Gitaroo Man Lives!

Life in the old formula yet

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Although Gitaroo Man Lives! at first glance inflicts cringing images of the PaRappa the Rapper series into your mind, immediately reject those poisonous thoughts. Where the latter was a repetitive and clumsy to say the least, Gitaroo Man is riff-ripping excellent. There is no need for a dance mat or a microphone. Instead you simply let your fingers do all the work, plucking those guitar strings. Sadly, this game is a port of the PlayStation 2 version, but when something gets as good as this, how can you blame Sony for wanting to spread the love?

The hero of the story - if the jumbled, wacky sequences of the game can be called a story - is a retiring nobody called U-1 who is pushed into being the guitar playing redeemer of the universe. If all the bizarre cut scenes are anything to go on, then you will definitely be confused and enthralled by all of the crazy characters U-1 has to play off against with an unbelievable mix of reggae robots to a trumpeting man in a giant bee outfit. The insane characters reflect the even more outrages yet fantastic soundtrack you get to play through that covers such a broad variety of music from disco to jazz and J-pop to metal that there is something here for everyone.

However, it is easy for any game to have a number one chart soundtrack but rarely do many interactive music games succeed in producing a well timed experience that plays perfectly. This is where Gitaroo Man does and always has accomplished. The game may at first seem easy, as the controls are simple, but as the levels progress and the pace quickens you will find that it becomes extremely hard and requires extreme examples of reflex and skill.

Within the game there are two different actions; the first uses the analogue stick to steer and follow a snaking path that appears on screen, mimicking the rise and fall of your guitar pitch. You must stay on this moving line at all times. Down along the line are different button symbols that need to be pressed at the correct time in order to play the perfect tune. If you stray off from the path then ear piercing, missed notes rake your ears to push you into improving and getting back onto the 'path'. As said, it is a simple action but very original and adds more control to the game by "steering" rather than simply button mashing.

The second action requires you to pay attention and press the corresponding button as the symbols fly from the left, right, top and bottom towards a cross-hair in the centre of the screen. As with all games of this type the closer you are with your timing and rhythm the better your results and points score will be. This again is a unique take on inputting sequences but it can be a very frustrating and clumsy one at that; with the PSP's wide screen it is hard to look and concentrate on all four directions - left, right, up and down - at the same time, making it very difficult to press the correct button sequence when they meet the cross hair in the centre of the screen. This is also because when the button symbols near the centre it is rather tough to judge the distances of each one, especially when they move at increasingly high speeds. It doesn't hinder the game too much but be patient with it, as it will take some time to become used to this and adjust your eyes and cognition.

In Gitaroo Man you do not just work to a final score and grade to pass the level, you also have a life meter too. At the beginning of each level you will have to perform an initial sequence and with each successful button press your life meter fills up. At the end of this sequence, the real showdown will begin. During the course of the level if you miss the button presses then your life meter will decrease and when it is all gone you lose the music showdown.

The degree of difficulty in Gitaroo Man is extremely high and it is not long, even by the third stage in fact, until the bar is raised to a tricky level. It is very surprising and will come as a shock to most as the game, in terms of looks, seems to be childlike and simple but in practice it requires a lot from the player and this might push a lot of potential lovers of the series away. For hardcore players and fans of the series though, the difficulty will be a healthy challenge. It will not be easy and you will have to put in a lot of effort and practice in order to master the game and progress through its levels, but its ingenious gameplay, crazy characters and cel-shaded, anime visual style all work as one to produce a rewarding and enjoyable whole.

Sadly, although the game in itself is highly enjoyable in the most part, there has been nothing added to it from the original apart from a measly Duet Mode where you can connect with friends via wireless to play all of the songs in your playlist so far, plus two extra ones. You can also listen to all of your songs and watch the game's cut scenes in the Jukebox and Theatre mode but that is really neither here nor there. This is going to disappoint fans greatly by offering them nothing new, nothing fresh to make them want to play through the same game again. A missed opportunity.

Gitaroo Man Lives! is an accomplished game, there is no doubt about that. Children and adults alike who love interactive music games such as this should most certainly give it a look and will thoroughly enjoy the musical ride from start to finish. However, as is sadly the case most of the time, avid fans of the series will be disappointed and if you have already played the original then you will not want to buy this PSP version, as it offers you nothing apart from going through the experience again and an unnecessary hole in your wallet.

87%

By Tobias Rowe