Reviewer: FrankieW
Developer: JMJ Interactive
Publisher: JMJ Interactive
Category: Puzzle, Rhythm
Release Date: 11.29.2018
Price (at time of review): $9.99
Buy Akihabara Feel The Rhythm Remixed from the eShop here.
The Electric Town
I saw Lumines-style puzzle game, I got excited. I saw cute anime girls, I got excited. I saw electronic music, I got excited. I picked the game up and played for a while… and frustration. Akihabara Feel the Rhythm Remixed is a hybrid puzzle/rhythm game in which the puzzle portion of the game is pretty much Lumines, which is already one of my absolute favorite games in the puzzle genre, but where this game seems to falter for me is the rhythm mechanics. Let's get more into exactly what constitutes the gameplay so I can get into what led me to frustration with this title.
Watch the Line!
The puzzle gameplay is very reminiscent of Lumines, in which you get two vertically stacked pieces per drop, and you can switch their position or drop it quicker into the bottom. The goal of this is to match at least 4 or 5 of the same color or symbol (They change visually depending on the song, and the 4 or 5 is dependent on if you are playing on normal or hard) touching in order to make them able to be cleared. During the time you are matching up symbols/colors, you will see a vertical line moving from the left side of the screen to the right. Normally in Lumines, this is what will clear your blocks from the board. In Akihabara however, this is not an automatic feature, and instead is where the game puts the rhythm in its gameplay.
Feel the Beat!
The game intends to have you press the A button in time with the music when the line passes by the cleared blocks, but it took me going into the settings and changing the options to figure out where the sweet spot is in the rhythm aspect. I’ve played plenty of rhythm games in my time, so I didn’t think I would be terrible at it, but here we are, barely able to get a perfect in this one!
When you press the button you get either a bad, good, or perfect. A bad will grant you minimal points and no increase to your score multiplier, which is displayed at the top of the vertical line. Your score multiplier goes down 1x per pass-through of the game board. A good will give you normal points, as well as increasing your score multiplier by 1x, and a perfect will give you maximum score, as well as a 2x increase in your score multiplier. A good or perfect will also increase your supercharger meter, which, when filled, will allow you to drop a block that clears a 3x3 grid around it.
I really think this game needs to improve on how it SHOWS you the rhythm mechanic; what exists now are some very hard to notice squares on cleared blocks that don’t really give you the best visual feedback on when to press the button. Something akin to a beat indicator on the game screen would go FAR for this game, and would eliminate the need for the barely noticeable squares on the blocks. Sometimes the bar moves too quick to even clear sequential horizontal matches on beat, and it feels like the game’s two elements are actively working against each other rather than with each other.
Audio/Video
This game has a few different soundtracks that you can select, you can either pick a single song or enter into a 30-minute campaign mode that will switch songs and backgrounds as you progress and compete for a high score. The visuals are crisp and inviting, while the music is a good listen the whole way through. Personally I prefer the Electric Symphony mix, as it was pretty awesome!
Wrapping up
I really feel this game could have been a real decent 7/10 game if all of its working parts played together nicely, but in its current form, it's a frustrating 5/10 that will have you fumbling around the settings in order to get this game to be engaging and functional as a rhythm game.
Score: 5/10
Buy Akihabara Feel The Rhythm Remixed from the eShop here.
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*Review Code Provided by JMJ Interactive
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