|| REVIEW || Super Dodgeball Beats (PC)
Developed By : FinalBoss Games Published By : PlayStack
Category : Indie, Rhythm, Sports Release Date : September 12, 2019
Games in the Japanese animation style have been a new territory for me the last couple of years. Mostly because a grand number of these games focus on anime TV and movies, or manga series which I follow very few of. So a lot of the ideas and especially stories and characters are completely lost on me. However this doesn't turn me off from the art-style as a whole. In fact I absolutely love the style and find myself drawn to it all the time, which is why I find myself diving into more and more of these games.
This is what brings us to Super Dodgeball Beats, as it takes this art style and combines it with a couple of my other favorite things : a music-based rhythm game, and dodgeball sports themed tournament. As far as story goes, it's very minimal. Your team is scheduled to take part in a massive dodgeball tournament that has spread across the globe, in hopes of proving that you are the best of the best. Again, it's not much of a story, but it is there to serve the purpose of getting you to play the songs.
You'll find yourself competing against a number of teams, grooving out to the games 18 original songs which are all really good. Which is the best thing you can say about a game that's based around it's music. The tournament can be repeated over three difficulty levels : Rookie, Pro, and Legend. Initially only Rookie is available to play, but as you conquer the tournament and claim your place at the top you can unlock the other two difficulties in each tournament. There are ten rounds in each tournament, and then it progresses to a bracket system playoff which culminates in the champion!
Each round in the tournament consists of playing out one song, and you can see how far the song has progressed by the meter on the bottom. Your players will be splayed out in a diamond shape with each one's position being relevant to the layout of the button interface on your controller. As the song plays, you'll need to press or hold a button depending on which character it is assigned to. You'll know this by a circle that starts outside of the character it's intended for, as this circle shrinks down you need to press their button when their space is just outlined.
Your score is graded by how well you time these prompts. If you hit when the two circles are aligned, you'll get a Perfect, and from there it downgrades to Okay, Poor, Bad, and just flat out missing the prompt completely. You won't just be getting regular press-prompts though, as sometimes you'll need to hold the note. The circle presents in the same way but will have a thicker line. Once you start the note, this thicker line becomes a circular bar that fills up and your release of the note will be timed in the exact same way. The last type of note you'll get are sliders that will start on one character, and go to the one directly opposite them. You'll start this note by flicking the left joystick of your controller in the direction the slide is supposed to move, and releasing it when it gets to it's target.
However, Super Dodgeball Beats is more than just a rhythm game, its a competitive rhythm game that can be played against the AI or another person. So it comes down to a lot more than just the notes you hit and how well you can do so, you'll need distractions that prevent your opponent from getting to hit or even see their notes. And there are a ton of these that you can use.
Some of these distractions don't serve much of a purpose if you've gotten a good feel for the rhythm of the song you're on. You can trigger a giant head that floats and bounces around your opponents court blocking the immediate area around your characters. But, if you catch the start of the circle that appears and keep up with the rhythm, you should have no issues. One powerup turns your opponents to stone, and you are still fully able to hit the notes, but hitting them perfectly will break you out...so this one isn't really upsetting unless you miss seeing your characters constantly moving.
However, other powerups can be a bit more devastating. You can lob grenades over that have a number attached to them, and the team must hit that many notes perfectly in a row otherwise the grenades will explode and cause damage. You can inflict poison that will also trigger damage if a note is pressed while the poison lasts, forcing you to just ignore the notes that go to that character.
These powerups are earned by a bar which fills up as you hit notes on a streak, and the specific powerup is generated randomly. You can choose from a few different mascots, and each one will increase your chances of getting a select number of the powerups (but this isn't a guarantee).
There is one other bar you'll need to pay attention to, and it's the most important one. On top of the screen is a red and blue meter, with a dodgeball that starts off in the middle. As the round goes on this ball will move one way or the other depending on how well or poorly the teams are performing. At the end of the song, whichever side the ball is more on will win that round and advance in points.
I am a huge sucker for rhythm games, and I have always had a soft spot for dodgeball in video games. If you need proof on that go back a couple weeks to our last Value Review! So it's really no surprise that I fell right into enjoying Super Dodgeball Beats as soon as the first song took off. The curve between the difficulty curves doesn't feel harsh at all, and that's because the curve is cleverly hidden in each and every round as you play. The first round of the Rookie tournament will be significantly easier than the tenth, which will still be much easier than the championship round of the playoffs. Once you start on the Pro circuit, the next step in the first song isn't all that noticeable until you step back and compare the first song to it's Rookie component.
Visually and audibly, the game is spot on. When you start and finish each tournament, you're treated to some manga-like panels highlighting your teams journey which is pretty cool, and the style never wavers once you get onto the court. Play in multiplayer and you can choose every component of how you play from the arena, the opponent, and the song (whereas all three of these are pre-assigned in the tourneys).
If you have any love at all for rhythm games, this one is a must play. I mentioned before that the game supports both controller and keyboard, but it is much preferred to play this game with a controller. But even so, playing with a keyboard would add a new level of challenge, so go ahead and push those limits. Either way, this is a really fun game and once you start playing, you won't want to stop until you become the champion three times over! So go out there, get your groove on, and play Super Dodgeball Beats today!
Pick up the game HERE on PC or search
for it on any of the platform stores below
Game Played on PC (Steam)
Also Available On : Playstation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
This is what brings us to Super Dodgeball Beats, as it takes this art style and combines it with a couple of my other favorite things : a music-based rhythm game, and dodgeball sports themed tournament. As far as story goes, it's very minimal. Your team is scheduled to take part in a massive dodgeball tournament that has spread across the globe, in hopes of proving that you are the best of the best. Again, it's not much of a story, but it is there to serve the purpose of getting you to play the songs.
You'll find yourself competing against a number of teams, grooving out to the games 18 original songs which are all really good. Which is the best thing you can say about a game that's based around it's music. The tournament can be repeated over three difficulty levels : Rookie, Pro, and Legend. Initially only Rookie is available to play, but as you conquer the tournament and claim your place at the top you can unlock the other two difficulties in each tournament. There are ten rounds in each tournament, and then it progresses to a bracket system playoff which culminates in the champion!
Your score is graded by how well you time these prompts. If you hit when the two circles are aligned, you'll get a Perfect, and from there it downgrades to Okay, Poor, Bad, and just flat out missing the prompt completely. You won't just be getting regular press-prompts though, as sometimes you'll need to hold the note. The circle presents in the same way but will have a thicker line. Once you start the note, this thicker line becomes a circular bar that fills up and your release of the note will be timed in the exact same way. The last type of note you'll get are sliders that will start on one character, and go to the one directly opposite them. You'll start this note by flicking the left joystick of your controller in the direction the slide is supposed to move, and releasing it when it gets to it's target.
However, Super Dodgeball Beats is more than just a rhythm game, its a competitive rhythm game that can be played against the AI or another person. So it comes down to a lot more than just the notes you hit and how well you can do so, you'll need distractions that prevent your opponent from getting to hit or even see their notes. And there are a ton of these that you can use.
Some of these distractions don't serve much of a purpose if you've gotten a good feel for the rhythm of the song you're on. You can trigger a giant head that floats and bounces around your opponents court blocking the immediate area around your characters. But, if you catch the start of the circle that appears and keep up with the rhythm, you should have no issues. One powerup turns your opponents to stone, and you are still fully able to hit the notes, but hitting them perfectly will break you out...so this one isn't really upsetting unless you miss seeing your characters constantly moving.
These powerups are earned by a bar which fills up as you hit notes on a streak, and the specific powerup is generated randomly. You can choose from a few different mascots, and each one will increase your chances of getting a select number of the powerups (but this isn't a guarantee).
There is one other bar you'll need to pay attention to, and it's the most important one. On top of the screen is a red and blue meter, with a dodgeball that starts off in the middle. As the round goes on this ball will move one way or the other depending on how well or poorly the teams are performing. At the end of the song, whichever side the ball is more on will win that round and advance in points.
I am a huge sucker for rhythm games, and I have always had a soft spot for dodgeball in video games. If you need proof on that go back a couple weeks to our last Value Review! So it's really no surprise that I fell right into enjoying Super Dodgeball Beats as soon as the first song took off. The curve between the difficulty curves doesn't feel harsh at all, and that's because the curve is cleverly hidden in each and every round as you play. The first round of the Rookie tournament will be significantly easier than the tenth, which will still be much easier than the championship round of the playoffs. Once you start on the Pro circuit, the next step in the first song isn't all that noticeable until you step back and compare the first song to it's Rookie component.
Visually and audibly, the game is spot on. When you start and finish each tournament, you're treated to some manga-like panels highlighting your teams journey which is pretty cool, and the style never wavers once you get onto the court. Play in multiplayer and you can choose every component of how you play from the arena, the opponent, and the song (whereas all three of these are pre-assigned in the tourneys).
If you have any love at all for rhythm games, this one is a must play. I mentioned before that the game supports both controller and keyboard, but it is much preferred to play this game with a controller. But even so, playing with a keyboard would add a new level of challenge, so go ahead and push those limits. Either way, this is a really fun game and once you start playing, you won't want to stop until you become the champion three times over! So go out there, get your groove on, and play Super Dodgeball Beats today!
Game Rating : 9/10
Pick up the game HERE on PC or search
for it on any of the platform stores below
Game Played on PC (Steam)
Also Available On : Playstation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
