The Blind Prophet
The Blind Prophet
Game
Game2018
Old School Musical
Developer La Moutarde
Old School Musical is a rhythm adventure game developed by La Moutarde and published by Playdius. It has pixel art visuals and a chiptune soundtrack, taking inspiration from classic 8-bit and 16-bit games. The story follows brothers Tib and Rob as they try to save the universe from glitches. Players must press buttons in time with the music according to the on-screen sequence to progress through each level. From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
194 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon, Lemmy) · newest Oct 30, 2026 · last updated Nov 4, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
89
LovedLoved
160 positive · 20 negative
95% range 83–93%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 160 | 20 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 6 | 0 | 4 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Lemmy * | 0 | 0 | 1 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
225 of 247 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
89% recommend · 162 yes, 20 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 182 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (895 of 970 positive).
Players praise the game's nostalgic homages to classic 8-bit and 16-bit games. [1][2][3] The story is described as charming, silly, and fun by several reviewers. [4][5][6] Some players find the rhythm gameplay basic and the difficulty frustrating. [7][8][9]
Liked
Representative posts
- [8]
The music is good. The game is... not. If you're looking to scratch an itch for a great music game like necrodancer or guitar hero, this game will produce some relief occasionally. But it will frustrate you when you are nailing a song only to have the readout become unreadable as a "challenge." Instead of upping the difficulty with more challenging music, this game makes it more challenging to actually read the …
- [1]
Old School Musical: A rhythm game with history Old School Musical, further OSM, is a rhythm game, which pays homage to many old-school games a lot of older gamers played when they were young. More than that, it it also one of those rhythm games, which actually have a story mode, that adds a funny twist onto an already entertaining genre of rhythm games. Prepare your gamepads or keyboards and let's dive into this …
- [2]
Old School Musical is a Rythm game all about nostalgia. On it's own, it's a pretty solid Rythm game, but it doesn't have a ton of music, so the real draw is the musical homages made to old school games. Along with these musical homages, it also evokes older games through its visuals and story vignettes. These short comical segments are skippable if you aren't in the mood, but they add quit a bit of enjoyment to the …
- [3]
Pretty fun rhythm game, although if you're under 30 you probably won't recognize many of the nods to old school games here. And frankly, if this game didn't have those I dont think I would like it as much for obvious reasons. There's nods to many 8 and 16-bit games here, like Outrun, Metal Gear, TMNT, The Legend of Zelda A Link to the Past, Metal Slug and many others that I didn't recognize and my personal favorite- …
- [4]
TL:DR Story is simple, silly and fun; Characters are likeable enough; Graphics range from good to sometimes underwhelming; Controls are responsive; Music is pretty good; Difficulty is pretty fair.
Summarised from 34 of the 195 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 11, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Players who liked Old School Musical talk about great music and chiptune soundtrack; those who didn't talk about lack of a practice mode. Which matters more to you?
Critics, per Wikipedia
Old School Musical received "generally favorable" reviews according to review aggregator Metacritic. Nintendo World Report gave the game a 7/10 rating and complimented the well-built gameplay, but criticized the music and story as being forgettable. Shacknews similarly called the story mode "painful" to get through, but praised the soundtrack and post-story challenge mode. A review published by Polygon found Old School Musical to be a "basic but fun" experience beyond its disordered retro game references.
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 194 · most liked firstThe music is good. The game is... not. If you're looking to scratch an itch for a great music game like necrodancer or guitar hero, this game will produce some relief occasionally. But it will frustrate you when you are nailing a song only to have the readout become unreadable as a "challenge." Instead of upping the difficulty with more challenging music, this game makes it more challenging to actually read the music.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →8-bit rhythm adventure with many game references and quirky moments. It was a pleasant surprise as I didn't expect much but I got to say, a lot of effort went into this game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Choose 20 games that greatly influence you. One game per day, for 20 days. No explanations, no reviews, no particular order. Day 13: Old School Musical - La Moutarde (2018) #GameChallenge #Games #GameDev #PromoSky
neutral · AI labelView post →This is most of what I remember from Old School Musical, can't wait to play it again #oldschoolmusicalgame #art #fanart #artmoots
neutral · AI labelView post →Old School Musical: A rhythm game with history Old School Musical, further OSM, is a rhythm game, which pays homage to many old-school games a lot of older gamers played when they were young. More than that, it it also one of those rhythm games, which actually have a story mode, that adds a funny twist onto an already entertaining genre of rhythm games. Prepare your gamepads or keyboards and let's dive into this music-fueled adventure. Gameplay OSM does not do anything really special when…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm absolutely losing my mind. This game is fantastic for me. Let me tell you, the game developers specifically, why. For everyone else, this contains some level of spoilers until the last paragraph. I've been doing Let's Plays on youtube since the dawn of time in 2008, playing every NES, GENESIS and SNES game that exists at random. That is unrelated, but one of the things I've been known for is making characters dance whenever and in any way possible, and I on many occasions have…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The 'Sync' option is just extremely annoying and helps no one. I can't even play easiest note patterns because of this 'Sync' stuff. Why don't you just let me adjust my own 'Sync' with some simple up/down button? The result of 'Sync' is all just ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ and nothings correct.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good attempt by the developer, and it's creative enough, but the game isn't a whole lot of fun as a rhythm game. There's probably something here if it were a different genre, but I bought this on the nostalgiac trailers and was a bit disappointed by the gameplay and story. The humour is both adult and childlike. I bought the game on a 60% sale, and I can't say it's worth a cent more.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game looks ok at first sight but the further i dove in, the more disappointed I was. Let's first take a look at what it is. This game is a rhythm game with a story on the side. It takes you through a couple levels and songs with some reading in between. What the game does right is the humour with funny outifts, interesting references, jokes and whacky scenes. The music is ok in my opinion but that is what I say about it, it depends what kind of music you like. Now what the game whiffed…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →GLANCE RECOMMENDATION: 18% YES / 82% NO GOOD Chiptune music sounds fine. BAD Timing on button presses, despite sync tests, feels bad which is a death sentence for a rhythm game. No feedback on button presses so it feels like I'm touching air. Dialogue text looks absurdly plain and too thin for the boxes. The dialogue overall just feels like what an 18 year old memer wrote spewing out any and all video game / internet reference they could think of. I wish I didn't have to be this harsh but…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I know no one playes this game but I need to brag, I got over 80% on "On the cobbles of hell" in Old School Musical in hard mode, and I'm on top of the world this song is so fucking hard im shaking
positive · AI labelView post →TL:DR Story is simple, silly and fun; Characters are likeable enough; Graphics range from good to sometimes underwhelming; Controls are responsive; Music is pretty good; Difficulty is pretty fair.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →bonkers music cute story hard is hard, and normal is normal, and easy is easy, just as things should be good humour too
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I would like to start off by saying that I don't think this game is honestly too bad. It feels more geared as a first time, or still exploring, rhythm game experience. The little story they have is rather silly with decent enough writing that brought a chuckle out of me on occasion. The gameplay is simple, yet addicting and the music to follow along to is quite nice. The visuals are cute enough, plenty harking back to older games which made me roll my eyes, yet sometimes smile with what they…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →this is an incredibly underrated indie rhythm game that I haven't heard about anywhere else. It's on Switch and Steam, and is only like $13. Buy it NOW!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →One of the best indie games period
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If anyone has any indie games they want me to stream, please send them to me, no game is too small! Either a game you'll like or a self promo is good ^-^ Examples: - Our Wonderland - Oneshot - Mondealy - Marequest - Old School Musical - Slaughter Horse 2 - Super Lesbian Animal RPG
neutral · AI labelView post →great game , but without a good reflex , you won't enjoy it much , great game tho !!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Old School Musical, developed by La Moutarde and published by Dear Villagers, is a rhythm-based adventure game that cleverly combines music gameplay with nostalgic video game references. Players follow the adventures of brothers Tib and Rob, who traverse a colorful, glitch-filled world to restore balance and harmony. The game’s design leans heavily on pixel art visuals and a chiptune soundtrack, evoking the charm of classic 8-bit and 16-bit games, while its rhythm mechanics provide a modern…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →An excellent chiptune album disguised as a classic game
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →after playing FNF its nice to see an indie rhythm game that not only works but actually got finished and didn't need an insane budget for an indie game to do so
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Old School Musical is a Rythm game all about nostalgia. On it's own, it's a pretty solid Rythm game, but it doesn't have a ton of music, so the real draw is the musical homages made to old school games. Along with these musical homages, it also evokes older games through its visuals and story vignettes. These short comical segments are skippable if you aren't in the mood, but they add quit a bit of enjoyment to the game if you recognize the games. Zelda, Xenogears, Half-Life, The Last of Us,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Absolutely delightful rythm game with super cute art, fun humour and great music! It made me smile.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →> With all this, which ones do you think I should try? Or if I should try any at all. I tend to prefer the simpler, arcade-style rhythm games. Think of stuff like Guitar Hero or Dance Dance Revolution. Definitely try Theatrhythm Final Bar Line. It's very fun gameplay-wise, has a ridiculous amount of content (something like 380 tracks on the base game, with 100+ extras as DLC if you get the premium version), the RPG elements are interesting, and if you are a fan of FF games it's also a huge…
neutral · AI labelView post →When you were playing DDR way back in 2003, didn't you wish you could use your rhythm skills to go on a 16-bit chiptune adventure to save the world? Of course not. But now that I've mentioned it the idea sounds pretty sweet right?
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →this game seems to be about processing a huge list of timed button presses, no decisions to make, no strategy. background action is completely meaningless since your focus is on the button prompts at all times. might be fun for more rhythm-centric people
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I wanted to like this game. I REALLY wanted to like this game.The characters are funny and the music is AMAZING, but the gameplay was just awful. You are allowed to choose between 3 difficulties: Easy, Normal, and Difficult. The problem is that there is a huge difficulty spike between Normal and Difficulty. Normal is an absolute joke where the only thing I find difficult is paying enough attention to the game to hit the occasional button while Difficult mode often feels like it was designed for…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Old School Musical is a weird game to review, and I will say right away that I do not suggest paying full price for this game. To summarize quickly, this game is a simplified rhythm game where you match button presses with 4 directions (or an alternating left/right during some sections) through various chiptunes. The main storyline is just bizarre and mixes something occasionally serious among a bunch of silly, awkward attempts at humor. Sometimes the humor hit, sometimes not. The largest…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's a cute little music game, and if you strip it down it is a very basic music game that's reminiscent of playing ddr on a hand controller. The story is fine, and a fun excuse to romp through homages to a handful of 8 and 16 bit classic video game worlds, and while the animations in the background are telling the story you'll be mostly trying to focus on the actual notes you have to hit to pass each stage. With the story and background out of the picture, you've got a very old style…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The music is meh, the gameplay is boring, the game plays purely on nostalgia and it does it well, which makes it hard for me to give it a thumbs down, but when if being honest, I can't really recommend it, it's a mediocre game overall, but with a lot of love and passion put into it.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's a neat little rhythm game, it can't really compete with the better powerhouses of the genre in mechanical levels but it has a nice amount of original songs and the story is drowning in dumb little references that can have genuinely funny jokes, so it thrives off its cliche'd-ness, I had an overall good time with it and could see myself checking out a bit more later since it has a whole lot of "postgame songs", if you can get it for cheap it's a nice deal.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Pretty fun rhythm game, although if you're under 30 you probably won't recognize many of the nods to old school games here. And frankly, if this game didn't have those I dont think I would like it as much for obvious reasons. There's nods to many 8 and 16-bit games here, like Outrun, Metal Gear, TMNT, The Legend of Zelda A Link to the Past, Metal Slug and many others that I didn't recognize and my personal favorite- Mega Man (just look at my avatar). Much of the music is good but not what I…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Full disclosure: I had received this game as part of a prize selection for a recent online marathon. Old School Musical is a story driven rhythm game that is not afraid to celebrate the games of old while using the gameplay of two rhythm games at once. However, there may be more style than substance here. Story: Two brothers wish to escape from their mother and get into unexpected hijinks while doing so. The story is charming at points, though at times I feel that the taller brother was made…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →https://youtu.be/FaISTTZZ9_s Starting from a base of nostalgia this rhythm game fails to add enough of it's own personality to the formula. Mechanics are delivered well but again don't stray from feelings of deja vu.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This had one of the most interesting stories I've ever seen in a video game. actually turns bugs into features
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →its a fun game, I've beaten every level on hard in a few days except the secret level. the only thing that makes the game less amazing is the lack of a practice mode. it would really help on some levels if there was a way to practice specific sections of a level or just simply turn down the speed so you can learn the patterns. other than that amazing game and worth a buy.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →either boring or hand-breakingly hard, there's no inbetween nice first try at a game i guess
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very good rythm game with great humor! love it!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The “retro” genre of videogames has been in full force; with the implications of programs like RPG Maker, and the love of past memories fueling present dreams onto code. With these new ideas given a 16-bit makeover, La Moutarde seeks to combine the addictive enjoyment of rhythm games and the love and care of the 16-bit era with a very new age humor and script in their newest title, Old School Musical. Old School Musical follows the story of Tib and Rob, two brothers on a lifelong journey to…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →What has 50 amazing chiptune tracks, a loony story mode, 32 different chicken types to fight, and takes you on a tour of all your favorite retro games? It's Old School Musical! Tib and Rob are the heroes of a wacky adventure that will teach them where all of the bugs in our favorite games come from. Score Old School Musical at 91% off on Gamesplanet: https://ggd.deals/d/o3848VZ #OldSchoolMusical #PCGaming #GameDeals #IndieGames
neutral · AI labelView post →im still playing my maps mostly in normal difficulty and not hard, but I'll get there eventually and it's refreshing too since the only other rhythm game i've been playing on and off for years has been Old School Musical
positive · AI labelView post →Boring music, unnecessary story, game tries to have a sense of humour but it is annoying and not funny. Game doesn't read the inputs for the controller well. You will get misses when they should be perfects
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The core of this story is a very typical male narrative. The mom is extremely violent, impossible to reason with, and looks like a monster with a huge red mouth. The mother is a 'boss' to be defeated, and home is a place to escape from forever. The author clearly hates his mother.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Old School Musical is really cool and you should play it. I listen to this one a lot because I played a lot lot lot of that Konami NES Ninja Turtles game. Always loved the music in that, and this game has a level for it and the track for the level does a perfect impression. youtu.be/xpIOJI_TrdY
positive · AI labelView post →All time hood classic. Hundred Dollar Volvo Roadtrip is a tune that I'll never forget.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Also quickly played through Old School Musical. It's a nice nostalgia-heavy rhythm game, though I didn't do the Chicken Republic post-game stuff. 7.5/10 for me.
positive · AI labelView post →Can we please make this style of four arrow rhythm games a standard? I could actually play DDR if I just didn't need to move my eyes from the center of the screen. Too much effort.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →i dont even like rhythm games
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Honestly such a great game! gonna play and replay it more but let me tell you about my beginning. Watching the dlc trailer that is now the first one it looks like a very fun silly game. what you'll realize after starting it tho is the story is in depth and entertaining! I quickly fell in love with our dynamic duo and was on board for all the wacky fun like rob's costumes. lets just say my favorite one to stumble upon was very quiet! BIG TiP tho for anyone who has troubles with…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Cute rythm based game with lots of game and pop culture references.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I completed it to the 100% and i promise, it is worth it, real good game Bv
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →An old school NES style rhythm game with awesome chip tunes made by a developer with a great sense of humour. Whats not to like? Defiantly pick this one up 10/10 at sale price this is an absolute steal!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Once again a gem hidden in my library that I didn't even know I owned. I already really liked the story mode itself, but then threy throw a whole unlockable mode at you with even more content. Just too bad I won't ever get every achievement. I'm not risking my controllers health for the difficult mode.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Words cannot describe how beautiful this rhythm game this is.....
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →So I bought this as part of a bundle and was not really interested in it, until I played it. I did not expect something this good. The game references look very good and capture the styles of those classic games and instead of taking the route of most other throwback games do, they didn't try recreating the gameplay and made it a solid rythm game. The soundtrack is really good and is at times really close to the original songs. The story was not that great or interesting though and most of…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is the best rhythm game I have ever played. Love it to death. Bought it twice just to play cross-platform on the Switch. Great game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Just play this game
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I absolutely love this, it feels like a true return to the story-driven rhythm action games like Parappa etc. You can see my review about it here: https://youtu.be/BkmzkIOb1dc
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is the perfect example of a good idea well executed. A reallyy good game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →boring cringefest
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
Posts are quoted from public profiles with links to the original. Want yours removed? Contact us.
