SUPERBEAT: XONiC (PS4) Review
By: RJ (@rga_02)
- SUPERBEAT: XONiC
- Developer - Nurijoy
- Publisher - PM Studios
- PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlaySation Vita
Last night my friends and I were playing Konami’s Beatmania for the PlayStation 2. Frustrated at the amount of input lag on my television we decided to switch to another videogame. I decided to show them SUPERBEAT: XONiC. One of my friends asked how the controls work for the game, but she quickly learned how to play within seconds. Within a few hours, the Beatmania controller was left to the corner while XONiC was blasting away on the screen.
Originally released on the PlayStation Vita where the game felt at home due to the touchscreen, I was very skeptical on how the controls would translate on a DualShock. I personally hated the button controls while playing on the Vita and primarily used the touchscreen. But like my friends, I quickly adapted to the buttons.
The gameplay of XONiC is straightforward. You chose your song – be it some Techno or some faux K-Pop song you would find in last moment party set in your kitchen and play away. There is no fluff in this game like other rhythm games out in the market. Once you select your song and difficulty (which there are three of them to choose) you hit the button corresponding to the notes you see on the screen. So for example in 4FX mode, four notes will glide through the screen. (I want to note that if you are playing on a monitor, I recommend selecting game-mode as it will reduce the input lag)
In the other two modes, more notes will appear and if you find this to be difficult for you, you have the option to speed down the pace of the notes. You are also presented with various sets of icons you unlock throughout your playtime to help you. So there are some icons that will give you a grace period should you miss a note to maintain your combo.
The game has three modes to choose from. The main is Stage Mode where you play three songs. The other mode is Freestyle Mode where you just chose your favorite song and grind your way to a high numbered combo. The third and final mode is World Tour which you do various missions such as getting a combo. Other than those three, there really isn’t much to do in this game – which in my opinion is a wonderful thing as I don’t have to weed out through the fluff to do what I want to do.
One gripe I have with the game, however, is the music selection. I’m not talking about the artists themselves – the songs are fantastic, but I wanted more just a tad bit more than the 60+ songs available. Perhaps my wish will come true with future DLC.
However, the best aspect of this game is that regardless if you are into rhythm games or not, anyone can enjoy this game and have fun, and that’s what videogames should strive to be right?
I personally love this game, and the people I showed it too loved it as well. XONiC brings the joys of the arcade to the comfort of your home. Its accessibility and simplicity will no doubt attract folks towards it. As I said in my original review of this game, “Just pure musical fun.”
Now excuse me, I got to clean a Beatmania controller free from dust.
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Read my Vita review of this game here.