Old arcade music and pretty colors abound in this mediocre rhythm game - Granted, it’s still better than Fantavision.
The concept seems simple enough, especially if you’re a rhythm game aficionado, however there are a few strange twists to the gameplay, for better or worse, that make Technic Beat stand out. The playing field is a simple translucent rectangle on which your character runs around. Suddenly, through the miracle of Game Magic, colored circles begin to appear at random points on the ground! The object is to stand inside of the circle and tap the action button at the precise moment it flashes – and not a second too soon or too late. Upon doing so correctly, a missing note or chord in the selected song will play back. But there’s no time to jam out, son! You’ve barely got a moment before circles on the other side of the screen materialize, and missing even one can send you to the deepest bowels of…. Well, rhythm game mediocrity, I suppose.
There’s a combination system at play here as well. If a circle you activate is touching another circle when it is activated, all of those circles become activated. Some of the playable characters can even pick up circles and carry them around, so you can, in theory, create gigantic circle combos. Unfortunately this mechanic doesn’t live up to its potential. Only a handful of songs seem specifically designed to exploit massive combinations. A majority of the songs have the player simply going through the motions running around and activating circles as they appear.
Once you learn which songs have the best combo potential, it really begins to compromise the song selection. If you’re going for a high score and you’ve only got four or five songs in which to do it, then it’s pretty obvious which songs you should play to blow away the averages. Unlike most rhythm games where score seems to correlate closely with difficulty, that simply isn’t the case in Technic Beat. Some of the highest scoring songs are also the easiest.
There are several different modes to play in besides the standard mode. There’s a challenge mode that requires you to meet specific goals for a short song (for instance, finish a song with the controls reversed while drunk and blindfolded while your wife is screaming at you to take out the trash). Needless to say, fun lets way to frustration quickly. Completing these challenges unlocks new character colors, which is hardly worth the inches of fuse your internal bomb is equipped with.
There’s also a Sudden Death mode that challenges you to beat every song, in order, without missing a single note. Once a note is botched, the mode immediately ends and you need to start over or quit. Unless you’re some sort of dubious gaming maniac with a master’s degree in Freakin’ Awesomeness, this is simply impossible. And if you do have that degree, I apologize in advance.
The multiplayer is good for laughs in the same sadistic terror that Battletoads was fun to play in pairs. Even the cooperative play mechanics lend themselves to blatant mischief as you steal circles from your partner only to watch notes and combos miss left and right. Without a doubt, if you’re looking to destroy a battle-hardened friendship or dump a troublesome significant other, invite them over for a round of Technic Beat. You’ll be screaming bloody murder in no time!
There is one upside that will make or break the experience – the soundtrack. Technic Beat includes a ton of remixed tunes from old Namco games, including many that never saw the light of day in the good ol’ US of A. There’s a seriously rockworthy rendition of Pacmania in there that will get your power pellets in a bunch. Granted, if you’re not into video game music, you’ll probably want to pass.
Technic Beat isn't a bad game, and I’ve found many moments of delight from its psychedelic presentation and its original game mechanics. The main pressing issue I find with Technic Beat each time I play is its apparent pointlessness. Unlike physical rhythm games like Dance Dance Revolution or Guitar Hero, where you can improve your skill and impress your friends, there’s just no wow factor at all in Technic Beat. You sit there, you watch the pretty colors, you listen to some arcade music that’s a decade old, and then you reflect on the experience. Granted, it’s still better than Fantavision.