You’ve probably played Spin Rhythm XD

I believe that rhythm games suffer when they are not packaged with a peripheral. A physical controller that was specifically designed to replicate the action the game is based on gives games a sense of legitimacy that is lost the moment you try to play them using a conventional pad. Using an Xbox 360 controller to play Guitar Hero is similar to trying to paint a bedroom wall with a spoon. You’ll arrive eventually, but anyone who sees you through a window will likely conclude you are a strange person.

Enter Spin Rhythm XD, a rhythm game designed to simulate playing an instrument using a controller (or, if you prefer, a mouse and keyboard). A lane in the middle of the screen has a number of icons moving down it in rhythm with the beat of a chosen song. A segmented wheel is located at the bottom. Your objective is to match the color of the falling notes to segments of the same color on the wheel by twisting the analog stick left or right. Additional activities are introduced as the difficulty increases, such as notes that instruct you to press particular buttons or blocked-out areas where you must spin a wheel to gain points.

To be honest, Spin Rhythm XD is a challenging game to understand even while it is in your hands, therefore I know this won’t be a simple game to write about. But ultimately, something clicks once you get into the excellent EDM soundtrack. Even though Guitar Hero is a cheap plastic imitation of the real thing, the actions you take while playing it are close enough to the real thing that it’s simple to think that you’re actually tearing through the tasty chords in Slipknot’s Before I Forget. Spin Rhythm has a special control system that, once mastered, makes you feel the same way about its distinctive mix of funky bangers. Since electronic dance music is somewhat obscure to the average music fan (after all, it’s produced by computers), it makes sense that these songs may be produced on a small, button-and-stick-equipped gadget. Despite utilizing nothing more than a standard controller, it genuinely gives the impression that you are creating these tracks in real time. It truly is magic.

Although Spin Rhythm XD is one of the best rhythm games ever made, I seldom ever hear anyone mention it. Rectify this fact right away. You won’t be sorry.