Technic Beat is a wacky rhythm game that’s more than just timing your button presses; it also requires you to strategically place your character(s) on the screen.

The graphics of Technic Beat are... unique, yeah that’s the word for it. Each music stage is filled with bright colors and a ton of detail. The characters each have their own wacky Japanese style that would fit right at home in Taiko: Drum Master. Each character, from the snorkel-toting platypus to the toy robot, has a different style, feel, and special move that makes it stand out from all the rest. The flashy lights and rippling water effects also lend a lot to the game’s kooky feel.

But this game isn’t really about the graphics (though they really help to make Technic Beat stand out). The music of this game is made up of all of those retro Namco games we all grew up on. The 8-bit music comes off crisp and clear as you pilot your characters across the stage. But if you’re skilled enough, you can alter the song while you play through it. The order of the sounds played depends on the order that you activate the markers (I’ll explain exactly what these markers are later). So if you have four markers linked together, you can alter the song by choosing any of those markers - you don’t have to activate a specific one.

To further mess with the tunes, you can activate multiple markers simultaneously, or fiddle with the Right Analog stick while the sounds are being played which changes the pitch of the noise). Lovers of these songs, or gamers who enjoy tinkering, will get a lot of enjoyment out of these features; but in order to utilize them effectively, you’ll need to become skilled and have a lot of practice under your belt.

Technic Beat is a fast-paced rhythm game that will have you humming your favorite classic Namco songs all day long (I’m still trying to get a few of them out of my head). The basic structure of any song has you (and a friend if your second controller chimes in during the menu selection) roaming around the stage activating markers at the right time.

These markers are rings that appear on the floor of the stage. Soon after they appear, another ring will show up inside and expand until it fills the original marker. When the two rings overlap, you need to activate the marker to activate a sound that coincides with the music. If there are several markers touching, then upon activation, the connected markers are held in reserve and are activated exactly when they need to (keeping you from having to run all around the board more than necessary). There are also larger markers called beats that will have several rings coming from their center. You’ll have to activate these markers several times in order to get your points.

There are many different modes of play in Technic Beat. Arcade Mode lets you try your hand at all unlocked tunes. Free Mode lets you play a version of the game just the way you want to. You can set it up so that only certain types of markers appear, or you can set the number of chains. This mode is for the more advanced player who knows what the game has to offer and thinks they can find a version that fits them better.

Challenger Mode has you completing a series of tasks, each more difficult than the last. Sudden Death Mode puts you on the stage and runs you through a gauntlet of increasingly difficult songs; if you get one “bad,” you’re out. Replay Mode is where you can watch the various characters play through recorded songs. You can capture these recordings in the Free Mode.

Each song in Technic Beat is rated on a difficulty scale between one and four. The higher the difficulty, the faster the song is and the more markers that will be on the stage at any given time. I found that the difficulty settings for each song were set pretty fairly. The level ones were easy to get past, while the twos were a bit more challenging. For me (being someone who isn’t the best at rhythm games), the level three songs were a really good challenge, while the level fours were impossible to beat. Again, this is a slightly slanted difficulty scale because I’m not the best at time-based games, so it seems to me the average gamer will find each song’s level to be dead on.

Technic Beat has a rather complicated control scheme that is surprisingly easy to use. You move your character around the stage with the Left Analog stick. You can pick up and move markers with the Triangle or X button and activate the markers (whether they are on the ground or still being held) with the Square button. Finally, you can use your character’s Super Activation Technique with the Circle button. This can be done by either lying down your own extra large marker, or by making your character huge, or by shooting lasers out of your eyes that reserve all markers in their path.

The Tutorial Mode on the Main Menu goes through all of these commands, as well as more advanced techniques. It does a really good job of giving you the basics in order to not get completely overwhelmed by the extreme... oddness of this game

Technic Beat takes the standard rhythm game and adds a more strategic element to it by forcing you to maneuver your character into places that will make it easier for you to activate the next marker. This game is a must have for any rhythm fan who loves the classic Namco games.