SUPER CRAZY RHYTHM CASTLE was the surprise takeaway for me when Konami invited CGM out to New York a few months ago. But the difference between playing with strangers and playing with someone else who is obsessed with rhythm games is massive.
SUPER CRAZY RHYTHM CASTLE follows a group of beings who dare to take on the long-time ruler of the kingdom, King Ferdinand. He has been ruling the kingdom with an iron fist, and through humorous and, at times, long-winded and superfluous speeches and levels, our band of heroes is here to return things to their natural order. The story is more meant as a delivery mechanism for the hilarity that is constantly thrown at the player.
While it doesn’t really move the needle in the story department, it does lay the groundwork for some seriously hilarious moments, like when you have to save the meats from their spicy cheese overlord in a rhythmic battle that ends in a wild culmination of previous meat levels. Or when you are throwing beans into an ancient summoning ritual that you were only allowed to observe because you brought the most heavy metal item to the cultists guarding the door…Weed Killer.
It’s often unhinged, which helps play into the absolute absurdity that takes place during each stage. While SUPER CRAZY RHYTHM CASTLE does a primarily decent job at leading the player slowly to more mayhem, there is a borderline unfair skill wall check that I don’t understand how it would be possible to beat with just a singular person.
There is up to four-player coop, and with more people on board, it would make the insane amount of multitasking much more manageable. There were times when there were just two of us, and the tasks seemed almost impossible. But, during the opening levels, when you are simply sorting shapes out or feeding broccoli to a summoning circle, things are smooth, fun, and engaging.
“The soundtrack in SUPER CRAZY RHYTHM CASTLE is fantastic and really shows an impressive range when it comes to genres.”
It’s the later levels that have a more significant issue with the amount of multitasking you need to juggle while still maintaining the rhythm in SUPER CRAZY RHYTHM CASTLE that it becomes a problem. Numerous times during play, we would fail levels simply because we did not have the rules of certain levels explained well enough or focused too much on the other issues popping up in the level rather than playing the music.
There is a definite balance that you have to maintain, but when you are given a time limit to mix three ingredients, play a beat to make those ingredients appear, then put them in specific slots, all while the rhythm and timer are still going it can become overwhelming and quickly.
But, the most significant issue I have with SUPER CRAZY RHYTHM CASTLE is when the action comes to a halt so you can deal with distractions on the screen. There is one in particular that was incredibly rough. We were playing a Rap Metal song to have someone montage through being able to complete a task, and just when the song was getting good and we were getting into a rhythm, everything would stop so we could go pick their cat up, or so we could get their dinner bell back.
Fast forward three minutes into the some, and it would halt so we could ring said dinner bell and then guide people through cannon balls being fired at them, only to have the song resume immediately mid note, so not only would it jolt you back in, but in some cases cause you to miss held notes even if you had hit them correctly before the song stopped.
There also came a part way late in the campaign when it seemed impossible to beat. We had to take multiple days trying to beat a certain honey section, and I can say that if it hadn’t been for me reviewing it, I would have put it down and left it in the rearview.
When SUPER CRAZY RHYTHM CASTLE was previewed to me a few months ago, I couldn’t hear the music that well, but I had assumed it was song throwbacks to old Konami songs, which I was all for. Little did I know there was going to be a smorgasbord board of licensed songs.
The soundtrack in SUPER CRAZY RHYTHM CASTLE is fantastic and really shows an impressive range when it comes to genres. This is where the game is easily the strongest, and I look forward to when they release the full-track listing. I can go make a SUPER CRAZY RHYTHM CASTLE playlist on Spotify.
SUPER CRAZY RHYTHM CASTLE is a mishmash of not only genres but gameplay mechanics. I will say it rarely reuses mechanics, and all the levels are incredibly unique. Nothing like this is something I’ve seen before, especially in a rhythm game. But, more so, in the later levels, the amount of things that are asked of the player to multitask becomes too overwhelming. I am not sure I would have been able to beat this game alone. So, if you have a group of people interested, absolutely pick this one up, but if you are looking for a rhythm game to play by yourself, look elsewhere.
