And now I'm sad that Sega's Rhythm Thief wasn't released for the DS as originally planned

Am I alone in not knowing until now that Sega's Rhythm Thief & The Emperor's Treasure, released early last year for the 3DS, began life as a DS game?

I'm probably also late to the party when it comes to seeing the following screenshots of the Rhythm Thief that wasn't meant to be, aren't I?

No matter. I'm going to talk about them anyway.

Specifically, I want to say that I love the looks of this scrapped version of the game--perhaps more than the looks of the version that hit the 3DS. For the most part, that's because they display a sort of charm and character that isn't quite matched in the polygonal 3DS release.

I wonder if the DS game would've been more enjoyable to play, too? After all, one of my main issues with the 3DS iteration is that a number of the gyro-controlled mini-games either don't quite work or are completely broken, and I doubt they'd exist had the title been finished for the DS.

None of the above matters, of course, because it wasn't finished for the DS. Also, it's not like the 3DS game we ended up with is a complete turd.

Still, now that I've been given a glimpse of what Rhythm Thief might've looked like on the DS, I can't help but wish we'd been given access to that title first--followed by a 3DS-based sequel, of course.

See also: 'The Great Gaymathon Review #61: Rhythm Thief & The Emperor's Treasure (3DS)'

The Great Gaymathon Review #61: Rhythm Thief & The Emperor's Treasure (3DS)

Game: Rhythm Thief & The Emperor's Treasure

Genre: Music/Rhythm

Developer: Sega/Xeen

Publisher: Sega

System: 3DS

Release date: 2012

A few of the words I'd use to describe Sega's Rhythm Thief & The Emperor's Treasure: Ambitious, disappointing, dramatic (sometimes overly so), ridiculous and sweet. Oh, and tedious. Yes, tedious. As much as I hate to admit it, and as much as I enjoyed the Rhythm Thief demo, I found playing through the "real deal," so to speak, to be a chore.

That's not to say this Xeen-developed 3DS title failed to bring a smile to my face. On the contrary, I found certain aspects of it to be both charming and fun. The art style, for instance, is appealingly colorful and pleasant (although it appears a bit "cheap" at times). Rhythm Thief's funky, jazzy soundtrack--which harkens back to that of another Sega property, Space Channel 5--could be described in similarly positive terms. Also, it features the most unique array of control schemes I think I've ever encountered in a portable game.

So, why did I suggest in the first paragraph of this review that Rhythm Thief was disappointing and a "chore"? For starters, although the game is admirably ambitious, its many "pieces" never quite came together for me. You know how various folks have described this release as being "Professor Layton meets Space Channel 5"? Well, that's exactly what it is, at its core. Unfortunately, the mash-up just doesn't come together as well as I'd hoped it would.

Chiefly responsible for this, in my mind, is its story--or, rather, its ratio of story to rhythm games. If I were to guess what said ratio was, I'd say it's about 75-25 in favor of the game's story, and in the end it was just too much for me. I have to say, though, that I think I would have found Rhythm Thief to be a bit trying even if the ratio were closer to 50-50, as the story here--which is set in Paris and involves, among other things, a young guy who's leading a double life as an art thief and an older one who claims to be Napoleon--isn't all that engaging. Or at least it wasn't to me.

Another aspect that failed to engage me: The game's Layton-esque exploration element, or lack thereof. You're rarely at a loss for where to go or what to do next while playing Rhythm Thief, as the next plot point's quite literally pointed out to you (often by a big magenta exclamation point, no less). This game steals ideas from the aforementioned Level-5 series in other ways, too, although I think it would've been better off if its developers had refrained from doing so. In particular, the random tapping of background images--required to find medals (which allow players to buy items than can make difficult mini-games a bit easier), pieces of music and hidden scores--injects an additional layer of annoyance into a title that was annoying enough already.

Finally, it has to be said that although most of Rhythm Thief's mini-games are amusing, "have their heart in the right place" and all that jazz, a good number of them are downright broken due to awkward controls. (In fact, one particular mini-game nearly prompted me to give up on my playthrough altogether.) And even when they don't feel broken, they're often unforgiving to an unbelievable degree. All of which is too bad, as Rhythm Thief's best mini-games easily call to mind those found in such classics as Samba de Amigo and Space Channel 5.

Are those brief, shining moments--along with the others mentioned earlier--enough for me to recommend this quirky mutt of a release to anyone but the most diehard of Sega fans? (Do such people even exist anymore?) To be frank, no, they aren't. I guess if you can find a copy that's cheap enough, it may be worth picking up if you're really into rhythm and/or Professor Layton-ish games, but even then I have a feeling it's more than likely to disappoint.

See also: Previous 'Great Gaymathon' posts

Acquisition #138: Rhythm Thief & The Emperor's Treasure (3DS)

Considering my enthusiastic reaction to its eShop demo, you'd think I would have ripped the Rhythm Thief & The Emperor's Treasure cart from its packaging and slammed it into my trusty 3DS system as soon it arrived on my doorstep late last week.

That's exactly how I would have reacted, actually--had Theatrhythm Final Fantasy not beaten Rhythm Thief & The Emperor's Treasure to the punch (not to mention to my mailbox) by a few days.

You see, I've quite literally become entranced by Square Enix's Final Fantasy-themed rhythm title. In fact, I've played little else since I obtained my copy of the game nearly two weeks ago.

I didn't want to leave you guys and gals hanging with yet another "yeah, I added another game to my collection, but I haven't had a chance to play it yet" post, though, so yesterday I forced myself to replace Theatrhythm Final Fantasy with Rhythm Thief & The Emperor's Treasure for a while.

As for what I thought of my rather cursory experience with this Sega-developed release: Well, for starters, all of the folks who have described Rhythm Thief as "a mash-up of Professor Layton and Space Channel 5" deserve some sort of prize, because that's pretty much how this peculiar title plays out.

Which means, of course, that I'm loving it. That said, it's far from perfect. For instance, the game's currently a bit too skewed toward the Professor Layton side of things for my liking. (I'd prefer it to be more evenly divided between the adventure/puzzle/story segments and the rhythm ones.)

Not only that, but the rhythm segments, while enjoyable, aren't as deep as I'd hoped they'd be. Granted, I've only played five of them thus far, so it's altogether possible that they'll gradually increase in complexity.

Given all of the above, I think it's fair to say that I'm currently on the fence about Rhythm Thief. I'm enjoying it, but I'm also feeling a bit disappointed by it. I'll keep plugging away at it, though, and I promise to share my final thoughts on the matter (in an upcoming "Great Gaymathon" review) as soon as possible.

See also: 'Deep thoughts (or not) on a quintet of recent 3DS demos'

A few more thoughts on the 3DS

Now that I've had my 3DS for about a month, I thought I should share a few more impressions and opinions of Nintendo's latest dual-screened handheld. So, here they are (in no particular order):

1. The eShop is a bit of a mess--I like a lot of things about it--a trailer is available for seemingly every game, you can buy games using stored credit cards, you can save games to a wish list, etc.--but I also hate a few things about it. For instance, it feels kind of constricted and suffocating to me--especially when compared to the Wii's online shop. (Which, admittedly, had its own share of issues.) Closely associated with the eShop's claustrophobic design: I have a feeling a lot of games--especially old DSiWare ones--are going to get ignored due to the fact that people simply don't know they exist.



2. I'm glad Nintendo's finally offering game demos to European and North American 3DS owners--Without question, this should have been a part of the 3DS' eShop from day one, especially since demos have been on the Wii's online shop for some time now. Anyway, what really matters is that they're finally available. Sure, there's only one on the North American eShop at the moment, and it can only be played 30 times before it self-destructs (or something like that), but I'll take what I can get. Here's hoping Nintendo opens the floodgates (even a crack) and puts up more such demos--especially of niche releases like Sega's Rhythm Thief--sooner rather than later.

Samba de Amigo + Space Channel 5 = another game added to my too-long 3DS wish list

I'm pretty fond of rhythm games, so you'd think I would have added Sega's upcoming 3DS release, Rhythm Thief & The Emperor's Treasure, to my wish list long ago.

Not so. I couldn't tell you why that is, to be honest, although I think it has something to do with not being all that interested in the game's rather colorless protagonist.

Anyway, my interest has soared thanks to the just-released videos below, which suggest Samba de Amigo and Space Channel 5 segments will be included in Rhythm Thief.

Here's some footage of the Samba de Amigo segment:



And here's some footage of the Space Channel 5 segment:



When will you be able to get your grubby little hands on Rhythm Thief & The Emperor's Treasure? Well, if you're American or Japanese (or you own an American or Japanese 3DS), you'll be able to pick up a copy of the game on Feb. 25. (Pre-order the North American version here.)

I'd guess Europeans will gain access to it on that date, too, but I can't say that with any certainty.