Rock Band 4 won’t be coming out until sometime this holiday season, but that doesn’t mean you have to wait that long to play some great music/rhythm games. Here are 10 of the best to play while you wait for Rock Band 4.
Hatsune Miku Project Diva F and Hatsune Miku Project Diva F 2nd (PS3, Vita)
The Hatsune Miku Project Diva games are some of the best modern rhythm games regardless if you are a fan of vocaloid music. The rhythm game at the heart of Project Diva couldn’t be simpler in concept: you hit button prompts in time with the music to play each note. The secret is in the execution; these games feel remarkably good to play. Both Project Diva games are visually appealing, especially since there is lot of variety in the colorful and well-produced music videos. Its enthusiasm for Hatsune Miku is infectious such that it is almost inevitable to become a fan of Miku as you play through it. The second game is much harder than the first, so I recommend starting with the original if you are a newcomer to the series.
Audiosurf (PC)
Audiosurf may look like Rock Band as you travel down three lanes in a car, but the experience is quite different. Audiosurf takes songs from your music library and lets you race through them on wavy tracks like a roller coaster. You need to guide your car to collect and match three similarly colored blocks in order to get points. There are leaderboards for every track ever uploaded, so you have endless competition to overcome.
Rhythm Heaven (DS) and Rhythm Heaven Fever (Wii)
Both Rhythm Heaven games are brutal in the strict timing they require, but their strange minimalist aesthetics and weird humor pulls you back in. Each game offers dozens of different challenges such as harmonizing with your partners as the third member of a choir, a karate game where you have to punch obstacles thrown at you, and even a guitar game. The controls couldn’t be simpler; there are only three inputs: tapping, holding, and releasing your button or stylus. After you master a set of stages, a remix stage mixes four disparate games together to give you a true challenge.
Crypt of the NecroDancer (PC)
Crypt of the NecroDancer mixes 2D roguelike dungeon crawling with rhythm gameplay. You can only move your character and attack if you time your actions correctly with the beat of the music which becomes increasingly harder as the BPM of songs increase. By bringing back diamonds from the dungeon you can buy permanent upgrades for your character so you will be more successful on your future attempts. In addition to a mouse and keyboard, you can play the game with a controller and even a dance pad if you so choose.
HarmoKnight (3DS eShop)
HarmoKnight looks like an endless runner in that you have to dodge obstacles as they appear before you. Instead of offering randomly generated courses, HarmoKnight offers a series of levels whose obstacles are fixed because by clearing them you are actually playing notes in a song. It’s a fairly easy music game to play; it’s forgiving and you can treat it as more of a platformer if your rhythm game skills aren’t too advanced. If you enjoy HarmoKnight and want more of a challenge, Bit Trip Runner similarly melds platforming and rhythm gameplay in a more complex and difficult (and sometimes more satisfying) way.
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