I was extremely skeptical whilst starting Inside My Radio for the very first time. The wording which the developers have used to describe it on the PlayStation Blog made it sound like a game that’s not too approachable, and definitely a game that is not for everybody. From what I’ve initially gathered, I was reluctant to even start the first level, as game-play, as described by one of the lead developers, hinged completely on an incredibly punishing and meticulous beat and rhythm mechanic. To my relief, this turned out not to be the case. Players with a great sense of rhythm will have no problem with traversing through Inside My Radio‘s levels as each and every track contains a steady bass beat, which is both, easy to hear and predict when making moves on the fly. However, players who find it difficult to follow sound queues implemented within the game, can enable visual guidance which makes the entirety of the game considerably easier.
Absolute appeal of Inside My Radio comes from the fact that the game is dependable on the musical score, rather than its visual design. And the sound design within it is impeccable. Inside My Radio features just a handful of tracks, however, they all differ from stage to stage and constantly develop as the level progresses. Each and every puzzle that you’ll encounter on your quest to save the titular radio, will add another sound to the ongoing track upon its completion. And by the time you reach the end of the level, a simple bass beat which you’ve started with, will transform into a complete song which will complement the visual design of the current stage. However, certain levels are relatively long and it takes at least 5 to 10 minutes for the song to get going which unfortunately by the time you get the complete track, the level comes to a close and you have to start the process all over again. Whereas in other instances, you collect all the portions of the track right at the very beginning, and are simply bored of it by the time you reach the end.
Besides the score and the tertiary sound design, remainder of Inside My Radio is not of the same quality. Like I’ve already stated, some levels are overlong when compared to other contemporary platformers, and this wouldn’t be a bad thing if not for the fact, that in majority the levels are completely empty. In-game puzzles are few and far between, and for the vast amount of time you’ll find yourself simply sliding along the floor while occasionally jumping over obstacles, or falling down. At times you can spend literal minutes doing little more than holding the left analogue stick in a certain direction, and then, even when you arrive at the puzzle which stops you from sliding further forward, you’re usually welcomed by disappointment.
Majority of the puzzles featured within Inside My Radio, boil down to: 1) Stand next to an object 2) Press ‘O’ at the right time 3) Repeat until you’ve succeed and a passage has opened. Thinking about it now calling Inside My Radio ‘tasks’ puzzles is insulting even to the simplest quizzes and word searches. There is nothing that even remotely challenges you or stops you in your tracks, as you can complete entirety of the game by simply mashing the required buttons, as you are not penalised for any mistimed action. In fact, I’ve completed majority of the latter levels by repeatedly tapping the required button, as there was nothing stopping me from doing so.
Throughout the entirety of this review, I’ve mentioned the word ‘level’ multiple times, but the truth is that Inside My Radio, is not a very long game. I’ve played a lot of titles which had incredibly short longevity since the start of this generation of consoles, but Inside My Radio is shortest of them all. Completing the entirety of the game took me a little over an hour, an hour of which I’ve spent at least 20 minutes on the final boss, as single hit from one of his projectiles resulted in instant failure and had me replay the entire third portion of the boss fight again. And while fighting the monstrosity, right at the very end of Inside My Radio, I had a chance to see how poorly finished it is.
Beside the black platforms and static backgrounds, Inside My Radio features a plethora of other graphical objects, however just like Taek, Inside My Radio’s main protagonist, they all look like they’ve been created by an intern, rather than a full time developer. When in the heat of the action, poor visual execution is not as prominent as a handful of effects and other mobile objects, do the job taking your attention away from game’s imperfections. But once you enter another corridor of nothing, filled with literally nothing but the main protagonist, you can see that the developers couldn’t even be bothered to ensure that he, in the very least is completed. The green trail which follows the green LED Taek as he zooms though another straight corridor, tries to emphasize the incredible speed at which he travels, however, as soon as you start moving in the same direction for longer than 5 seconds, the green trail starts breaking apart, and makes the protagonist look absolutely hideous.
Ultimately Inside My Radio is its own biggest enemy. For each and every thing that it does right, it does 10 that are wrong. And once the positives and negatives are compiled within a single list, you get an incredibly messy title, shorter than each and every game available on the PlayStation Store. And by the time you reach the final boss, you’ll question not only the reason behind its purchase but also your own sanity. In its current state, which will most definitely not change in a slightest, unless the developer is planning on making a sequel, Inside My Radio is not worth any asking price and unless you can get it on PC as a part of a humble bundle, or for ”free” as a PlayStation Plus game, then it is simply not worth the purchase and most definitely your time.