Trombone Champ

Last updated

Trombone Champ
Steam Storefront cover art for Trombone Champ.jpg
Developer(s) Holy Wow Studios
Publisher(s) Holy Wow Studios
Director(s) Dan Vecchitto
Engine Unity [1]
Platform(s) Windows
macOS
Nintendo Switch
ReleaseWindows
September 15, 2022
macOS
January 23, 2023
Nintendo Switch
September 14, 2023
Genre(s) Music, rhythm
Mode(s) Single-player

Trombone Champ is a trombone-based rhythm game developed and published by Holy Wow Studios, [2] [3] released on September 15, 2022. [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]

Contents

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. [13]

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]

Track listing

As of June 4, 2024, 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. [18] [19] 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. [20] 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. [21] [22] [23]

  Public domain  Original  Contributed

TitleComposerAdded in
"Also sprach Zarathustra" Richard Strauss v1.00 (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 Vejvoda v1.03 (September 21, 2022) [24]
"Jarabe Tapatío" Jesús González Rubio v1.05 (September 29, 2022) [25]
"ARE U READY 4 THIZ?"Holy Wow Studiosv1.07 (October 15, 2022) [26]
"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 (October 30, 2022) [27]
"The Celebrated Chop Waltz"Euphemia Allenv1.085 (November 14, 2022) [28]
"Sakura Sakura"Unknownv1.087 (November 30, 2022) [29]
"Taps" Daniel Butterfield, Oliver Wilcox Nortonv1.088 (December 7, 2022) [30]
"La Marseillaise" Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle
"Jingle Bells (Jazz Mix)" James Lord Pierpont, Holy Wow Studiosv1.089 (December 15, 2022) [31]
"Max Tundra's Silent Night" Franz Xaver Gruber, Max Tundra
"Mars, the Bringer of War" Gustav Holst v1.0897 (January 3, 2023) [32]
"Funiculi, Funicula!" Luigi Denza, Peppino Turco v1.091 (January 16, 2023) [33]
"Gymnopédie No. 1" Erik Satie v1.093 (January 31, 2023) [34]
"Old MacDonald"Unknownv1.095 (February 10, 2023) [35]
"Commander Tokyo, The Dancing Robot"CVv1.096 (February 24, 2023) [36]
"The Sailor's Hornpipe"Unknown, Max Tundra
"St. James Trombonery Blues"Unknown, Holy Wow Studiosv1.098 (March 17, 2023) [37]
"Danny Boy"Unknown, Frederic Weatherly v1.099 (April 1, 2023) [38]
"In the Hall of the Mountain King" Edvard Grieg
"Flight of the Bumblebee" Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov v1.10 (April 25, 2023) [39]
"Washington Post March" John Philip Sousa v1.11 (June 2, 2023) [40]
"When the Saints Go Marching In"Unknown
"The Barber of Seville" Gioachino Rossini v1.13 (August 11, 2023) [41]
"Down by the Riverside"Unknownv1.14 (September 13, 2023) [42]
"House of the Rising Sun"Unknownv1.15 (October 11, 2023) [43]
"Hino Nacional Brasileiro" Francisco Manuel da Silva
"She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain"Unknownv1.16 (October 27, 2023) [44]
"Jasmine Flower (Mo Li Hua)"Unknown
"Night on Bald Mountain" Modest Mussorgsky v1.17 (November 17, 2023) [45]
"Arirang"Unknown
"O Christmas Tree" Ernst Anschütz, Melchior Franck v1.18 (December 12, 2023) [46]
"God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen"Unknown
"Habanera (from Carmen)" Georges Bizet v1.19 (January 25, 2024) [47]
"Trombone Skyze (Nasty Mix)"Holy Wow Studios
"Hello! Ma Baby" Joseph E. Howard and Ida Emerson v1.21 (April 16, 2024) [48]
"Korobeiniki"Unknown
"Toccata and Fugue" Johann Sebastian Bach v1.22d (June 4, 2024) [49]
"The Four Seasons (Summer)" Antonio Vivaldi
"Trombone Champ Medley"Holy Wow Studios

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References

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  2. ↑ "Trombone Champ's developers want to take the game "farther than we originally planned"". The Verge . September 22, 2022. Retrieved September 22, 2022.
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  4. ↑ Carey, Kirsten (September 22, 2022). "The Internet Is Obsessed With the Absurdity of This Trombone Rhythm Game". The Mary Sue . Retrieved December 9, 2022.
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  25. ↑ Holy Wow Studios (September 29, 2022). "Trombone Champ - New Track: "Jarabe Tapatio," The Mexican Hat Dance!". Steam . Retrieved October 31, 2022.
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  27. ↑ Holy Wow Studios (October 30, 2022). "Trombone Champ - v1.08 is live!". Steam . Retrieved October 31, 2022.
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  36. ↑ Holy Wow Studios (February 24, 2023). "Trombone Champ - v1.096 is live!". Steam . Retrieved February 24, 2023.
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  48. ↑ Holy Wow Studios (April 16, 2024). "Update 1.21 brings two new tracks and more!". Steam . Retrieved April 16, 2024.
  49. ↑ Holy Wow Studios (June 4, 2024). "Update 1.22D brings three new tracks and more!". Steam . Retrieved June 4, 2024.
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