Trombone Champ will have you working your arm back and forth as you play a variety of different trombone tunes in this (kinda ridiculous) rhythm game.
This game gives you a bunch of different trombone-focused tracks from several genres, tasking you with tooting your way through them. You’ll do this with you mouse, moving it back and forth to simulate working the slide as you click to blow air into the instrument. Mixing these together will allow the instrument to produce a realistic sound depending on how you use those mechanics (well, it SEEMS realistic to me, a person that has never touched that instrument). You’ll then use those mouse movements and clicks to work through marches, folk tunes, and electronica tracks. Which felt a fair amount more difficult than playing heroic guitar games, but still becomes intuitive over time.
The prospect of playing video game trombone didn’t exactly excite me as much as the idea of playing guitar, though. However, this title has an absurd sense of humor to it. You know, in case the beautiful horses in the first screen didn’t indicate that. The game is delightfully playful while still celebrating the instrument. For instance, you a currency called Toots that you can spend on Tromboner Cards. These cards tell you all about the instrument and its parts, as well as some in-depth history of famous players. It’s filled with silly presentation in many of its aspects as well, making for a game that’s frequently hilarious at unexpected times. And at expected times, as there’s something far funnier about playing the trombone poorly than playing the guitar poorly.
Trombone Champ is a unique simulation of playing the trombone that draws you in with an off-the-wall sense of humor combined with the joy of learning a new, challenging instrument.
Trombone Champ is available now on Steam.
