Many might consider adding an rocking drum beat to Vivaldi's Four Seasons or perhaps remix Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 with some chiptunes a travesty, but Harmonix did it again and produced something truly magical. Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved, much like its movie predecessors, Fantasia and Fantasia 2000, revolved around fantastic imagery blending in with various musical stylings, all conducted by the magic of the apprentice, which in this case, is you.
The game starts off easy enough, easing you into the workings of this unique rhythm game, where music is conducted rather than produced. Each swipe or push of your hand keeps the song going. It's certainly one of the most accessible rhythm games I have ever played, since the game doesn't correspond your left and right hand with any visible prompts. You can use either of your hands for any of the onscreen prompts, which I think is absolutely genius.
After your eased in, the narrative kicks off, something also quite unique to a rhythm game, but understandable given the source material. As Yen Sid's apprentice, you'll learn various mixing techniques with the help of Scout, a character that happens to look she's straight out of Dance Central. Through her mischievious ways of trying to look ahead into the future to see her masterpiece composition, she instead unleashes Noise to the realms. This journey will take you to varying locales ranging from The Hollow which is a gorgeously cel-shaded area with pixies flying about, to a robotic factory called The Press. All these areas have various interactive spots that allow you to alter various melodies that then play out in the background. Of course each of these areas house the main attraction, the songs.
Tinker Bell, is that you?
Each song comes with two alternate remixes. However, to unlock those, you'll need to play the song twice in total to unlock each of the remixes, usually locked away behind a score goal that has to be met, though trust me, they're usually quite easy. While it may seem like Harmonix is artificially increasing the play time by requiring multiple plays of each song, it doesn't exactly feel repetitive, thanks to the remixes sounding so varied from one another.
True to Fantasia's roots, there are a few classical songs like the aforementioned Four Seasons and Symphony No. 9, along with The Nutcracker Suite, Night on Bald Mountain and Hungarian Rhapsody. However, the full tracklist consists of a range of genres, including Pop, Rock, Electronica and more. What's even crazier about this tracklist, since it includes multiple remixes of a single song, Bohemian Rhapsody can go from a Rock Ballad to being a Classical piece. Likewise Cee Lo's Forget You can change up its Pop roots to sound like it's from the 80s. These aren't just filters mind you, they're completely separate recordings.
But the magic doesn't truly kick in until you start remixing the songs in real time. A few weeks ago I described my experience with remixing The Nutcracker, and that was just a small sample of what the game is capable of. Each song has predetermined parts where you'll be able to switch certain sections to a completely different mix. In Bohemian Rhapsody for instance, I can switch out the song's main guitar section for an orchestral string section (assuming you have it unlocked) with just a swipe of my hand. This all happens in real time. Whether you're experiencing it for the first time, or have done it 50 times, it never loses its magic. It has an insane amount of mixing potential, meaning you can play the same song 10 times, and alter it in different ways, that it never plays out the exact same way.
To even further the crazy amount of remixing potential the game has, you unlock various Composition spells throughout the Story mode. These will also activate in predetermined parts of the song, and allow you to alter or even compose your own melodies that then actually serve as the backdrop in the song. Easily one of my favorite Composition segments are in Bohemian Rhapsody where the guitar solo normally kicks in. Instead of the stock guitar solo, you're actually able to compose your own, with no musical background required. Did I mention it's magical?
While the game on your own is fun, it's even better if you have a friend along for the ride. What's awesome about playing with someone else is that you're both not performing the same movements. Instead, some of the swipes are mirrored, which makes it just as much a treat for those watching, as for those playing. The player who scores more points in each segment of the song can then choose how they want to remix it.
It's hard to fault Harmonix for Kinect issues, since I firmly believe that no camera is infallible, but I have to mention that there have certainly been instances where the game didn't read my movements properly. This can be extra frustrating when trying to go for a 100% completion of a song, only to have a swipe missed because the Kinect didn't see me do it. I also wish menu navigation could have been done with a controller, rather than relying on pure motion input, but it still worked pretty well. There have been only a small number of occasions where I tried to zoom into a level by putting my hands together and then apart, only to have the Kinect read one of my hands, and therefore swiping to a different level. I have yet to experience a perfect motion controlled game, but Music Evolved does come pretty close.
Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved is a magical experience. It's tough to convince someone of its magic without actually letting them play it. It's a rhythm game unlike any other, where the music isn't just a means of progressing from one level to the next, it's an integral part of the experience that can be as personal as the player wants it to be. Adding a rocking drum beat to Four Seasons isn't a travesty, it's a form of expression. One that Music Evolved embraces and runs with it.
