Alex Trowers worked alongside Peter Molyneux at Bullfrog from the early days developing Syndicate through to the takeover by EA. In part 1 of a 2 part feature, Alex looks back at life at Bullfrog.
Ah, the Rhythm Action genre. Bashing away on a fake, plastic instrument or leaping around like a loon on a bunch of arrows while a banging track plays in the background. Do it well and you’re a rock god on stage in front of thousands or the very ghost of Timberlake himself, throwing down some awesome shapes. For some people, this is escapism at its height. For others, well, they just don’t ‘get’ it.
The likes of Konami and Harmonix are the masters of the genre, flinging notes your way and expecting a deft finger or foot to ensure that they sound right. Get it right and everything goes smoothly. Get it wrong and you’ll lose a lot of friends as the resulting noise from repeated failure isn’t the most pleasant thing to subject yourself to.
I can remember playing a demo of Drummania on a Japansese PS2 many years ago. Playing it on a joypad, it took some working out – particularly the guitar sections – but once we did, we never looked back. Us Westerners were a bit starved of content – Beatmania on PS being the only real option – but a friend and I followed the genre with a passion. Beatmania II DX, Guitar Freaks & Drummania – these would be the cause of mammoth gaming sessions on fake turntables, guitars and drum kits.
The basic premise was that notes fell down the screen. Hitting the correct button or combination of buttons when the notes reached the bottom would result in the correct sound being played. Too soon or too late and it sounded horrible – sometimes because the song had already moved on to the next bit and others because, you know what? You’ve got no rhythm. Actually, that’s a bit harsh. Some of the note patterns on the later tracks were frankly insane. I’d also recommend steering clear of the higher rated Happy Hardcore or Gabba tracks if you’re even slightly concerned about your finger nimbleness.
Then you have your Dance Dance Revolution style game. This time it’s arrows and they go up the screen. When they reach the top, your foot has to hit the relevant button. Here the music is more like a backdrop and something to jump in time to rather than anything you have an input in. At a basic level, DDR is all about being able to negotiate your way through a song with a modicum of respectability. Then you get to people who take it very seriously indeed, like some kind of sport. Freestyle competitions encourage people to game beyond the game itself – hitting the pads with bodyparts other that feet, performing flips, not looking at the screen, etc. None of these things help your score but, in the right, er... hands, they can look brilliant.
Harmonix flew the flag for the West with the advent of Frequency – an underrated gem and no mistake. Their take involved stringing together individual note patterns to ensure that the track played properly. Failing to hit the notes just switched that section of the music off – not something you particularly wanted to occur. Do it right and the track completes, allowing you to move over to a new instrument and repeat the process. Giving the player this choice gave the game a more ‘creative’ feel – you weren’t just trying to repeat the song, you chose how the thing was built up.
The advent of Guitar Hero is probably what brought the genre to the masses. Sure, Guitar Freaks did it first and Hero aped the basic premise, but Harmonix were able to make it feel like playing a proper guitar. Okay, let me have another go at that – Harmonix were able to make it feel like how I imagine
97 days ago
It was awesome seeing you at the Fusion event playing with Andy and Sandy White Alex. Rock Band is the ultimate modern form of true entertainment.