It only feels like it was a mere five seconds ago that we were tackling another recently-released brand of rhythm game. The type that aims to stand apart from the rest through a combined use of visuals and audio that in one instance draws you in, but in the next can just as easily distract and lull you into a false sense of security. Naturally the best kinds of rhythm games are those that can cross that border with ease. That with a simple-enough interface, control scheme and gradual incline of challenge, can be an enjoyable-enough trek -- moreso when the game is at its most sly and distrustful, but all the better because of it.

The primary gimmick and means of accomplishment may well be about timing one's moves, but it's how these games orchestrate that challenge -- and how that added deception is built without ever feeling unfair -- that determines which of these entrants truly stands out from the crowd. But in an odd sort of way, developer SURT's Rhythm Sprout feels like the inverse to last month's Melatonin, slightly different in construction and set-up either game is to one another. Where Melatonin's end product felt like a sufficiently-realized concept that ended too abruptly, Rhythm Sprout goes the opposite direction. A game of sufficient length whose respectable three hour run-time is both devoid of filler, but whose end delivery doesn't land the game one of immediate recommendation. Despite its safe, low-poly art-style, bold interface and premise that outside of a couple of unnecessary elements, it doesn't waste too much of a player's want and willingness to jump back into the next challenge.

Rhythm Sprout does find reasonable success in being different enough from its peers. While far from perfect in its execution, SURT's varied soundtrack, momentarily-delightful injection of peril in places and quaint run-time means that for genre enthusiasts looking for a fresh spin on that familiar, replayable brand of Guitar Hero-esque completionism, Rhythm Sprout could well offer enough of a satisfactory investment. Even if Rhythm Sprout's main gripe is its insistence on dragging its heels. On having players put up with its vague excuse of a main narrative and accompanying attempt at humor that nine times out of ten drags on just that ounce longer than need be. To the point that the next instance of a story cutscene pops up and you find yourself thinking: "this would be the point I'd predict the gags would stop but...". To which, naturally, SURT persist on wringing a few more pointless seconds out of a brand of comedy, while far from terrible, doesn't particularly add to the experience. An experience that is not without a couple of moments that do at least raise a half-smile, but nothing else. And no, references to YouTube -- so too a jab at NFTs -- won't cut it I'm afraid.

But this fortunately equates to just a fraction of one's focus in Rhyhtm Sprout and as unoriginal and off-base the writing may seem, SURT do significantly better when it comes to the core loop of the gameplay. And not just from the fact that the music employed in Rhythm Sprout are the kind of tracks you can so easily listen to outside the confines of the game itself -- an achievement on its own for any game, let alone a rhythm-centric one. The basic premise being that interaction is confined to one of three prompts. On a keyboard, this is usually left and right arrows denoting either pink or yellow-colored bars, with the middle blue bars governed by the up key. Players required, naturally, to hit these prompts on beat. Every successful interaction adds to your score with an end-of-level result determining how many stars out of three you're graded, based not just on points accumulated, but for how long you maintained a combo.

On top of that, rather than some static image, Rhythm Sprout goes one step further on the visual side of things. Essentially illustrating your player-character progressing on their journey through these successive moves until they reach the required end goal. Music tracks split into repeating loops that change upon a certain point on the level's path being met or inevitably, the end goal reached. Though minor, it's a novel approach to proceedings and does mean that certain changes to a track can be somewhat predicted beforehand based on the environment. Which becomes a necessity given Rhythm Sprout's knack for looking for any opportune moment to trip its own player up. Much like last month's Melatonin, doing so not in a malicious way, but in keeping the player guessing as to how specific patterns of beats are laid out.

A decision that ultimately stands as some of its best moments. Even at its most stressful, where once tracks comprised of simple-enough, repeating 4/4 rhythms, the game eventually shifts to more arrhythmic and rapidly-changing sequences. Sequences that may start with a triplet of certain button prompts, repeated a certain amount of times, to then quickly invert that pattern. Thus requiring not just a quick eye, but a quicker calibrating of one's muscle memory. Not least if certain levels feature tabs you have to avoid hitting so as not to incur damage. Another important detail in Rhythm Sprout being your character's health. A meter that can be drained not just by accidentally hitting certain explosive traps, but during certain segments that pit you in a one-on-one duel with an enemy. Instances that require you to chip away at said foe's health to continue proceeding -- failing to dodge at the right time during an enemy attack, costing you a vital slither of your health bar.

And for the most part, these instances are both spaced out and balanced relatively well over the course of  its short run-time. Outside of a late-game sequence that's little more than four enemy encounters one after another -- unfortunately the only real sign of the game suffering from an irregular difficulty spike prior to the final showdown. Just like any level's main progression, part of the satisfaction isn't simply triumphing over these challenges and nailing the rhythm down, but in all honesty, the soundtrack is memorable and hard-hitting enough for you to wind up curious about where exactly the difficulty curve can go. It's one thing for a rhythm game to pose a sufficient-enough challenge, it's another where one finds themselves genuinely intrigued by what kind of demanding set of inputs will be required so as to succeed. And this is long before we even mention the additional prologue and secret levels unlocked by way of accruing more stars. It's only in the endgame content does Rhythm Sprout -- for better or worse -- truly get wild as far as its base requirements. Yet, crazy as it may be to find one frantically slamming one's keys to the beat of a high-tempo Drum & Bass track late on, it's only because SURT find a way for their ideas to be both mechanically and audibly compelling that makes that late-game content a worthwhile investment.

Closing Comments:

Though the short run-time, on top of its overused hit-and-miss humor, may work against it, what Rhythm Sprout lacks in unique aesthetic or visual identity, it more than makes up for with a soundtrack as much a gameplay loop that's both enjoyable and easy to make repeat trips back to. Frantic its drastic shifts in rhythm may feel at times, the game just about manages to maintain a sense of fairness and coherency throughout. Owed in part to the way tracks develop and evolve overtime, but so too how SURT themselves identify that any good rhythm game isn't so much about keeping players in the zone so as to succeed, but keeping them there so as to potentially trip them up. That continuous string of mind-games, baits and other such devious means are part the reason why Rhythm Sprout is such a fun trek to partake in. A simple-enough premise, but executed to delightful effect.