Boom Beats (Minis)
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PSP
| Boom Beats

Rhythm is primal. An intrinsic response to repetition that comes naturally even to those with two left feet; indeed, we remain alive only because of one rather important internal beat.

Pacing, though, is subtly different, bound less to regularity than it is to contrast. It’s a skill that has to be learned, but one that Gamelion Studios hasn’t quite mastered in its rhythm-action mini, Boom Beats.

The game takes its inspiration from Dance Dance Revolution, players matching four ascending icons with their corresponding buttons - in this case mapped to ‘up’ and ‘left’ on the D-pad, and the ‘triangle’ and ‘circle’ facia buttons – as they reach the top of the screen.

But where DDR’s simplicity was buoyed by the delirious fun of jumping around, Boom Beats’ distillation of the concept betrays its prosaic mechanics.

De-pressing

This needn’t be disastrous, of course, as Tapulous demonstrated so effectively with Tap Tap Revenge. But that game didn’t have the PSP’s spongy buttons to sap its snap, nor did its designers impose a remarkably unintuitive control scheme on players.

While on paper, Gamelion’s chosen layout sounds reasonable, pressing ‘circle’ and ‘triangle’ (or the D-pad’s equivalents) together on the beat is uncomfortable.

Moreover, the developer’s decision to represent ‘up’ and ‘triangle’ as colour-coded, but ostensibly similar, equilaterals on-screen is mind-boggling - this reviewer’s PSP nearly sailed out of a window after one too many mix ups.

Off vogue

To Gamelion’s credit, the dynamic, if somewhat gaudy, backgrounds and particle effects are polished, and the addition of the Boom Effect (see tips below) and multipliers for strings of successfully matched beats adds a welcome jeopardy to proceedings, encouraging high-scoring and adding replayability.

The short length of the songs, too, is well-judged for a portable platform – though the unyielding onslaught of house, drum & bass, dubstep and jungle will not be to everyone’s taste.

However, the jump from easy to medium difficulty is Boom Beats’ biggest faux pas, switching from polite-but-dull to migraine-inducing intensity in the flick of an option. Hard is the preserve of sentient drum machines only.

It’s this lack of genuine middle ground that damages what little charm the game possessed, instead reducing it to a clinical exercise in rote-learning. If music be the food of love, Boom Beats will quickly extinguish your appetite.

Boom Beats (Minis)

Some elementary design mistakes and a highly specialised soundtrack result Boom Beats feeling metronomic, not soulful
Score
Ben Maxwell
Ben Maxwell
Ben is an eager young games journalist who, when touring with his band, happily replaces sex, drugs, and rock & roll with Advance Wars, Drop7, rock, and Rolando...