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THUMPER is pretty much a perfect game

Thanks for hyping me up OP! I'll be grabbing this once I get paid this week for sure. Was looking for something new on Switch that I can "beat" as MK8 and Minecraft aren't scratching that itch. Can't wait!
 
Just got this game for my Vive last weekend and it really is great!

The one thing I can't get the hang of is I can never tell if I'm supposed to be holding down A or just tapping it.
 
Just got this game for my Vive last weekend and it really is great!

The one thing I can't get the hang of is I can never tell if I'm supposed to be holding down A or just tapping it.
Just tap A for panels. Hold it for everything else (turning at red walls, breaking orange bars, sailing over pink spikes, etc).
 
Have you finished the game? If not, keep playing. Get better.

There's nothing more satisfying than returning to a level and finding everything has changed. What once was hard now is easy. What once felt fast now feels slow. Patterns that didn't seem to match the music before now make perfect sense and you somehow find yourself reacting to them in time, in ways you once thought was impossible. It absolutely is trance inducing, and there's no other game this gen that has come close to matching that feeling.

I'm a human and already a pretty good player, not a machine.
After a certain point, it's not fun. The difficulty is too hardcore and a bit elitist.
A shame as you can't really share this game with more casual players.
 
Glad to see a fresh wave of people enjoying this game.

One of my favorite rhythm games ever right alongside Rhythm Heaven, and my favorite VR game by far.

I'm a human and already a pretty good player, not a machine.
After a certain point, it's not fun. The difficulty is too hardcore and a bit elitist.
A shame as you can't really share this game with more casual players.

I can understand someone having to repeat certain sections many times to get a pattern down, but it's nowhere near elitist.
 
Just tap A for panels. Hold it for everything else (turning at red walls, breaking orange bars, sailing over pink spikes, etc).

Yeah but sometimes they'll put a panel right before something where you need to hold it down, in which case it's better to just hold.

I also kind of find levels easier to get through if I just keep A held down—it makes panels harder but they're technically optional. But then the game is less fun.
 
Yeah but sometimes they'll put a panel right before something where you need to hold it down, in which case it's better to just hold.

I also kind of find levels easier to get through if I just keep A held down—it makes panels harder but they're technically optional. But then the game is less fun.
Those parts are exhilarating. Very tricky to master!
 
Up to 2-5... kinda hitting a wall (literally). LOL

I did get all S ranks in 1, but I'm guessing your score builds as you play through it nonstop? My WW rank is like 950. Haha. Either that or my timing is just not what it should be.
 
Damn, world 5 with its unmissable obstacles is brutal!!!!!

I actually hit a wall there when I played it back on PS4

Couldn't get past 5-1

So I was showing VR to my friend's kids and they loved Thumper.
So much so that they spent the entire day playing it.

When my friend's 13 year old got to 5-1, they passed it on their third try.

Took it home and managed to pass it myself after getting over my mental hangup.



Now on the Switch (and probably because there is no lag) I can pass it without any trouble.

But fuck that thing.
It's one thing to make a mistake, but for them to say you have to pass this shit perfectly just intimidated the heck out of me for some reason.
 
I actually hit a wall there when I played it back on PS4

Couldn't get past 5-1

So I was showing VR to my friend's kids and they loved Thumper.
So much so that they spent the entire day playing it.

When my friend's 13 year old got to 5-1, they passed it on their third try.

Took it home and managed to pass it myself after getting over my mental hangup.



Now on the Switch (and probably because there is no lag) I can pass it without any trouble.

But fuck that thing.
It's one thing to make a mistake, but for them to say you have to pass this shit perfectly just intimidated the heck out of me for some reason.
I gave up at 5-3... Will revisit it later today.
 
My brand new Switch is waiting for me at home. This thread couldn't have been more opportune. That said, after thinking hard I decided to wait a month or two before buying it. I'm already going to buy Zelda, Mario Kart and Puyo Puyo Tetris tonight, so adding Thumper to the list would be excessive. Anyway, I am convinced, and will get it eventually!
 
My pleasure. I'm glad you're enjoying it!

Hopefully Cerium enjoys the copy I got him/her too (assuming he/she used the eShop money for it). But no obligation here.

I just played for the first time and wow, I was not prepared.

My hands are hurting and my heart is pounding and I was literally sweating just from the second level.

I probably haven't had a gaming experience this intense since Metal Gear Rising.

One of the prettiest games on Switch right now as well. With the antialiasing and art style it looks gorgeous even on a 4K screen, and that buttery smooth 60fps is so good.

Thanks again Neiteio, can't wait to try it on the handheld later.
 
I just played for the first time and wow, I was not prepared.

My hands are hurting and my heart is pounding and I was literally sweating just from the second level.

I probably haven't had a gaming experience this intense since Metal Gear Rising.

One of the prettiest games on Switch right now as well. With the antialiasing and art style it looks gorgeous even on a 4K screen, and that buttery smooth 60fps is so good.

Thanks again Neiteio, can't wait to try it on the handheld later.
AWESOME! Glad you're liking it. And Metal Gear Rising is my favorite Platinum title (just eclipsing Bayo 2), so I dig the analogy. :-)
 
So just tried the demo in VR.

That's it?

This thread man lol. GAF hyperbole at its finest.

It's kinda trippy but super repetitive even in the short demo.
 
I just spent a half hour tonight fixing up an old analog 2.1 speaker set so I could connect it to my Switch and get zero-latency audio to go with my low-latency TV.

This game drove me to do it, and it was worth it. Even if I have to get up off the couch to adjust the volume. 😁
 
Picked it up based on this thread. It's pretty good so far. VR is certainly something else and a good deal easier to play. Really makes me wish Harmonix would make a new game like Amplitude in VR.
 
So just tried the demo in VR.

That's it?

This thread man lol. GAF hyperbole at its finest.

It's kinda trippy but super repetitive even in the short demo.

Level 1 is easy mode. You have no idea how much more intense it gets. Yes, it's repetitive. But aren't all rhythm games?
 
5-1 is a masterful skill check. Seems impossible at first, but it trains you to focus down the track. After 5-1, I rarely miss blue panels anymore. Rest of the world wasn't hard at all.
 
5-1 is a masterful skill check. Seems impossible at first, but it trains you to focus down the track. After 5-1, I rarely miss blue panels anymore. Rest of the world wasn't hard at all.

Man. Just wait till you get to Chapter 7. For some reason, the boss in Chapter 7 was harder than the finally of Chapter 9 for me, dunno what it was about it but it took me about ten tries to get through the boss on 7-Omega but I beat the finally of 9 in a couple of shots each.

Also the penultimate stage of 9 is a fucking speed trip the which I don't think the game ever does before or after, its a hell of a ride. Probably my favorite level as it ramps to F-Zero levels by the end.
 
Amazing thing about this game is, no matter how hard it seems at first, you DO get better.

To be fair, 9-20+ is probably impossible near the end unless you have a very solid reaction time. There's something to be said about minimum reaction time regardless of how well you may memorize the patterns.

I don't know if that should be a knock against the game or not.
 
The 6-9 boss:

spaceballs-ludicrous-speed-o.gif


I'VE GONE PLAID

(By the way, is it my imagination, or is the track sequence randomized in 6-9?)


To be fair, 9-20+ is probably impossible near the end unless you have a very solid reaction time. There's something to be said about minimum reaction time regardless of how well you may memorize the patterns.

I don't know if that should be a knock against the game or not.
Yeah, I'm not sure. Still, I think the game is making me quicker.
 
Yeah, I'm not sure. Still, I think the game is making me quicker.

Its probably not. You're just adjusting to the timing and learning the tricks of the tracks because they repeat a lot once you realize the logic behind the music/beat, the game is largely not going to actually change your inherent reaction times on the microsecond scale.

It may be working your eye-hand coordination and reaction coherence though!
 
Who am I kidding? Bought the game 5 minutes ago. I promised myself I'd wait, but that was simply a lie.

Hope it's as good as this thread made me believe.
 
Okay I was playing on a 4K TV and thought portable mode would be less impressive, but wow I was wrong. I'm holding it close to my face and the complete absence of input lag makes the gameplay superior, and I absolutely love the HD rumble. Feeling the grind against the rails and the "attacks" traveling up the track is incredibly satisfying. I think I actually prefer this portable. This is really great.

I'm having trouble on 2-Omega though. There are these red spikes, and I attempt to fly over them, but partway through something damages me anyway and I'm not sure what the solution is. Any ideas?

edit: Figured it out, I wasn't holding down A derp.
 
Its probably not. You're just adjusting to the timing and learning the tricks of the tracks because they repeat a lot once you realize the logic behind the music/beat, the game is largely not going to actually change your inherent reaction times on the microsecond scale.

It may be working your eye-hand coordination and reaction coherence though!
im pretty sure rhythm games do infact effect your reaction time nd hand-eye cordination
 
also yeah, made sure to turn in-game volume all the way up, it was at freaking 2 not even half way, what was up with that?
 
Okay I was playing on a 4K TV and thought portable mode would be less impressive, but wow I was wrong. I'm holding it close to my face and the complete absence of input lag makes the gameplay superior, and I absolutely love the HD rumble. Feeling the grind against the rails and the "attacks" traveling up the track is incredibly satisfying. I think I actually prefer this portable. This is really great.

I'm having trouble on 2-Omega though. There are these red spikes, and I attempt to fly over them, but partway through something damages me anyway and I'm not sure what the solution is. Any ideas?

edit: Figured it out, I wasn't holding down A derp.
Yeah, I've been playing all night in portable mode and it's an absolute joy. So comfortable, and with headphones and HD Rumble it's like a theme park ride in my hands, lol. The Switch screen is so gorgeous too.
 
So does Thumper without VR. BAZINGA.

It can be pretty hard adjusting to the timing going from one format to the other though.
Shouldn't the timing be exactly the same? Or are you talking about moving to a laggy TV?

Solution is to have a non-laggy TV. (Or play it on the Switch screen, natch.)
 
I love this game so much. I know I keep saying it, but every time I play, it feels like a rollercoaster ride. Same sense of speed, intensity, theatricality. It really stands out from my other games in this respect.

Like, there are a lot of games that are "fast," but it's something about the way this game is fast. I think it's how it focuses your attention down the track, so you're mentally leaning into the ride, so to speak. And how every action and reaction has this visceral HD Rumble feedback (on Switch), combined with the flashy effects and pitch-perfect sound and general atmospherics.

It's amazing. It's possible I may encounter a challenge too great in this game, at some point, but I'll always have fun replaying the previous worlds.
 
I just started playing this because of this thread (and it was 30% off on Steam) and I'm loving it, but I'm not entirely sure how this is a 'rhythm game'. In the first two levels the patterns follow the rhythm only pretty sporadically, it feels like a pattern recognition game where your input enhances the soundtrack (like in Rez).
 
I just started playing this because of this thread (and it was 30% off on Steam) and I'm loving it, but I'm not entirely sure how this is a 'rhythm game'. In the first two levels the patterns follow the rhythm only pretty sporadically, it feels like a pattern recognition game where your input enhances the soundtrack (like in Rez).
The game describes itself as "rhythmic violence." Not so much a "rhythm game."

"Rhythmic violence" definitely feels apt, especially as the worlds increase in complexity/intensity.
 
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