Mevo and the Grooveriders
First Glance:
Clever, graphically pleasing, and a beat you can dance to.
The Short Story:
Developed and published by Red Rocket Games, Mevo and the Grooveriders is a rhythm based game that uses two keys to control your character as he dances his way through progressively more difficult levels. Simple in its presentation, “MatG” is the type of game that could potentially keep you in front of your computer for hours on end but has the potential to deliver enjoyable sessions with very little time investment. In other words, if you like rhythm games and you’re a Busy Gamer, you might want to give “MatG” a spin.
The Score:
For $9.99 on Steam, you’d be hard pressed to find a game with higher replay value, a lower learning curve, and the kind of funk Mevo and the Grooveriders delivers. Good beats, graphically pleasing, and with just the right amount of difficulty for a Busy Gamer, Mevo and the Grooveriders scores a 5 on the Busy Gamer scale.
Body of review:
At first, I was skeptical of another rhythm based game. I’ve watched people devote hours to learning how to play songs on Guitar Hero on Expert level and to be honest, if I were going to spend that kind of time, I’d rather learn to play the song for real. On the flip side of that coin, my gamer desire to win pushes me to play songs over and over to try and get the best score I can. So the quandary, as a Busy Gamer, is to find that balance of time investment and feeling like I’m accomplishing something. On most rhythm based games, this means playing on Medium.
Not so for Mevo and the Grooveriders. Simply put, there’s a certain charm to the game in its simple presentation. With only two keys to worry about which means you can focus on getting better at the levels without breaking your pinkie finger. Addictive gameplay and high replay value also ensures that you’ll keep coming back for more.
You begin the game as Mevo, a one eyed dancing fool who is trying to rescue his friends from an enemy known as Silence. A quick tutorial gives you the basic workings of the game before you set out on your journey through musical landscapes. The simple controls don’t require much in the way of a learning curve. Your dance steps are performed by hitting the left shift key for left pointing arrows and the right shift key for the right pointing arrows. Hitting the “steps” in time produces music and drum beats that blend with the funky background music while missing one completely may result in discordant notes.
A life gauge at the top of the screen is exactly what it seems. Missing notes will cause you to take damage, some moreso than others, while hitting notes increases your score. Sounds easy with only the two keys, doesn’t it? At first, it is but as the levels progress, the difficulty of the notes increases as well. You may be required to hit two notes at the same time, sustain a note while hitting the other key, or pressing the keys in rapid succession to keep the beat.
Each level also comes with different goals with three goals for each level. Silver may require you to score a certain amount while gold may have you try to miss very few notes with platinum being even more difficult than the prior two. While you may see a goal asking you to score a certain amount of points, it is entirely possible that the next goal will be something completely different.
A character selection screen allows you to “dress” up your character with different outfits as well as choosing different dance styles. Each outfit grants different power ups. For instance, one outfit may allow you to enter an “Auto Pilot” mode where your character will automatically hit notes for a short period of time. Another will allow you to score higher combos, combos being the means by which you will create higher scores. Each outfit has its benefits so there will be reason for frequent outfit changes based on the level you are playing and which goal you are attempting.
While the graphics are simple, they are by no means underdone. Each level you play presents new obstacles and new backgrounds. Mevo’s dance moves are fluid as he grooves his way through graphically pleasing levels. However, admiring the art too closely may find you missing too many steps, quickly bringing your game to an end.
Bottom line is that if you enjoy rhythm games and need a quick fix, Mevo and the Grooveriders is the way to go.
Gritskrieg – End of Line