Mevo and the Grooveriders
Verdict: funkadelic!
In a Nutshell: This is a side-scrolling rhythm game full of cute and funk.
“In the game, MEVO, the main character, has to reunite his band, the Grooveriders, bring ‘FUNK’ back to the universe and defeat the enemy SILENCE. To move MEVO through the game’s five beautifully crafted worlds (Ocean, Jungle, Desert, Space and Wormhole), players must tap 2 keys to the rhythm of the game’s music as it is played and displayed in the game with arrows. All tracks are original, produced in-house with live musicians, and feature a unique and playful retro-funky style that varies from organic to electronic tracks. “
- Fun Rating: Fun
- ESRB: n/a
- Players/Mode: single-player / campaign
- Game Duration: 5-10 hours
- System: PC
- Developer: Red Rocket Games
- Website: http://mevoworld.com/
- Cost: $19.99 through the demo, also available for $9.99 on Steam
- Demo: http://www.mevoworld.com/mevo_trial.exe (also available on Steam)
| Would I play this again? | yes |
| Would I recommend this game? | absolutely |
| Was the story good? | n/a |
| Was the music good? | auditory bliss |
| Were the graphics good? | yes |
| Was this game difficult? | absolutely |
| Was this game frustrating? | no, but it’s really difficult |
| Was this game offensive? | no |
| Was this game worth your time/money? | yes |
Playing the game
The controls for the game consist of two configurable keys (the default is the left and right shift keys). The object of the game is to press the keys in time with their on-screen corresponding indicator arrows (left, right, or both). You can only miss so many before you’ll have to try again.
Mevo and the Grooveriders is broken up into five worlds with a different number of levels to each world. In order to procede to the next world, you’ll need to go through all the levels once, and then complete two more challenges on your level of choice.
To help you get through the challenges, you can unlock various outfits during a level. Each outfit gives a specific enhancement so you’ll need to pick the one that you think will help you the most. As you progress through each level you’ll be collecting the game’s currency, “funk”. You’ll need a lot of funk to unlock the various outfits.
What the game gets right
Funk music is just one of those things that I can’t help but start smiling and trying to dance to (emphasis on try). And with only two buttons required during the levels, an intuitive menu, and two tutorial levels, you’ll be up and grooving quickly. But with all of the off beats and accidentals inherent in funk, tapping along is challenging (and I’m a drummer)! Red Rocket did really well with the progressive difficulty in this musical gauntlet, only giving you a slight breather on the first half of each successive level. The music and graphics are so well done that I found myself, once again, attempting “just one more time” to get past a challenge only to find that I had been playing for much longer than I had planned.
The various unlockable outfits and the characters have a high “cute factor”. The head ornamentation seemed frivoulous until I started paying attention to the time and multiplier of whatever bonus-giving outfit I had dressed Mevo in. While there’s no penalty for mix and match, dressing your Mevo in the full outfit (clothes plus headwear) increases the duration and/or multiplier of the bonus (and unlockable items that have an impact on the game are a good thing).
What the game gets wrong
The real downer with Mevo is the lack of difficulty setting. While the music is certainly delightful, there are only so many times you can play the same level/song before the you start looking for something else to do. And, I really want to play those last levels! How about a difficulty setting for, say, fewer notes or an easier set of challenges to complete in order to advance? This could be balanced by not being able to unlock certain bonus items.
Sum it up
Where Audiosurf has the futuristic cool, Mevo delivers on the retro. As a side-scrolling platformer, Mevo provides a level of excitement while trying to keep up with the notes that is reminiscent to starting to run out of time on a Super Mario Brothers level. As I am more and more a fan of the online leader boards, this is another one of those games that would do really well in an arcade; friends talking smack, trying to be funkier than thou and get their three initials at the top of the scoreboard. Go pick it up and find out just how funky you are!
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TrineRate this Game
(2 votes, average: 4.00 out of 4)
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