Tadpole Treble (PC) Review

Let this start with a confession: the author of this article doesn't get it.

Maybe it's a matter of a small experience with rhythm video games, but yours truly can't understand why the few people who have picked this up have fallen in love with it. Is it because the cute look of it all came from the digital pen of the one who created Brawl in the Family? Because of the songs and tunes featured here? Due to the gameplay?

Sure, audio-visually, this definitely has character. Each of the 12 stages available has a unique theme that differentiates it from the rest, and the original compositions that play along the action have an insane variety. Even better, like early Disney and Warner Brothers cartoons, everything likes dancing to the beat, from the critters that try to help or attack our tiny tadpole heroine, to the forces of nature themselves.

All good so far, but what about the gameplay? Is it any good? Well, for starters, it doesn't feel like a rhythm game. Levels are nothing more than music note sheets, but instead of hitting the notes, the tadpole must avoid them. In other words, one does not need to be in rhythm to complete this small underwater odyssey, something that makes this feel more like a simplistic action title, where all that is required from the player is to move up or down.

Rhythm in here is like an optional thing that helps with collecting the various items that are scattered around, makes it easier to avoid harm, and, finally, makes the whole process more enjoyable, since you don't just collect or avoid stuff, but you "dance" while doing so… but that's not enough, because when a rhythm game doesn't need rhythm, it simply fails no matter how good the tunes it has are.

Furthermore, there's an utter lack of challenge. Avoiding obstacles is a piece of cake, and since rhythm is not part of the picture, one can simply stay as far away from the notes as possible, and even forget to collect the marbles that fly around (currency for unlocking extra content), or use the tadpole's super move that gives it temporary invisibility. Tadpole Treble can only be difficult when trying to complete a level with the best rank possible… but why do so when the core game is so forgettable?

As mentioned before, this reviewer simply doesn't get it…