Chunithm
5 Japanese Arcade Games That Need to Come West
Japanese arcades are absolutely full of rhythm games, and Chunithm is another fantastic one. It’s a mix of the word ‘tune’ and ‘rhythm.’ Get it? It’s a silly title, but it makes more sense than Theatrhythm, in any case.
The game is played with several touch panels that you have to touch and slide your finger across in time to the notes onscreen. It’s sort of like playing a piano, minus the tactile feedback of pressing the keys down. It’s much more complex than something like Taiko no Tatsujin, but when you get in the zone, it’s something else. Although it doesn’t quite play in the same way, I’d compare the sensation that you get from the visuals and audio to something like Rez.
This is probably a game that would play best on an arcade machine, but there’s definitely ways that they could port it to a handheld. The Switch, Vita, and mobile devices come to mind. The touch panel could be replicated at the bottom of the screen. Games like Voez, Deemo, and Superbeat Xonic work great on those systems, and Chunithm could fit right alongside those.
