Brenden BeersAt first glance Holy Wow Studios’ Trombone Champ looks like your typical Guitar Hero/Rock Band rhythm game. However, underneath the surface lies a barrel of rootin’ tootin’ fun.
In Trombone Champ your quest is to become the renowned Trombone Champ of legend, defeat the evil Trazom and gain the powers of the Bass and Treble Clef from the two baboons Bassmaster Ben and Tootmaster Tom. In order to do this you toot your way through thirty tracks consisting of well known public domain pieces, original compositions and one track by maximalist electronic artist Max Tundra.
Trombone Champ‘s controls are pretty straightforward. Blowing into the trombone requires pressing keys; moving a mouse up and down changes pitch. Whilst it can take some time, once the controls click getting through a song feels quite fluid.
As a side note, controller use is an option but Holy Wow Studios recommends mouse and keyboard.Completing songs earns you toots, the game’s currency. These help unlock trading cards, each with their own tidbit of information. You can also break cards down for turds, then use toots and turds to power the Bass and Treble Clefs. Doing so unlocks new sounds and trombone colours. Beyond this there’s a bunch of secrets throughout the game. Holy Wow Studios went above and beyond with unlockables; Did Trombone Champ need all of this extra content? No, but it benefits GREATLY from having it all included. You gain and find things at a steady pace and it helps keep you invested.
With the release of Trombone Champ Holy Wow Studios have truly become champions of the rhythm game. It plays well, the songs and their backgrounds help keep things fun, and seeing your character tooting away is a hoot. It’s unafraid to revel in silliness, but it doesn’t skimp on the gameplay.
Trombone Champ is available on Steam.