A top-notch Nintendo Switch game you will likely have missed, can that be a thing? Breakdancing and hip-hop, not your thing?
Read on!
Thankfully, you don’t need to know anything about break-dancing, about hip/hop/scratch to enjoy this game. If you have had even the slightest bit of fun with games in this genre before, you’re in for a real treat.
“HANG ON!”
What genre is that, I hear you scream.
My apologies boys and girls, I was getting ahead of myself. Floor Kids is a rhythm action game, in the same vein as the likes of Parappa the Rapper, Space Channel 5, Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan and even Guitar Hero to name just a few!
It’s a genre that has been out of favour in recent years, it’s become once more a bit of a niche genre., which is surprising, given how much fun the genre can be.
Floor Kids is also exclusive to the Nintendo Switch.
If you own a Switch, I would wager that you probably missed this at launch. It launched on the 18th of December, a week before Christmas. Chances are that if your behaviour in any way resembles mine, you won’t be checking for new releases, you will be checking your bank statement and crying into that.
So on to the game!
Let’s get this out the way- Floor Kids is an awesome little game. Simple to pick up and play, with tons of depth underneath.
At first, I feared it would be a migraine-inducing list of tutorials. As it introduced the moves, I was worried it was all going to be too much to take in. It isn’t. Floor Kids is thankfully the epitome of ‘pick up and play.’
Basically, it consists of 4 different move-sets. These being:
TOPROCK – Standing
DOWNROCK – on the floor
POWER – spinning with continuous movement
FREEZE – motionless moves that strike a difficult pose
Within these 4 categories, you have a further 4 moves. That might sound confusing, but the moves are simple to pull off. There is an avalanche of moves to unlock as the game progresses. These are tied to particular characters, more characters unlock and your progress in the game.
The structure of the game is also a simple one. You start with one venue, in the venue you have a choice of tracks to choose from. How well you perform on each track gives crowns. What do crown mean? PRIZES!! Erm, no….. they unlock more venues, more dancers and moves unlock the better your score.
Each track gives you the opportunity to have a period of freestyling. You string your moves together however you see fit. Being repetitive or too dull with this leads to a low score. Thankfully, it really is a joy to play and the music is superlative (more about that in a bit).
The art style……. is dare I say – urban. Hand sketched characters, muted pastel colours, very simple animations. It all gels well. The character moves are simple, but they work well in showing you that you’re pulling off a move and they do a good job.
Bonus points can be had for pulling off a certain move when instructed and pulling off combos. My one gripe with Floor Kids was the fact that the game feels under-boiled when it comes to looking at a character’s combos and moves. These can only be looked at in your ‘Breakdeck’, that being a menu that you can’t access mid-dance. In fact, the whole roster of many many moves and characters could have done with a bit more time. It would have been great to see my personal stats with each dancer at a glance. None of this took away from my fun experience with the game, but having it fleshed out could have elevated this game to a masterpiece in its genre.
Each of the freestyle sections are broken up with more traditional rhythm action elements that will be more familiar to players of the genre. These involve tapping a button in time with the beat of the music.
The music. The music is by alternative hip-hop and Scratch artist Kid Koala. It’s authentic, it’s organic, it’s top notch. A perfect mating with the art style and gameplay. I found myself bopping away playing this game, a real joy and it’s put many a smile on my face when playing and will continue to do so.
Floor Kids is an authentic piece of gaming, it’s very well delivered and deserves to be in every Switch owners library.
Pro’s:
Easy to pick up and play with a lot of content to unlock.
Music is absolutely spot on.
It actually all feels very authentic and organic.
Cons:
Different character unlocks, moves and stats could have been further developed.
Score 8/10
Published and developed by MERJ Media
Price – £15.99
