{"id":105433,"date":"2019-12-12T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-12-12T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/reviews\/switch-eshop\/groove_coaster_wai_wai_party"},"modified":"2019-12-12T18:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-12-12T18:00:00","slug":"review-groove-coaster-wai-wai-party-unashamedly-japanese-rhythm-action-brilliance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2019\/12\/12\/review-groove-coaster-wai-wai-party-unashamedly-japanese-rhythm-action-brilliance\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Groove Coaster Wai Wai Party!!!! &#8211; Unashamedly Japanese Rhythm Action Brilliance"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/reviews\/switch-eshop\/groove_coaster_wai_wai_party\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/reviews\/switch-eshop\/groove_coaster_wai_wai_party\/small.jpg\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div id>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Groove Coaster Wai Wai Party!!!! Review - Screenshot 1 of 5\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/101676\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/101676\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Groove Coaster Wai Wai Party!!!! Review - Screenshot 1 of 5\"><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>The Switch has become the go-to system for all manner of genres, and rhythm action is no different. You can\u2019t move for rhythm games on the system, and even if you could, you would have to move to some sort of beat, because that\u2019s the rule now.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/switch-eshop\/groove_coaster_wai_wai_party\">Groove Coaster: Wai Wai Party!!!!<\/a><\/strong> is the umpteenth example to make its way onto Nintendo\u2019s console, and while these days it takes something a little special to stand out among its countless peers, something a little special is <em>exactly<\/em> what it offers: and we don\u2019t just mean its annoying use of four exclamation marks.<\/p>\n<p>For those unfamiliar with the series, <strong>Groove Coaster<\/strong> is a mobile and arcade series that first started in 2011. After three phone games, five arcade instalments and a Steam release last year, this Switch entry marks Groove Coaster\u2019s console debut, and it\u2019s certainly been worth the wait \u2013 even if it may not initially look like it based on the screenshots.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Groove Coaster Wai Wai Party!!!! Review - Screenshot 2 of 5\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/101680\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/101680\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Groove Coaster Wai Wai Party!!!! Review - Screenshot 2 of 5\"><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>As the name somewhat hints, Taito\u2019s take on rhythm action has a rollercoaster theme to it. It\u2019s a fairly minimalist one, mind you; the \u2018track\u2019 is a single, unbroken line that runs through the entirety of the song and goes through various turns, bends, twists, loops and other dramatic swoops designed to make the fact that it\u2019s just a line as exciting as it could possibly be.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, your icon \u2013 a little avatar that starts off as an enemy from <strong>Space Invaders<\/strong> but can be changed for one of 100 other unlockable ones \u2013 follows the course of the line, encountering a bunch of rhythm-based icons along the way. It sort of goes without saying but your job is to trigger each icon by pressing the appropriate button or moving the correct stick as your avatar passes it.<\/p>\n<p>You may assume that you can only do so much with a line, and in basic terms, you\u2019d be right; but the game does a fantastic job of making sure each song has its own character. Background animations are eye-catching (though never in an overly distracting way), and some songs create unique effects every time you trigger a note. Take the brilliantly bad \u2018USA\u2019 song by Japanese boy band Da Pump and the dance version of the <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/nes\/bubble_bobble\">Bubble Bobble<\/a><\/strong> theme; both have a completely different visual style here, despite offering the same mechanics.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Groove Coaster Wai Wai Party!!!! Review - Screenshot 3 of 5\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/101681\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/101681\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Groove Coaster Wai Wai Party!!!! Review - Screenshot 3 of 5\"><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>One of the lovely things about Groove Coaster on Switch is the way the game\u2019s so flexible when it comes to your choice of button input. Standard beats can be triggered by hitting any of the four directional buttons, any of the four face buttons or any shoulder button, or even by moving one of the analogue sticks. More complex beats give you a little less choice, but you always at least have some options; even the \u2018slide\u2019 commands where you have to move the stick in a certain direction can be performed with the corresponding face buttons instead.<\/p>\n<p>What this ultimately means is that Groove Coaster has one of the quicker adaptation periods you\u2019ll find in a rhythm game. This isn\u2019t something like <strong>Guitar Hero<\/strong> where you have to spend time programming your muscle memory so that when you see a certain colour your brain <em>instantly<\/em> knows what chord to hold down: instead, with so many different ways of triggering each type of note, you can spend a lot of your early hours with the game getting by on pure instinct.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s not to say it\u2019s easy, of course. Each track has four difficulty levels: Easy, Normal, Hard and Master. Both Hard and Master offer enough of a challenge that you\u2019ll likely fail a few times, but aren\u2019t so impossible that they can\u2019t be beaten with enough practice. Safe to say, though, and getting an S+ rank \u2013 for not missing a single note \u2013 on Master difficulty in <em>every<\/em> song is the sort of feat that only a select few rhythm game legends will ever achieve.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Groove Coaster Wai Wai Party!!!! Review - Screenshot 4 of 5\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/101678\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/101678\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Groove Coaster Wai Wai Party!!!! Review - Screenshot 4 of 5\"><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>There\u2019s one irritating feature, however, that isn\u2019t a game-breaker by any means but will still wind up completists who fancy trying for those perfect scores. Each song has a number of \u2018AD-LIB\u2019 notes, which are hidden notes that don\u2019t appear on the screen. If you can guess where they are and press a button at the right point, you\u2019ll trigger them and add to your combo.<\/p>\n<p>While these notes are entirely optional and you won\u2019t lose your combo if you miss one, the only way you can get the ultimate \u2018Full Chain\u2019 ranking for a song is by hitting every note and <em>every<\/em> invisible AD-LIB note. Which is a bit ridiculous. Thankfully, the S+ rank gives you a separate \u2018No Miss\u2019 label, so you can easily pretend those ridiculous invisible notes don\u2019t exist and focus on getting \u2018No Miss\u2019 on every track instead.<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ve got a reason to do so, too. While it has its own separate DLC song packs \u2013 offering the likes of tracks from <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/switch-eshop\/undertale\">Undertale<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 the standalone game itself is absolutely loaded with content and a lot of it is unlockable, just like in the good old days. The Missions screen shows you a bunch of achievements that are linked together in a tree system: these range from things like \u2018Clear 5 stages in the Vocaloid genre\u2019 to \u2018Achieve a Perfect in one stage\u2019.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Groove Coaster Wai Wai Party!!!! Review - Screenshot 5 of 5\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/101685\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/101685\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Groove Coaster Wai Wai Party!!!! Review - Screenshot 5 of 5\"><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>There are 300 of these missions in total and they unlock loads of stuff. These include the likes of 97 unlockable avatar icons to play as, 22 \u2018navigator\u2019 characters who appear on the main menu, 19 different game skins, and \u2013 most importantly \u2013 29 unlockable songs, bringing the total track listing up from 71 songs to a nice round 100. It will take you an absolute age to unlock all of these, but completing songs (and some missions) will also earn you \u2018G Coins\u2019 which let you pay your way through any achievements you can\u2019t complete. And no, you can\u2019t buy extra G Coins in the eShop: it\u2019s not that kind of game. At least, not now it\u2019s on Switch.<\/p>\n<p>The Switch version includes some other features that, to be frank, we could take or leave. There\u2019s an optional motion control method that simply replaces analogue stick controls with waggling a Joy-Con; it\u2019s accurate enough and we had no issues playing in this way, but it just wasn\u2019t for us. Similarly, the option to play with up to four players \u2013 either through split-screen or local wireless \u2013 is welcome, but nothing unique. None of this really matters, though, when the main meat here is so delicious. Or something.<\/p>\n<p>The only other thing you have to bear in mind here is that Groove Coaster is unashamedly Japanese. Almost the entire soundtrack consists of Japanese music, split into Anime\/Pop, Vocaloid, Touhou Project Remix and Game Music categories, so if your tastes are more western in style you may not get along with what\u2019s on offer here. Anyone else who loves the Asian scene or is at least open-minded enough to be introduced to 100 infuriatingly addictive new tracks will have a blast, though.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"conclusion\">\n<h2 class=\"heading\">Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>Yet another fantastic rhythm game to add to the Switch&#8217;s ever-growing repertoire. It may be a tad on the expensive side, but its core mechanics are rock solid, its minimalist visuals are a treat to behold and the fact it&#8217;s got to much to play through and unlock means you&#8217;ll be happily tapping your toes to this one for months.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Switch has become the go-to system for all manner of genres, and rhythm action is no different. You can\u2019t move for rhythm games on the system, and even if you could, you would have to move to some sort of beat, because that\u2019s the rule now. Groove Coaster: Wai Wai Party!!!! is the umpteenth [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nintendo-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105433"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105433\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}