Line #21 VideoGame/Thumper


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_6279.PNG]]
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3	Described as "[[{{Tagline}} a rhythm violence game]]", ''Thumper'' is a 2016 [[RhythmGame rhythm-based]] EndlessRunningGame by Drool, with music provided by Brian Gibson, best known as the bassist for Music/LightningBolt. It was first released on [[Platform/IBMPersonalComputer PC]] via Platform/{{Steam}} and on Platform/PlayStation4 on October 10, 2016. Platform/NintendoSwitch version was released on May 18th, 2017, followed by a Platform/XboxOne version on August 18th, 2017. It also has VR versions playable through Steam VR, [=PS4=] VR and Platform/OculusRift.
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5	It has [[NoPlotNoProblem essentially no narrative]]; you are a small, silver space beetle that is set upon a rail and traveling at high velocity. As you go you must navigate into or around the various obstacles in your way such as poles of light along the track, walls to grind against without hitting, and spikes that must be flown over. All the while you are occasionally beset by geometrically designed portal-like objects (or creatures) that you must defeat with carefully timed actions in order to progress past them.
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7	Sounds simple, [[SchmuckBait right?]] Under this simple veneer is a deceptively difficult runner game with very little margin for error and a visual design heavily inspired by 80's era technological motifs. One of the key points of Thumper is its soundtrack; the game's pounding beats are probably one of the only things that will keep you on track with timing your actions, so this is a game recommended to be played with headphones.
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9	!!The game provides examples of:
10	* AntiFrustrationFeatures:
11	** In the boss levels, you can stop worrying about dodging obstacles while the energy shot is traveling up the rail to the boss.
12	** If you're going for [[NoDamageRun all S ranks]] on a stage, you don't need to do it all in one go; if you mess up, you can simply go back to the last checkpoint, and your score up to that point will be preserved. This goes out the window in Play+ due to [[OneHitPointWonder that mode's]] [[CheckpointStarvation unique mechanics]] effectively requiring a single-run S rank just to beat each stage.
13	* ArrangeMode: Play+ mode, basically a hard mode. Tutorial messages as well as some mechanic-tutorial sections are removed, the ScoreMultiplier can now [[HardModePerks go up to 4x]] however [[DynamicDifficulty higher multipliers]] will [[DifficultyByAcceleration increase the game speed]], and [[FinalDeathMode if you die, the level ends]] and you get taken to the ScoreScreen immediately.
14	* BiggerOnTheInside: [[spoiler:After you enter Crakhed's mouth, there's a while another level to go through before getting outside.]]
15	* BossCorridor: Boss stages start with an empty tunnel. The last corridor though is an actual level that uses DifficultyByAcceleration.
16	* CosmicHorrorStory: Whether the game itself qualifies is open to interpretation; however, the visuals take some Lovecraftian cues, including tentacles on many bosses and even the track itself.
17	* DarkerAndEdgier: Than the usual rhythm game fair. Both the music and the visuals are dark and foreboding, and you're matching the rhythm to avoid smashing into something and exploding violently.
18	* EldritchAbomination:
19	** All bosses are StarfishAliens in one way or another.
20	** Crakhed seems to become more and more like one of these all the time, getting spikier, more deformed, and having more tentacles each time you face it, until it's more like a giant, flaming, metallic anemone than like a burning, screaming human head. Also, its true form is implied to be a large triangular shape that serves as a phase of the boss fight.
21	* EvilEvolves: Crakhed gradually turns from a flaming head to a multi-eyed tentcale monster.
22	* {{Expy}}: At least visually, the FinalBoss in phase one looks a LOT like classical depictions of Azathoth.
23	* FinalDeathMode: Doing a NewGamePlus reduces the beetle's 2 hit points to OneHitPointWonder and removes checkpoints.
24	* FinalExamBoss: Every boss requires you to follow the pattern or it will loop, and Crakhed combines previous gimmicks.
25	* GameplayGrading: Depending on your score, you will be awarded a letter grade at the end of each level, with C being the lowest, and S being the highest. The Play+ mode adds an S+ grade, which requires perfect play for a given section, or for getting S+ ranks in 50% of the subsections.
26	* GroundWave: What happens when you stomp on a thump or attack a boss.
27	* GuideDangIt: You'll be forgiven to never figure out how to fly while turning since it's not a required mechanic, but if you want to hit the air bars for the S rank, the explanation is in the manual with other scoring tips.
28	* HealingCheckpoint: A shiny square at each checkpoint restores your health if you were hit, and if you don't miss it.
29	* InterfaceScrew: Level 7-7 Boss's speciality is to bend the rail at sharp angles, which in turn rotates the camera all over the place at high speed, in an already "epilepsy fuel" game.
30	* LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: From level 3 some bosses have shields that can only be broken by a shockwave.
31	* MercyInvincibility: Getting hit produces a HitStop and makes the beetle invulnerable for a second.
32	* NoPlotNoProblem: There is no background for why a beetle is flying along a railway at high speed while being confronted by eldritch horrors left and right and avoiding getting killed by obstacles.
33	* RandomlyGeneratedLevels: Level 6-9 Boss is the ''only'' level that has multiple possible patterns, the rest of the game is pre-made.
34	* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: A common color motif, given that the art style draws heavily from neon-and-black 80's era motifs.
35	* SceneryPorn: The game's selling point is being in some mix of space and hell. A new player is likely to die at least once for being distracted by the surroundings.
36	* SinisterGeometry: Everything that isn't you or the rail falls into this category; the walls, the spikes, the rods, and ''especially'' the bosses. [[spoiler: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] with Crakhed, as while they do appear to be made of geometric shapes they are meant to evoke the design of a screaming human face. Not that it makes them any less sinister.]]
37	* SingleUseShield: The beetle can take only two hits without healing, with first one breaking the metallic wings to reveal more organic ones. It is replenished if the player lands a bonus-thump at the checkpoint.
38	* SpikesOfDoom: Starting from Level 2 that introduces flying.
39	* TimeMaster: The FinalBoss can speed up and slow down the tempo, completely confusing the player.
40	* TrialAndErrorGameplay: Levels are divided into a lot of sections, and dying brings you back to the beginning of the current section. Considering [[NintendoHard this is going to happen a lot]] at later levels, you may end up relying on memory more than on reaction time.
41	* UncommonTime: Each level uses a different time signature, and some of them get a bit out there, like 7/8 and 9/8.
42	* WarmupBoss: A triangular boss appears at the start of multiple levels to introduce a new gimmick.

Context VideoGame / Thumper