Thumper

[spatular]

This is pretty great, it's a rhythm action game, it's a bit like an into-the-screen version of bit trip runner. you know, you have to press the buttons (it only uses the 4 directions and one button) in time with the music and on screen prompts, to get through the course/track thing.

 

the music is i don't know really, i've heard it described as industrial, but it fits in really well with the game.

 

it's hard to play when you're tired, i was on stage 8 for maybe 2 hours last night, got to the boss but was really struggling, had to replay some sections over and over, then more awake this morning i finished off the boss and did stage 9 with less problems. well not completely trouble free, it's a pretty tough game and level 9 is the last level.

 

it's pretty long for a rhythm action game with only 9 levels, each level is quite long, and as above, can take hours first time through (the earlier ones don't take that long), also good job it saves at checkpoints and you can go back to it later. as you get better at it there's less retrying sections, so the levels will be much shorter i guess.

 

i went back to the early levels to try and get better scores, there's quite a lot of depth to that as even though i've finished it i was missing out loads of stuff that you can safely ignore without being punished for. there's some high bars i still don't know how to hit, must be some sort of trick to it - these bars are above the track, so on one of the pad things you press up and x together to jump up to hit them, but you only stay in the air for so long, and some bars are past the point you fall back down...

 

also it's pretty cool in virtual reality, i banged my head trying to look underneath the space beetle. oh yeah you play as some sort of space beetle.

[Craymen Edge]

I played the first level at an expo a year ago, so I knew what I was going to get it day one. I'm 4 levels in, and impressed with how it iterates and adds to the game mechanics each time. 

 

It's really challenging, but never feels impossible (so far). I got stuck halfway through lvl 4 last time , but I feel sure I'll get further next time. I went back to earlier levels yesterday and breezed through the first two.

 

I love the look and sound of the thing, it's like Jeff Minter took all the wrong drugs. It's intense and exhilarating and oppressive at times, I found myself holding my breath through some sections yesterday.  I've never played anything quite like it. 

 

The soundtrack is available to stream or buy from several places, and it's really good, but I'm not sure where I'd listen to it outside of the game.

http://thrilljockey.com/products/thumper-thrill-435

 

It's not always easy to get a quiet moment to take a decent screenshot, but here's a couple I took on steam:

 

[spatular]

 

cool pics!

 

16 hours ago, Craymen Edge said:

It's intense and exhilarating and oppressive at times, I found myself holding my breath through some sections yesterday.

 

i had't really experienced this ^ too much first time through, failing a lot so it's all stop/start, still really enjoyed it mind. but going through some of the stages to try and get better scores today, it was really intense, felt like i was really in the zone despite still missing lots of scoring stuff (but not dying as much). and like a lot of rhythm action games for me, becomes a lot better the more into it/better at it you are - i was enjoying it much more today (despite already really liking it), it's ace

[spatular]

i've been playing this on and off improving my scores and whotnot, still really enjoying it. and today they added a new mode, maybe faster? and no checkpoints, i'm not sure on the details but, new mode! wooo!

[spatular]

played some of the new mode, it's cool, hit pads and you speed up, miss them and you slow down, if you take a hit the only way to get your shell back is to speed up enough. no checkpoints so doubt i'll ever finish the later levels.

 

also now they've added the replay previous checkpoint thing to the psn version i've gone back and s ranked all the levels, not sure it was that fun though, think i prefer going through the levels with as few checkpoint restarts as possible rather than restarting all the time after messing up.

[illdog]

This is pretty fucking good. I bought it on the Switch and ended up playing it for about an hour. I couldn't get those turns at all at first, I died on Level 1-7 about a billion times. Finally I discovered what I was doing wrong and then got throught the rest of the world without too much bother.

 

I'm currently stuck on world 2-5 but that's only because I'm not reacting quick enough. I'll try again tomorrow, see if my brain evolves with some sleep.

[spatular]

cool! how is the HD rumble?

 

oh and you probably already know this but just in case - you don't have to hit left/right in time with the music/corners, you can hold them at any point before the corner. same with the button to smash the barrier things. although hitting the corners at the right time is handy for scoring mind.

[illdog]

Yea, I'm down with the corners now. Turn anytime, you can even hold the A button down so as to make the corners with ease but it's not conducive for S ranks. And I want those S tanks.

 

My only criticism of the game would be that it makes too big a deal of you making a mistake with its explosion of debris and noise. You can get hit only once before you die and restart the level and in a really fast string of obstacles I often die due to getting hit the first time.

 

This one isn't a criticism, more an observation. The background music isn't always your cue to progress. There seems to be more rhythm in the way the obstacles appear, they make their own beat when hit (which does coincide with the background beat) but the background is just intense drum beats, no tune or song so it's no real help. I feel like I could beat the levels just as easy if the background beat wasn't there. Plus the fact there are so many different things to do that it becomes more like Bittrip Runner where everything is visually reactive. I find myself focusing on the background to prepare for the quick turns and jumps.

 

Ive literally just beat Level 2, it was fucking intense. I can see this rivalling Ouendans cheerleader difficulty in terms of concentration needed at the latter end of the game. It certainly feels like the best rhythm game I've played since Ouendan 2.

[spatular]

8 hours ago, illdog said:

My only criticism of the game would be that it makes too big a deal of you making a mistake with its explosion of debris and noise. You can get hit only once before you die and restart the level and in a really fast string of obstacles I often die due to getting hit the first time.

 

yeah, that and when you do a thump-down thing it sort of lags, that got me killed quite a bit too.

 

about getting s-ranks, i believe if you hit every pad on a section, and don't get hit yourself, you'll get an s-rank, but doing extra scoring stuff does help as then you can take a hit and still get an s.  

[radiofloyd]

Played a couple of sessions of this, up to about half-way through level 2. Craymen I can see your high scores as far as level 4, did you ever beat level 5?

 

This game has got one of the best title screens ever. Just beautiful.

 

 

Anyway, I love it so far. I like that you can resume at the specific part of the level you last played.

 

Spatular you should edit this topic to include the Switch and Xbox One as well.

[spatular]

Done

[DisturbedSwan]

So after loving this in one of the PSVR demo discs I finally got round to playing the full game today after I recently picked it up in the sales. Played about 2 hours so far, up to Level 6.

 

And yeah, the demo did a pretty damn good job of showing the game off. I made surprisingly decent progress right up until Level 4 where I begun to have to replay some sections and much of Level 5 I was just holding down X, ignoring all the beats and hoping I would see the walls coming quickly enough to react.

 

It's nigh-on hypnotic at times, I thought that with the demo as well but things get even faster and even crazier as you go forward. You just feel like you're in 'the zone' and riding the crest of the wave like no other game I've experienced, if you mess up then you'll likely completely stumble and have to replay the section again.

 

They seem to introduce some new element every Level which keeps things fresh, I assume as you go on they will come together and you'll have to juggle them all at the same time but it hasn't quite got that mad just yet, but I feel I'm not too far off...

 

Looked at some of @spatular's times in the Leaderboards as well, jesus christ  can't hope to reach those levels unless I practiced non-stop for a month or something  

 

The only real negative I have with it is that when you get damaged there's too much debris on screen and you often have to half-guess which obstacle is next on the road, it can be pretty annoying at times and has cost me a few runs. 

 

But yeah, it's great, like a foreboding, crazy psychedelic roller-coaster ride. 

[Hendo]

Just played through the first 2 worlds on the PC version in VR. Pretty great stuff.

I’m absolutely going to get it but it’s not on sale right now.

Unsure whether I’ll go Switch or PS4 but either way I think headphones will be a must.

 

I don’t think VR is essential though, as you pretty much just stare straight ahead.

[DisturbedSwan]

VR makes the last few levels much easier from what I’ve heard. It’s a great game regardless, I was tempted to buy it on Switch too but have held off for now.

[spatular]

i pretty much only played it in VR so can't really compare, but the sense of scale of the bosses is impressive in VR but that doesn't really affect gameplay, everything's bigger but lower resolution so swings and roundabouts. i think i'd have liked it just as much with or without. i think VR helped me concentrate though as there's nothing to distract during the down time.

 

On 1/5/2018 at 2:12 AM, Blakey said:

Looked at some of @spatular's times in the Leaderboards as well, jesus christ  can't hope to reach those levels unless I practiced non-stop for a month or something  

i was a bit disapointed with the scoring in the end, some of my high scores are from runs going for the s rank trophy, where you can keep restarting checkpoints over and over (not much fun imo), rather than other runs where i was trying to die as little as possible - which i'd hope would result in better scores (they really should), but i was still dying a bit so maybe they still do if you die less, i don't know. it put me off playing any more though - i had already played shed loads before getting to that point mind.

[DisturbedSwan]