Blob Opera

Google’s Blob Opera is back with Guitar Hero-inspired rhythm-based music game

Damien Wilde | Dec 13 2022 - 7:47 am PT

After going on tour at I/O 2021, Google’s Blob Opera is back with a bang for late 2022, and they are challenging you to a classical music rhythm-based music game.

The Blob Opera “Blob Beats” mini-game offers a Guitar Hero-inspired take on the German composers classics. Designed as a way to experience Beethoven’s music through gaming, this is an arcade rhythm-based game that sees you take controls of the eponymous Blobs. You need to hit the right keys in time with on-screen falling notes to play out the classical music masterpieces – much like Guitar Hero, you’ll collect points for your efforts.

You can choose from five songs including Beethoven’s Fur Elise, Wagner’s Valkyrie, Vivaldi’s Spring, Mozart’s Turkish March, and Offenbach’s Infernal Galop. On PC or laptop, you can tap the “S”, “D”, “F” and “G” keys to hit notes when they land within the appropriate on-screen white circle section. You’re also able to adjust the difficulty between “Easy”, “Medium,” and “Hard” settings. As you progress through the levels, you’ll even learn a few facts about the composers featured. Like Guitar Hero, Blob Beats is much harder than it looks.

Alongsde the “Blob Beats” Blob Opera game, Google has also created “Beethoven Beats” in partnership with Deutsche Grammophon. This newly announced game challenges you to “play” Beethoven’s classic works on your keyboard spacebar with an impressive ML-powered song-matching game.

“Beethoven Beats” allows you to tap out a rhythm within four seconds, and machine learning is then used to closely match your previously tapped pattern to a section of a classical Beethoven melody. Having little to no knowledge of Beethoven’s back catalogue, this seemed to work flawlessly to an untrained ear. It also features recordings from world-famous pianist Daniel Barenboim.