Trombone Champ Review: toot your way to victory

I’ve been on a music kick lately — I got a new keyboard, I’m finally pulling the trigger on a new oboe, and, of course, I’ve been playing a whole new slew of random rhythm and music games. Melatonin recently scratched that Rhythm Heaven itch and Pianista reminded me how much fun it is to play the piano (hence the new keyboard). But while both of them were enjoyable, neither of them truly captured the experience of actually playing an instrument. Outside of games that literally employed instruments (such as Taiko no Tatsujin, for example), I started to wonder if such a game really existed?

Turns out, I found what I was looking for in Trombone Champ, heralded on its Steam page as “the world’s first trombone-based rhythm music game.” Developed and self-published by Holy Wow Studios, Trombone Champ invites players to “honk, blow, & toot your way through over 20 songs, collect all 50 unique Tromboner Cards, and uncover the mysteries of the Trombiverse.” Complete with an active dev team that recently introduced features such as leaderboards and customizable levels, it’s safe to say that Trombone Champ’s $14.99 is worth tooting home about.

At first glance, it would be easy enough to assume that Trombone Champ is like any other music game — you get an instrument, you get a few songs, and you go. And while that is true initially, there’s a surprising bit of lore to uncover ripe with humor and wit. Players will start off with a couple of characters to choose from, a trombone, and two trombone sound types, then are able to select from a roster of songs spanning culture and time. My personal favorite was probably Also Sprach Zarathrusta, but pretty much any of them are an absolute joy to play.

Now, I played Trombone Champ on my Steam Deck, which I feel tremendously enhanced the experience. As the notes appeared on screen, I’d tilt the Steam Deck up or down to be in proper pitch alignment, then hit the button to tootle vigorously on my trombone. Notes ran the gamut between short bursts or long blasts, but the best were the slides — a note might start low and go high or vice versa. I know the experience obviously differs using a mouse and keyboard, but when it comes to Steam Deck, I genuinely felt like I was playing an instrument simply because of how much the Steam Deck moved to make pitch.

Speaking of making pitch — there will be plenty of moments where you absolutely do not hit the intended note in Trombone Champ. In other music games, there will commonly be silence or that same sour note unrelated to the actual desired sound, but Trombone Champ blasts exactly what you play at any given moment — bad notes and all. Did you mean to play a high C but didn’t align your pitch properly? Now you’re playing high C flat. Slide from G to C too enthusiastically? Now you’ve gone from G to A back up to C (and we’ve heard it all). Your character will even run out of breath if you hold notes for too long! And the brilliant thing about it is that messing up in Trombone Champ isn’t frustrating. For the first time in a rhythm or music game, playing the wrong note is finally amusing.

But wait, there’s lore! Trombone Champ has a deeper story hidden underneath a clever music game which will see players collcting cards, toots, and, ermm… turds… to unlock a hidden boss and become the ultimate Trombone Champ. I don’t want to spoil much because there’s such a joy in discovering all this for yourself, but I will say that I’ve never come across any sort of music game to attempt what has been accomplished here. It’s deep enough to provide a bit of brain scratching but not too difficult that it takes away from the focus of the game — tromboning.

I may have only spent 6ish hours with Trombone Champ’s main game, but those few hours were spent giggling and guffawing at how silly my mistakes sounded. Given enough time, my mistakes were few and far between, and I truly did become the ultimate Trombone Champ of yore. Trombone Champ may present itself as a novelty title — a joke not meant to be taken seriously — but those who give it a chance will find a surprising amount of polish and sophistication. I never could have predicted that Trombone Champ would become my favorite rhythm/music game of 2022, and if you’re even remotely interested in the title, I’m confident it will be yours too.

Final Verdict: 4.5/5

Available on: PC (Reviewed); Publisher: Holy Wow Studios; Developer: Holy Wow Studios; Players: 1; Released: September 16, 2022; MSRP: $14.99

Full disclosure: This review is based on a copy of Trombone Champ purchased by the reviewer.