Is Spin Rhythm XD the next Beat Saber?
Keep the beat
Rhythm games are a tricky nut to crack. So tricky in fact, that when a game manages to do it as successfully as a game like Beat Saber, it becomes difficult for any another game to stand out of its shadow. But while Beat Saber requires you fling your arms around whilst wearing a VR headset, we might just have found a game that lets you find the rhythm while sitting at your desk.
Spin Rhythm XD is all about hand eye-coordination and a knack for, as you might expect, staying on the beat. Reminiscent of something like guitar hero, but with rather more going on (if you can imagine), the game sees players “spin, tap, flick and flow through the juiciest beats in the universe”. From the snippets of songs we hear in the trailer, the beats do indeed sound pretty juicy.
If you’re puzzling over just how you play this game with a keyboard and mouse, do not fear my friend, we were wondering too. With Spin Rhythm the development team aimed for the mechanics to be as fluid as possible, and thats why there are actually relatively few buttons to press as you dance to the beat. Instead the rhythm is controlled by the simple motion of tapping on button or the other, sometimes holding that button for a longer affect, sometimes simply swiping your controller in one direction to the next.
Where exactly you tap is, of course, different according to what kind of controller or keyboard you use, but the mechanics don’t get physically more demanding than that. Mentally it is an entirely different challenge, as the player concentrates on not only the right movement, but also the right beat and the right colour matched using the game’s spinning wheel. You can see what I mean below.
It’s most likely the sort of mechanic that is easier picked up when played than explained. But judging by a lot of first impression reviews it’s absolutely a game thats worth the learning curve. If you’re a fan of Beat Saber, or are addicted to watching Beat Saber videos, this might just be the game for you.
Spin Rhythm XD is out now in Steam Early Access and will be coming to the Nintendo Switch in 2020.