Boom Boom Rocket
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''Boom Boom Rocket'' (''BBR'') is a downloadable video game for
Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...
's
Xbox Live Arcade Xbox Live Arcade (or XBLA) was a video game Digital distribution in video games, digital distribution service that was available for the Xbox (console), Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles. It focused on smaller downloadable games from both major publisher ...
service. ''Boom Boom Rocket'' is the first
rhythm game Rhythm game or rhythm action is a genre of music-themed action video game that challenges a player's sense of rhythm. Games in the genre typically focus on dance or the simulated performance of musical instruments, and require players to pres ...
for Xbox Live Arcade and was developed by '' Geometry Wars'' creators
Bizarre Creations Bizarre Creations Limited was a British video game development studio based in Liverpool, best known for their racing video game, racing titles ''Metropolis Street Racer'' (Dreamcast) and the follow-up Project Gotham Racing, ''Project Gotham Rac ...
and published by the Pogo division of
Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by former Apple Inc., Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry ...
. The game was made backwards compatible on
Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was first released in North America, parts of Europe, Austra ...
on July 26, 2016.


Gameplay

The objective of ''Boom Boom Rocket'' is to trigger fireworks explosions in time with music, in a gameplay style very similar to that of ''
Dance Dance Revolution (''DDR'') is a music video game series produced by Konami. Introduced in Japan in 1998 as part of the Bemani series, and released in North America and Europe in 1999, ''Dance Dance Revolution'' is the pioneering series of the rhythm and dance ...
'', ''
Guitar Hero ''Guitar Hero'' is a series of rhythm games first released in 2005, in which players use a guitar-shaped game controller to simulate playing primarily lead guitar, lead, bass guitar, bass, and rhythm guitar across numerous songs. Players match ...
'' and '' Fantavision''. Each rocket is color-mapped to one of the colored buttons on the Xbox 360 controller. A life gauge, which also serves as a score multiplier meter, fills with each successful shot and drains with each missed shot, and players are graded on overall hit accuracy. If the life meter drains completely, the player fails the song and the game is over. Each song has three unlockable firework types, one for each difficulty level. If the player successfully triggers a prescribed number of fireworks a rocket with a wavy tail appears. If this special rocket is triggered, the firework is unlocked and it will randomly replace other firework types on subsequent songs. If the rocket with the wavy tail is missed, or the song is not completed, the firework type remains locked. An update that was released in November 2007 allows the game to recognize other controllers like guitars and dance pads. When using a guitar the rockets need to be "strummed" just as in ''Guitar Hero'' to be exploded in time. ''Boom Boom Rocket'' includes several single-player modes and a local two-player mode. Single-player modes include the basic game, Endurance Mode (in which the song loops continuously and gradually speeds up, with the player attempting to complete as many "laps" as possible), and Practice Mode. Additionally, the game provides a Visualizer mode, which creates a fireworks display timed to the rhythm of audio files stored on the player's console. The game provides twelve achievements (worth 200 Gamerscore points), which focus mainly on unlocking fireworks and attaining high grade levels and hit ratios. It also supports two-player mode on the same system, but does not support online multiplayer. As with most Xbox Live Arcade games, the title includes online leaderboards. ''Boom Boom Rocket'' features ten music tracks (fifteen with the update), with three difficulty levels per track. Each track is a classical song that has been remixed into a modern style, such as
ska Ska (; , ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a w ...
,
funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...
or
techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time ( ) and often ...
. The game's music was composed by Ian Livingstone (''
Batman Returns ''Batman Returns'' is a 1992 American superhero film directed by Tim Burton and written by Daniel Waters (screenwriter), Daniel Waters. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it is the sequel to ''Batman (1989 film), Batman'' (1989) and th ...
'' and ''
Project Gotham Racing 2 ''Project Gotham Racing 2'' is a 2003 arcade-style racing video game developed by Bizarre Creations and published by Xbox Game Studios, Microsoft Game Studios. It was released exclusively for the Xbox (console), Xbox in November 2003 as the succe ...
'' game soundtracks). While users cannot create their own custom soundtracks or utilize music from other sources (apart from the music visualizer mode), the game does support downloadable content including new tracks composed by Chris Chudley from Audioantics. ('' Geometry Wars'', '' Project Gotham Racing 3'') which should have been released on November 29, 2007; but were a day late. The new songs were free for a couple weeks after release.


Track list

There are a total of ten music tracks in the game, with three difficulty levels per track. Each track is a classical song that has been remixed into one of a number of modern styles, including
ska Ska (; , ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a w ...
,
funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...
and
techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time ( ) and often ...
, and was composed by Ian Livingstone (''
Batman Returns ''Batman Returns'' is a 1992 American superhero film directed by Tim Burton and written by Daniel Waters (screenwriter), Daniel Waters. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it is the sequel to ''Batman (1989 film), Batman'' (1989) and th ...
'' and ''
Project Gotham Racing 2 ''Project Gotham Racing 2'' is a 2003 arcade-style racing video game developed by Bizarre Creations and published by Xbox Game Studios, Microsoft Game Studios. It was released exclusively for the Xbox (console), Xbox in November 2003 as the succe ...
'' game soundtracks) and the DLC Rock Pack by Chris Chudley from Audioantics ( Geometry Wars, Project Gotham Racing 3) . The songs are as follows: *"Smooth Operetta" (from The Flower Duet) *"Rave New World" (from Dvořák's Symphony No. 9) *"William Tell Overload" (from
William Tell Overture The ''William Tell'' Overture is the overture to the opera '' William Tell'' (original French title ''Guillaume Tell''), composed by Gioachino Rossini. ''William Tell'' premiered in 1829 and was the last of Rossini's 39 operas, after which he w ...
) *"Hall of the Mountain Dude" (from
In the Hall of the Mountain King "In the Hall of the Mountain King" () is a piece of orchestral music composed by Edvard Grieg in 1875 as incidental music for the sixth scene of act 2 in Henrik Ibsen's 1867 play ''Peer Gynt''. It was originally part of Opus 23 but was later ex ...
) *"1812 Overdrive" (from
1812 Overture ''The Year 1812, Solemn Overture'', Op. 49, popularly known as the ''1812 Overture'', is a concert overture in E major written in 1880 by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The piece commemorates Russia's successful defense against the ...
) *"Valkyries Rising" (from Ride of the Valkyries) *"Tail Light Sonata" (from Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata) *"Carmen Electric" (from
Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...
) *"Game Over Beethoven" (from Beethoven's Symphony No. 5) *"Toccata and Funk" (from
Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 The Toccata and Fugue in D minor, Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis, BWV 565, is a composition for Pipe organ, organ by, according to the oldest sources, German composer Johann Sebastian Bach. It is one of the most widely recognisable works in the organ re ...
) DLC – Rock Pack composed by Audioantics, released November 30, 2007, is: *"Sting of the Bumble Bee" (from
Flight of the Bumblebee "Flight of the Bumblebee" () is an orchestral interlude written by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844–1908) for his opera '' The Tale of Tsar Saltan'', composed in 1899–1900. This perpetuum mobile is intended to musically evoke the seemingl ...
) *"Explode to Joy" (from
Ode to Joy "Ode to Joy" ( ) is an ode written in the summer of 1785 by the German poet, playwright, and historian Friedrich Schiller. It was published the following year in the Thalia (German magazine), German magazine ''Thalia''. In 1808, a slightly revi ...
) *"Sugar High" (from
Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy ''The Nutcracker'' (, ), Op. 71, is an 1892 two-act classical ballet (conceived as a '; ) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, set on Christmas Eve at the foot of a Christmas tree in a child's imagination featuring a Nutcracker doll. The plot is a ...
) *"Eine Kleine Rochtmusik" (from
Eine kleine Nachtmusik (Serenade No. 13 for strings in G major), K. 525, is a 1787 composition for a chamber ensemble by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791). The German title means "a little night music" and is one of Mozart's most famous works. The serena ...
) *"Cannon in D" (from
Pachelbel's Canon Pachelbel's Canon (also known as Canon in D, P 37) is an canon (music), accompanied canon by the German Baroque music, Baroque composer Johann Pachelbel. The canon was originally scored for three violins and basso continuo and paired with a gigu ...
)


Development and release

''Boom Boom Rocket'' was developed by British studio
Bizarre Creations Bizarre Creations Limited was a British video game development studio based in Liverpool, best known for their racing video game, racing titles ''Metropolis Street Racer'' (Dreamcast) and the follow-up Project Gotham Racing, ''Project Gotham Rac ...
and was initially conceived by Troy Whitlock at Pogo, a subsidiary of publisher EA focusing on
casual game A casual game is a video game targeted at a mass market audience, as opposed to a hardcore game, which is targeted at hobbyist gamers. Casual games may exhibit any type of gameplay and genre. They generally involve simpler rules, shorter sessio ...
s. Members of both companies recalled that EA expressed interest in Bizarre Creations due to the developer's successful '' Geometry Wars'', leading to prototyping and eventual full-fledged production on a new rhythm-action title. However, Bizarre Creations founder Martyn Chudley claimed that it was his company that originally approached EA about a new project in order to avoid losing staff. A team was not in place when it was greenlit and slowly grew around the concept as development progressed. The crew consisted of seven core members, most of which were from the company's shared audio team. This included graphical coder Stephen Cakebread, the creator of ''Geometry Wars''. According to
programmers A programmer, computer programmer or coder is an author of computer source code someone with skill in computer programming. The professional titles ''software developer'' and ''software engineer'' are used for jobs that require a program ...
Sam Hall and Nick Bygrave, Bizarre Creations "kind of made ''Boom Boom Rocket'' up as hey/nowiki> went along", taking a relaxed approach to its creation. As the game was designed around casual play, its difficult settings were balanced to appeal to beginners and hardcore gamers alike. On-screen directional arrows were included alongside the four colors which correspond to the
Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...
's
gamepad A gamepad is a type of video game controller held in two hands, where the fingers (especially thumbs) are used to provide input. They are typically the main input device for video game consoles. Features Some common additions to the standar ...
face buttons to further the game's accessibility to players who are new to video games in general and even to players with
color blindness Color blindness, color vision deficiency (CVD) or color deficiency is the decreased ability to color vision, see color or differences in color. The severity of color blindness ranges from mostly unnoticeable to full absence of color percept ...
. The "freeform" development of the game allowed EA to quickly approve amendments by the programmers such as the addition of the Endurance Mode and speeding the gameplay up with the increasing tempo of the music. Online multiplayer was a consideration, but was passed on due to time constraints.
Designer A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exper ...
Jeff Lewis stated that ''Boom Boom Rocket'' utilized the maximum graphical potential of the Xbox 360 and that, as with ''Geometry Wars'',
Xbox Live Arcade Xbox Live Arcade (or XBLA) was a video game Digital distribution in video games, digital distribution service that was available for the Xbox (console), Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles. It focused on smaller downloadable games from both major publisher ...
was an ideal platform for the coders to show off their talents in this regard. The team claimed they took no inspiration from '' Fantavision'', a fireworks-themed
puzzle game A puzzle is a game, problem, or toy that tests a person's ingenuity or knowledge. In a puzzle, the solver is expected to put pieces together ( or take them apart) in a logical way, in order to find the solution of the puzzle. There are different ...
for the
PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...
, though Hall and Bygrave recognized visual similarities between the two. For the musical score, Bizarre Creations chose the work of composer
Ian Livingstone Sir Ian Livingstone (born 29 December 1949) is an English fantasy author and entrepreneur. Along with Steve Jackson, he is the co-founder of the '' Fighting Fantasy'' series of role-playing gamebooks, and the author of many books within that ...
, who had worked with them on ''
Project Gotham Racing 2 ''Project Gotham Racing 2'' is a 2003 arcade-style racing video game developed by Bizarre Creations and published by Xbox Game Studios, Microsoft Game Studios. It was released exclusively for the Xbox (console), Xbox in November 2003 as the succe ...
'' and ''
Treasure Planet ''Treasure Planet'' is a 2002 American animated science fiction film, science fiction adventure film directed by John Musker and Ron Clements and written by Musker, Clements and Rob Edwards (screenwriter), Rob Edwards. Produced by Walt Disney ...
'', and even used the first track he ever submitted for ''Boom Boom Rocket'' for its first level.
Classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...
was selected due to its assumed neutral appeal and because players might recognize its beats and choruses over contemporary songs. Lewis said that these classical pieces were
remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...
ed to have structures like modern pop,
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
, and
dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
songs, with alternating choruses and verses, similar to how a player deals with waves of enemies in a
shooter game Shooter video games, or shooters, are a subgenre of action video games where the focus is on the defeat of the character's enemies using ranged weapons given to the player. Usually these weapons are firearms or some other long-range weapons, a ...
. Although the developer contemplated including the ability to generate levels to custom soundtracks, the programmers felt this would have too difficult to do correctly and that the end result would be a poor substitute for the already-varied stock levels. After ten to twelve months of development, ''Boom Boom Rocket'' was officially announced in January 2007. The game was launched in North America and Europe for Xbox Live Arcade on April 11, 2007. EA wished to leverage its credibility with core gamers by publishing the game under its own brand rather than its subsidiary Pogo. In October 2007, ''Boom Boom Rocket'' came bundled alongside four other Xbox Live Arcade games in the Arcade model of the Xbox 360 in both regions. DLC titled "Rock Pack" was released on November 29, 2007 and included five new songs and an additional fifteen unlockable fireworks. These songs had been remixed by ''Geometry Wars'' composer Chris Chudley. Also included were an update to the game which added guitar
peripheral A peripheral device, or simply peripheral, is an auxiliary hardware device that a computer uses to transfer information externally. A peripheral is a hardware component that is accessible to and controlled by a computer but is not a core compo ...
and
dance pad A dance pad, also known as a dance mat or dance platform, is a flat electronic game controller used for input in dance games. Most dance pads are divided into a 3×3 matrix of square panels for the player to stand on, with some or all of the pan ...
support; Japanese and
Korean language Korean is the first language, native language for about 81 million people, mostly of Koreans, Korean descent. It is the national language of both South Korea and North Korea. In the south, the language is known as () and in the north, it is kn ...
options; and various updates to the leaderboard and scoring systems. The DLC was available on the marketplace for free until December 16, after which it cost 250 Microsoft Points. ''Boom Boom Rocket'' was released on the Japanese Xbox Live Arcade on November 30, 2007 and was bundled with the region's Arcade model Xbox 360 console on March 6, 2008. The game was added to the list of backwards compatibile games for Xbox One on July 26, 2016.


Reception

''Boom Boom Rocket'' holds aggregate scores of 69% on both
GameRankings GameRankings was a video gaming review aggregator that was founded in 1999 and owned by CBS Interactive. It indexed over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 video games. GameRankings was discontinued in December 2019, with its staff bei ...
and
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, corresponding to "mixed or average reviews" on the latter website.


References


External links


''Boom Boom Rocket''
at
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* {{Bizarre Creations 2007 video games Bizarre Creations games Electronic Arts games Multiplayer and single-player video games Multiplayer online games Music video games Rhythm games Video games developed in the United Kingdom Xbox 360 games Xbox 360 Live Arcade games Xbox Live Arcade games Xbox One games Xbox Series X and Series S games