Game Review: Thumper (Nintendo Switch)

retro-room (63)in #gaming • 8 years ago

Rhythm games have been a popular genre since the Playstation era, when titles like PaRappa The Rapper and Dance Dance Revolution were popularized. These types of games have been around in different forms every since, with entries like Donkey Konga and Elite Beat Agents keeping fans happy. A title caught my eye recently that I finally decided to pick up and try. My physical-game loving self had to try hard to make the purchase from the Switch eshop, but that was the only way to play this game.

Let’s take a look at Thumper.

^{Image Source: Thumpergame.com}

Thumper is as pure of a rhythm game as you can get. You control a beetle-shaped pod that screams down a single-slotted track. You cannot turn, speed up or slow down. The only actions you’re given are hitting your pulse on the beat markers, powering over energy ‘speed bumps’, bouncing right or left off glowing banks and boosting through spine-infested sections of the track.

If you miss a turn, hit a speed bump or drive through spikes, your pod takes damage and your shiny outer shell is shattered. A second hit will destroy your pod, so there is very little room for error in this game. You’ll end up replaying sections over and over until you get the timing and rhythm memorized. Thankfully you can regain your outer shell by performing certain sequences with precision.

^{Image Source: Thumpergame.com}

The game is divided into 9 levels with as many as 30 stages within each level. Each stage is a rhythm sequence you need to survive without crashing, which puts you back at the start of the current stage when your beetle pod explodes. The game starts very simply, but the complexity of the rhythms increases as you progress through the game.

Every few levels, you’ll encounter a boss that you have to defeat to proceed. These work differently than the stages where survival is the only goal. To defeat a boss, you have to perfectly execute the rhythms thrown at you, and you’ll be rewarded with a missile you can fire at the boss after a section is completed. Miss a beat and the current rhythm sequence will start over. Bosses take 4-5 missiles to defeat, so they’re much harder than the normal stages. Each level ends with a boss encounter, as should be expected.

^{Image Source: Thumpergame.com}

Your performance is scored based on how many beats you hit perfectly, score multipliers and other factors. You can replay levels to increase your personal best or check your scores against the online leaderboards if you want to feel bad about yourself ;)

The gameplay in Thumper is tight and lightning fast, with tight rhythms that nearly feel like you’re really connected with the game. Its extremely difficult, but very rewarding and a lot of fun. I found myself settling into ‘the zone’ on occasion where I felt like I was slipping deeper into the game. I love the game and highly recommend it to fans of the rhythm game genre.

^{Image Source: Thumpergame.com}

Thumper is a beautiful game, a visual feast of shiny chrome and glowing neon environments. The graphics are very slick and effects are rendered in eye-melting spasms of light and colors. The stages are dark, moody and minimalistic and feel like you’re flying through an early 90’s computer animation demo, with obviously much higher quality and detail. There’s not in the much in the way of graphics beyond your pod, the track and the effects, but what is here is gorgeous.

With music being the crux of the experience, its a wonderful and dark symphony of moody electronic tracks. The music really has a cinematic “thumping” quality to it, which helps you time your movements to the beat of the music. If the game failed on this aspect, the whole game would be a failure. Thankfully, they nailed it.

^{Image Source: Thumpergame.com}

While certainly not for everyone, Thumper is a unique experience. The game perfectly nails what it sets out to accomplish. Its not deep or though-provoking. Its simply a pure gaming experience that feels more like a modern arcade-style game than a modern console title. If you enjoy rhythm games and challenges, I’d highly recommend Thumper. If you want a deeper experience or your reflexes lack refinement, I’d pass it up.