Trombone Champ: Unflattened! Review (PSVR2)
Summary: Trombone Champ: Unflattened! is a rhythm game that hilariously allows you to play the trombone as erratically as you want. Quick decisions and fatiguing movements can be challenging in VR, but can also add to the delightful ridiculousness. Admirable new features like new environments and trombones as well as amusing glimpses of a narrative with a baboon adds to the inventiveness. It’s all the fun of playing an actual trombone without the spit valve.
4.3
Top Brass
Toot to your heart’s desire in front of a large crowd cheering you on in this wacky trombone sliding musical experience! Trombone Champ: Unflattened! is a rhythm game developed by Flat2VR Studios and Holy Wow Studios, published by Flat2VR Studios, and released on November 26th of 2024. The original game was released on Windows in 2022 and garnered a lot of attention due to the hilarious and awkward blares you can create to the music. A Switch version of the game was released in 2023 allowing you to use the gyroscope feature on the Joy-Con controllers to adjust the pitch of the trombone. Now, with Unflattened!, the game has been released on VR systems, letting you play those sweet brassy tunes in the space of virtual reality.
Being a rhythm game, Trombone Champ: Unflattened! plays a lot like other rhythm games like Guitar Hero or Beat Saber. Gameplay consists of you lining up your position on the staff to a specific spot to play the required note to a song in order to pass. You can pick which hand is going to hold the trombone and which one is going to be adjusting the slide. Some notes require you to hold it for longer and others require you to release it quickly. It all seems pretty simple and it controls super naturally in VR, but the complexity of some songs are extremely challenging. It’s very easy to mess up some notes and play badly, letting loose some resounding honks. Hilarity ensues due to the nuances of actually playing the trombone and the different sounds that emit from it which rambunctiously creates a stellar game to play with others.
Pulling the trombone’s slide close to your face will create a high pitch and the more you pull it away, the lower the pitch will be. Quickly playing notes back to back is pretty demanding already, but sometimes you may need to hold a note as well as adjust the pitch at the same time. The game tells you to blow into the trombone by pressing either the circle or cross button. Playing the game in VR is pretty taxing since you are physically moving the entire time, as well as constantly pressing the buttons. I’m glad that there are multiple assigned buttons to play the trombone because my thumb would regularly get tired from pressing one button so switching it to the other button to get more comfortable felt intuitive and a judicious decision design wise. I later found out, due to being interested in the game’s Dynamic Trigger feature, that you can also use the triggers to produce the trombone’s sound, which helped alleviate the superfluous pain a little more.
The more accurate you play the notes, the better your score will be so you always want to do your best if you want to top the leaderboards. Continuously hitting the correct notes will fill up your “CHAMP” meter and successfully filling it all the way will give you a multiplier to earn more points. There is a Double Mode that puts the music staff on both sides of your screen and a Classic Mode that sets the staff on one side of your screen. While Classic Mode seems the most manageable, I found Double Mode to be more comfortable since I didn’t have to hold my neck still the entire time. Double Mode can be a bit annoying sometimes though because it’s a lot easier to mess up incoming notes since you have to turn to look at them.
Actually playing the game and being in control of all the mechanics is really entertaining, but it does feel a bit awkward actually juggling all of the required components at the same time in this way. Cramped fingers from pressing buttons and holding the trombone is aggravating. Holding the trombone feels unnecessarily tricky at times. I would have to keep the hand that’s holding the instrument tucked underneath my chin, otherwise I couldn’t extend my hand that’s controlling the slide out far enough to reach certain notes. Mix this with having to look around for the notes and while yes, it all looks hysterical, playing the game can be a bit too demanding.
Trombone Champ: Unflattened! comes packed with a bunch of new features including an Improv Mode where you can just play the trombone anyway you want, Free Play Mode where you can play the songs at your leisure, and a Campaign Mode where you can play the game’s 58 songs by completing certain tasks. In Campaign Mode you play through different set genre related albums and unlock new songs by completing challenges like hitting a certain amount of perfect notes in a song. There’s a nice variety of songs like “Beethoven’s 5th Symphony”, “O Canada”, “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”, and “Old MacDonald”. Each song has 3 difficulties, Unflattened, Original, and Turbo. Unflattened is basically the game’s easy mode and original is the game’s normal mode. Turbo doubles the song’s speed from normal mode, making it the hardest mode in the game and easily creating a lot of laughs while you ridiculously try to keep up with the bolting notes that fly by.
Unflattened also has new environments to play in and a card system to unlock more trombones to use. Every note you play is accumulated on a toot counter. You can exchange your toots in the in-game store for cards in card packs that may have some interesting information on them regarding a famous musician or you may pull the infamous Blue-Eyes White Baboon. If you have the right cards, you can trade them in for different sounding trombones. There’s one made out of beans that literally toots and one with a cat perched on top who meows to the notes of the songs. You can also customize your trombone with different colors and designs if you are feeling artistic. There is an Aim (Pitch) Assist that helps you stay on pitch and the Dynamic Trigger feature allows you to blow the trombone softer depending on how much you push in on the triggers. The Quest version of the game also allows you to play your own songs directly from the headset and includes a Mixed Reality Mode.
Trombone Champ: Unflattened! looks good graphically. Characters in the audience have a caricature style to them that adds to the slapstick humor when they cheer you on or are dismayed at your poor performance. The entire game looks crisp and its authentic animated style matches the lighthearted whimsical time you’ll be having. The music that you play is great and the main menu music is incredibly inviting. The sounds of all of the trombones are farcical and add to the game’s ingenious design.
Final Thoughts?
Trombone Champ Unflattened! is a hoot of a time. Being able to play all of these songs with the trombone center stage is fantastic and as silly as the game is overall, it really creates a new appreciation for the trials and tribulations of trombonists. From the outside looking in, the game seems super appealing, but difficulties playing this in VR is quickly realized through exhausting gameplay sessions. The game’s self-aware absurdity is charming and the plethora of songs and features are appreciated. If you are looking for a rhythm based music game or even just a fun time, Trombone Champ: Unflattened! is indisputably the easiest recommendation I could ever make.
About the Author
Nay Clark Gaming holds a special place in my heart and I never stop talking about video games. I really love all types of games and have an interest in games that have complicated stories and lore because I enjoy untangling the mystery of it all. When I'm not gaming, I unsuccessfully try to control three amazing and incredibly bright kids.
Related Posts
Ninja Gaiden 2 Black Review (PS5) →
Ys Memoires: The Oath in Felghana PS5 Review →
Eternal Strands Review (PS5) →
