Trombone Champ transforms all songs into tutelage works of stunning genius

Trombone Champ asks a very simple but radical question: what if you played the trombone?

If you’ve played Guitar Hero or Rock Band games before, then you know how challenging rhythm games with musical instruments can be. Trombone Champ takes a similar path but for the beautiful wind instrument, and instead of rock music you play real bangers like Scott Joplin’s The Entertainer, literally Beethoven, and The National Anthem. (Try to get those tunes out of your head.) This rhythm game was released a week ago, but it really started taking Twitter by storm on the Wednesday after PC gamer discovered it.

The game is quite difficult. You use a mouse to shift the pitch up or down; You have to hit the pitch field precisely and then hold down either the button on your mouse or a key on your keyboard for the correct amount of time. Here’s the kicker: the slider moves in the opposite direction, top to bottom, as you move your own mouse. It’s a small difference that’s just confusing enough to make playing songs more difficult, especially at the speed rhythm playing requires.

Luckily, the game is a lot more fun if you don’t play it really well, as the trombone plays its gentle tut-tuts depending on what notes you play. This all happens over the actual backing track, with your trombone playing the lead melody as if you’re creating your own version of it Recorder rendition by Matt Mulholland from Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On”. titanic

Difficulty varies by song, with some forcing you to make staccato leaps across the screen and others forcing you to slide down while holding the note. If you play well, you’ll get a “perfect” or “nice” as an answer; screw it up and the game will announce it as “evil”. However, these songs only get harder to play when I’m in tears – or in my case, while I’m choking on laughter.

As PC gamer As mentioned, these renditions are only enhanced by the game’s visual background choice for each stunning choice. The US national anthem is accompanied by an image of the US flag, which then turns into a pile of money before finally giving way to a giant burger and fries combo on top. PC Gamer rightly notes this Trombone Champ

“God Save the Queen” follows a similar strategy.

In the humble opinion of this author, there is not a song that cannot be enhanced by terrible trombone playing. (Who am I kidding – there’s not a bad trombone game in the world of Trombone Champ. We’re all champions here.)

You can also play the game using the Steam Deck spinner controls if – for whatever reason – you’re looking for an extra challenge.

Guitar Hero may have “hero” in its name, but the real heroes are all of you who post these Trombone Champ clips. Please never stop.