Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel for the Nintendo DS is The Squeakquel to the original DS Alvin and the Chipmunks, as you’d expect. It’s also a rhythm game, as you’d expect. I was one of the very few people that thought that game was just kinda ok and not horrendous or anything. Naturally, that begs the question – is this game better than that one?
The answer is actually yes! Though the gameplay is in the same genre, it’s a bit different. In the first game, you had 4 columns with notes going from top to bottom and you had to tap them, with occasional distractions, like shouting in your mic. In this game, there’s only one window in the middle of the screen, but the notes fly from different directions. You have to tap them or swipe in the same moving direction, or swipe & hold if the note is continuous. There are also occasional mini-games, like avoiding volume columns or tapping stars as they appear. There are only 3 different mini-games like that, and they’re pretty inconsistent, and aren’t that enjoyable. Especially the last one, which I have NO idea how you keep your combo in. The problem is that the tutorial doesn’t even explain these. The game says you’ll learn as you go, but was it so difficult to actually explain them in the tutorial? It’s just baffling.
The difficulty curve is surprisingly steep. The game gradually becomes more insanely difficult. About first 5 levels are easy, then they get more and more difficult as you go. If I didn’t have prior experience at rhythm games, I doubt I would be able to beat the last level, it cranks the intensity pretty high. And the game isn’t even at its hardest! There are two difficulty options – normal and expert. Expert is unlocked as you play the game on normal, and as you can imagine, it’s pretty tough from the very first level. I honestly cannot imagine what the last level on expert is like. Thankfully, I didn’t bother with completionism or anything, just beating all levels on normal is enough to bring credits.
The presentation is about average. The only notable thing I noticed is that the tutorial uses an animated talking head of Alvin, and it looks REALLY awkward, it's like they just edited the same frame to look like they talk, but it just look weird. The game does feature a healthy dose of voice acting, which is nice.
I would unironically recommend this game if it had more compelling characters, story and all of its mechanics were intuitive. I also think the mini-games could’ve used more variety and interesting mechanics. The game is definitely more enjoyable and challenging than Alvin and the Chipmunks DS. At the end of the day though, I wouldn’t call this title exceptional, it’s still kind of average, but as far as rhythm games go, it’s not a bad pick.
The answer is actually yes! Though the gameplay is in the same genre, it’s a bit different. In the first game, you had 4 columns with notes going from top to bottom and you had to tap them, with occasional distractions, like shouting in your mic. In this game, there’s only one window in the middle of the screen, but the notes fly from different directions. You have to tap them or swipe in the same moving direction, or swipe & hold if the note is continuous. There are also occasional mini-games, like avoiding volume columns or tapping stars as they appear. There are only 3 different mini-games like that, and they’re pretty inconsistent, and aren’t that enjoyable. Especially the last one, which I have NO idea how you keep your combo in. The problem is that the tutorial doesn’t even explain these. The game says you’ll learn as you go, but was it so difficult to actually explain them in the tutorial? It’s just baffling.
The difficulty curve is surprisingly steep. The game gradually becomes more insanely difficult. About first 5 levels are easy, then they get more and more difficult as you go. If I didn’t have prior experience at rhythm games, I doubt I would be able to beat the last level, it cranks the intensity pretty high. And the game isn’t even at its hardest! There are two difficulty options – normal and expert. Expert is unlocked as you play the game on normal, and as you can imagine, it’s pretty tough from the very first level. I honestly cannot imagine what the last level on expert is like. Thankfully, I didn’t bother with completionism or anything, just beating all levels on normal is enough to bring credits.
The presentation is about average. The only notable thing I noticed is that the tutorial uses an animated talking head of Alvin, and it looks REALLY awkward, it's like they just edited the same frame to look like they talk, but it just look weird. The game does feature a healthy dose of voice acting, which is nice.
I would unironically recommend this game if it had more compelling characters, story and all of its mechanics were intuitive. I also think the mini-games could’ve used more variety and interesting mechanics. The game is definitely more enjoyable and challenging than Alvin and the Chipmunks DS. At the end of the day though, I wouldn’t call this title exceptional, it’s still kind of average, but as far as rhythm games go, it’s not a bad pick.