Inside My Radio (PC) Review

By Thom Compton 16.08.2015

Review for Inside My Radio on PC

Seaven Studio is a group of game designers from Europe. They have brought upon the world their second game, Inside My Radio, after having moderate success with Ethan: Meteor Hunter. If nothing else, these games show versatility many studios lack. Rhythm platformers are very difficult to make and stand out, though, as many indie studios utilise this genre. Can Inside My Radio stand out amongst its peers? It turns out, it does so almost effortlessly.

Inside My Radio is intensely sublime. The box characters, sharp use of colours, and excellent level design leave behind a game that falls just short of perfection. As far as rhythm games go, Inside My Radio can sit comfortably next to Sound Shapes and Audiosurf as one of the greats. Unfortunately, it's when it becomes a platformer that it stumbles.

Graphically, Inside My Radio is like playing a game inside a large neon sign. Bright colours flood the stage, permeating the screen with a perfect mixture of an artist's colour wheel and minimalism. The colours and designs manage to never feel too over or underwhelming.

Level design is executed very well, although levels tend to lean towards the long side. Inside My Radio is a hard game, and the length of its levels can become cumbersome after a while. Despite this, every challenge laid forth exhibits the game's amazing ability to find new uses for old mechanics, and keeps itself from getting stale.

A brief aside, many individuals in the industry have accused "Japanese" games of forcing players into hours of tutorials. Whether this is a universal opinion or not, games like Inside My Radio prove the opposite to be true. The game frequently introduces mechanics with little or no explanation on how to handle the situation. Getting stuck in a fight or a short section of a level, with no idea what the game wants, is very frustrating, especially since the game just repeats a command with little to no explanation as to how to utilise it.

Screenshot for Inside My Radio on PC

Fortunately, this problem only pops up every once in a while. For the most part, the Inside My Radio plays fantastically. The rhythm portions play beautifully, and scale in difficulty based on real musical theory. Through the appropriate use of tempos, the slow ascension into rhythm bliss slowly unfolds, and is genuinely worth every moment spent within. Even with the lack of some important tutorials, the player should feel obligated to push beyond these sections and learn what the game so cryptically leaves out.

The music is also well thought out and offers something special for most music fans. While a lot of rhythm games tend to lean towards techno, Inside My Radio frequently mixes things up to offer a nice collection of tracks. It would have been great to see some more bizarre styles added to the fray, but the soundtrack that must be traversed is genuinely fun and diverse enough to keep it from getting boring for even a second.

For the achievement hunters and completionists out there, there's a bit of a void. The game is fairly straightforward and never feels like too much is hidden and needs to be sought. However, for the diligent and undeterred, there are some extra things to try to do, and the achievements are genuinely very creative.

Inside My Radio is genuinely the best rhythm platformer since Sound Shapes, and is honestly the most accessible to come out in recent memory. While the graphics may be minimalistic, they are pretty enough to be eye catching, but not distract from the pulse thumping platforming that is laid out in front of the player at any section. The controls are fluid and well thought out; although from time to time don't really give any clear-cut understanding of what users are supposed to do.

Screenshot for Inside My Radio on PC

Cubed3 Rating

9/10
Rated 9 out of 10

Exceptional - Gold Award

Rated 9 out of 10

Inside My Radio is an excellent example of taking the basic ideas of a genre, distilling them down to their most enjoyable elements, and executing it almost perfectly. While there are some hiccups, the game is still an instant piece of indie game mythology that anyone would be truly remised to skip over. What Seaven Studio comes up with next is sure to be a treat, because if Inside My Radio is any indication of their skills, they will be a juggernaut among their peers.

Developer

Seaven

Publisher

Iceberg

Genre

2D Platformer

Players

1

C3 Score

Rated $score out of 10  9/10

Reader Score

Rated $score out of 10  0 (0 Votes)

European release date Out now   North America release date Out now   Japan release date None   Australian release date Out now   

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