I’ve played a lot of rhythm games. A lot. I’ve been a trio of Japanese male cheerleaders in Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! (and its tragically underplayed American counterpart Elite Beat Agents). I’ve been the master of the guitar in Guitar Hero, king of the Taiko drum in Taiko no Tatsujin, and the almighty lord of the maracas in Samba de Amigo. I once unironically tried to play the Spice Girls Playstation game. DJ Max, Deemo, Gitaroo Man, Voez, Musynx, PaRappa the Rapper… I just like rhythm games.
Recently, I played a rhythm title that really stood out from the throngs of buttons-moving-along-a-conveyor-belt games that make up 3/4 of the genre. I’m here to tell you: if you love classic games from the 8- and 16-bit eras; if hearing the Mega Man level select theme floods your brain with warm memories of sitting cross-legged on the carpet of a living room illuminated only by the entrancing glare of a CRT television; if you are a human with at least three fingers and an ear that works even sort of okay: you need to play Old School Musical.
I can hear you now, saying, “I don’t need to play anything. You can’t tell me what to do.” That’s ludicrous. I can and will tell you what to do, and I fully intend on cyber bullying every man, woman, and child in the world into playing this criminally underappreciated retro rhythm masterpiece.
The gameplay of OSM (Windows, Mac, Nintendo Switch) follows the standard “press buttons along with the beat” formula; what makes Old School Musical different is that it exudes charm from every aspect of its being, from its NES-style characters reminiscent of Cave Story and Fez, to the cornucopia of wicked chiptune tracks, to the countless homages to beloved games from the days of 2D sprites and Mode 7 scaling. The game follows a real story, seeing off two nondescript 8-bit brothers named Tib and Rob as they leave home to search for their mother and figure out why glitches seem to be tearing apart their digital world. Every level is a parody of a classic game, and the better your timing on the button presses, the more adeptly Tib and Rob cross the stage.
For example, one level is a clear Mega Man throwback. The brothers run along platforms, blasting ornery robots with their arm cannons, and if you miss a few beats they’ll take some bullets from their enemies. If they’re jumping across platforms, having bad enough timing guarantees the duo will fall to their deaths, culminating in a very familiar explosion.
Several games, such as A Link the the Past, Outrun, and Metal Gear are represented in this fashion, which is a cool feature by itself. But it’s the little details that hit you right in your youthbones. A level modeled after the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles NES game features the damnable electric seaweed so many nineties gamers renounced their faiths over. A Zelda-themed stage shows the beginning of a massive chicken uprising after a Link look-alike kept running around and cutting them in half. The hilarious story mode makes the game worth getting on its own.
The music is arguably the most important part of any rhythm game (RIP Rock Band Creed Edition), and the all-chiptune soundtrack of OSM is unforgettable. Composer Yponeko is masterful at not only recreating the tones of the games being emulated, but imbuing the game as a whole with its own unique atmosphere. Guest musicians like Dubmood, le Plancton, and Hello World fill the library with some of the catchiest compositions since the black plague. I like the soundtrack so much that I listen to it in the car (it’s on Spotify) and look at other drivers like, “Say something. That’s what I thought,” and they look at me like, “That guy’s about to drive off the overpass.”
Once you’re done playing through story mode, assuming you don’t immediately play through it three more times like I did, you’ve got thirty more songs to play through in Arcade, a multi-player mode, and the Chicken Republic mode, which takes each one of the game’s tracks and injects it with insane special effects and handicaps, basically giving you a whole new game. The sheer number of ways the developers twist the gameplay in the Chicken Republic levels is a programming marvel, and it gives the game a higher replay value than just about any rhythm game before it.
I have nothing bad to say about this game, and too much praise to fit into an article like this. You just need to play it. It’s an incredible experience in a $12 package and statistically-speaking your life will be much richer after downloading it.
TL;DR. Old School Musical is one of my favorite rhythm games of all time, and if you don’t go buy it right now I’m going to get a bunch of my friends to go to your house and kick your ass.
I briefly spoke to Francois Bertrand, co-founder and developer at La Moutarde, about Old School Musical, the industry, and their future projects.
Q: What has been the most challenging aspect of creating Old School Musical?
A: Rhythm games are complex pieces of technology, because you have to be very accurate in terms of sync. Modern TVs have important delays that can ruin the experience, especially with a device like the Nintendo Switch that can change from TV to handheld mode instantly, with different sync configurations for each screen.
Q: Did you work closely with any of the game’s composers?
A: Of course, Yponeko, who did the major part of the soundtrack, is a friend of mine. Some of the songs were rearranged to better fit the levels, so it was a very intimate job between everyone in the team.
Q: For the recent DLC release, you collaborated with Japanese chiptune Musician Toriena, which is, to quote kids today, “off the knob.” Which artists would you like to showcase in the future?
A: We have some ideas for the future but shhh it’s a secret!
Q: How likely is an OSM sequel? Would you rather try your hands at a different type of game?
A: We are already working on our next game, and even if it has serious musical features, it’s very far away from a rhythm game. We made the game that we wanted to make. It’s time for us to go for another story. I can’t wait to show it to people, but it will take some time.
Q: On the Game Over screen, as well as stubbornly blocking your view on certain levels, is a shirtless, dancing,(one can only assume) underwear model. Who is this modern Hercules?
A: His name is Mehdi, “the Kebab Man.” It’s a friend who did this to punish players who fail a level. He didn’t think the game would become so popular, but he’s still my friend so I think it’s OK!
Q: Are there any underappreciated games you would recommend to fans of Old School Musical, either in the rhythm genre or otherwise?
A: Rhythm games are an underappreciated genre in general, so I could say go play Space Channel 5, Rhythm Paradise, Theatrhythm… And if we take this genre apart, I really love Skybolt Zack, which was released recently, and I hope it will get the success it deserves.
Q: What words of advice do you have for would-be game developers trying to break into the seemingly chaotic video game market?
A: Don’t focus on earning money, especially for your first game. Make a game that you would honestly love to play as a player. And go to a lot of conventions to showcase your game. You will have feedback from people who don’t know you and you will have a first contact with the press.
Q: Lastly, what is your favorite “old school” game?
A: I’m a Megadrive/Genesis lover and my two all-time classics are Streets of Rage 2 and Sonic 3 & Knuckles. I spent so much time on them when I was a kid that they are a part of me now.
