Tommy Lee of Motley Crue…Dave Grohl of Nirvana…John Densmore of The Doors to name a few are some of the best drummers of all time. Once they start playing, you just know you are in for a good time. So when I got a chance to review Happy Drummer from Lusionsoft for the PlayStation VR, I knew that this was going to be fun and I am glad I was not disappointed.
Happy Drummer is what you will be and what you will be doing…happy and be drumming. The object is simple, hit the drums at the right time. So make sure both of the Move Controllers are charged as you will want to be drumming for a long time. As the shapes come down from the godlike being in the sky, they will go to a particular drum and this is what you hit at the correct moment. You will also be thrown stars which means you need to use both sticks to hit the star and a circle means you need to hit the rim of the drum.
There are three modes for you to test your skills. You have Normal, Hard and Lunatic. I am going to say this now, go ahead and get it out of your system and do Lunatic, I dare ya. Now once you are proven by the gods that you are no match, please continue on to normal mode so that you can just enjoy your time keeping your tribe as happy as can be. I mean you really are only part of this tribe for one reason…to drum.
There are two different scenes and twelve songs for you to drum your happiness too. What is really interesting is that each song was tailor-made for a different composer around the world. And each song does that its own special flavor to it and has this tribal sound to it. There is a creative mode that allows you to create the beat for each song, however, you cannot share them. I really wish there was the ability to share your creations as it would add to the replayability to a really fun game.
Graphic wise Happy Drummer is not trying to be something it is not. It tries to be what it is, simple fun. Sound-wise I really enjoyed the songs. They to me at least had a great beat and I actually felt happy playing them. As I mentioned, each song has brought something special and you can tell that each song wants you to have its full attention.
The other thing I wish Happy Drummer would have besides the ability to share your creations is the option to import your own songs. Just think to be able to drum to your favorite song of your favorite genre. Who knows, maybe this can be added later. Well, we can dream, right?
But Happy Drummer does have a lot going for it. Leader boards are a nice touch and it’s nice when you see your name in the ranks. Being able to just escape for a song or two and just drum in rhythm is a welcome addition to PlayStation VR. All we are missing now is a guitar, a bass, and the ability to sing and we could really have a multiplayer battle of the bands in Virtual Reality.
Happy Drummer is out now on PlayStation VR and is also available on the Oculus Store, Steam, and Viveport. A review copy was provided.
To learn more about Lusionsoft, please visit their site, like them on Facebook, and follow them on Twitter.
In case you missed the trailer, please enjoy. Until next time, I am going to pretend to be Tommy Lee drumming to Moana.
Mr. PSVR, March 16, 2018, theplaystationbrahs.com
