I love a good rhythm game, but I wasn’t quite prepared for how quickly GRIDbeat! would grab (and hold) my attention. As one of the first titles from the newly revived publisher Acclaim, it makes a strong, bold entrance with unique, stylised visuals, razor-sharp gameplay, and excellent music.
The aim of the game is simple: keep to the beat and make your way through each labyrinthine level. Think of it as a kind of top-down dungeon-crawler with cyberpunk aesthetics and you’re on the right track. Each level is meticulously crafted with paths diverging in multiple directions, but to traverse them properly, you need to jump from one spot in time to the music.
Now the good news is that while the tempo does vary slightly between levels, once you start a stage, it will never fluctuate until you reach your goal, so if you mess up at all, it’s really easy to get back into the flow. Otherwise, get ready for an absolutely brutal experience, one that will quickly punish you with a swift death if you slip up.
See, there are dozens of potential hazards in your way. Turrets populate most levels and will quickly cut down your health if you’re not careful, while other stages might have barriers that rotate to the beat, corrupted paths, or even a few homing missiles. You’ll perish a lot, but you learn from each demise.
Each level also contains blocked paths that must be hacked. This is mostly a case of holding down ‘ZR’ and moving the right analogue stick in the direction of the blockage to initiate the hack. Then you simply keep an eye on visual cues and press the right buttons to complete it. Again, you’ve got to make sure that you keep to the beat, as deviating from this may cost you both time and precious health.
If I were judging GRIDBeat! solely on its gameplay, it would be a fun, albeit slightly repetitive jaunt for a handful of hours. Its presentation, however, really elevates the whole experience. The colourful, psychedelic environments pulse to the music, making it feel like something Jeff Minter would cook up. Developer Ridiculous Games has managed to make it its own, though, and I’m really impressed at how well it all comes together.
The star of the show, of course, is the music. Naturally, it leans heavily into typical ‘80s-themed synth tracks, but they all work wonderfully well, and I started bopping my head immediately. If you’re a fan of rhythm games in general, I’d urge you to give this a shot, but just be mindful that it can be pretty brutal, so be prepared to hit ‘continue’ a lot.
