Fuser review – ridiculously enjoyable DJ role-player

Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, Xbox One
You're a DJ splicing the drums, bass, melody and vocals of your favourite tracks in dizzy new ways in this latest from the makers of Guitar Hero

Harmonix is the Boston-based studio responsible for the Guitar Hero and Rock Band series that, during the 2000s, filled front rooms (and, later, attics) with plastic instruments used to role-play rock musicians by means of intricate rhythmic tests. At the height of the genre's popularity, Harmonix worked with the Beatles' estate to convert the band's back catalogue to the interactive format. Consumer weariness toward plastic video game peripherals, however, precipitated a crisis. Fuser is Harmonix's attempt to reinvigorate the music game it once popularised, this time by casting its player as a DJ tasked with mixing and splicing assorted hits to delight a virtual audience.

This is a far more creative proposition than the Simon-says format of earlier rhythm games, where your job was merely to strike buttons in time with the music. Here, you're free to take the constituent parts of various songs - typically drums, bass, melody and vocals - and interweave them however you like, creating harmonious new hybrids.