Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeh-doing

Rhythm games get to enjoy a longer leash for having weird concepts and executions so long as the beat hits and the gameplay is fun.  Look at the wackier classics of the genre: Rhythm Heaven, Elite Beat Agents, Bust-A-Groove; these games would’ve seen much smaller success in the gaming world if the main quality of these titles wasn’t being so groovy.  So when the idea gets presented of a Battle Royale full of pigeons where the goal is to get through 4 rounds of rhythm-based gaming to be the Master Headbanger, I don’t even bat an eye.  This feels right.

Headbangers: Rhythm Royale seeks to combine the competitiveness of a Battle Royale with the snappy tunes and lightning fast reactions of a rhythm game.  You play as an elastic, beat-blasting pigeon dressed for success in a multitude of unlockable costume pieces to stylize your musical personality.  Qualify through 3 rounds of musical challenges to reach the Top 5 in the Final Round and face off in a Winner-Takes-All to decide who is the Master Headbanger, because pigeons need to know.

Headbangers slots together 30-pigeon lobbies for its Tournament mode, to which each round is randomly assigned a game to compete in.  Each round will have the same set of 5-6 games so you’ll have a general idea what you’re getting into after a few playthroughs.  Rounds will take 10 pigeons off the game, with the penultimate round narrowing it to 5 who play for the win.  Tournament mode is currently the only mode available and I did not see custom lobbies as an option, though you can have a fairly large group of friends go in together and battle it out with others.

Tournaments do have this annoying tendency to only try to bring in exactly 30 pigeons at one time and not continue to search to fill the room, so if you happen to have one pigeon back out during the lobby phase, be ready to wait the entire 90 seconds before bots fill the void and the game starts.  With Tournament mode being the only mode available this only serves to emphasize the lack of a practice mode.  Be comfortable with losing tournaments in the first few rotations as you get a feel for how the game works and the nuances of each event.

With 23 games (and 4 bonus-round mini-games) available at launch, there’s a nice spread of different styles of rhythm expectations for the competing pigeons.  You’ll see styles of “Simon Says” with ever-increasing speeds, either with button presses or analog stick directions.  Some games will test your knowledge of musical identity, either guessing an assortment of instruments through their audio samples or being the first to identify a sound through a hodge-podge of other nonsensical noises.  I had a ton of fun learning and then mastering each game over time.  The charm is on high levels with the pigeons all clamoring together to be the best at each round.  Props to my boy hosting the game Guess It as I’ll always say the phrases, “Gueeeeeess Iiiiiiiit” and “LISTEN” in tune with that pigeon forever.

Though after playing a few rounds, you’ll be disappointed to see the game number is a bit artificially inflated.  4 out of the 5 games in the Tournament’s 4th and final round are just harder renditions of previous games, leaving the total game count at under 20, which can get very same-y quicker than you would want.  Even more so if your luck of the roll is like mine where I didn’t play two games (Faster Than Sound and Run Pigeon Run 1) until about my 20th of 30 tournaments played, which meant a lot of Fitness and The Battle Box for me.  Glee-Cheese Studio has plans to update and add content throughout 2024, so this could be a problem that fixes itself after a few Seasons.

During each game, floating item boxes will travel across the screen, available to be swiped by any of the contestants.  These item boxes provide a nice little risk/reward within each game, as the prizes range from XP and Crumbs, Headbangers’ customization currency, to helping hands in the current game, but can also trigger a dastardly sabotage to hinder your chances at success.  It’s fun trying to multitask between doing a good job in the game while also grabbing whatever item boxes you can, as keeping them from opponents can be a legit strategy to keep the helping (or hurting) hands to yourself.

Placing in each tournament nets your pigeon XP in Season 1’s 40-level roadmap and Crumbs to spend in Headbangers’ item shop.  It’s a nice sight to see no micro-transactions for Crumbs and placing in the Final Round will net a pretty decent amount each tournament, so there’s not a lot of grinding expected to acquire some cool items.  There’s a surprising amount of customization where you can make some very interesting combos of musical genre’d attire on your pigeon to really stand out from the crowd, and with the currency readily available and each level gained on the Season usually taking 1-3 tournaments to unlock, you’ll be mix-and-matching a lot throughout your stay.

As a fan of Rhythm games I do like what Headbangers: Rhythm Royale has brought to the table.  It’s admittedly a super niche addition to the Battle Royale catalog, but its pick up and play style and cheeky humor makes the game a very easy introduction to both genres.  The lack of a practice mode, inconsistencies on game-selecting odds, and technical issues can sodden the experience, but the glory of being a neck-flailing pigeon beating 29 others at simplistic yet competitive rhythm games is too cool to pass up while it’s fresh.

7/10