I love Rhythm games, but I have to recognize that the Rhythm genre has become stale, that was what I thought until I got the privilege of playing SuperBeat: XONiC on the PS VITA. Also I have to say that for the sake of fairness that the last Rhythm game that I played was DJ MAX on PSP, and that was a long time ago, so I was really expecting something unique, and I was not disappointed.
SuperBeat: XONiC excels at everything it shows you from the presentation movie, to the main menu, the game modes, and of course the music which is the heart and soul of the game, it leaves you humming the songs over and over again, and to me the purpose of the game was met.
When you first start the game you are greeted with the awesome opening, (it is one of the hardest songs on the game by the way) and a much appreciated tutorial begins, here you learn the basics of the game and the different Tracks, the tutorial is well done and it covers everything you need in order to start playing. After that you are sent into the main menu (love the song that plays here also) and you have 5 menus you can explore. Backstage is where you can see your stats such as your Total Score, Total Class (affected by how well you finish each song), your Item Collection that includes different DJ Icons that give you different boosts and help, some give you Break Shield (when you miss some notes your health doesn’t decrease) Fever Shield (same effects as break but for the Fever gauge) others offer boost in health and Exp, so they offer an advantage to new players, and make things interesting for seasoned players.Also in Backstage you can check the Key Sound collection, this are the sounds that play when you hit a Track and it varies from a Rimbar to a….Fart. Nothing screams I am alive like Farting at the beat of the music, so it is a cool addition.Also you can see your current level and exp as well as your total collection rating.
DJ Ranking is where you see where you are placed locally and worldwide as well as who is the best of the best.A good way to motivate you to improve your game. The Stage Mode is where I suggest to start and practice each and every available song, there are 4 modes 4 Trax, 6Trax, 6TraxFX, and Free Style (here you can play every unlocked song even DLC).Each mode with Free Style being the exception, you play through 3 songs (which you can pick at your convenience) after playing them you get an Score Rank, and Experience. This is a mode for those who want to take it easy, however the 6Trax and 6Trax FX use more Tracks and the stages become more challenging.
Now the mode where your training pays off the World Tour Mode in here you go to a series of “Clubs” and in each one there is a ClubMaster that gives you a series of challenges, that can vary from achieving a set number of combo hits, to completing the mission with the less break mistakes as possible and so forth. In World Tour as you level up you gain access to more clubs and more challenges, hence my advice to train in Stage Mode. As you complete challenges and clubs in Word Tour you unlock more Key Sounds, as well as songs that you can play in stage mode, and as you play and beat the songs they become available on Free Style, so there is a lot of replay value here, not to mention that the higher your needed for accessing each club, the harder become the challenges, some of them use Effector (a handicap you can set yourself on Stage Mode) and some are really hard especially with the song Stargazer. In The Option Mode you can change your game settings such as the way the music sounds, the difficulty settings (on Hard you gain more Experience)
So for those of you who like the Vanilla version of games SuperBeat:XONiC offers a lot of content, and like I said after you play the more catchy songs stay on your mind, and you ended up coming back for more. Now for those of you who want everything a game can offer the DLC is a worthy addition and money well spent.
Each of the 9 songs added (3 in each pack) comes with its own charm, my favorites are the Blazblue, and Guilty Gear and last but not least the Magical Beat. And If you thought Stargazer was hard, wait till you try to Allcombo Antikythera on 6TraxFX, its sooo hard but so good!!! They offer a new challenge and to me that is the way DLC should be. DLC should enhance your experience with the game and the first 3 packs released have hit the spot, I have to say that are my most played songs in the game (and so far have only managed to beat them in 4TRAX and 6TRAX, 6TRAXFX is just brutal) you can feel the determination of the developer to give and experience that in my opinion is worth living it.
Bottom Line SuperBeat:XONiC is the definitive Rhythm game on the PSVITA, if you are a fan of the genre this is something you can’t pass by, and if you are in the fence take the plunge, it is a game that is challenging but fair, now if you excuse me there are some club masters that need showing who’s the boss.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kPzk-ubWgA