I remember the first time I looked into a kaleidoscope as a kid, it was so strange and disarming to me that I threw up a little bit, and then it was confiscated by my parents. Sad, but probably for the best. It’s a memory that I pushed so far down I’d almost entirely forgotten about it, until I played Hyperbeat.
It lives up to the claim that it’s “A rhythm game like no other”. Instead of being set in a static environment, the notes fly towards you, each indicating whether you need to slash, ride, or avoid them. It’s set in something called the jungle, which is essentially just a black and white tube in which you can manoeuvre to hit the notes.
It’s a cool concept that works well almost all of the time. The exception being when the song gets chaotic and tons of different coloured notes start to fly towards you as you race through the tube at high speed: things start to get nauseous. I had to take a break to look at a distant tree out my window, just to stop me from seeing my lunch again.
Hyperbeat’s UI is also a little messy, as it tries to emulate low-poly games of old. While that works to make a stunning aesthetic, the UI definitely takes some getting used to as it’s not very intuitive, and at first glance, during a run, there just seem to be loads of random lines, numbers, and words scattered around the screen.
There is an option to turn off the outer rim of the tube, which I’ve found does go some way to helping, as it makes the run less tunnel-visioned. But even still, taking the time to adjust is certainly worth it, because there’s a lot to love about this rhythm game.
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There are only four songs available to play in the demo right now, but each one is fantastic. They aren’t just catchy, which is a bonus for sure, but the actions all line up with the song so well.
Now I know that should be the bare minimum for a rhythm game, but that’s not necessarily the case for a lot of games out there. Playing a map where the beat doesn’t line up with the notes is such a pet peeve of mine. It’s an issue which is quite prevalent in games that have player-made maps, like Osu.
While the majority of player-made maps are great, some are far better than others, and there’s no guarantee that the song will actually work in alignment with the run layout. It can feel like you’re being put at an unfair disadvantage, which sucks when all you want to do is have fun and enjoy the music. So I’m really happy that this isn’t the case for Hyperbeat, and it bodes well for future maps.
Otherwise, Hyperbeat shows a lot of promise; there’s still just a short demo available to play, and with it set to release some time later this year, the issues with the UI are hopefully something that’ll get worked out down the line, or maybe it’s just something that I’ll get used to. Who knows, I may even be able to look at a kaleidoscope again without feeling ill.
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