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0 As Thumb Culture’s resident NecroDancer fanatic—Rift gained a TC Gold Award from me!—my eyes immediately lit up at the announcement of more new music packs. Celeste and Pizza Tower tracks got the Rift treatment in previous packs, as well as some Super Meat Boy tracks and Crypt of the NecroDancer favourites for free (cue many squees from me!). Now Cadence is back to conquer even more rifts, this time with an old friend who is no stranger to NecroDancer DLC. Virtual pop star and Vocaloid legend Hatsune Miku joins the fray with 6 new tracks to sharpen your rhythm skills and bop till you drop.
Miku Miku Beam!
Admittedly, despite being familiar with her, my only experience of Miku songs is through the Crypt DLC. So naturally, it stands to reason that I hear more of her virtual vocals through the sequel’s DLC. I’ll be a Miku aficionado in no time, Rift style!
Gameplay
This pack features 6 tracks—more than any DLC pack so far—which are:
- Too Real feat. Hatsune Miku by Danny Baranowsky
- Intergalactic Bound feat. Hatsune Miku by Yunosuke & CircusP
- M@GICAL☆CURE! LOVE ♥ SHOT! feat. Hatsune Miku by SAWTOWNE
- Just 1dB Louder feat. Hatsune Miku by IOSYS TRAX
- MikuFiesta feat. Hatsune Miku by AlexTrip Sands
- Radiant Revival feat. Hatsune Miku by Jamie Paige
“Too Real” is available to download for free to give you a taster. A natural choice given it’s a Baranowsky track, but no single track could accurately represent this pack as a whole. The songs are so varied in tempo, style and enemy charting, which is an instant plus for me. The previous packs were also solid, but of course very similar-sounding as they come from games with an overall theme. Miku can turn her hand to any genre. Plus, they all happen to be complete earworms! “Intergalactic Bound” and “Mikufiesta” are my personal favourites and are still playing on repeat in my head. The only noticeable downside of this pack is the lack of remix mode, which lowers the replay value.
A Miku Beat For All To Follow
As you’d expect, the signature gameplay loop of hitting enemies as they reach the end of the fretboard returns, keeping their patterns in mind. Some favour sneaky off-beat slimes and layered serpents, others shielded skeletons and naughty knights. Of course, they thoroughly put you to the test. M@GICAL☆CURE! LOVE ♥ SHOT! on Impossible makes your fingers hurt just looking at the opening bars! But thankfully, they are all extremely fun to master, even on the lower difficulties. You’ll be grinning from ear to ear when you finally perfect a sustained serpent and a slew of shielded skellies!
Graphics & Audio
The art style of Rift perfectly lends itself to Miku, and her design is delightfully on point. Whether excited at your excellence, embarrassed at your countless early misses or just casually bopping along, she is cute, bouncy and oozes fun – oversized leek and all.
The audio also maintains its high standards, with great mixing throughout. This was a considerable improvement on the Pizza Tower pack for me; the volume was a little too loud at times. There was a slight volume imbalance on one of the tracks when it was first played, but this was quickly remedied with a patch and now plays smoothly.
Final Thoughts
The Hatsune Miku pack is, for me, the best Rift DLC pack released so far. Despite the lack of remixed versions, the songs are varied and incredibly catchy, and the charting is challenging yet rewarding to master on any difficulty level.
Therefore, everyone’s favourite aqua-haired diva gets a Thumb Culture Gold Award for her powerhouse pack. A Radiant Revival indeed!
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
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