Beatbuddy: Tales of the Guardians (Wii U) Review

As far as small indies go, Beatbuddy: Tale of the Guardians looks quite good. Threaks paid close attention to art and design when making this game, and it does not look too far off from something seen by Ubisoft's Rayman. Environments are rendered with multi-plane parallax layers and are finely illustrated. Great care was put into the art and assets that build the scenery, and it definitely does make the overall game more appealing. The few things that are in 3D, specifically the character models, look very solid and have a wide range of animation that feel natural even when controlling them. While the blue blob-like main character is fairly bland, he does have some style, and controls as well as Donkey Kong does while swimming in the past Donkey Kong Country games. Sadly, the frame rate is quite erratic and the game is not exactly the best optimised whilst running on Wii U.

The music is the real star of Beatbuddy, which has a very "street" approach. Given the underwater setting, this approach is fairly original and novel given most underwater levels feature softer or laidback music. The soundtrack goes full on hip-hop and sometimes even adds jazzy samples to its distinctive score. In fact, the best aspect of Beatbuddy is easily the music, which does elevate its generic and unexciting gameplay.

While there is nothing wrong with the gameplay, it is just spread incredibly thin over what feels like one long underwater level that lasts around four hours. There is just simple swimming, carrying objects, minor light-based puzzles and hitting switches, which really drags after a while. There are a few moments that incorporate some rhythm-based button tapping to bypass obstacles, but, really, there just isn't much to this. It really is just the eclectic soundtrack that holds any real interest in the title. The puzzle design is mostly moment by moment, and there is never really any challenge to figure out; the real challenge is most the rhythm sections that involve navigating precarious obstacles that may damage or instantly kill.

Beatbuddy: Tale of the Guardians certainly puts a lot of stock into its story, much to its detriment on the gameplay, which is already uninvolving. There are frequent moments when the action gets interrupted by long dialogue and characters prattle on about an evil prince and some kind of uprising. The dialogue is not bad in itself, but does tend to drag on longer than required, especially when some instances could have been summed up in two sentences.

Beatbuddy can be beaten in a few hours, but even then, the overall experience feels way longer than it actually is. This is probably due to thin gameplay that lacks variety. It may be fine for those who are enamoured with the water stages in the Donkey Kong Country games, but most will find that Beatbuddy is best played in short bursts. It isn't long before the languid pace and soft visuals cause drowsiness or boredom.

Other than music and visuals, there just isn't much to Threaks' Beatbuddy. It is not the most polished indie title on Wii U and the game design is tepid at best. It's hard to recommend a game purely for the music, but if Threaks ever put out the soundtrack for it, that would be worth a listen more than the actual game itself. While Beatbuddy: Tale of the Guardians is an admirable first effort, Threaks does show promise of becoming a fine indie developer, but this is not worth a purchase for those who want an exciting or challenging game.