![rhythm doctor newgrounds rhythm doctor newgrounds](https://art.ngfiles.com/images/1861000/1861547_granatesof_ha-ha.png)
I don’t quite remember what sent me down this path, but earlier this month, I stumbled across Rhythm Doctor. So, yes, there were swells, but for the most part, they passed me by. I tried it, sure, but… well, frankly, I was inclined to dislike it from the start. Friday Night Funkin seemed to take parts of the internet by storm, but I never really liked DDR to begin with, so I wasn’t exactly poised to enjoy it in Newgrounds flash game format. Clone Hero got big, but I didn’t have a guitar. Beat Saber became popular, but I couldn’t play VR games. I suppose the uptick started some time ago, and I did notice it, to an extent. So, it was all the more surprising, more joyful, when I realized recently… Maybe I was more cynical than I needed to be, but that’s how it was. It was starting to feel like they might never come back. Aside from those blips, the genre largely stayed dormant for a long, long time. They felt less like a comeback and more like an echo of things long dead. Games cropped up, but it wasn’t the same. Audiosurf, Beat Hazard, Crypt of the Necrodancer. It was only a matter of time until the wave hit rhythm games, right? Dying genres exploded back into prominence, and even niche genres, like roguelikes or deckbuilders, were rising to greatness. Indie games started as a trickle, but eventually the dam broke, and life surged back into the gaming scene. If the big companies wouldn’t do it, they decided they’d just make the games themselves.Īnd so, they did. People stopped waiting for AAA developers to deliver what they wanted. People were left wanting, and slowly, want was turning into action. Where were all the puzzle games? The CRPGs? There was even a period that I felt that platformers were in short supply. As AAA games became more and more homogenous, things kept getting left in the lurch. It was around that same time that something interesting was happening in the games industry. As much as I love watching a piano roll and hitting buttons, I couldn’t help but want more. There were still the mainstream games, but they needed expensive peripherals and weren’t exactly evolving much. It was like at some point, rhythm games had just stopped coming out. Maybe it wasn’t actually so severe, but to me, the dip in the genre was unbelievably sudden. Just move on, get your fulfillment elsewhere. So what? Games are disappointing sometimes. It was too easy, it could’ve done more with the concept.
![rhythm doctor newgrounds rhythm doctor newgrounds](http://newgrounds-games.net/wp-content/thumbs/custom/0-9/226.jpg)
![rhythm doctor newgrounds rhythm doctor newgrounds](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/0ReuwwW6pX4/maxresdefault.jpg)
For all I played the game, it never went far enough for me. When I got my hands on Theatrhythm, I actually found myself… Disappointed. I played Theatrhythm in college while I waited for band practice to start. When I moved away, I accidentally stole my friend’s copy of Elite Beat Agents (well, let’s be real, it probably wasn’t an accident). I got in trouble at friends’ houses for playing the drums in Rock Band on the second floor of the house. I remember being stuck on easy songs in Guitar Hero because my fingers couldn’t reach the fifth button. Rhythm games filled my life as I grew up. Rhythm games, obviously, are what I’m talking about. If only you could somehow… combine the fun of video games with the fun of playing music. Don’t get me wrong, it can also be incredibly stressful-there’s a reason I turned to writing-but when the stress melts away, you’re left with an incredible, joyful experience.Īnd you know what else is fun? Video games! What a coincidence. It can even be fun to make the music yourself. It’s infectious, it makes you want to move, sing, dance. Its influence runs through every aspect of the work, intentionally or not. My point, rather, is to draw attention to the impact that music can have on the entirety of a game. Of course, a strong soundtrack isn’t required for a game to be good-a masterful score is rare, but incredible games are made either way. Music can tie together disparate pieces, and it can change the tone of a scene in an instant. Whether it’s a cheerful, sunny tune in a platformer or a teeth-grinding drone in a horror game, a game’s soundtrack can be instrumental in its success. This is another article written by Leaf, you can follow her on Twitter at Leafdoggy.