The cutesy, vocaloid aesthetic that recognizable animated star Hatsune Miku drips over this game may end up being off-putting to some, as many players aren't exactly on the vocaloid train, but beneath that aesthetic is a wonderfully customizable, delightfully re-playable rhythm game that should not be missed.

Among the best aspects of Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Mega Mix is the sheer customizability of the experience. As a start, the choice between face-button and motion control is a lovely touch that allows players of all styles to access the game in a way that feels most comfortable to them. Project DIVA doesn't stop there, allowing everything from character design (including actually deg some of the clothing your character can wear), playlist construction, and play in a variety of game modes depending on player preference. While some players may not expect much from what amounts to a branded, tie-in game, Project DIVA goes out of its way to provide a top-of-the-line experience for the style of game it is. More than anything, Project DIVA provides a confident, strong gameplay experience that meets the expectations of longtime fans, but also can pleasantly surprise those not already onboard.

The game does suffer from some of the uneven difficulty spikes that plague many music and rhythm games of this style, and the enormous file size can be a burden to those who cannot afford expanded storage. However, the core of the game is exceptionally solid and ends up as a great option for those hunting for their next music game.

The Persona Dancing: Endless Night Collection is a bonkers product. In all honesty, the entire concept of the Persona Dancing subseries of the Persona role-playing games, themselves a subseries of the Megami Tensei franchise, is bonkers to its core. And they are all the better for that madness.

The Persona Dancing subseries takes the familiar character casts from each of the mainline role-playing games in the series and then throws them into colorful rhythm game dance-offs set to both the original scores of their games and wildly energetic remixes of those scores. The setup for each game in the collection is more or less the same. A chosen character from one of the games must perform and dance to a chosen song in a locale from one of the games' stories. Conceptually? Buck wild. In execution? A bizarrely good time.

The core gameplay loop in the Persona Dancing games sees the players attempting to match the notes as they flow across the screen. The primary interaction comes through a six-button control scheme that matches to the various types of notes that will appear during gameplay. In this way, at its very core, the Persona Dancing games are fairly standard musical challenge games. However, in concept and execution, this absolutely wild offshoot franchise makes a strong case for itself.

There are quibbles in the collection, such as the final game being included as a redeemable code rather than a physical copy and the art book d to be included lacking in content, but overall the Persona Dancing: Endless Night Collection is an exhilaratingly weird gaming experience

There are few games that provide an experience quite like Sayonara Wild Hearts. It is, at once, an arcade adventure full of simple-yet-engaging action and moments of breakneck pacing, and yet it's also a wildly gorgeous playable music video. A surreal, interactive, pop album in motion, Wild Hearts is a game that takes what it means to be a music game and plays with that meaning. It pulls at the foundational threads of the genre and uses them to weave something fast, fun, and oddly moving.

Each level of Sayonara Wild Hearts is set to a different song from the game's original soundtrack, acting as a sort of playable music video/movie, telling one story that flows over the gameplay and music. The constant changes of music, vibes, and shifts in gameplay (some major, some minor) keeps the game wildly interesting and thematically appropriate as it goes, despite its extremely short run time. At only about two hours long (at most), Wild Hearts is a singular experience. It presents its ideas, its gameplay mechanics, and the story it wants to tell, all without overstaying its welcome. Everything works together, making the short completion time feel properly intentional.

While the game is a wonderful work of play and interactive narrative, the excessively short span of it can be a major turn-off to many. For some players, a larger, more versatile experience is their target game. So, the vibes-based, musical narrative of Sayonara Wild Hearts, a game that comes and goes without overstaying its welcome, is something so singular and so special, but it is also an experience one should be decently aware of before purchasing.

Crypt of the Necrodancer established itself as a beautiful and unique work of creative play but built a great deal of its aesthetic on the classic pixel art styles of old. On that line of thinking, there are few games quite as "classic" as the Legend of Zelda series. With that in mind, the follow-up to Crypt of the Necrodancer came not as a sequel, but as a crossover.

Crypt of the Necrodancer: Cadence of Hyrule takes the novel, unique beat-matching dungeon-diving gameplay of its original and transplants it into a more exploratory experience. Hyrule, the kingdom from Zelda, now moves to the music and players must navigate this familiar land with a toe-tapping vigor unlike anything that setting has experienced before. The music of the Zelda series, suites of classic works in their own rights, have also been given the Necrodancer treatment, being remixed and reworked to function as ironically faux/pseudo-retro versions of themselves that better fit the delightfully bouncy pace of the game.

While the crossover is an overall success, and will be sure to make fans of both games smile as they play, it can feel slightly less tight in its structure and execution than the original Necrodancer. The attempt to balance the much more controlled, beat-based movements and combat of Crypt with the more exploratory and puzzling gameplay of The Legend of Zelda is well-done, but at times can experience hiccups where the compromises being made become visible to the players.

At the end of the day, if Crypt of the Necrodancer was not your cup of tea, then Cadence of Hyrule likely won't be changing that stance. If the original game was something you loved, however, then Cadence is a beautiful expansion of that experience drenched in the aesthetic identity of one of gaming's all-time great franchises.

While most music and dance games on the market serve as fun distractions, artistic expressions, or sweat-inducing challenges, some aim to use the framework of gameplay as a means to teach. Rocksmith is one such game, taking on the trappings of Guitar Hero and other, similar music games, and then reworking them into an actual lesson and practice platform for playing the electric guitar.

Backward compatible with songs from previously released versions and packed from top to bottom with tools for learning, practice, and actually playing, Rocksmith is less game and more of an entire educational suite with gameplay elements worked in to ease the process.

Those integrated gameplay elements really do work, too. By gamifying a lesson plan and a set of teaching systems, Rocksmith better encourages players (or in this case, wannabe guitarists) to return for each lesson. It lays out a clear, well-structured set of mechanical inputs and playable lessons that can be easier for some players to parse than classic guitar lessons with a teacher.

While this of course is an irable and well-executed game-as-teaching suite, it can also end up deceptive to some. By taking on the trappings of previous games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero, and with region-locked DLC, it makes it doubly necessary to research thoroughly before purchasing. The use of real guitars also is, of course, an extreme necessity for this game, but can drive the cost absolutely through the roof. For players looking to marry their gaming skills with real-life musical ability, Rocksmith will be well worth the cost and the effort.

Since first releasing on the Wii in 2009, Ubisoft's Just Dance series of musical party games has released a new annual copy without fail. That places Just Dance 2023 Edition as the 14th release in the mainline franchise. If Ubisoft's plans for the game pan out, however, it may be the final major game release for quite some time. 2023 offers the same exciting, sometimes hilarious, party gameplay that has defined the series since its inception, now updated with appealing modern graphical presentation, but seeks to do something more in the long term.

Ubisoft is hoping to establish a Just Dance streaming platform, using 2023 as its foundation. A good comparison might be a music gaming version of Netflix or Hulu. Future expansions to the series, both major and minor, will be accessible using Just Dance 2023 as the primary program. While this latest release offers the same quality and breadth of experience as previous entries, the interface has been updated to feel more familiar to those who have spent time on movie and television streaming services that are ubiquitous nowadays. This new interface is sleek and easy to use, though for older players it may provide one of several sticking points.

The core gameplay loop is the same basic setup of miming dance moves that are presented by onscreen avatars that were present in older titles. The quality of songs and gameplay is brilliant as ever, though alongside the new "streaming service" platform and UI presentation, the game no longer utilizes peripherals like the PS Camera. Instead, Just Dance 2023 requires a companion app on a smartphone as the controller method. While this might be fine for the majority of players, those with limited access to smartphones, or a preference for more contained gaming experiences, might be rubbed the wrong way.

Overall, even with new changes and some controversial plans for the future, Just Dance 2023 provides yet another solid party game to dance and flail to with friends and family.

To many players, music and dance video games are typically party games, meant for showing off or just having a good time with friends and family. Some, however, choose to push the limits of the genre, or even blend musical gameplay into other well-established styles of play. Crypt of the Necrodancer, Brace Yourself Games' award-winning 2015 indie game, chooses the latter approach and excels at it.

By blending rogue-like, dungeon-diving gameplay (one of the very oldest forms of video gaming around), with the rhythmic, beat-matching play focus that is often found in music games, Crypt of the Necrodancer creates something beautifully new and deviously challenging.

Players must move to the beat of the music to navigate through grid-based fantasy dungeons packed to their brims with monstrous baddies out to stop the dance in its tracks. The beat in question comes from the wonderfully composed original soundtrack, created for the game by composer Danny Baranowsky. The soundtrack is one of the strongest aspects of an already strong game, but Crypt of the Necrodancer goes the extra mile and allows players to import their own MP3s, matching the beat of the chosen song to rework the pace and floor of the level being played.

Crypt is an addictive game, bursting with the joy of creativity and pure, classically fun gaming. The unique concept and execution can provide a bit of an uphill battle for some players tackling the learning curve for the first time, but once that comfort and familiarity is established the feeling of play that Crypt of the Necrodancer provides is unmatched

Voez is an exceptionally executed game that takes the classic, "falling notes" style of music gaming and polishes it to nearly a mirror sheen.

To a vast majority of gamers, the music genre of video games tends to look like party games full of dancing or rhythmic, timing-based tests of skill. Voez falls squarely into the latter category, providing a clean and appealing presentation that does not distract from the core experience, the music. Controlled through either the touch screen or the face buttons of the Nintendo Switch, Voez sends an avalanche of musically-timed notes cascading down from the top of the screen down toward a target zone at the base. It then challenges players to time their screen taps or button presses with the falling notes, falling in line with other classic examples of the genre such as Guitar Hero or Rock Band, though without the need for absurdly expensive instruments.

Voez is a game not lacking in a proper challenge, set to some fantastic tunes. Players can expect songs that test not only their timing skills but their dexterity and stamina, as well. To some, this might be a detriment, as Voez does contain multiple instances of absurd difficulty spikes from one song to the next. While this is not a deal-breaker by any means, it can become a source of contention and frustration to some who purchase the game. Another sticking point is the track list, which is undoubtedly generous in its size but contains a fairly sizable amount of what some might chidingly refer to as "anime" songs. Gamers with a low tolerance for anime art and musical stylings might find large swaths of the game blending together over long periods of play.

Virtual reality games have opened up an entire new world of possibility for the music and dance genre, providing levels of interactivity and interaction never before available to developers and players alike. Standing as competition toward another, well-known virtual reality headset and motion-controlled game in Beat Saber, Synth Riders takes a firm stance on the playing field.

Brimming with a stunning, colorful presentation that plays on the imagery of cyberpunk, vaporwave, retro internet/digital aesthetics, and more, Synth Riders makes a case for itself with a striking world to fly through as players attempt to hit each note that whizzes by. Like other games in this particular subgenre of music games, Riders functions on the combination of headset visuals and motion controls. Players duck, lean, and swing their arms in order to attempt to strike each note that whichever song they've chosen provides. On its most basic level, this functions in the same way as "falling notes" music games such as Voez and Guitar Hero, but transposed onto a far more physical form of interaction.

Packed with personalization options and a great variety of selectable music tracks, Synth Riders stands as a fantastic entry into this style of games, but this subgenre comes with some inherent drawbacks. Games that rely on a full VR experience are great fun, providing experiences not found elsewhere, but between the physicality required, and the money investment there can be some concerns regarding accessibility. On top of that starter cost, the fact that the DLC for new songs and levels is region-locked means that players should be aware of the region they are purchasing for before snagging a copy.

Simple, clean, and tightly focused, MUSYNX is one of the finest, most accessible examples of a "falling notes" music and rhythm game available on the market today. Presented with a cute, animated aesthetic to ease players in, MUSYNX has plenty of songs and plenty of challenges waiting for those seeking it.

The structure of each song's "level," the tracks that the notes descend across, are designed for a simple clarity that does not sacrifice aesthetic but manages to remain firmly focused on readability. Paired with a control scheme that focuses on simplicity in order to better onboard new players, MUSYNX is able to build clever, complex note charts to really challenge those gamers who are looking for it. MUSYNX can be cozy fun, but it can also be a wild test of timing and stamina, and it strikes that balance irably well.

While, overall, MUSYNX is a high-quality music game, there are, as ever, some caveats to consider before running out to pick up a copy. In particular, there is a large focus on vocaloid music in this game's tracklist, which is full of some ittedly brilliant songs but can quickly grow stale for players whose music tastes don't quite line up with that style. There is also a lack of quality-of-life features such as customization in various aspects of the game that make the game experience feel somewhat stripped down at times. Even with those issues in mind, MUSYNX is still an extremely well-made gaming experience that many music game lovers won't want to miss.