Rush Bros

Who has played one of their favorite games while listening to your favorite song? I know I used to play games from Quake to World of Warcraft listing to my favorite tunes being played with Winamp on my desktop. Rush Bros is that mix of a fun game and your favorite music all in one. Now we look at all games by looking back at classic ones as well and we get the feeling the makers of Rush Bros did the same.

In a nutshell, Rush Bros is a platformer game in the likes of MegaMan, Sonic and even newer indie games like Super Meat Boy. You navigate the beautifully created levels with your little rocker running, jumping and avoiding various traps placed throughout each level. The key is taking in your environment. You can just barrel your way through, especially if you are used to playing these types of games, but if you do you are missing the point and the fun.

The game may have Rush in its name, but you want to take in the almost psychedelic colors and motions of the level design. I cannot stress this enough, they look awesome and go along great with the music. There are tons of things to avoid in each level like spikes, spinning saws and blades that come out the ground and more, but along with that is also the challenge of keeping in motion. The music keeps you on task whether you use the games soundtrack, which is very good or add your own personal soundtrack off of your system. I personally think the game is perfect for faster music be it Pop, Dance, Techno or even Dubstep.

There are 41 levels and they start off short and not too hard to navigate so you get used to it. You won’t always be able to just rush straight through. There will be keys in the form of music notes to collect that opens doors allowing you to progress. At first the keys are close by and you might just need to jump on a platform to get them. In later levels you may need to go far to get a key and then back track to open the door. This adds an element you saw in later Sonic games like Sonic CD where going back and forth is a level is important.

There are also power ups in the game. The power ups come in handy if you are trying to beat your best time or if you are playing against someone else. Most of the time the power ups take some skill to reach but can do things like speed you up, give you double jump and more, but there are also some that slow you down which again can be critical in versus play.

In reviewing I not only play a game, but see what others have thought about the game and I found people like to talk about Rush Bros not being ground breaking. While it is true there are games that allow you to use your own music and there are many platform games in the vein of classics we all know and love, but for us the key is, is it fun. If you like a fast passed game with beautifully design, challenging levels then Rush Bros is for you. You don’t always have to reinvent the wheel sometime a good game is a good game and does not need to be 1000% new to be great.

Rush Bros has that retro feel and gameplay, but it is original in how it is brought to the player. I found it is a game you can play over and over and even just switching the music you play a level on makes it a bit different as elements on the map react to the music. You can have fun playing friends and people online which reminded me of Sonic 2 versus mode, including the split screen. There is a lot to love here for platform lovers, music lovers and lovers of fun game design. It is definitely worth a pickup.

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