, but this is the only thing you need to do. At the same time, blocks are falling onto the board from the ceiling, so these will have to be cleaned up before you can progress by putting them into the chute that matches your colour.

The king claims that you want his crown, so he drops the floor out from underneath you, and you drop down to the undergrowth. Upon arriving, you meet Eggar the egg, who will assist you on your journey to defeat the king. At this point, if you have any other friends who want to jump in and play along, they can. Though they can jump out at any point and you can continue on your way, they are not forced to play to progress. As you make your way to the top floor of the castle, there are a variety of rooms where you will have to challenge rhythm games and solve the puzzles in your way. SUPER CRAZY RHYTHM CASTLE has two different difficulty levels to select from regular, where there are three lines where notes can appear and a simpler pattern with fewer commands, or Pro, which has four lines and a more complex pattern with more notes to hit. This can be changed at any time by visiting the cardboard box that looks like a computer. I started with the regular setting as the game gets quite challenging very fast with the added puzzles to solve alongside the rhythm game.

At times, it seems incredibly hard to pass a level, but chances are there is a trick that you are required to figure out to successfully pass the challenge. Like in the first challenge, if a key appears while you are busy playing music, you will need to jump off the dock, pick up the key before it disappears, and unlock the padlock on the door. Once you have that done, you will need to finish the song. If I was having issues when playing solo, I would ask someone to play along with me to help beat the level, as they may see the solution that I was unable to spot.

The visuals in SUPER CRAZY RHYTHM CASTLE are great, especially the rubber hose animation style. Travelling along the paths to get to the top of the castle was fun and full of variety. The puzzles you challenge are never the same; even the bars of music can be curved or circular, making hitting the notes more tricky than if they were falling straight down towards you. The game is full of creativity and always keeps you on your toes, so it never gets boring as it is always changing. The story is full of humour and constantly makes me smile; plus who doesn’t love getting a hand dog from the king to help you out when you don’t have friends to play with? Apparently, it’s pretty sad to try playing solo!

The soundtrack in the game features all original music, so it’s not like other rhythm games that you may have played in the past. I am happy to report that all the songs are super catchy, and there is a huge variety of tracks spanning many different genres. If you fail one of the musical challenges, you will have to replay that song again until you successfully complete it. Fortunately, I was never stuck on a level long enough to get annoyed with the music. Once you try the song a couple of times, you will have an idea of how the notes go and will have an easier time finishing it successfully.

SUPER CRAZY RHYTHM CASTLE is a really fun game, whether you play it on your own or with friends. At times it gets very challenging, but try to think outside the box and remember that you don’t only have to concentrate on playing the music; there is probably something that you are overlooking. Playing along with your friends gives this title a “Mario Party of Rhythm Games” feel and has tonnes of replayability as you not only challenge the story but each other as you try to get the best score. Each level that you play has three stars that you can earn. If you don’t do well on the first playthrough, you can always go back and challenge it again if you think that you can improve your performance. This is a unique title that must be played. I’ve been having a great time with it, and I think you will too!