I'm pretty far behind these last two weeks, and I apologize, and I also blame Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition for the Nintendo Switch. Anyway…
Tadpole Treble is a short and sweet indie rhythm like game from a man who (I am told) makes comics about the Smash Brother's universe. It is cute and easy to pick up and figure out. You play as a tadpole who has been abducted from her home and your goal in the game is to swim your way back through various obstacles. There are about 12 levels of varying difficulty to traverse, and each has a unique musical tune.
I wanted to like this game more than I did. (I feel like I say this a lot…) Maybe my expectations were a little too high, but I felt like in every aspect the game was just okay. The gameplay was simple enough to pick up but I didn't feel satisfied for collecting the bubbles. For the most part, the game was fairly easy and I could just fumble my way through, with the exception of one extremely difficult level that I hated.
It could be I just don't have a knack for this type of game, even though I thought the premise was cool. You play on a musical scale and the obstacles that you avoid are the notes of the song that is playing. So in a way, it is an "avoid the rhythm game" although some of the little things you can interact with in the levels are in time with the music.
The final boss seemed to be a common criticism among steam reviews and I would have to agree. While I thought the Portal-like design was neat, you aren't given many hints as to what to do, and Cody pretty much had to clue me in. Aside from that and the one level I mentioned before, I don't have anything bad to say about Tadpole Treble. The thing is, I don't have much to say good about it either. The music was just okay but not exactly catchy, in my opinion. I think this is the biggest drawback for me, it being a game that is built around music. This is just my personal taste, remember.
On a final note, there is a level editor that I had a little bit of fun with recreating my favorite song from another video game. The editor seemed to have a good amount of options in a very Mario Paint like interface.
I don't think I would return to this game in it's current state, unless something really interesting is added.
-Caitlyn
PS - Not sure why but some of the in game text was in Chinese for me. Found an old discussion thread online about someone reporting the same bug and there was no fix. Kind of a bummer.
