thumb|right|[[Open-source software|Open source music video game StepMania]]
A music video game, also commonly known as a music game, is a video game where the gameplay is meaningfully and often almost entirely oriented around the player's interactions with a musical score or individual songs. Music video games may take a variety of forms and are often grouped with puzzle games due to their common use of "rhythmically generated puzzles".
Music video games are distinct from purely audio games (e.g. the 1997 Sega Saturn release Real Sound: Kaze no Regret) in that they feature a visual feedback, to lead the player through the game's soundtrack, although eidetic music games can fall under both categories.
Overview
Music video games are games where there is typically some type of interactivity of the gameplay with the game's music. This may be where the music is generated in response to the player's actions, or where the player reacts to the beats and notes of the music. As the genre has gained popularity and expanded, music video games have demonstrated the ability to support a range of different styles of gameplay, making the genre itself rather diffuse. A game such as Rayman Legends features levels that are based on endless runners but where the player scores better by matching their actions to the musical cues, which could make this a music video game.
Instead, it is easier to consider the sub-genres of music video games based on how the player interacts with the music in the game, of which there are four main types as described by the concepts of "matching, making, mixing, and metonymy" as described by Michael Austin, the director of the School of Music at Louisiana Tech University.
Rhythm games are the most dominant form of the music game genre.
Hybrid rhythm games
A further class of rhythm games is hybrid rhythm games or music reactive games. In comparison to the forementioned rhythm games where the rhythm matching is the primary focus and the player's action helps to generate the music that they hear, reactive games let the background music guide the player action, leaving the rhythm gameplay elements secondary to the main gameplay form. Often in these hybrid rhythm games, the player plays the game as they normally would but can use the in-game music to time actions often to better their score, thus affecting the interaction between the player and the in-game dynamics as goal of the game. In Rez, for example, the game takes the form of a simple rail shooter; however, by integrating sound effects created by the actions of the player (as he completes the normal tasks of rail-shooting) with the soundtrack as a whole, the game is intended to permit the player's direct interaction with the soundtrack and to encourage the creation of a synaesthetic experience. Other similar games include Pteranodon, Rhyme Rider Kerorican, or iS – internal section. A further class of these games allow for users to provide music that is then processed dynamically by the game to create challenges for that song, so that players are not dependent on the game's developer to extend the game's library of songs. Such games include Vib-Ribbon, Audiosurf, or Dance Factory.
Music-making games
Music-making freeform music games are those in which the creation of music takes predominance over gameplay and as such these games are often more similar to non-game music synthesizers such as the Tenori-on. Players are given the ability to create their own music from a variety of sounds, instruments or voices, typically with no goal or objective. Free form music games occupy a position somewhere between generative hybrid music games and non-game utilities dependent upon the degree to which their gameplay relies upon a driving underlying plotline. This form of music game is closely analogous to sandbox games in the realm of non-musical games and the term "sandbox" has been used to describe this form of gameplay. Examples of such games include SimTunes or the music composition tool in Mario Paint.
Music games for live performance
thumb|right|Players performing at a [[PAX (event)|PAX event while playing Rock Band 2]]
Some music video games, regardless of their fundamental gameplay, may offer modes to allow players to use the game for creating live performances, typically using freeform or non-scoring modes with multiple local players. Games like Guitar Hero and Singstar offer such modes that also give the player the opportunity for physical presence as part of their performance for others.
See also
- Video game music
- List of music video games