Trombone Champ Explained

Developer:Holy Wow Studios
Publisher:Holy Wow Studios
Released:Windows
September 15, 2022
macOS
January 23, 2023
Nintendo Switch
September 14, 2023
Genre:Music, rhythm
Modes:Single-player
Engine:Unity[1]
Platforms:Windows
macOS
Nintendo Switch
Director:Dan Vecchitto

Trombone Champ is a trombone-based rhythm game developed and published by Holy Wow Studios,[2] [3] released on .[4] Similar in gameplay to rhythm game titles Guitar Hero and Wii Music, players are tasked with timing their input to music note prompts as they appear on screen, with greater accuracy yielding more points and a higher score.[5] [6] [7] The debut indie title reached widespread popularity on Steam after becoming an Internet meme.[8] [9] [10] It was nominated for the British Academy Games Award for Debut Game,[11] as well as Family Game of the Year during the 26th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards.[12]

A standalone virtual reality version, Trombone Champ: Unflattened, is set for release by the end of 2024.

Gameplay

Trombone Champ is a rhythm game in which players use a virtual trombone to play along to various songs, ranging from classical and public domain songs to original tracks and remixes. Players move the mouse to change the pitch of the trombone and use either the mouse button or keyboard keys to play. Players earn points by successfully hitting notes as they slide across the screen, with more points earned by maintaining successive combos and filling a meter that activates Champ Fever when filled, earning even more points. Missing notes, however, will cause the player to lose their combo multiplier and Champ Fever, as well as potentially lose points. Players will also momentarily run out of breath if they hold a note for too long.

At the end of each song, players receive a rank from F to S based on their score, as well as an in-game currency known as Toots. Toots can be spent on in-game trading cards known as Tromboner Cards, which contain humorous and sometimes fictional trivia about musicians, trombones, and game lore. Unwanted or duplicate cards can be transformed into Turds, which can then be spent to create new cards. Hidden throughout the game are non-playable characters who assist the player in becoming the eponymous Trombone Champ. By fulfilling requests such as offering a certain amount of Toots or Turds or trading specific Tromboner Cards, players can unlock additional playable characters, trombone colors, and sound sets. There is also a secret boss level that requires certain conditions to fully defeat and claim the title of Trombone Champ.

Development

Creator Dan Vecchitto had long thought of an arcade video game based on moving a trombone-like slide controller, but the idea was always a joke. He later got the idea of using the mouse cursor to act as the trombone slide, and realized that there was a game concept behind that. His studio, Holy Wow Studios, was a group of part-time developers and while Vecchitto had thought it would take only about six months to realize the game, it ended up taking four years. Two features of the game forced the longer development time: the introduction of the Tromboner Cards, which was to parody loot box systems in other games, and a loose story involving baboons, which Vecchitto created in parody of the Dark Souls series' narratives.[13]

The studio ran a small open playtesting of the game a month ahead of its planned release, from which they received a far greater amount of feedback than expected. When the game was first fully released in September 2022, the reaction to the game went viral, drawing in more players and feedback. Due to this, Vecchitto said they were considering more features as well as potential console ports of the game.

Initially released only for Windows, Trombone Champ became available for macOS users in January 2023.[14] A port for the Nintendo Switch was announced during a Nintendo Direct on September 14, 2023, and released on the same day.[15] The Switch version features alternative control schemes that use the gyroscopic and infrared sensors of the Joy-Con to play the game.[16]

Localization was added to the game on March 14, 2024, with support for ten languages.[17]

Trombone Champ: Unflattened, a VR adaptation by Flat2VR Studios supporting Meta Quest, Steam VR, and PlayStation VR2, is planned for release by the end of 2024.[18]

Track listing

As of, Trombone Champ has a total of 65 playable tracks: 54 arrangements of public domain music, 9 original compositions, and 2 contributed compositions by third-party artists.[19] [20] Developer Holy Wow Studios has expanded the number of playable tracks through free updates, and expressed interest in using future downloadable content to expand the tracklist as well.[21] In addition to the first-party included tracks listed below, there are unofficial mods that allow custom tracks such as "Through the Fire and Flames" and "One-Winged Angel" to be loaded into the game.[22] [23] [24]

!Title!Composer!Added in
"Also sprach Zarathustra"Richard Straussv1.00 (original release)
"Auld Lang Syne" (Champ Mix)Robert Burns, Holy Wow Studios
"Baboons"Holy Wow Studios
"Beethoven's Fifth Symphony"Ludwig van Beethoven
"The Blue Danube"Johann Strauss II
"Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy"Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
"Eine kleine" (Champ Mix)Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Holy Wow Studios
"Eine kleine Nachtmusik" (Trap Mix)Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Holy Wow Studios
"The Entertainer"Scott Joplin
"Entry of the Gladiators"Julius Fučík
"God Save the King"Unknown
"Hava Nagila"Abraham Zevi Idelsohn
"Long-Tail Limbo"Max Tundra
"O Canada"Calixa Lavallée
"Old Gray Mare"Thomas Francis McNulty
"SkaBIRD"Holy Wow Studios
"Skip to My Lou"Unknown
"Stars and Stripes Forever"John Philip Sousa
"The Star-Spangled Banner"Francis Scott Key, John Stafford Smith
"Take Me Out to the Ball Game"Albert Von Tilzer, Jack Norworth
"Trombone Fuerte"Holy Wow Studios
"Trombone Skyze"Holy Wow Studios
"Warm-Up"Holy Wow Studios
"William Tell Overture"Gioachino Rossini
"Rosamunde" (Beer Barrel Polka)Jaromír Vejvodav1.03 [25]
"Jarabe Tapatío"Jesús González Rubiov1.05 [26]
"ARE U READY 4 THIZ?"Holy Wow Studiosv1.07 [27]
"Happy Birthday to You" (Ska Mix)Patty Hill, Mildred J. Hill, Holy Wow Studios
"Ode to Joy"Ludwig van Beethoven
"Martian Killbots!"Holy Wow Studiosv1.08 [28]
"The Celebrated Chop Waltz"Euphemia Allenv1.085 [29]
"Sakura Sakura"Unknownv1.087 [30]
"Taps"Daniel Butterfield, Oliver Wilcox Nortonv1.088 [31]
"La Marseillaise"Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle
"Jingle Bells (Jazz Mix)"James Lord Pierpont, Holy Wow Studiosv1.089 [32]
"Max Tundra's Silent Night"Franz Xaver Gruber, Max Tundra
"Mars, the Bringer of War"Gustav Holstv1.0897 [33]
"Funiculi, Funicula"Luigi Denza, Peppino Turcov1.091 [34]
"Gymnopédie No. 1"Erik Satiev1.093 [35]
"Old MacDonald"Unknownv1.095 [36]
"Commander Tokyo, The Dancing Robot"CVv1.096 [37]
"The Sailor's Hornpipe"Unknown, Max Tundra
"St. James Trombonery Blues"Unknown, Holy Wow Studiosv1.098 [38]
"Danny Boy"Unknown, Frederic Weatherlyv1.099 [39]
"In the Hall of the Mountain King"Edvard Grieg
"Flight of the Bumblebee"Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakovv1.10 [40]
"Washington Post March"John Philip Sousav1.11 [41]
"When the Saints Go Marching In"Unknown
"The Barber of Seville"Gioachino Rossiniv1.13 [42]
"Down by the Riverside"Unknownv1.14 [43]
"House of the Rising Sun"Unknownv1.15 [44]
"Hino Nacional Brasileiro"Francisco Manuel da Silva
"She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain"Unknownv1.16 [45]
"Jasmine Flower (Mo Li Hua)"Unknown
"Night on Bald Mountain"Modest Mussorgskyv1.17 [46]
"Arirang"Unknown
"O Christmas Tree"Ernst Anschütz, Melchior Franckv1.18 [47]
"God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen"Unknown
"Habanera (from Carmen)"Georges Bizetv1.19 [48]
"Trombone Skyze (Nasty Mix)"Holy Wow Studios
"Hello! Ma Baby"Joseph E. Howard and Ida Emersonv1.21 [49]
"Korobeiniki"Unknown
"Toccata and Fugue"Johann Sebastian Bachv1.22d [50]
"The Four Seasons (Summer)"Antonio Vivaldi
"Trombone Champ Medley"Holy Wow Studios

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Made with Unity: 2022 in review. Saver. Michael. Unity Technologies. 2022-12-27. 2023-07-31.
  2. Web site: Trombone Champ's developers want to take the game "farther than we originally planned" . 2022-09-22 . . September 22, 2022 . en-US.
  3. News: Christopher Livingston . 2022-09-22 . Trombone Champ creator sounds off about baboons, trombone traphouse, and Goku vs Vegeta . en . . 2022-09-23.
  4. Web site: Carey . Kirsten . 2022-09-22 . The Internet Is Obsessed With the Absurdity of This Trombone Rhythm Game . 2022-12-09 . . en.
  5. Web site: Korn . Jennifer . The internet's new favorite video game is like 'Guitar Hero' but with trombones . 2022-09-22 . CNN. September 22, 2022 .
  6. Web site: Clark . Nicole . 2022-09-21 . There is no song that cannot be improved by Trombone Champ . 2022-09-23 . . en-US.
  7. Web site: 2022-09-21 . Play The Trombone Game, It's Great . 2022-09-23 . . en-us.
  8. Web site: 2022-09-21 . Trombone Champ is a new game that's exactly what it sounds like, and the videos are hysterical . 2022-09-22 . For The Win . en-US.
  9. Web site: 2022-09-21 . Trombone version of "Guitar Hero" goes viral: "Best video game ever made" . 2022-09-22 . . en.
  10. Web site: Trombone Champ is the internet's new favorite video game. The developer never expected the toots to go viral. . 2022-09-23 . . September 22, 2022 . en.
  11. Web site: 2023 BAFTA Games Awards: The Nominations. BAFTA. 2 March 2023. 2 March 2023.
  12. Web site: D.I.C.E. Awards By Video Game Detail Trombone Champ . . 18 July 2023.
  13. Web site: How Trombone Champ Evolved from an Inside Joke to a Viral Success . Ryan . Disndale . September 30, 2022 . September 30, 2022 . .
  14. Web site: Holy Wow Studios . Mac Version Now Available! . . . January 23, 2023 . September 15, 2023.
  15. News: Silberling . Amanda . The very memeable ‘Trombone Champ’ is coming to Nintendo Switch . September 14, 2023 . . September 14, 2023.
  16. Web site: Hauges. Alana . 2023-09-14 . Trombone Champ Makes Noise On Switch With Gyro Controls Today . 2023-09-15 . Nintendo Life . en-GB.
  17. Web site: Holy Wow Studios . Trombone Champ 1.20 Brings Localization to the Game! . . . March 14, 2024 . March 14, 2024.
  18. https://www.engadget.com/gaming/trombone-champ-is-coming-to-vr-headsets-this-fall-193041345.html?src=rss
  19. Web site: Pace . Emma . 2022-09-22 . Trombone Champ – Full Song List . 2022-09-22 . Pro Game Guides . en.
  20. Web site: 2022-09-23 . 'Terrible music and absurdity': introducing Trombone Champ, the internet's new favourite video game . 2022-09-23 . . en.
  21. Web site: Wait . Christian . 2022-09-22 . Trombone Champ Song List - All Tracks Confirmed . 2022-09-22 . HITC . en-GB.
  22. Web site: Wallace . Chris . 2022-10-11 . 'Trombone Champ' offers its greatest challenge yet with 'Through the Fire and Flames' mod . 2022-11-07 . NME . en-AU.
  23. Web site: Petrovich . Erik . 2022-10-10 . The Most Infamous Guitar Hero Song Comes To Trombone Champ . 2022-11-07 . SVG . en-US.
  24. Web site: Campbell . Cody D. . 2022-10-19 . Final Fantasy 7 Meets Trombone Champ In Hilarious Mod . 2022-11-07 . SVG . en-US.
  25. Web site: Trombone Champ - v1.03 is live! . . Holy Wow Studios . October 31, 2022 . en . September 21, 2022.
  26. Web site: Trombone Champ - New Track: "Jarabe Tapatio," The Mexican Hat Dance! . . Holy Wow Studios . October 31, 2022 . en . September 29, 2022.
  27. Web site: Trombone Champ - v1.07 is live! . . Holy Wow Studios . October 31, 2022 . en . October 15, 2022.
  28. Web site: Trombone Champ - v1.08 is live! . . Holy Wow Studios . October 31, 2022 . en . October 30, 2022.
  29. Web site: Trombone Champ - v1.085 is live! . . Holy Wow Studios . November 15, 2022 . en . November 14, 2022.
  30. Web site: Trombone Champ - v1.087 is live! . . Holy Wow Studios . December 1, 2022 . en . November 30, 2022.
  31. Web site: Trombone Champ - v1.088 is live! . . Holy Wow Studios . December 8, 2022 . en . December 7, 2022.
  32. Web site: Trombone Champ - 1.089 is live, with Holiday Tracks! . . Holy Wow Studios . December 16, 2022 . en . December 15, 2022.
  33. Web site: Trombone Champ - Version 1.0897 is live! . . Holy Wow Studios . January 4, 2023 . en . January 3, 2023.
  34. Web site: Trombone Champ - v1.091 is live! . . Holy Wow Studios . January 17, 2023 . en . January 16, 2023.
  35. Web site: Trombone Champ - Version v1.093 is now live! . . Holy Wow Studios . February 1, 2023 . en . January 31, 2023.
  36. Web site: Trombone Champ - Update v1.095 is live! . . Holy Wow Studios . February 11, 2023 . en . February 10, 2023.
  37. Web site: Trombone Champ - v1.096 is live! . . Holy Wow Studios . February 24, 2023 . en . February 24, 2023.
  38. Web site: Trombone Champ - 1.098 is live! . . Holy Wow Studios . March 20, 2023 . en . March 17, 2023.
  39. Web site: April 1st Update! . . Holy Wow Studios . April 7, 2023 . en . April 1, 2023.
  40. Web site: Trombone Champ - v1.10 is out! . . Holy Wow Studios . May 1, 2023 . en . April 25, 2023.
  41. Web site: June 2, 2023 . Trombone Champ - Update v1.11 is live! . Holy Wow Studios . June 3, 2023 . en . Steam.
  42. Web site: Holy Wow Studios . Update v1.13 Brings a Trombone Customizer, New Track, and More! . . September 14, 2023 . en . August 11, 2023.
  43. Web site: Holy Wow Studios . Update 1.14 brings "Down By the Riverside" and other improvements! . . September 14, 2023 . en . September 13, 2023.
  44. Web site: Holy Wow Studios . Update 1.15 brings two new tracks and other improvements! . . October 11, 2023 . en . October 11, 2023.
  45. Web site: Trombone Champ - 1.16 Brings Two New Tracks & Under-the-Hood Improvements! . . Holy Wow Studios . October 28, 2023 . en . October 27, 2023.
  46. Web site: Holy Wow Studios . 1.17 Brings Two New Tracks & Even More Improvements . . November 17, 2023 . en . November 17, 2023.
  47. Web site: Holy Wow Studios . 1.18 Brings Two New Holiday Tracks & Other Improvements! . . December 12, 2023 . en . December 12, 2023.
  48. Web site: Holy Wow Studios . 1.19 Brings Two New Tracks and Other Good Stuff Too . . January 25, 2024 . en . January 25, 2024.
  49. Web site: Holy Wow Studios . Update 1.21 brings two new tracks and more! . . April 16, 2024 . en . April 16, 2024.
  50. Web site: Holy Wow Studios . Update 1.22D brings three new tracks and more! . . June 4, 2024 . en . June 4, 2024.

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