Xbox Tried To Kill One Of My Favorite Games Of 2023 - I Couldn't Be Happier It's Been Saved
It goes without saying that 2023 was a good year for game releases, with high-profile acclaimed releases such as,,, and to name but a few. While all of these titles were well known and anticipated, one of my favorite games of the year, Tango Gameworks' had a stealth drop of a launch back on PC and Xbox in January 2023.
As a horror fan, I was familiar with Tango Gameworks' past work on but was a completely different kind of title for the studio, instead being a vibrant, rhythm-based action game. Its cartoony artstyle and rhythm-focused gameplay evoked memories of games like , and the SEGA Dreamcast era.
As is to be expected of a rhythm game, it also boasted a great soundtrack. For example, I've grown up listening to Nine Inch Nails and The Prodigy, so hearing their work popping up was a highlight for me. Therefore, I very easily dove into it when it appeared on Game Pass, blitzed through its story in a day, and then went back through to access new areas.
Hi-Fi RUSH is an exciting rhythm-based action game with bundles of heart and thrilling moment to moment combat.
It seems like others enjoyed as much as I did, as it received nearly universally high critical acclaim and was nominated for several major awards, winning ones such as the BAFTA for Best Animation and The Game Awards' Best Audio Design. It was even used as one of the games Xbox was trialing a multiplatform release with, launching on PlayStation in March 2024, where it seemed to be equally well received by that community.
The four first-party titles that Xbox launched on other platforms are as follows:
Title
Platform
Release Date
PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch
22nd February 2024
PS5
19th March 2024
PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch
16th April 2024
PS5
30th April 2024
While a Nintendo Switch version of hasn't been confirmed, it has been rumored to launch on whatever the console's successor is.
This is why it came as such a shock when Microsoft announced it would be closing Tango Gameworks in May 2024 alon
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