Author Topic: Beatbuddy Hands-on Preview  (Read 1426 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Daan

  • NWR Staff
  • Score: 10
    • View Profile
Beatbuddy Hands-on Preview
« on: August 17, 2014, 10:31:27 AM »

Keep yourself in line with the music and move through this adventure!

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/hands-on-preview/38302/beatbuddy-hands-on-preview

One of the more surprising announcements for the Wii U eShop was Beatbuddy: Tale of the Guardians. This musical platformer was showcased for the first time during Gamescom 2014 and in some areas that kind of shows.

While most platformers can easily be played without any music, this is not the case with Beatbuddy. The player needs to interact with the game's components with the rhythm of the music and move along with the beat. The puzzles and overall flow are stitched to the music and it is hard to see the game played any other way. In the couple of minutes of what we played, we quickly found ourselves bopping our heads along and making every move quite carefully. What certainly helps is that the music was quite delightful and became more upbeat as we went along.

The enemies will add some of their own elements to the background track and silencing them will trigger something in the world around you. Other enemies, for example, are less likely to come out and play. This clears the passageways for secrets, or elements that you need to drag to a certain spot in the level. Bumping into drums will fling yourself into rougher obstacles and will make way for some quick percussion beats. Developer Threaks from Hamburg did an incredible job wrapping it all together and I would love to see what the game does beyond the initial two demo levels.

The platforming felt really solid as well and moving around Beat, the main character, felt simple and fun. Beat flew through the stages and that made the experience quite different. He had two simple moves at his disposal and this kept the levels mostly straightforward. Overcomplication can easily reign supreme particularly if a game lasts too long, so it will be intriguing to see how Beatbuddy keeps things fresh. The visuals were fresh, though, and they were crafted with a ton of love. It was a colorful and bright spectacle that was fun to behold. The only current problem with the Wii U version  is the framerate. It was quite janky overall and it would be a big shame if this would carry over to the final release.

We have seen very little of Beatbuddy: Tale of the Guardians to make a final judgment call, but the first signs are positive. The game is wrapped in a wonderful aesthetic that is fun to look at, and the music gives it all an additional punch. It helps that Beatbuddy was fun to play, but the framerate really needs improvement. As of now they have until March 2015, the scheduled time for Beatbuddy to appear on the Wii U eShop, to make it all work.