Replay: Gitaroo Man

May 17 2008

“Extra, extra, read all about the best burgers in town from all around, people from around world come and get it; the line goes around like a merry go round”

That hopefully has caught your attention. Some of you gaming geeks out there will recognise these lyrics from the popular cult game, Parapper the Rapper 2. You should also remember that Parappa is a rhythm game. The Parappa series gained a cult following which I am secretly a member of so it only seems fit that I am reviewing a game that has just as big a following. The game I am talking about is… Gitaroo man, Publisher Koei’s first foray into the Rhythm game genre.

The story is centred around a shallow nob-head who calls himself U-1, a translation from the original Japanese name, Yu-ichi. The plot involves guitars that save the world, a love triangle, a mad bastard hell bent on world-domination… you get the picture. Also there’s an archetypical “cute” sidekick animal, with an annoying voice (Which is strangely reminiscent of Inspector Gadget’s - Ed), helping/hindering you along the way.

First impressions are good, with a wacky intro the sort you’d expect from a game strictly aimed at the Japanese market, similar to the like of Parappa, Um Jammer Lammy (which came from the creators of Parappa) and We love Katamari. The style is similar to Parappa, with a more Anime/Manga advertising edge. The game throws you straight in at deep end with a brief tutorial, then pack your bags and off to your first opponent.

People who are accustomed to rhythm games probably won’t have any problem completing theopening level on their 1^st attempt. Unfortunately for those of you who are less experienced in the genre, and indeed the PS2 joy pad layout - you are in for an unforgiving and frustrating ride. There’s a steep learning curve as the game cranks the difficulty level up to 11 come levels 2 & 3 and by the 4^th level you’ll be groaning at the game over screen like a bored whore going through the same mundane motions.

The controls themselves are part of what makes this game so damn hard. In offence mode you use the analogue stick to follow a line, in a “don’t buzz the wire” style of play, by pressing and holding circle when prompted. If you follow the wire incorrectly or miss time the rhythm (thus missing out on that note) you lose stamina on a life gauge. At the end of a riff, the controls can change to defence mode. Here, the face buttons (Square, Triangle etc) must be pressed as they reach the middle of the screen (in a somewhat similar fashion to Dance Dance Remix). Its kind of like rubbing your head & patting your belly, and then asked to change over without fucking up.

This is hard enough, but when the wire game turns into a pattern not unlike a sketch lovingly crafted by the girl from ‘The Evil Dead’, and the Quick Time cross-hair section starts asking you to press all four buttons at the same time, the game becomes no longer fun but rather a test of reflex and pot luck. The fact that the commands are given to you in the middle of the screen while the crazy battle between you and the opponent is in the background makes for a very distracting experience. It’s as if Koei have tried to be innovative with a new, non peripheral based control system and failed. Miserably.

Totals

Playability - 1.0

The game is easy to pick up but becomes very quickly fiendishly difficult to play due to the Inventive control system that thinks it’s too clever for its own good.

Addictiveness - 1.5

This game is likely to make you shout the words ‘Argh! Fuck this!’ and discard the joy pad like a disused tissue. If not, you’ll be playing it for between 30 minutes and an hour at a time. If determined enough - you, like me, will keep coming back maybe a level or two at a time, now and again.

Value - 2.0

Brand new, I only paid £9 for this game on eBay, but any more than £15 would be asking too much. For a game that has only 11 levels in story mode, and a rubbish picture collection to accumulate, it has little to come back to. The multiplayer is where the game scores some much needed brownie points and I can imagine 4 player matches being be a lot of fun. I’ve not attempted Hard yet, but I imagine you would have to be THE ONE just to make it past level 2.

Opinion - 1.5

Gitaroo man might be best suited to those with a taste for wacky Japanese humour and style. The English voice acting is awful and detracts from the appeal of the former points. It’s a shame because the characters themselves are well drawn and have a cute, innocent appeal. Had the game a fairer difficulty setting (it only has normal aka hard, and hard aka verging on impossible) the game would be a more enjoyable solo experience. For these reasons, this is why this rare, potentially enjoyable classic has been given an above average score from me.

Overall - 6.0

This is a game for die hard rhythm fans, (that, and sadists) as only they would draw any enjoyment from it. It’s not as fun, accessible, original or playable as the Parappa The Rapper series.

I know what they’ve have to do to make Gitaroo Man work. THEY’VE GOT TO BE……No, no they can’t believe.