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Feel the Beat in Jungle Rumble, Swinging Soon to PS Vita

21 11
Feel the Beat in Jungle Rumble, Swinging Soon to PS Vita
11 Author Replies

We are stoked to announce that our rhythm game sensation, Jungle Rumble: Freedom, Happiness, and Bananas is coming to PS Vita very soon! We are adding more monkeys, more beats, and more bedlam. This is bananas!

What’s Jungle Rumble? The player drums to control a tribe of monkeys. A rival tribe invades to steal bananas. The player sends monkey minions into the fray by drumming on the screen. It’s the world’s craziest rhythm game.

Jungle Rumble on PS Vita

Using the PS Vita’s touch screen to tap along to the beat of the jungle, players drum on monkeys and then drum on trees to have their simian soldiers swing through the trees. Drum on coconuts and then drum on enemies to throw those coconuts with rhythmic flair. The player jaunts through the jungle with a rhythmic grammar. Unlike a traditional rhythm game there is no script to follow—in Jungle Rumble drumming controls the game.

As the game evolves, the questions pile up. Why would that tribe invade and shatter the peace in the jungle? What would cause them to risk war?

Jungle Rumble features a dynamic soundtrack — as more and more monkeys team up, the music swells with intensity. As more coconuts are grabbed, the beats bang bigger. Make a mistake? The music stops and the quiet is palpable.

Jungle Rumble on PS Vita

For PS Vita we are expanding the game with some bright, shiny things.

  • ‌New tutorial. Being a quite different control mechanic, the game explains how to play. We have playtested with (literally) thousands of con-going types in the Indie Megabooth at PAX, next to the Heian Shrine at BitSummit in Kyoto, and wherever else they let Disco Pixel set up shop. We watch what trips new players up. Then we fix it. We want you to love this as much as we do.
  • More levels. We have expanded the game with bonus levels exploring the “hot step”, a way for monkeys to speed through the jungle. More levels, more medals to earn, more achievements.
  • Badder beats. This is a rhythm game. More music. Hot stuff.
  • Stay tuned for more!

What does it look like? Like this!

Who am I? The first game I made was a Dreamcast launch title: NBA 2K. That’s not actually true. The first game I made was a Vic 20 text adventure: Knight Pirates. (Hey, I was 8.) It just took 15 more years for somebody to actually pay me to do it. After a decade of keeping the dev kits burning I ditched the world of AAA console games, big teams, and stable paychecks to go indie. That is a long time to spend making video games—I’m still waiting to find out the catch.

Comments are closed.

21 Comments

11 Author Replies

  • Fun and original concept, but that’s not a rhythm game.

    il play it on my iphone instead, bring more AAA rhythm games please

  • More monkeys, more happiness. Fact. Will check this out.

  • Silver_shion

    Papaton ?
    Locoroco ?
    :D

    • Trevor Stricker
      Trevor Stricker

      I super loved Patapon. In general, I’m a freak for rhythm games.

  • Rockefellow

    I’ll definitely check this out, though the trailer linked isn’t very impressive from a gameplay standpoint (though the visuals are highly evocative of Rhythm Heaven).

    I’m still amazed that Sony hasn’t commissioned some small dev team to put together a new downloadable LocoRoco or Patapon game for the Vita & PS4. Japan Studio likely doesn’t have the time to do it, but it would be a cheap project with an established fanbase ready to bite.

    • Trevor Stricker
      Trevor Stricker

      Thanks, Rockefellow!

      For the trailer, we were really just aiming for something super quick. Targeted at short-attention-span internet users moreso than people looking for a longer explanation. More to come…

  • SpankBankTM

    This looks like a crazy amount of fun. I can’t wait to play it on my Vita!

  • Care_Bear_90

    Awesome! Diggin’ the visuals, looks fun.

  • Wow, I didn’t know DJ_Tomato was the authority on what is and isn’t a rhythm game. You learn something new every day!

  • Looks really cute! I’m always eager for more rhythm games.

    • Trevor Stricker
      Trevor Stricker

      The genre seems strangely neglected for how much people love them. Or, at least, how much I love them.

  • @3 and @4 – Man, I miss LocoRoco and Patapon. Some of my favorite games on the PSP.
    This game could be fun, but since it’s originally an ipad/iphone game, I hope it’s priced accordingly.
    *I’m looking at you, Angry Birds!*

    • Trevor Stricker
      Trevor Stricker

      Your taste is well expressed in your avatar. We don’t want to make this Angry Monkeys… !

  • Really enjoyed this on Mobile – can’t wait for more monkeys!!

  • Trevor Stricker
    Trevor Stricker
    Trevor Stricker

    You, sir, have excellent taste.

  • played this at PAX last year and it was really fun. I can’t wait to see the vibrant color palette on my Vita’s OLED screen!

    is there any use of rear touch?

    what’s the codec/bitrate of the music assets?

    are you still accepting music from indie artists for the game?

    • Trevor Stricker
      Trevor Stricker

      It’s pretty amazing on the screen. It’s a bright game, and on the PS Vita the colors really pop.

      All the audio is 44.1K, 16 bit stereo. CD quality sound. We can do that because the soundtrack is dynamic. Basically we just store the samples as raw audio data. We composite them into a track at runtime.

      I’d love to talk to any indie artists who are interested!

      As for the backtouch we’ve been pondering. We just don’t want to do anything gimmicky.

  • Played it at PAX and looking forward to playing it on the big ol Vita screen! Good thing I just bought a Vita…

  • More love for the Vita! Can’t wait to play!

  • @7: AND he has an iphone, so you know he’s a REAL gamer!

  • Game looks great! Day one!

  • I can’t wait!!!

  • I’m a sucker for games about monkeys.

  • Long live Disco Pixel and Jungle Rumble!

  • Oh, please. The Vita needs Patapon 4; not this. Stop monkeying around, PlayStation. Sales ≠ quality. Quality ≠ sales. So, give us U.S. gamers that actually know what good games are, the Japanese developed Vita games. Please and thank you.

    • Trevor Stricker
      Trevor Stricker

      Hi akaJoeTea, the funny thing is that I’ve made games in Japan for a primarily domestic audience at a studio called Smilebit. Some of the guys from back then were on Jungle Rumble. If you are interested in the angle from Japan, here’s an article from BitSummit in Kyoto:
      http://www.gamespark.jp/article/2014/03/08/46885.html

  • Sniper_Fox_1

    I loved this game on tablet and now I’m going to have fun with it on my Vita.

    I approve this game for mass consumption.

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