Super Crazy Guitar Maniac Deluxe, or SCGMD, is a series of flash rhythm games that are played using the computer keyboard. The premise is that a stick figure is playing the guitar, and the animation of the guitar player gets suitably more epic the longer the player gets a combo. There are two different kinds of notes in the game: basic notes that are represented by arrow keys, and hold notes that are represented with the asdf keys (or the 1234 keys).
There are also different achievements in SCGMD, which unlock new guitars. The guitar currently being used determines the look of the note track and is shown in the animations with the stick figure.
Tropes used in this game series:
- Achievement Mockery: In SCGMD3, the Key-bored (customized keyboard) guitar is unlocked by making at least 1000 mistakes during a song (to the point the game replaces the number with "LOTS") and Dusty (a broom) is unlocked by not pressing any keys during a song.
- Announcer Chatter: Announces when you've reached a new score multiplier, or when your combo breaks.
- Batman Can Breathe in Space: The x10 animation in SCGMD4 involves flying through space without a space helmet.
- Boss Fight: The fourth entry adds boss fights to the game. Bosses are hurt by playing the guitar, and usually have a power that makes hitting the right notes harder.
- Bragging Rights Reward: The prize for beating the final row of achievements in SCGMD4 is the Sea of Lava, an aesthetic change. To get it, you have to get a platinum star and overkill every boss on every single level, including the secret songs.
- Character Signature Song: Some of the bosses are associated with specific songs.
- The God of Pirates is first encountered in "Momentum"
- The Dark Guitar Maniac can be encountered after unlocking "I Just Wanna Burn", although getting him to show up is more complicated.
- The Brothers are first encountered in "Switch vs. Evil-Dog Round 3".
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: The notes for the arrow keys have a different color for each direction.
- Difficulty Levels: There are two difficulty levels in most games. The two difficulty levels don't always share the same selection of songs.
- Do Well, But Not Perfect: The God of Pirates only shows up on animations that show the ocean in the background, namely the x3 and x4 multipliers. On easy, x4 is the largest multiplier you can get, but on hard this means you have to avoid the x5 and x10 multipliers.
- Dual Boss: The Brothers, who each have their own power.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: The first game doesn't have the star scoring system of the later entries. It also only has two playable songs.
- Enemy Without: Defeating the Dark Guitar Maniac without overkilling him reveals that he was apart of you the whole time.
- Evolving Title Screen: Each time a boss is defeated in SCGMD4, the get added to the title screen.
- Flawless Victory: Hitting all the notes without hitting any extra keys gets a platinum star
- Interface Screw: Most of the bosses' power is some form of this.
- The Puppet blocks part of the screen
- The God of Pirates turns all the notes white
- The Dark Guitar Maniac creates fake notes
- The Brothers can either change all the notes to have the same shape, switch the order of the lanes, or both at the same time.
- Large-Ham Announcer
- Nostalgia Level: The reward for completing the fourth row of achievements in SCGMD4 allows the player to unlock "Guitar vs Piano" as the final bonus level. It's still the hardest song in the game.
- Power Floats: The x10 animation in SCGMD3
- Rank Inflation: In addition to bronze, silver, and gold stars, there's the platinum star for a perfect run.
- Recurring Riff: "Guitar vs Piano" is the hardest song from the first game. It also appears in a couple of the sequels.
- Score Multiplier: Combos of successful notes increase the score multiplier, with x10 being the possible highest possible.
- Secret Level: The fourth game has secret songs that are unlocked by playing the guitar that's unlocked by completing all the achievements in the correct row.
- Serial Escalation: The multiplier animations become more epic as the series goes on.
- Time Master: The God of Time has the ability to speed up time, making notes move faster.
- Unlockable Content: Songs are locked until enough star points are collected (bronze = 1 point, silver = 2, etc.). There are also different guitars that are unlocked be completing achievements.
