Gitaroo Man
Japan is home to some pretty weird things. Game shows based around ritual humiliation. Men in rubber suits battling skyscraper-dwarfing mecha. Raw fish for dinner. All well and good, of course, but decidedly strange. Gitaroo Man is Japanese. By that, I don't just mean it was made in Japan; if you somehow extracted raw Japanese from the air, purified it, and stuck it on a DVD, you would have something like Gitaroo Man.
In a world with Parappa the Rapper and three hundred versions of Dance Dance Revolution, it is difficult to get excited about Yet Another Music Game, but GM demonstrates once and for all that the genre is still worthy of attention. The instrument of choice (the clue is in the title) is the gitaroo, one of the legendary devices capable of granting its wielder great...
Sorry. I couldn't continue that sentence with a straight face. The gitaroo in question is an electric guitar, although it's more than capable of taking on other sounds when needed. The adventure begins when clumsy loser U-1 comes under attack from chibi nappy-wearing demon Panpeus and discovers that he is destined to save the people of planet Gitaroo with help from his dog Puma, who is also his amp.
Look, I'm not making this up.
Each of the ten levels (20 including the "Master" versions) sees U-1 gathering the other gitaroos in amped combat with the likes of Mojo King Bee, a trio of Mexican skeletons, and a space whale. Diversity is very much one of GM's strong points, with tracks ranging from synth reggae to funky blues as well as the expected dose of good, hardcore axe-grinding.
The real hook lies in what GM brings new to the already crowded table of rhythm games. Each track is a battle, with U-1 facing off against his enemy rather than just having to mimic their tunes. Half of the time, the opponent is in control and play takes the usual form of pressing the right buttons at the right moment in order to dodge or defend against their musical onslaught. The other half is your chance to lay down some beats of your own by tilting the analogue stick to follow a playline and striking the notes as they appear. Hold your attack as the line twists to follow the pitch and style of the riff and inflict maximum damage. Fail to strike at the right time and in the right direction, and you'll fluff the song and take damage yourself. In single-player, the aim is simply to survive the length of the song, but in two to four player mode, it's all-out war with each player responding to the other's attacks. The path of the tracks can even change depending on your style of play.
Gitaroo Man is a shining example of just how good rhythm games can be, with near-perfect note timing and an innovative attack system. The super-difficult Master mode puts every note on the track, and requires every pitch bend to be followed, meaning there's enough challenge to satisfy even the most hardened ghost of Hendrix. The tunes don't disappoint, and provide every opportunity to create bizarre background sequences. Whether it's flying saucers firing dance-to-death rays on an unsuspecting populace to high-beat vocal Jpop, or heavy metal combat in flying mechs with flaming guitars, there's never a dull moment.
Shame no one bought it.
