Nearly two years ago at PAX Prime I fell in love with a music game disguised as a sidescrolling shmup. That game, Retro/Grade, finally has a release date of August 21st and will be exclusive to the PlayStation Network.
For the uninitiated, which I’m sure is many thanks to the game’s long absence in the press, Retro/Grade is a unique twist on the rhythm genre. What 24 Caret Games has done is translate the beat based button tapping of other music games into an R-Type-like framework, except, it’s running reverse. Without explaining the entire premise, enemy bullets travel from left to right, returning to the alien spaceships that fire them, while bullets you fired return to your ship. Essentially, Retro/Grade is a game about catching the bullets you fired to save the universe, and all of this is following the music tracks for each level.
Like any atypical music game, Retro/Grade is difficult to comprehend without playing it – even watching someone else play it is bizarre. Retro/Grade will support a normal DualShock 3, along with the various plastic guitars you might have accumulated from the music game boom.
Alongside the game, 24 Caret will also release a digital version of the soundtrack to PlayStation Network. Pricing wasn’t announced for either, but 24 Caret will be cutting a discount to players who pick up the game/soundtrack bundle.
Source: PlayStation Blog
