- Felicitations to Gamezebo for pointing out that VH1 Games and Diner Dash creator Gamelab have just released their first casual game collaboration, Downbeat, and it's - wait for it- a mouse-based casual '80s rhythm action title, using licensed music.

Why would this be awesome? Well, for starters, because Gamelab continue to make some of the all-out best and most innovative casual titles around - some of which, like Plantasia or Egg Vs. Chicken, are honestly a bit too sophisticated to take off in the town where 'match three' is king.

But now Guitar Hero has burned itself into everyone's retina, the time is probably right for Downbeat, one of five new titles Gamelab will be introducing over the next few months, and described as follows: "Finally! A rhythm-action game for the rest of us. With ten classic 80s hits, Downbeat busts out with dazzling graphics, pumping tunes, and can’t-touch-this gameplay."

So how does it play? Well, it has the Beatmania and/or Guitar Hero 'press the button in time to the music when an object hits a line' stylings, but it switches things up by having you manipulate the mouse to place colored objects in the relevant audience area, and drop objects in specific orders to make combos and stop the crowd from fleeing. Plus - the soundtrack (instrumentals only using loops, no vocals) includes Madness' Our House (the clip is close enough!), Rick James' Super Freak, and Nena's 99 Luft Balloons, to name but three.

Only had a chance to play it briefly - it's a Shockwave.com title where you can download and play for 60 minutes for free before paying for the full version - but it's nice to see the rhythm action genre coming to PC casual games with Downbeat, and in such a relatively sophisticated way. We'll see if it takes off.