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Violetta: Rhythm & Music is a rhythm action/music game in which players tap and swipe along to songs from the hit Disney TV series, whilst testing their Violetta knowledge in quizzes. A warning for UK fans though - while the show may be dubbed into English, the songs on the game are all in their original Spanish forms, which may make them a bit harder to recognise.
Each song can be played in three variants. 'Pop Music' mode has you popping butterfly bubbles as they change colour from red to blue (red will dock points, blue will give you the most points), whilst tapping on notes and stars as they float down the screen, avoiding the broken hearts as you go. Timing is especially important here, as sometimes notes, stars and butterflies will fall over each other, or coincide with a broken heart - which will deduct points and end your multiplier streak if you tap them.
'Performance' mode is more akin to Guitar Hero/Rock Band/Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy, in that notes/stars/broken hearts move across the screen, from left to right, and all you need to do is use the stylus to shift a microphone icon up and down to collect the notes and stars, whilst avoiding the broken hearts - although the game does have a tendency to throw some impossible to avoid hearts your way at times.
'Quiz' meanwhile tests your Violetta knowledge by asking you to name various songs, choose the next lyrics or pick the correct performers - the quicker you answer, the more points you get, but be aware that song names and lyrics are all in Spanish, which may throw a spanner in the works. And, as the questions are done through text, a pretty good reading ability is a must.
The game does offer three different difficulty settings to play on, but realistically speaking, anything above easy moves far too fast for you to hit the majority of the notes in both the 'Pop Music' and 'Performance' modes - and while you can't fail songs, it can feel a little frustrating at times. The scoring is fairly forgiving, however, so even if it seems like you're frantically stabbing at a screen to little effect, you'll likely score enough to get at least the first butterfly rank (equivalent to 1 starring it, we suppose).
Violetta: Rhythm & Music is as clean as they come - no gore, violence or sex, and as all the songs are sung in Spanish, no bad language either.
Age Ratings
Format Reviewed: Nintendo 3DS
