BAZOOKA: Rhythm Game Review (PC)

I won’t lie to you, but I have never heard of Romanian hip hop duo BAZOOKA. Though, to be fair, the team that brought said duo to the gaming community has made it abundantly clear that, unless you’re either a Romanian fan or, failing that, an avid archivist who happens to represent hip hop on a global scale, then you probably won’t understand why BAZOOKA needs a rhythm game at all. And yet, I’m willing to bite, because if there’s one thing that I do know, it’s rhythm games. Scratch that — I know color-coded mats and arrow-shaped dance floors. Call it misspent youth.

Chances are, you’ve spent a huge portion of your early teenage years at an arcade. Specifically, on a dance floor of pure neon blues and pinks. Well, if that does ring a bell for you, then it’s highly likely that you’ll feel right at home with BAZOOKA: Rhythm Game. Why? Well because it’s essentially the same thing, only with a backing track that showcases the Romanian duo’s seven albums. Again, I have absolutely no idea who the folks behind BAZOOKA are, but if there are arrows to smack and beats to bang a head against, then I’m all for it. Sure, I’ll come along for the ride, if only for the sake of scratching old childhood habits.

Without trying too hard to burst your bubble, it is worth noting that BAZOOKA: Rhythm Game, despite having its own distinct soundtrack and style, isn’t a new concept. Heck, if anything, it’s a simple rehash of past rhythm-centric experiences, in that it fosters all of the same mechanics and color-coded trappings. Similar to those that have graced the dance floor in the past, you have four arrows, a rolling conveyor belt of button prompts, and a scoreboard that documents your progress and hands you one of several medals after you complete a track. There are three difficulty levels to choose from, and, of course, challenges that fluctuate depending on the mode you opt to take for a quick spin. So, standard rhythm game bits and bobs, then.

Of course, if you enjoy the simple act of hitting nodes on a fretboard or fisting all four keys at the same time for three or four minutes, then I can imagine that you will adore BAZOOKA: Rhythm Game and just about everything that it gracefully brings to the dance floor. Although without any major technical innovations or brain-sweltering visual effects, the game itself does lean into all of the classic aspects of rhythm-based gameplay. Case in point, it keeps to the core principles of an old-school arcade cult favorite, with a familiar tracking system and a four-button interface.

With just four arrows to slap and a generic progress bar to gawp at for three or four minutes at a time, BAZOOKA: Rhythm Game comes across as a pretty easy to jump into on the fly. While the tougher modes offer quicker prompts and more of a learning curve, the process itself always remains the same. You hit the arrows as they fall, and you build up a score before taking home a medal. The difficulty mode goes up, and the same cycle repeats itself, only with different patterns and, well, more things to hit. You get the idea.

While in most rhythm games you usually have a blank fretboard or a static image to work against, BAZOOKA opts to incorporate its own music videos into the mix. It can be a bit of a headache I’ll admit. That being said, if you’re all for the Rock Band-like music videos and playbacks, then it probably won’t bother you all that much. It’s BAZOOKA, too, so you can more or less expect your fair share of controversial pieces, if not in the videos themselves, then in the lyrics. But, that’s a bit of a no brainer, and frankly, something that doesn’t sour the overall mood. Still, it’s worth pointing out that BAZOOKA: Rhythm Game isn’t like your traditional family-friendly color-coded puzzler. It has themes of alcohol and drug abuse, and on several occasions it features lyrics that touch on suicide and various explicit jokes. Again, a no brainer — but it’s worth remembering before you jump into the fray.

Suffice it to say that, if you are familiar with arcade rhythm games, then it’s highly unlikely that you’ll find anything fresh or exciting to unearth in BAZOOKA. If you’re a fan of the duo, however, then you might just be able to get your money’s worth out of it. With a rather hefty collection of tracks (just under thirty) and “more” in the pipeline, fans of the duo ought to rejoice in the fact that the game is about as close to a front row seat to the full discography as you can get at the time of writing. As for whether or not BAZOOKA will keep to their promise and introduce more tracks to the catalog is another question. Either way, a fresh lick of paint and a second helping of songs will go a long way. Or at least, I’d like to believe that it will.

Verdict

BAZOOKA: Rhythm Game is the ideal treat for fans of the Romanian duo, though not as much for the casual listener who has little interest in the discography. Even still, newcomers to the artist might be in for a surprise here, especially if said newcomers happen to share an undying love of hip hop and old-school rhythm affairs with familiar gameplay elements and button-mashing exercises. Granted, it isn’t the best ode to rhythm battlers in the genre, but it certainly leans into all of the necessary aspects to get the job done — and that’s what matters most here. It might not be beautiful, but it serves its purpose, at least.

While I can’t say that I’ve suddenly grown a newfound love for BAZOOKA and its art, I can appreciate its efforts to wrangle the gaming world and infuse its own ideas with traditional facets. It’s unlikely that I’ll be back to explore its future releases, but that isn’t to say that you won’t, either. Swings and roundabouts, really.