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Rhythm 'n Notes: Improve Your Music Skills (DS)

• Developer:
• Publisher: Agetec
• Genre: Music & Dance
• Official Website: http://www.agetec.com
• Score: 1 of 5: Save Your Cash

The emerging "training" genre has been full of hits and misses, but the vast majority fall in the latter category. Most can hardly be called games, as they are usually better suited to be educational tools. The other category of games seeing a recent spike in popularity is the music genre. Guitar Hero, Elite Beat Agents and karaoke titles have made that market popular.

With the success of these two genres in mind, Agetec's Rhythm ‘n Notes: Improve Your Music Skills comes as no surprise. The title is quite literal - the game tests users' rhythm-keeping and note-recognizing abilities. The fusing of two genres can sometimes be successful; Puzzle Quest was a great experience. Rhythm 'n Notes, however, is not fun, and won't (or shouldn't) be successful.

The worst part of the game is the large amount of waiting time. Each round of play should take about 20 seconds, but extraneous menus and delays cause them to take well over a minute. For a title on a portable system with no load times, this is unforgivable. Another drawback is the game's level of difficulty. There are harder and harder levels, but the rhythm portion is so forgiving that it basically has no use to people trying to improve their rhythm. With all the flaws in the main gameplay, it would help if the game had extra features. It doesn't.

Of course, the underlying issue with all this is the need for such a game. People without rhythm tend to avoid rhythm games, and the number of people who want to be able to recognize chords is likely small. Successful training titles like Brain Age appeal to a mass public, as they help with everyday life. Rhythm ‘n Notes, however, doesn't help with anything.

There are software titles that help people increase their musical ability, but Rhythm 'n Notes is not one of them.

Nov 7, 2007 | 0 comments
Graham Russell