Imagine having seasoned video game developers as personal gaming consultants. That’s what I’m giving you, with the help of the amazing Brace Yourself Games (BYG) team, the developers behind Crypt of the NecroDancer and Cadence of Hyrule.
We talked about their favorite rhythm games. The list includes released titles and some with demos on Steam. I've added my own notes if I’ve played the game, since I love rhythm and music.
But the real stars, the Crypt of the NecroDancer developers, not only took the time to give you their top picks for the genre. They also shared exclusive details about the franchise's future and explained how Soulslikes and RuneScape can be considered rhythm games.
Here are the NecroDancer team's favorite rhythm games.
Kill the Music
- From Alexa Schiess (QA Manager)
"Kill the Music is coming out this week, and the demo has been really fun," Alexa told Destructoid. "It's Vampire Survivors to the beat, so it satisfies the roguelike and gradual upgrade itch."
Kill the Music was released on Aug. 21, a day after Alexa's recommendation, with 92% positive Steam reviews. You can play with characters that have different instruments, like bass, drums, or a keytar.
If you can go to arcades, she gives honorable mentions to Mai Mai and Polaris Chord.
Yoiyami Dancers
- From Adrian Zeyfang (Lead Developer)
"[In Yoiyami Dancers] you move around on a grid to the rhythm of each level's song with a fixed BPM for each song, dodging tons of bullets and shooting enemies by moving towards them, which also all move to the rhythm," Adrian said. "Very Crypt-like, minus the roguelike elements. It also lists BYG in the Special Thanks of its credits! Huge recommendation from me, I genuinely love the game."
Spin Rhythm XD
- Skye Climenhaga (Associate Game Designer)
"This is like picking a favorite child, but if I have to pick one, I'd recommend Spin Rhythm XD," Skye said. "I feel like it's probably one of the more accessible rhythm games. You can play it with a keyboard & mouse pretty well, and even if you don't love the electronic/dubstep theme for the music, there are a lot of community charts too. It feels like a great entry point for more traditional rhythm games."
Skye, that's a fire recommendation. I've logged six hours of Spin Rhythm XD and love it. If you, reader, own a Steam Deck, playing this game on the trackpads is extremely fun.
Other honorable mentions from Skye are vivid/stasis, UNBEATABLE, Ongeki, Groove Coaster, Jubeat, Vib-Ribbon, Gitaroo Man, and PaRappa the Rapper.
Rhythm Heaven
- Marlon Wiebe (Game Designer)
"Tough choice, but gotta go with the Rhythm Heaven series," Marlon said. "I just love how silly it is. Every new minigame is a delight, and it always feels so tightly designed with the music. I mean, what other game could make a satisfying rhythm game out of plucking hairs from an onion? Or high-fiving monkeys on a clock face? Or interviewing a wrestler? Brilliant!"
If I had a penny for how often I thought I was killing it in Rhythm Heaven but was "Just... OK," I'd have enough money to buy a Switch 2 and play the new Rhythm Heaven Groove next year. Until then, the game is only on the Nintendo DS and 3DS. I second Marlon's recommendation.
Hi-Fi Rush
- Madeleine Gray (Communications Director)
"[Hi-Fi Rush] is so stylish, funny, and charming," Madeleine tells us. "It does a really good job of making the action to the beat feel fun and in-sync without ever feeling like you're fighting against your button-mashing instincts."
The incredible launch of Hi-Fi Rush was surprising, but not as much as its death by layoffs a few months after the game released to an amazing reception from critics and, more importantly, players. The game's IP is seemingly safe now in the hands of KRAFTON, and hopefully, we can see a sequel or spinoff of what I'd consider the best rhythm game of the decade.
Madeleine has honorable mentions, too: "UNBEATABLE is definitely one to look out for. The demo is so fun, and the tag line gets me hyped every time. A game where music is illegal and you do crimes??? Sign me up!"
Now that you have this curated list of rhythm games, there’s no excuse not to try at least one soon. As for me, my backlog just grew.
The post Rhythm game experts prove genre is alive and well, list 5 titles you must play appeared first on Destructoid.
