PSVitaAddict

Hey everyone, I’m back again with another review. For the past few weeks I have been enjoying the music rhythm game Superbeat: XONiC. I would like to thank Acttil for providing me with a review code for the game.

If you’re rhythm game fan and you own a PlayStation Vita, you no doubt have been enjoying some of the great rhythm based games already available on the system. Superbeat: XONiC is the latest rhythm game to be released on the PlayStation Vita, having put countless hours into the game, I can honestly say it’s fantastic!

Superbeat: XONiC doesn’t do anything radically different when compared to other games within the same genre it does however feature a great and diverse soundtrack for you to play and achieve high scores in. The base game contains 45 total songs to play and enjoy, additionally you will be able to purchase DLC songs to expand the games soundtrack. Some people may feel that 45 songs isn’t very much however as you progress within the game you can unlock different patterns for the songs that are already available to you, in total you can unlock around 200 different song patterns! So when you start getting bored of a particular song, just know that you can spice it up a bit with a new pattern.

Now let’s get into the game modes included in Superbeat: XONiC! The modes included are as follows 4TRAX, 6TRAX and 6TRAX FX. The game modes are directly tied to the games difficulty level, so for instance, if you decide to start with 4TRAX you would be playing the beginner mode, this is something I highly recommend if you’re new to rhythm games, it’s not hard and it’s also not overly easy depending on the song. Now if you decide you want to test your skills, you can step up to 6TRAX, which is more difficult, so I recommend having a good grasp on the game with the normal difficulty setting first.

I’ll be honest, I’m not the best at rhythm games, I’d consider myself pretty average overall, so I stuck to normal difficulty for the most part, I did however, play a few select songs on higher difficulty settings, but for the most part I avoided most songs when playing on anything over normal difficulty.

Superbeat: XONiC plays much like other rhythm games on the PlayStation Vita platform. Different notes come at you at varying speeds depending on your preferred difficulty level. The notes on the screen correspond to certain buttons on the PlayStation Vita itself, though I do want to point out that you can use the touchscreen to interact with Superbeat: XONiC, so you never have to use the buttons if you feel more comfortable with using the touchscreen.

My playtime with Superbeat: XONiC was for the most part spent playing on the PlayStation Vita itself, I do want to point out that the game is completely compatible with the PlayStation TV, so if you rather play on your HDTV you can do that. There’s one big benefit of playing the game on the Vita, you can use your sound system, so the music will be much louder and depending on which sound system you use, it’ll also sound better. The game played perfectly fine while I tested it on the PlayStation TV, I just didn’t enjoy it very much since I have a 48 inch TV, so you have to pay extra attention to the notes, I just found myself constantly missing them, I’m sure this won’t be an issue for most people out there.

The game also features something called DJ Ranking, this is basically the leader board for the game, you can see where you stack up compared to everyone else. Outside the main game modes, you can boot the game up and head straight into Freestyle mode and enjoy each song you unlock individually, this is what I play most of the time since I can boot the game and enjoy a few songs while I’m on the go. If you’re going to play the game mainly on the PlayStation Vita, I do recommend a good pair of headphones, the experience is just so much better, you can fully immerse yourself in the songs you select.

You will also get certain rewards in the game as you continue to play and strive for higher scores, you’ll constantly be unlocking new DJ icons and new songs. As for the visual style of Superbeat: XONiC, it’s great! The menu layout looks sharp and modern looking, it just has a nice visual flare to it, as for the in-game visuals, they look fine, they won’t blow you away or anything, but nothing looks bad. I do have one small complaint, the songs are short, most only lasting two minutes, this isn’t a big deal, I just wish the game included some long tracks.

So is Superbeat: XONiC a rhythm game you should consider purchasing? Yes! if you’re a fan of rhythm gaming, you should absolutely consider picking up Superbeat: XONiC when it launches on November 10th in North America. My final score for Superbeat: XONiC is a 9.0/10