Rhythm Sprout in the Test – Rhythmic Vegetables or Just Boring Weeds?
© tinyBuild Games
In Rhythm Sprout you slip into the role of the hero Sprout, who appears as a spring onion in a tracksuit and sets off as the chosen one, or "Laucherwahlte". Because the vegetable kingdom is plagued by various dangers and so you are in the right place at the right time by rhythmically clearing these cute enemies out of the way. Your adversaries appear in the form of very unhealthy sweets, embodying all sorts of harmful snacks such as chocolate bars, cupcakes or gingerbread men - everything that the child's sweet tooth would prefer to green vegetables. As you can see, the story is kept very simple and can't really convince at its core, which is partly due to the short length. However, as is so often the case, the heroic story about Scion and the Vegetable Kingdom is only the framework for the gameplay. Nevertheless, you can examine small sequences between each level and read conversations that often make you smile. Rhythm Sprout's plot or story beats definitely won't knock your socks off, but the humor and writing will. I have to commend the team here: Rhythm Sprout is a really fun adventure for young and old with a good pinch of humor and fantastic references that are not only based on current trends in pop culture, but also on the medium itself take the shovel. The clever minds have done a really neat job here. Unfortunately, there is definitely no tension, but each sequence surprises with its witty conversations, which unfortunately are generally very short. With thirty levels, the story is told quickly, I would have liked more content here.
In terms of humor technology, Rhythm Sprout really stands out
© tinyBuild Games
However, the core gameplay of Rhythm Sprout is convincing. Here, the development studio used the design of the cult classic Guitar Hero properly, which means you have to activate incoming notes at the right moment. This visually causes Sprout to progress and thus move through the level. While the songs in other rhythm games end the level at some point, in Rhythm Sprout you only complete them when Sprössling reaches its goal. This in turn means that at some point you have to be successful and hit the notes - if you are not in time, or if you press the wrong of the three keys, you will gradually lose your life points. In other levels you compete against the sweets described above and each note hit causes a hit with your weapon, which can optionally be equipped with a skin, but this has no effect on damage or the like. So you beat a bar of chocolate in time and have to dodge it at the right moment. These sections differ from the classic "running" not only in terms of appearance, but also in terms of the design itself: If you are hit because you do not dodge at the right moment, you also lose a life point. I find this variety quite well done and integrated pleasantly into the level control. Sure, the core gameplay doesn't change, but the focus during combat is more on dodging - so if you make mistakes, it's better to hit than defend.
The gameplay is very similar to Guitar Hero with its converging notes
© tinyBuild Games
But while Guitar Hero has multiple notes, Rhythm Sprout comes with just three buttons : Left, Right and Dodge. These simulate the steps that Sprössling has to take. However, this smaller selection of interaction options should in no way reduce the level of difficulty, on the contrary: Rhythm Sprout looks cute and cute, but it packs a punch, especially towards the end. Not only do the rhythms and beats become harder to follow, but the tactful button mashing can quickly make you sweat. However, if the level with the high chili pepper indicator, the difficulty indicator, drives you into a corner, you can easily switch to the beginner mode at any time in the menu, which I generally welcome as a friend of accessibility. You can't collect the full three stars in Beginner mode, but this mode will help you to complete the level - you can still go star hunting afterwards. You get stars depending on your high score or your grade streak. If you have been able to collect a few stars in each level, you will gradually switch on some bonus levels, which in essence do not really differ from the story levels, but are definitely worth a look (or an ear) in terms of their musical creativity.<
Replay is a big thing in Rhythm Sprout, which leads me to my major gripe. In any case, it is worth noting that the game's soundtrack was composed especially for Rhythm Sprout and covers a wide range of genres. If the metal and drum'n'bass songs really got you fired up at first, you can calm down a bit with calm EDM or chill pop. Unfortunately, the synthetic soundtracks didn't really pick me up, which at least for me doesn't offer any replay value. That's a shame for me, because I think Rhythm Sprout's presentation is actually consistent, from the detailed visual level design to the creative selection of the music. The scarce content can also be completely excused for the price of around 15 euros - only the game cannot fully pick me up personally. On the other hand, the humor and wit, as described at the beginning, really impressed me and forms a well-done framework for the basically solid rhythm game. During the test period on the Nintendo Switch, I also encountered no technical errors, neither in the sound nor in the frame rate. If you're playing on less gaming-friendly screens, you can adjust the input calibration in the settings to improve your latency.
