Thank you PeroPeroGames for providing us with review codes for the game and DLC pack!

Muse Dash was originally released in 2018 for mobile devices and is now available for PC and Switch users. The price for most platforms is a reasonable $2.99 and that includes forty songs that gradually unlock as you gain levels. If you want to have access to more songs right away and all future releases, you’ll want to check out the $29.99 DLC. The Switch version bundles everything for $29.99.

There’s a wide variety of song styles, but they’re mostly sung in Japanese so I have no idea what they’re singing about. The music is catchy regardless. Each track is broken by difficulty level so you know ahead of time what to expect.

The gameplay is simple to learn but difficult to master as the songs get more challenging. There are two circles by your character, an upper and a lower one. As enemies appear in them, you have to press the corresponding key or joystick. Depending on your timing, you’ll be given a perfect, great, pass, or miss. The higher of a chain you can maintain, the better your overall score will be.

There’s a wide variety of level and enemy themes. For example, there are haunted house themed levels with ghosts and bats to smack out of your way. Some of the ghosts turn invisible and you have to guess when they line up with the circles by your character. There are mini-bosses that rush toward you and you have to mash the buttons to drive them back. Many of the levels have a final boss that hurls enemies toward your character to distract them before rushing toward them. Along with enemies, you’ll find various obstacles like circular saws to avoid.

Your character has a health bar and if that gets depleted, the level will end prematurely. If you do take damage you can often restore some health with random heart drops. There are also musical power-ups to collect. If you do well enough, you can trigger a fever mode which can boost your score and mix things up a bit. 

For the most part, the graphics are colorful and adorable. Even the enemies are cute. The anime art style is very fitting. With that said, there are some lewd images that detract from this game quite a bit. Many of the loading screens have young girls in revealing outfits with stars in places that would normally show underwear that they’re hopefully wearing. Other girls are showing off some “under boob”. If it wasn’t for this “fan service” I would wholeheartedly recommend this game.

If you enjoy J-Pop and rhythm games the $2.99 price tag is quite reasonable. Because of the suggestive artwork, I would exercise caution before buying this game. I recommend browsing through user submitted screenshots before purchasing this for kids or anyone who may struggle with lust.