KickBeat Special Edition (PS4)

Those of you have stuck with me from the beginning will more than likely recall my review of the PS3, and PS Vita versions of the original "KickBeat". I had accused the game of being too visually, and functionally complex. You had to mind too many things at once, and do so to mostly fast paced music. Features such as the rhythm based mechanics didn't really sync up with most of the songs being played out. Marilyn Manson's song, "Beautiful People", for example did not fit the rhythm based gameplay at all due to it's mostly vocal nature, and faster than normal drum play. Normally in a rhythm game developers will sync actions up to beats, or the thump of the bass to ensure that the gamer can follow the game without trouble. In the case of "KickBeat" though they chose to use everything from beats to vocals as focal points with the rhythm mechanics. Another issue I had with the original game was the fact that they started the first levels of the game off with some of the most difficult songs to follow. It was issues like these that ultimately kept me from completing a full playthrough, and recommending the game to my readers. Sadly, after returning as a next-gen rehash the game still carries with it the same issues that I found before. The only differences I noticed were the upgraded graphics, sound quality, and possibly some new unlockable content.

Kickbeat (PSN/PS VITA)

Out of all of Zen Studios video game creations "Kickbeat" could have easily been the game to outsell, and outdo their famous pinball tables. The key phrase in that statement though is "could have been". While the game looks absolutely stunning, and has an awesome music feature that I'm all for I found the gameplay to be flawed to a point that having fun while playing the game was almost an impossibility. Instead of easing the gamers into the gameplay Zen Studios almost immediately has them hammering out button presses to fast paced songs that honestly should have been used in the much harder difficulty settings. It is these combinations of hard hitting songs, and  extreme challenges that have made the review process frustrating for me.

While I could (barely) complete the first two songs on the 'Normal' difficulty setting in the story mode I found trying to repeatedly get past the first boss battle to be the straw that broke the camel's back. Not being able to get past a boss, because the actions onscreen don't seem to be in sync with the button presses makes the seemingly badass boss encounter a trying experience.Very rarely will I choose to not continue playing a game, but this playthrough has been beyond rage inducing for me. I just don't see myself being able to make it any further any time soon. As much as I hate to I'm going to have to go ahead, and post my review with my limited knowledge of the game. I apologize to my readers, and to Mel of Zen Studios, but a full playthrough of this game is just not possible for me.