Beat Sneak Bandit is a puzzle-stealth game released by Simogo on February 16, 2012 for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.
Plot[]
The game begins with a cut scene of the game's protagonist, the Bandit, and his frog accomplice Herbie. Duke
| Game | |
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Name |
Beat Sneak Bandit |
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Release Date/s |
February 16, 2012 (iOS) |
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Platform/s |
iOS (iPhone, iPod, iPad) |
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Publisher |
Simogo |
Clockface, the antagonist, has stolen all the clocks of the world and it is up to Bandit and Herbie to steal them back and restore time back to normal.
The game concludes at the Finale, which is the final boss battle between Bandit and the Duke.
Gameplay[]
The game is comprised of four chapters, a boss battle and a 'remixes' chapter, awarded on completion of the boss battle.
Each chapter has ten levels and four bonus shadow levels which are obtainable after a certain total number of clocks are collected from each level in the chapter.
Players must tap to the beat of the music. If a beat is missed Bandit will not move and a small clock from the level may be lost as a consequence.
A player can 'fail' a level by either:
- Getting 'caught' by the security guard (which occurs if he looks in the Bandit's diection)
- A Vacuum Buster 'sucks' the Bandit
If a player fails to complete a level after three unsuccessful attempts, Herbie gives the option of skipping the current level and unlocking the next level.
Development and Influences[]
The art style and gameplay in Beat Sneak Bandit was heavily influenced by earlier prototypes which were created by Simogo, including Rhythm Bear and Mustache Bandits.
Rhythm Bear protoype
Other influences that Simogo have noted is the animation in Rhythm Tengoku and art style in NES/Famicom games such as Popeye, Mappy and Donkey Kong.[1]
In its initial concept stages, Beat Sneak Bandit was an endless runner which had players swiping the floor to offset the timing of the beat.[2] This later changed into the rhythm-influenced tap gameplay that can be seen now.
During this stage of development, a backbeat was incorporated. Tapping to the beat made Bandit walk to the right while tapping to the backbeat made Bandit walk to the left. This was later scrapped due to its complexity.
The rhythm-based music was influenced by influencial jazz and soul artists such as James Brown, Herbie Hancock and Louis Armstrong.
Cancelled Ideas[]
In early November 2012, Simogo revealed on their Twitter feed a list of cancelled ideas and concepts that did not make the game.[3] Below are their exact tweets (where each bullet point is a single tweet):
- A vespa chase
- Grandfather clock stages by the end of each chapter - collect parts of it, assemble to exit through it (?)
- Special stages with Herbie as a playable character
- Special Duke Clockface stages inspired by Brutus in Nintendo's popeye NES game
- Special doors that would trigger a hacking rhythm minigame (yikes)
- The Duke Clockface boss fight as [an] unlockable endless game
- Boss Fight: Duke Clockface transforming the mansion into a giant flying mecha, Bandit and Herbie following the Beat Sneak Bandit Air Plane
- Playable Beat Sneak Bandit back story, on how Bandit learned the secret technique of beat sneaking by a Rhythm Frog Guru in India
Simogo explains why these ideas were scrapped:
"[It was] not only a time-issue, there is something elegant about keeping things compact too!"
Related Media[]
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References[]
- ↑ PocketGamer - Slave to the Rhythm: The making of Beat Sneak Bandit, 22/5/12
- ↑ PocketGamer - Simogo and How It's Sausage Is Made, 29/2/12
- ↑ @simogogames tweets, 14/11/12