Review: Beat Blasters III

Welcome to Accapella! When Joey and Gina arrive in the musically starved town that outlawed groovy tunes, a chance encounter with the music hating tyrannical ruler of the town (and local butcher) sends them flying.

Pros:

• Bright artsy graphics with a heavy cartoon influence.
• Full pad support and to be honest, The only way to play the game.
• Platformer with an emphasis on music. Use music to shoot,protect and fly around the levels.
• Two characters to pick from, a girl and a boy who both have different weapons to use.
• Using your powers will deplete your “magic juice” (yep magic juice, Not the official name but he who dares) and to build it back up you press RB to go into rhythm mode, Here you must press the corresponding button to the one you want to refill, and then press the button in tune to the music. Doing so in continuous actions will trigger a combo.
• Loads of levels with bright beautiful backdrops. Various locations bring a certain charm to it all.
• Three difficulty levels: Easy, normal and insane. Insane is locked at the start and must be unlocked.
• Finishing a level will be given a rating based on a 3 star system.
• Stars are used to unlock new powers. Stars are attached to each character.
• The game can go from a manageable speed to absolutely mental in a flick of an eye. Levels mix up the style several times in a level. One minute you could be protecting someone then next you will be shooting bombs.
• Levels are quite bite sized in terms of length, This doesn’t mean its easy, Oh no! It just means a lot is going to happen in a small amount of time.
• Boss battles are a thing and are cleverly done. Usually involving you to mix up your abilities, Players will need to work out the best way to 3 star and beat the boss.
• The music, Might not be for everyone but the electronic funk it expels may be right up your street.
• A real pick up and play type of game, Controls are easy to remember and the story whilst a bit bland is entertaining enough to give you purpose.
• You can replay levels at any point and switch characters from the world map.

Cons:

• Animation is very basic and stiff, The characters have no real animation to speak off minus arms flailing around a bit. Enemies have the same animation and don’t look different enough.
• Rhythm mode is ok for the most part but in the heat of the battle, Can be hard to use for both timing and registering button presses.
• The game is not very flowing, It just goes erratic from calm blue ocean to ferocious lava floods.

In Summary, The game is not bad for what it is. I personally didnt like it and found it to be an average game with a new mechanic being shoe horned into it. Take out the rhythm part and the game is really basic and nothing really new. Add it and it does improve it but it just always comes off as a bit clumsy. Maybe its just not my cup of tea so I just cannot get my head around it. For everyone else you will probably fair a bit better. I mean the game does mix it up a lot and variety is the spice of life and all. A lot of the time you will use your powers in interesting ways so its not all doom and gloom. Take away my experience and thoughts and approach the game knowing it does try to be different, and has a decent stab at it.