So if you have a 3DS or 3DS XL, you would’ve seen that there’s a demo of a game called HarmoKnight. Well, I played it and tried it out, and here’s my review on it!

First Things First…

So let me get this out of the way, HarmoKnight was created by Game Freak, yup, the Game Freak who makes all the Pokemon games. Never fear, though, other than homages to the series, this s a completely different game.

Story

As I am reviewing the demo version, there’s not much of a story. However, you take control of a boy named Tempo, who is training to become a great warrior. Who is his trainer? Tappy, a tap dancing rabbit. They live in the world of Melodia, which falls under attack by the evil Noizoids, and it’s your job to save the world!

Gameplay

I’m calling this a “rhythm based platforming game.” For the most part, it is a traditional platformer like Sonic or Mario, but Tempo is constantly moving forward, and you only have two abilities, attacking with a staff, and jumping. If you’ve ever battled a boss in Sonic Advance 2, you’ll kind of get the idea.

Obviously, there are various obstacles in the stage, enemies and spikes to be precise. However, there are also “notes” to collect, the source of the world’s power, these are akin to Coins in Mario. The aim of each stage is to collect as many notes as possible.

The gameplay works out really well. More often than not, the game is solely relying on your timing, but I’ll get to that in sound.

I do have one gripe though. Attacking is “A” and jumping is “B,” and you’ll be doing quite a bit of jumping. If you’ve ever played an of the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games, the “A” button is basic attack, and it feels fine, but this isn’t a Dungeon Crawler, it’s a platformer, I mean, New Super Mario Bros 2 uses the A button to jump. Its not a huge problem, but more a minor nitpick.

Visuals

Being on the 3DS, the game takes advantage of the 3D capabilities given to it. Since the game is played on the top screen, you can use 3D if you’d like, I can’t see in 3D, so I can’t critique it. However, the graphics are very nice, and everything is rendered in 3D.

There are some cutscenes in the demo, while the first one is 3D, the second one is done in a comic book style, which is really, really nicely done, and although it is a 2D experience, it is layered so that you can see it in 3D. It’s hard to explain in writing, you’ll have to see it to believe it.

Sound

Game Freak is known for making really good music, and HarmoKnight is no exception. Each stage has its own background track, which is unique, and great to listen to.

Remember earlier I said this was “Rhythm based?” Well, this is where it all comes together. When Tempo jumps, collects a music note, or attacks an enemy, he has to do it in time with the background music. He can also hit a variety of plants that don’t really have flowers on the end, but come in several varieties, cymbals, drums, and triangles. In the end, this means that you have quite a bit control on how the music sounds, and depending on your own actions, it can either sound great, or sound terrible. Either way, this is a game that necessitates having the sound turned on, and Wynaut, it sounds amazing anyway!

Oh yeah, many themes from the Pokemon series are remixed and turned into bonus stages, and these are $%@*ing good remixes too.

Replayability

You’re gonna have to collect as many notes as possible, but unless you want to listen to the music again, many stages are linear, and aren’t really begging you to come back.

Overall

Since this is only a demo version, I can’t get too into it, but as it is, this is an amazing game created by an amazing group of people. As long as the controls don’t get you confused, there’s quite a bit to see and hear in this game. I should also point out that they have a nice sense of humor, and try their hardest to make you laugh no matter what happens.

Anyway, check out the demo on the 3DS eShop, and maybe pick it up on March 28th!