Muse Dash

Since rhythm games first emerged in late 90s many games were produced for different platforms. With the rise of mobile devices using a touch screen this game genre got even more popular. Finding a good rhythm game became harder and in order for a rhythm game to be good it has to stand out even more than in the earlier days. Muse Dash is one of those games that stands out with its art style, catchy tunes and simple but great game play.

Muse Dash developed and published by PeroPeroGames is a side scrolling rhythm game which makes you press two buttons or tap the screen at two different places in time with the music's beat. On your screen you'll see one of your chosen characters running, attacking enemies and avoiding obstacles. The enemies and obstacles, the notes following rhythm of the song, come at her in two lanes. In order to attack or avoid these you have to press one or the other button in time. You can map those yourself, but the default for keyboard is D, F for ground level and J, K for the upper level. Apart from notes that you simply hit, there are also sheet notes that you have to hold and (mini)bosses that require you to punch them many times in a very short time. The character has hit points. Whenever you run into an enemy or an obstacle the character will lose some life and points. Sometimes, in a chart, you'll see a heart. If you run through it you will regain some life and gain extra points.

The game is very simple but the very lively graphics and animations make it a great playing experience. On the other hand, sometimes this can be difficult to read. Some notes will come from unlikely places and won't correspond to the blue/pink color the regular notes have. While this may be a bit of a challenge to sight-read it is very satisfying to hit all the enemies.

There is over 50 default songs that you can unlock. After each stage you will gain some experience. With each level at first you will unlock one song. At higher levels it will take longer. Leveling up will also give you more items that you can use to get more sexy girls and cute support animals. Each of the characters and elfins have certain abilities that can either help you survive songs or get higher scores etc. So you can find a combination that suits your playstyle, skill or current motivation you have for playing (getting full combos or getting the highest score etc.).

Getting the highest score possible will depend on your ability to use a special feature in the game named Fever. While under Fever score received will be higher. Finding the best moment to use Fever in a song will lead you to getting higher score, considering that you can full combo the song already.

For Asian rhythm game players the music won't be anything new. I can name a few, from my favorites creating nice chill instrumental tracks like M2U, a_hisa, Ayatsugu_otowa to pop songs with vocals to very well known artists like Camellia, REDALiCE, t+pazolite, USAO which are known for their hardcore music. While it may not seem from my examples, the music in the game is very diverse and I honestly think that anyone can find something they will like.

As in many rhythm games, the songs have different difficulties - Easy, Hard and Master. Master difficulty needs to be unlocked and as in other Asian games you need to get an S on the easier difficulty (in this case Hard). That means getting 90% accuracy or higher. See each enemy hit is judged either by Perfect, Great if you are a bit too early or late and Miss if you miss the note. Obstacles can be missed (usually meaning you run into them and take damage) or passed (jumped over).

The game has leaderboards, that are filled with people who got 100% accuracy and even the highest score. There are also many achievements that are either song based or just game based. There is so many of them that you will most likely get some each time you play. It adds to the replayability of the game or the songs themselves.

The scores are transferable from mobile to PC and vice versa, but the DLCs you have to buy for each platform. The 'you get everything' DLC for Muse Dash costs 30 EUR. It is definitely worth all the money. The base game itself is very cheap - 3.49 EUR - and for that price offers hours and hours of fun.

If by a chance side scrolling feels odd to you, you can always turn the monitor sideways!

Verdict:
Muse Dash is a very cute looking, lewd and nicely done casual rhythm game. Game play is very simple but that also makes it great for beginners and casual players that just want to enjoy an easy game. The aesthetics of the game and animations make playing the game a great experience and make you want to come back and simply play more. The replayability is also helped by many achievements and special abilities by your character and its elfin. The music is diverse and the charts feel fun and not too straining for your fingers. In overall this a very solid and cheap game no matter if you play it on mobile, Switch or PC.

Ren