QCF: Orgarhythm

You guys know me. I’m not one to just throw words like "funky" around. It’s something that has to be earned. That being said, Orgarhythm is funky as HELL.

As the God of Light, you combat the minions of the God of Darkness with the power of your troops and their funky beats. The God of Light struts across the world and commands his followers with rhythmic taps in a mixture of real time strategy and rhythm game. Each of your men are one of three colors: red, blue or yellow. These colors work in a Rock-Paper-Scissors order that denotes what is weak to what. If an enemy has a red health bar, throws some blue guys at it; same for yellow against blue and red to yellow.

You deploy your men with a series of rhythmic taps. First, select the God in time with the beat, followed by what color, then what kind of attack. The quicker and more in time with the beat you execute this, the quicker your team will level up. Leveling up means more dudes of each color on your team, and that means you have more dudes to attack enemies. Some attacks -- like the boulder catapult -- require a few guys, so a bigger team is necessary to pull it off. After selecting your color and attack, you’ll swipe where your followers need to go to accomplish whatever you need them to do. Feedback is given when you hit an icon regarding how in time it was in the form of the words, "bad," "good," or "excellent" appearing on the screen. Basic rhythm game stuff.

Every color has the choice between three attacks: Close combat, ranged with bows and arrows, and heavy ranged with the catapult. Each of these attacks is used for specific situations depending on what sort of terrain the enemy is on. If they’re out of reach, hit them with an arrow or two. Specific situational attacks really add to the difficulty of trying to tap out your commands quickly. The God also has his own abilities like buffing or healing your infantry. Occasionally he can attack, but otherwise is completely vulnerable to enemies unless his men can stop them in time. There can be a lot to remember in terms of the controls, even if they’re based on something as simple as tapping and swiping. Luckily, Orgarhythm has this nifty, optional tutorial. Every thing you need to know has its own entry in the tutorial, that can be referred to at any time. It makes it very easy to remember and master simple and difficult combos. My problem wasn’t with remembering how to pull off these movies, but with the actual execution.

See, I have what the Robot Devil would call, “Stupid fingers.”  I was able to truck through the early levels pretty well, but as the game got more difficult, the less confident I got in my sense of rhythm. Music games were never my forte. At a certain point I just hit an impassable wall of frustration. This has always happened in rhythm games from Parappa the Rapper to Space Channel 5 to Rock Band. Mastering jumping and shooting is one thing, but rhythm seems to be a talent that is lost to me. But if you’ve got the music in you, Orgarhythm will be your game. Did I say it was funky? Because Orgarhythm is funky. Your God struts along like an all-powerful pimp as his followers dance behind him waiting to attack. The trippy, colorful graphics, funky tunes and desert environments make Orgarhythm feel like Burning Man: the game. As you raise your level and consistently keep the beat going, more tracks overlay onto the background music. More and stronger followers is one boon to progressing in the game, but better music actually makes it more fun to play as well.

Orgarhythm’s campaign consists of twelve maps that can be played single-player and two-player in co-op and versus modes. At the end of each level you’re graded by your performance adding to the game’s replay value. With only twelve levels it’ll seem short at first, but if you’re into rhythm games, the multiplayer and leaderboards will keep you coming back.

Orgarhythm isn’t much to look at, but that isn’t really what you’re here for, right? The soundtrack is fantastic. Every rhythm game needs good music and Orgarhythm brings it. After a few levels, some of the songs start to run together, though. When I think of the best music-based games, each segment has its own personality, like every one of Parappa’s levels. Every level in Orgarhythm plays and looks very similar. I even had a difficult time telling my troops apart from the enemies. The kind of bland visuals and slightly repetitive music keep Orgarhythm from having it’s own defined personality. The rhythm games that have stood the test of time like Parappa and Space Channel 5 are dripping with style and personality, while I’m afraid Orgarhythm may end up being a bit forgettable. It doesn’t help that it plays almost exactly like a 3D Patapon, which in the end is a much better game. But, Orgarhythm is still totally worth your time.

If you’re into music-based games and can actually play them without wanting to tear your face off, definitely check out Orgarhythm. The visuals aren’t much, but the soundtrack is what you should really focus on. Tight controls also make it well worth playing. Plus, not counting the downloadable Patapon PSP games from PSN, this is really your only option for a music-based game on the Vita right now.