Or: Steven Tyler was right.
Since the idea of living on a ship has mortified me with the idea I will be bored out of my petty skull, I began splurging over everything related to the PSP in a effort to entertain me. Of course, this means I'm just rebuying games I once owned but had to sell for cash as I happen to flux between poverty and being rich way too much, but none the less, there are some games I don't mind buying. One of this is Gitaroo Man, and this is the third time I've bought it.
Gitaroo Man is quite frankly, the only rythme game you ever need. It is made by that jerk who went on to create the tiresome Elite Beat Series, something I don't ever want to touch, with it's dirty licensed songs and stupid fanbase.
But Gitaroo Man is different from other rythme games, as it also kind of is like a fighting game in that you're dueling colourful freaks with your musical skillz. That and it's the most wacked out musical odyssey about a boy on a drug fueled trip of self discovery this side of Tommy, but that's beside the point.
The hero of the game.
Each song is divided into multiple parts. It normally starts off with you charging up your health, then attacking and defending against the enemy. It's best seen in action:
This game also happens to be hard. Once you think you've become the champ on normal mode, Master Mode will kick your ass into place. I've successfully completed "Tainted Lovers" for the first time in years a few hours ago, and I can't stress how wonderful hearing "You've Won!" sounds.
The music, of course, is great. I much rather have every song in this game than anything heard in Elite Beat Agents, it's nihongo counterpart and Guitar Hero. There are many genres covered, all very well I might add, even the jazz song (a genre I disgust). The songs add personality and fit the game like a glove. And while we're in the sound department, I want to add I really like the voice acting. Especially U-1/Gitaroo Man played by Lenne Hardt which tends to crack me up (in a good way).
Of course, the music wouldn't be anything without the characters. Everyone outside of maybe U-1 is straight out of a bad acid trip. Not in order of apperance, here is the cast and their respective song:
U-1/Gitaroo Man
U-1 is a total wuss with no self-esteem, who is always being picked on by Kazuya and is in love with Pico. He is also the last legendary hero of Planet Gitaroo, and weilds a cosmic looking Flying V guitar. How he is a legendary hero is beyond anyone.
Puma/Puma AC30
U-1's only friend, Puma is a talking dog that also happens to be the protector of the legendary Gitaroo. No one knows how he and U-1 met (even U-1 questions that at one point), but whenever his pal is in trouble, he'll throw him his guitar to help battle whatever evil forces that appears.
Kazuya
A rich snob who is better than U-1 at everything. He happens to look like Zowie (not related).
Pico
A flakey girl U-1 likes for whatever inane reason. She happens to look like Kirah (also not related).
The back-up band
Gitaroo Man's back-up band. All the music that Gitaroo Man and the enemy plays to is created by them. There names are Noren (rabbit) who is on uhh... "keyboards", Yung (monkey) who does the .... drumming with her cymbols and Mr. Yasuda (panda) who somehow pulls off rythme guitar and bass with his accustic guitar. Right.
Gravillians
Penpeus - "Twisted Reality" Rock song
A petite devil in a diaper, who weilds a axe-shaped guitar. He can warp reality, and has a whinny voice.
Flying-O - "Flyin' to Your Heart" Insane techno pop song
A UFO mistaken for a bird and hamburger, he attacks U-1's city with "Dance to your Death" rays to lure Gitaroo Man out. He commands a fleet of Mini-O's.
Mojo King Bee - "Bee Jam Blues" Funky jazz
A black man in a bee suit, who pisses off the local wild life with his music (except for the frogs). Kind of looks like a blow-up doll with that mouth of his.
He dies by slowly sinking into a lake, ala how Arnold dies by slowly sinking into a vault of lava in Terminator 2.
Ben K - "Void" breakbeat
A giant space shark that chases U-1 and Puma across the vaccum to Planet Gitaroo.
Mecha Ben K - "Nuff Respect" Hippy music
Eventually when they near the planet, U-1, Puma and Ben K land on a satalite floating near by. Ben K turns into Mecha Ben K, a shark with turntable breasts.
Sanbone Trio - "Born to be Bone" Latin death drumming?
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Three skeletons that have PS2 controllers for hips. They guard a prison where citizens of Planet Gitaroo are locked away for not agreeing with Zowie's plans.
Gregorio Siegfried Wilhelm III - "Tainted Lovers" Heavy metal
A freak who is obsessed with his looks. His gitaroo is a entire building of organs.
Also happens to be host of collection mode.
Kirah - "Overpass"/"Legendary Theme" Rock and rock.
A Gitaroo citizen who looks like Pico back on Earth. She was raised to be the ultimate Gravillian, and weilds a bizarre looking lightning bolt shaped guitar. She realizes her errors and gives her guitar to U-1 in the end.
In Lives!, she teams up with Gitaroo Man to protect Gitaroo Town from two new villians, Kai-Kakoon and MingMing.
Zowie - "Resurrection" Rock
Ruler of the Gravillians, he is searching for the legendary gitaroo to rule the universe. Looks like Kazuya back on Earth. His instrument is a giant suit of armor/guitar hybrid.
Lives! only opponets
Kai Kakoon - "Metal Header" Nu-rock
A giant insane looking mech that crashes into Gitaroo Town and begins attacking. He hs three bats that kind of look like U-1's backing band.
MingMing - "Toda Passion" Latin music
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Zowie's cat begins to wreck havok on Gitaroo Town at night. In the end, she is saved by Puma.
So yeah, Gitaroo Man is a wondeful game. It was sadly ignored for no good reason. It didn't cop out and get licensed music (Elite Beat Agents) or require a gimmick controller (Guitar Hero) in a attempt to get noticed. It was a well crafted game with a lot of love put into it by it's designers.
But as usual, you need to be some beaten horse of a game to get noticed anymore. If you have any decent sense, you'd go out and look for Lives! at the very least as it's not impossible to find like it's big PS2 brother (and it has two new songs as well).
But of course you wont, because you will probably go out and buy Dead Space, which is just what you need. Another space horror game, this time, Doom 3 in the third person. While it's enjoyable and all, it wont ever leave such a lasting impression on you like this gem here.
