Boom Boom Rocket Review

By Tom Bramwell Published 12 April, 2007

Lacks spark.

Version tested: Xbox 360

Where next for rhythm action? We've already got guitars, drums, bongos, microphones and carpets with arrows on clogging up our front rooms. We've got dancing pointers on the DS. Even the PSP has a good rhythm action game. None of you bought it, but it does have one.

If anyone can figure it out, surely it's Bizarre Creations, the company whose last Xbox Live Arcade game was so good and so cheap that it made all the other Xbox Live Arcade games look like overpriced derivative nonsense - including the ones that weren't overpriced derivative nonsense. Boom Boom Rocket, developed from an idea thought up at Electronic Arts, is their solution, promising to inherit the simplicity and obsession with high scores that made Geometry Wars so good.

This it has done. It's so basic that you can play it with one hand. As the camera circles around bulky skylines, fireworks with arrows on ascend toward a purple line that runs the length of the screen. When an arrow passes through the line, you press one of four corresponding buttons depending on the direction it's pointing. High scores are borne of better timing and the use of "bonus runs", time-limited multipliers that massively increase the points you get for each match. Like all the best rhythm action games, success is relatively easy to come by, but actual mastery requires practice, concentration, timing, and learning where best to target your bonus runs.

'Boom Boom Rocket' Screenshot 1

A visualiser mode lets you sit back and listen to the music while fireworks go off. Pretty.

Like Geometry Wars, there's a visual payoff. Fireworks light up the sky in brilliant colours and increasingly elaborate displays, which are improved by the addition of new firework designs, unlocked as you complete levels on each of the three difficulty settings. When you activate a bonus run, the whole city finds itself embossed in throbbing greys, and the fireworks start putting more effort in.

Each level is built around one piece of music, and while they're all new, composed by a Mr Livingstone (we presume, and EA's press site confirms), they're all derived from well-known classical tunes. There's William Tell, the 1812 Overture, Ride of the Valkyries, and seven others. The beat-matching takes on regular patterns, as it should, allowing you to navigate certain sections instinctively, and as the difficulty increases, so too does the complexity and the rapidity of the fireworks. As you graduate to Medium and Hard versions of the levels, you have to hit multiple buttons at the same time.

BBR also distinguishes itself in the manner of the rockets' ascension. Unlike the Dancing Stage games, these arrows fly at the line from all angles and speeds, forcing you to pay attention to their progress while the music guides your timing. Although ostensibly 2D, with the camera dancing through the sky the trajectories appear to change fluently, and the gameplay avoids the feeling of rigidity that sometimes seeps from its contemporaries. Those who want to be challenged further can also turn to Endurance levels, where you do "laps" of each tune as the tempo increases by a beat-per-minute every few seconds. There are online leaderboards for everything, of course, and there's already some fierce competition for the top scores on each track in standard and endurance modes, while those of you who prefer to play against yourself can gun for higher ranks, and unlockable gamerpoints built around their collection.

'Boom Boom Rocket' Screenshot 2

The ten songs can be played in a couple of different ways, but they sort of blur together. There's no one level you'd rave about afterwards.

The Achievements are pretty standard, though. There's nothing to compare to Geometry Wars' celebrated "Pacifism", which turned the game on its head by telling you not to fire, and to stay alive for 60 seconds while the screen filled up with enemies. The lack of a successor hardly undermines the new game, but it is symptomatic of a wider problem: Boom Boom Rocket is a bit behind the times, and there's nothing particularly distinctive about it.

Graphically it's missing something to compare to Geometry Wars' gorgeous undulations. Aurally it's novel, but you won't be rushing out to buy the songs. And in gameplay terms it has no real kick. Beat-matching is fundamentally compulsive. When it's done right, your fingers start to bypass your brain and react to the prompts like magic. But the best games in the genre have taken this and thrust it in new directions. Even before Guitar Hero, Harmonix had us dancing across an interstellar fret board in FreQuency and Amplitude; Gitaroo Man used directional movement; Ouendan and Elite Beat Agents did away with a bar and used the DS' touch-screen to put the emphasis on position and movement. Even the better games with fancy peripherals aren't reliant on them; the ones that are, like Donkey Konga, are ultimately short-lived.

As such BBR is a bit regressive. It's satisfying to play, and certainly proves to be enjoyable and challenging in all the right ways. It also has a two-player mode (sadly not playable over the Internet). The level design makes it apparent that Bizarre has figured out how a rhythm action game should work. But it doesn't build on the developers' aptitude for evolving gameplay, instead focusing on incidentals like fireworks, which aren't incentive enough to continue. The result is that while it never struggles to be entertaining, it never really stands out either, and ultimately proves rather forgettable. Worth a go, then, but you wouldn't write songs about it.

7 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (62) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • brooza #1 5 years ago

    I thought it was alright

    bit difficult to control though.

    I'll unpack my GHII controller tonight and try it on that though

  • mingster #2 5 years ago

    Frequency & Amplitude are the best music games for any system still.
    Better than Guitar Hero.

    And on the PSP its DJ MAx then Guitaroo Man.
    The free online version for the PC of DJ MAX is awesome.
    (Korean only though tricky to register and install)

    Everything else is meh or naf. (mef)

  • Beano #3 5 years ago

    No way BBR is worth a 7...

  • bushwod #4 5 years ago

    dull.

    'The next Geomatry Wars' this is not

  • LeeroyJenkins #5 5 years ago

    6/10 at best. Fireworks - dull, Music - induces blood from ears. Gameplay - done better in other similar games.

    For Bizarre, BBR lacks the real ooomph! that Geometry Wars has.

  • Dizzy #6 5 years ago

    "Before people start saying it's rubbish, try playing the full product rather than the demo. "

    Errr yes but that would imply we have to buy ALL games before we can have an opinion. Surely EG reviewed a full version? ;)

  • Freelancepolice #7 5 years ago

    Yeah, inclined to agree with that score. Some of the later tracks are class.

  • repairmanjack #8 5 years ago

    Found Luxor 2 to be more entertaining than this, to be honest.

    @ Fruit Salad: if it was the same price as Geo Wars I might.

  • joeking #9 5 years ago

    I have but four things to say:

    1. The full game is better than the demo. If you know what I mean
    2. 7/10 at this price is about right
    3. If it were 400 points, easy 8. Maaaaaybe a 9, but that's just me
    4. Endurance mode is the mutts nuts. Starts of pleasant enough and then escalates in that mad Geo Wars fashion

    That is all

  • Cappy #10 5 years ago

    I actually thought EG were using shots from Fantavision by mistake. Its uncanny how similar the games look.

  • SwedBear #11 5 years ago

    Well, I think it is great. Mainly because before I knew it I had spent 2 hours straight yesterday to try to nail the first few tunes at medium difficulty. I just had to do "just one more" try over and over again. My wife also loved it.

    I don't mind the music actually. I'm in a classical mood right now (great when trying to concentrate at work) and after the first confusion hearing each song I actually found them work pretty well.

    It won't be a game I play all the time but to me personally it does the same thing Geometry Wars did - provided a perfect game that I can play for a little bit when I need to relax without having to spend to much brainpower.

    With this and GHII I'm actually starting to have strange thoughts when listening to regualr music. I'm listening to the base and imagine how it would work in GHII and at the same time listening to the beat and thinking of BBR. Time to cut down on the rytm-games I think :).

    8/10 in my book.

  • Mugwum Verified Operations Director, Eurogamer Network #12 5 years ago

    "Endurance mode is the mutts nuts. Starts of pleasant enough and then escalates in that mad Geo Wars fashion"

    Endurance mode's probably the best bit for me too. It's a shame there aren't silly licensed songs in there - listening to speeded up pop music is what gets me through the day.

  • homerramone #13 5 years ago

    7/10 for seomthing thats not great. Who is coming up with these score - Worms scored 5/10 FFS.

    I would be huffed if this was FREE let alone 800 pts. I would rate it as the worst XBLA game we have had yet.


  • Aretak #14 5 years ago

    "I would rate it as the worst XBLA game we have had yet."

    And you would be wrong.

  • Scientist #15 5 years ago

    "I would be huffed if this was FREE"

    There's always one.

  • lordofdeadside #16 5 years ago

    800 points is fine, £6.80 for a game which is so addictive is good value. most of the tracks are pretty good, and simple gameplay is sweet. Its the perfect game for when you can't be arsed to play a game. good work bizzare!

  • spookyzombie #17 5 years ago

    Is this a bit fad like (to all you full game owners)? Like the demo, but have a feeling that it could become very repetative.

  • Mugwum Verified Operations Director, Eurogamer Network #18 5 years ago

    "7/10 for seomthing thats not great. Who is coming up with these score - Worms scored 5/10 FFS."

    I am coming up with these scores, which is why I remember that Worms got 6.

  • speedjack #19 5 years ago

    So can you play your iPod through this in visualiser mode - i.e is a proper visualiser and will the fireworks react to your music as supposed to the game music ?

  • Beano #20 5 years ago

    "Before people start saying it's rubbish, try playing the full product rather than the demo. "

    Well... you may (or may not) be right, but I'm not gotta spend 800 points on a game where the demo is simply terrible. Sorry.

  • fussy #21 5 years ago

    i think i'll wait for choo choo rocket

  • Freelancepolice #22 5 years ago

    "Well... you may (or may not) be right, but I'm not gotta spend 800 points on a game where the demo is simply terrible. Sorry."

    haha, why question a review so strongly when you haven't played it?

  • joeking #23 5 years ago

    "It won't be a game I play all the time but to me personally it does the same thing Geometry Wars did - provided a perfect game that I can play for a little bit when I need to relax without having to spend to much brainpower. "

    Couldn't have put it any better myself. A constant play this won't be for me, but I see myself picking it up and playing a few quick games here and there many times.
    Edited by 1 at 12/04/07 @ 15:08

  • pbdarko #24 5 years ago

    I found it solid but not spectacular 6/10.

    Boom boom rocket definitely isn't to rhythm games what geometry wars is to robotron clones.

    That said i hope theres some reasonably priced downloadable songs for this hopefully ea noticed the reaction to activision's guitar hero 2 songs pricing

  • gizmo #25 5 years ago

    Sorry, but the button presses are out of sync with the music. Therefore, IMHO, the game doesn't work.

  • LeeroyJenkins #26 5 years ago

    A demo is supposed to be representative of the final game. If the demo is boring/shoddy/unexciting then we must believe the final game is like that too. If this demo was released 3 months ago, then yeah we might be led to believe the final game is better - but this is not the case. The demo should show you what the game is capable of... and perhaps it does - it shows me it's boring and generic.

    I would however like to congratulate Bizarre and EA on managing to make fireworks - that are usually exciting, colourful, powerful, and loud - into boring puffs of blobs.

  • S.J.Rogers #27 5 years ago

    "Sorry, but the button presses are out of sync with the music. Therefore, IMHO, the game doesn't work."

    I thought it was just me..!

    Pretty but just seemed a bit of, glad its not just my reflexes...

  • morriss #28 5 years ago

    Played it for 5 mins. They're no guns in it. 1/10

  • pbdarko #29 5 years ago

    ""Sorry, but the button presses are out of sync with the music. Therefore, IMHO, the game doesn't work."

    I thought it was just me..!

    Pretty but just seemed a bit of, glad its not just my reflexes..."

    Are you playing on hdtv's because according to gamespots review one of the bad points listed was "no latency adjustment to compensate for laggy hdtv screens" which apparently there is in guitar hero 2

  • miiiguel #30 5 years ago

    too hard.

  • SimonM7 #31 5 years ago

    7/10 seems high, as the consensus of these comments suggest. I think it's plain rubbish myself. It takes a brill idea (all originate from Beatmania it seems) and it picks it apart to the simplest version and has some genuinely dull visuals to boot.

    Worms will certainly offer hours of more entertainment, and more entertaining entertainment at that, than this pile.

  • zozart #32 5 years ago

    "Sorry, but the button presses are out of sync with the music. Therefore, IMHO, the game doesn't work."

    Depends on the track, I've found. Some are perfect to the point that I don't need to look at the bar to score perfects, while others seem to require me to look at the bar and gauge where to place it. A little disappointing but even on those tracks it's not perfect it's only for part of it, so it's tolerable. This is all on an SDTV btw.

    Personally this is the first rhythm game that's appealed to me. I never bought into the Guitar Hero stuff (although I probably will now), but after playing the BBR demo I was hooked instantly.

    And as someone else said earlier, it's just like Geometry Wars for me in that it's the sort of game I'll be picking up every now and then for a play.

    Also, the achievements... they're pretty, well, achievable. Except for that one that needs 5 laps on Hard. That's bloody insane. You'd need to have some sort of affinity with the track to manage that one...

    I think I'll go place an order for GHII now. Shame about the lack of wireless though. :X
    Edited by 1 at 12/04/07 @ 15:51

  • brooza #33 5 years ago

    Oh dear god

    Frequency and Amplitude for XBLA! Then I can almost retire my PS2.

    As long as they don't get too greedy with the DLC

  • goz #34 5 years ago

    SimonM7: PaRappa predates Beatmania FYI
    Edited by 1 at 12/04/07 @ 15:55

  • Der_tolle_Emil #35 5 years ago

    This game only works in multiplayer because it's funny to laugh at each other when the game gets really hard and fast. But alone - I don't know. The music is too bad to play it alone for a long time.

  • Beano #36 5 years ago

    "haha, why question a review so strongly when you haven't played it? "

    Because the point of a demo is to represent the full game. There's a HUGE difference betweem my impression of the demo and a 7 score. The demo give me the impression that it should be free. Even 400 point is to expensive for a soddy DDR clone with Fantavision graphics.

    I'm not paying 800 point to find out that I'm right.

  • homerramone #37 5 years ago

    "I am coming up with these scores, which is why I remember that Worms got 6."

    Which is still LESS than MS-PACMAN scored. It wouldve been bad enough if PACMAN scored more - But MS PACMAN wasnt exactly spectacular even back in the day. Less so now.

    Sorry, but the scores AFAICS are just way out of whack IMHO. (Obviously theres a degree of subjectivity in the score, but Boom-Boom Rocket isnt especially original. Its not especially pretty. I didnt like playing it AT ALL - much as many people posting here apparently dont, and thereofre it clearly doesnt have a broad spectrum of appeal).

    Therefore doesnt deserve 7/10.

    Which is fine - Ill ignore the review scores.


  • Beano #38 5 years ago

    "As long as they don't get too greedy with the DLC "

    With the GH2 DLC prices, we kinda know the answer to that one...

  • Hullfire #39 5 years ago

    I notice one comment only up-thread about what a blatant rehash of Fantavision on PS2 this game is.

    Why no mention of the similarity in the review, EG?

    As my learned brother just said to me, "fantavision deserves remembering".

    Damn straight.

  • jammyj #40 5 years ago

    Yawn at BBR

  • enzima #41 5 years ago

    personally i find the review very balanced, the game deserves a 7. You can argue that the little number of tracks may diminish the overall value of the game (its a 6 if you wanna be hard), but its just opinions. to me geom. wars was highly superior. in that way, i was a bit disappointed.

    in 4 days i will finally receive slitherlink, illust and picross from play asia. i know it has nothing to do, im just so excited i had to mention it!!!!

  • jammyj #42 5 years ago

    Lacks spark = 7/10?!

  • w00t #43 5 years ago

    But, surely this is a blatant copy of Fantav-

    /rip

    /screaming cut off

    /MMUK runs

  • mute #44 5 years ago

    "Graphically it's missing something to compare to Geometry Wars' gorgeous undulations. Aurally it's novel, but you won't be rushing out to buy the songs. And in gameplay terms it has no real kick". 7/10...

  • InsoFox #45 5 years ago

    I think the score is about right and the comments in the review are fair, but what I'll say is the reason I really enjoy boom boom rocket is that I am not really INTO rhythm games.

    The fact that it's stripped down, un-gimmicky and simple to pick up suits me just fine. I only have a passing, casual desire for rhythm games, and so I'm not looking for any sort of weird contrived innovation... simplicity will do.

    Plus, I usually dislike the music but I like quite a few of the things on offer here. Nice to see them use more of the classical tunes they chose than simply repeat the main hook and add some thumpin' bass.

  • AOFanboi #46 5 years ago

    Looks like they are remaking Fantavision now. XBox Live Archaeology seems more and more to fit the service.

  • Peew971 #47 5 years ago

    If you like rythm games casually but not enough to buy Dance Dance Revolution or Guitar Hero II, that's a good, cheap investment

  • phl0w #48 5 years ago

    LOL, just bought the new EDGE and read the review of BBR in it. First thing that came to mind when I saw the screenshots: "Is that a Fantavision remake? Looking forward to reading a well expressed and sarcastic analogy in the article". But nooo, not a single connection to this great game whatsoever. And neither does EG mention it in this review. Sure, the game is rare and all, but I can't believe its getting ignored that much.

    F-A-N-T-A-V-I-S-I-O-N !!! one of the greatest and most underrated PS2 games. Play it regularly to the date. (My first gen PS2 came with a screenshot of FV on the back of its box ^^)

  • SwedBear #49 5 years ago

    Actually so far I haven't noticed the fireworks being out of sync with music. I havent played all tunes yet though so it might be that I haven't gotten to them yet. I am pretty good at rytm (been singing in choirs for as long as I can remember) and music and one thing I like with it is that I can score well by listening to the music and hitting the buttons with the rytm.

    Seems another marmite game :). Either you love it or you hate it :). Oh, and AOFanboy - I expected better trolling from you :).

  • BBIAJ #50 5 years ago

    @SwedBear:

    You may well like to think that you're good at rhythm, but you sure as Hell can't spell it! ;o)

  • SwedBear #51 5 years ago

    Hehe, it was late and English is my third language so I hope I am forgiven for not spelling it right :).

  • Scientist #52 5 years ago

    "Hehe, it was late and English is my third language so I hope I am forgiven for not spelling it right :).

    I generally believe that the quality of English from the non-native speakers here often puts the native British to shame. Some of the crap the illiterate English fanboys come out with is an embarrassment.
    English as a second/third/fourth language FTW!

  • Eighthours #53 5 years ago

    It's nothing like Fantavision whatsoever. You might as well say that GTA is like Gran Turismo. After all, both have cars in them.

  • Vice.Destroyer #54 5 years ago

    I have it and I like it. Although it is making me feel old, because I don't like the music and it is freaking hard on, erm, hard.

  • Jdoki #55 5 years ago

    This game may deserve a 7/10, but judging by the demo it's a 4 or 5/10 from me.

    Is this a fair judgment? Who cares! If EA want to release an uninspiring demo then they won't get a purchase form me. Eurogamer could have given the game 10/10 and I still wouldn't have bought it on the strength of the demo.

    And someone really needs to make an XBLA version of Fantavision.

  • Der_tolle_Emil #56 5 years ago

    Is this a fair judgment? Who cares! If EA want to release an uninspiring demo then they won't get a purchase form me.

    You are absolutely right. I thought the demo was actually quite bad. I purchased it because I had a friend over and we wanted to try it multiplayer and the full version is indeed better. The two songs in the demo are probably among the worst 3 of all the songs. The gameplay stays the same of course but the songs are at least a bit better. They still suck generally but I don't really notice that in multiplayer because I keep laughing at my friend when he's having a hard time - which sadly only comes around at round 3 where the music is really getting fast. Until then it's a bit boring.

  • speedofthepuma #57 5 years ago

    will never cease to amaze me that people constnantly feel the need to comment that a score is obviously wrong on a game they have never played. The amount of times that has happened in this htread beggars belief.

  • AFX #58 5 years ago

    I turned my Xbox on Wednesday and noticed everyone on my friends list playing Boom Boom Rocket. I downloaded it and played it for about 10 seconds before I realised this was a game for me (based on the mechanic, not the music). It may have been a bit of a hasty purchase but I'm glad I did. I've been playing the game for the past 2 evenings, trying to best my friends high scores and have really been enjoying it.

    There's a few (like 2 I can think of) dodgy tracks, but to me the dancified classical tracks are inspired and really work with the firework theme. Certainly worth my 800 points :)

  • Flojomojo #59 5 years ago

    It's amazing how public opinion is divided over XBLA games. Personally, I love the retro titles, but they get savaged in reviews for being too old. The new games attract griefers because they're too expensive -- as if the price of a nice lunch or an album of tunes is prohibitive. The beauty of XBLA is that developers can get creative and release a small game without a massive risk.

    Oh yeah -- Boom Boom Rocket. I like it. Pretty colors + techno classical was enough to induce me to buy it within 30 seconds of starting the demo. The levels are short and sweet enough to make repeat plays tolerable -- I don't mind repetition to get just a little bit better if it's not arduous. It's a little sparse, and would have liked online play (lag would be an issue, but if Amplitude could do it, why not BBR?) so I would rate it an 8.

    Disclaimer: I really really like *some* music games. I count Amplitude, Frequency, Space Channel 5 parts 1 and 2, Mad Maestro, and the 3DO's C.P.U. Bach among my long-time favorites. Minter's Neon visualizer and the promise of some Llamasoft arcade games tipped the scales and made me want an XBOX 360. For me, Boom Boom Rocket is the sweet spot for convenience, price, and inoffensive tunes.

    Popular games that require extra plastic crap such as Guitar Hero, Dance Dance Revolution, DK Jungle Beat, Samba De Amigo ask a bit too much in terms of space and commitment. We should encourage fringe developers like this, not bash them. If it's not for you, STFU and wait for something you like.

  • EmiliasHorse #60 5 years ago

    I love it. The online ranking unlike Lumines gives individuals a rank, something to improve. I must be getting old cos the hard levels are so hard my eyes were bleeding...but I was still having fun.

  • Riskbreaker_Ashley #61 5 years ago

    ManicMiner allow me to continue your list...

    1) Fireworks
    2) Sweeping cityscapes game cameras?
    3) Ambient electronica music?

    ...to name obvious ones.

  • jamespo #62 5 years ago

    7/10 is right... I find this game strangely soothing...

    Showed it to my brother's girlfriend and she immediately said "that looks like the sort of thing I'd like". Generally she's a Nintendogs / Animal Crossing type player.

    And what flojomojo said is, as Alan Partridge put it, SPOT ON
    Edited by 1 at 15/04/07 @ 20:57