By Neil Merrett
Trombone Champ, released on Nintendo Switch in 2023, developed by Holy Wow Studios
If the developers of the comedically difficult rhythm game Trombone Champ are to be believed, the trumpet is nothing but a ‘coward’s trombone’. Instead, the player is asked to fearlessly toot along to some of the most iconic classical music of all time and bring it down to their level, sometimes with intentionally hilarious results.
It is fair to say that one of the main appeals of videogames as a format and media is the opportunity to immerse ourselves into the belief – or delusion – that we are an awesome individual doing awesome things.
As software, hardware and digital technologies continue to advance, there are a growing number of genres and tools that can help further facilitate the escapist fantasy that a player, given the right circumstances, might make an awesome liberator, conquer, or perhaps even a guitar legend in a way that alludes many of us within the resitrcitons of reality.
For individuals that have found themselves spending lost moments or hours dreaming of what it must be like to have some seemingly supernatural artistic or athletic talent, or perhaps even a pair of functioning hips able to gyrate in-time to some challenging Latin rhythms, videogames can provide a wonderful and much needed chance to get out of one’s head.
This can be done in the comfort and sanctity of a bedroom, while still being broadcast to millions around the world.
It is possible you could be a Ghostbuster, an ethereal monstrosity trying to make sense of a violent and primal existence, or one of Katy Perry’s back up dancers – there is probably a videogame for everyone if they have the time and inclination to spare.
Basically, you can do an awful lot in games, and this immersion is only likely to increase as developers build ever more ambitious and inter-connected worlds to escape and share with others.
Perhaps more transgressive than having software that allows a player to believe they are some sort of functional frontman or front woman of an iconic hair metal band, is the opportunity to be a mercurially awful brass musician in an almost gleefully talentless manner.
This would certainly go some way to explain the appeal of Trombone Champ. On its surface, this is the latest title in the style of many instrumental rhythm games such as Guitar Hero, Rock Band or Nintendo’s short-lived ape-themed bongo drummer superstar simulator, Donkey Konga
Trombone Champ asks the player to player to select one of several motion controlled inputs where they attempt to quickly work to shift an in-game cursor up and done the screen in time with a beloved piece of classical music or a national anthem. Alongside with trying to keep the extremely sensitive cursor with a shifting bar that shows the right pitch to delvier a song, the player is also required to psu their ‘toot’ button to make the required noises at the right moment of a song. THe challenge is to follow the rhythm and try to match the beat, while also enjoying the almost guttural and farcical sounds of out of tune trombone trying to match one of film making’s most Iconic scores.
Success in the game makes the player feel less like a musical maestro, but rather a semi-competent child finally getting their hands on a trombone and gamely enjoying the sensation of making noises that occasionally resemble some beloved piece of music.
The design of the game means that the rapid changes required to ensure your trombone is sounding vaguely in tune with a chosen song is extremely challenging – if not intentionally impossible. For many players, mastery may never be possible for a fat moving song such as Rachmaninoff’s Flight of the Bumblebee.
But perhaps through dogged practice, or sheer bloody mindedness, a player might one day find themselves making a passable, if still comedically out of tune rendition of some modern classic.
A Trombone Champ player may not ever make great art, but they will probably have a lot of fun trying to create a somewhat puerile attempt to pretend they can master the winds to make fellow players laugh.
A single player game is often about finding the joy in pleasantly trying to toot their trombone along with a ska-cover of ‘Old Macdonald has a Farm’ as best they can.
With the game allowing for up to four players to share the screen and attempt to play a song simultaneously, the results can quickly become a chaotic caterwauling of numerous digital entrustments all out of sync from each other. This can quickly create a complete jumble of discordant sounds that at their most ridiculous can sound almost as if there is an outbreak of flatulence among a party. If a group of players, feel they can’t celebrate their performance, they always have the shared childlike wonder of toilet humour.
This won’t be for everyone as a gaming experience. But built within the game, along with a surreal sense of humour that suggests that a trumpet should only ever be regarded as a “coward’s trombone”, is the suggestion that the ultimate meaning and purpose of existence is ultimately linked to the trombone,
However, in the off-chance that a player, either initially or with a crew of other gamers, could someday deliver a passable rendition of ‘O Canada’ is perhaps enough of a reason to keep revisiting the game and to unlock new characters, weapons and startling facts about both real world musicians that have had some impact on brass music.
As in real life, many of us may never reach the level of being a great or even a passable musician – not matter how much we might love music. Trombone Champ suggests that even with these real-world limitations, we may as well just enjoy the sounds we can make. Maybe, in the process, some real music will come out somewhere along the way, even if it’s not supposed to be how a song sounds.
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