KickBeat Overview

KickBeat is a rhythm game mixed with martial arts. There are 18 songs in the game with difficulty ranging from normal to master. It is easy to play but difficult to master.

Story

The sphere which holds all the music ever created in the world was stolen and it is up to the chosen one to get it back. Lee, a janitor who started his training with Master Fu a few months ago was chosen to be the chosen one. He reluctantly goes get the sphere back after Master Fu tells him to. Mei is the granddaughter of Master Fu and been training since she was a child.

After three rounds, there is usually a cut scene that shows the progression of the story. The story builds up very quickly and ends shortly after. 

Gameplay

The game is played in a arena style with character standing in the center. The circle in the center represents Health and Chi. Chi can be used once charged (by defeating enemies) with the L trigger.

The enemies are color coded to show what beat they are on. Yellow is every one beat, blue is half beats, red is two enemies at once, and yellow with red trail is hold button until release.

Enemies with something over their heads have items. Double tap the button to get the items. Some items can be triggered with R trigger.

All enemies will walk around the circle until they attack. In normal mode, the cross, circle, triangle and square buttons will show and highlight to hit them. In hard mode, buttons will not show up. Instead watch for which enemies are highlighted.

Final Thoughts

While the aggressive nature of the songs is fun to play and easy to hear the beats, I am not a big fan of the music. The music works for the game and I enjoyed playing them.

I played KickBeat for the past week and completed Lee and Mei's stories. The stories only showed a few important bits and it felt like there was suppose to be more. Most of it implies what happened in the past/present.

KickBeat is different from the other rhythm games I have been playing. It is something I would have not known about if it was not for PS Plus. I hope to continue to find small rhythm games as interesting as this one.

Recommended for those who like rhythm games and a challenge.