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Does Gitaroo Man Live or should he just fade away?
November 9, 2006 | 4:00 PM PSTThe PSP has taken loads of criticism for taking on one too many PS2 ports. Some have been well done, others, have bombed. Gitaroo Man Lives! is the next PS2 to PSP port that hopes to make a giant splash.
Story
The story begins with a young boy named U-1 (“you won,” get it?) who is at the bottom of the popularity scale. Others pick on him and the girl he is crushing on doesn’t even seem to know he exists, talk about a loser. That changes, however, one fateful day when the world is thrust into danger by a madman looking for Gitaroo Man. Who is Gitaroo Man? None other than U-1 the young lad with major confidence issues but he is not alone, Puma, U-1’s dog, is there to help along the way.
Gameplay
Don’t let the name fool you into thinking this is like Guitar Hero because it isn’t even close. Gitraoo Man Lives! is a standard rhythm game that keeps you on your toes without the use of any peripheral. The game is comprised of individual “battles” for pieces of the Gitaroo Power and each “battle” has 3 major phases. The first phase is where you perform the opening riffs and charge yourself for battle. The better you perform the more energy you have to fight with during the battle. After the charge phases, it is time to use the Gitaroo against the villain in the battle phase. During the battle phase, you have to keep track of the moving Gitaroo line with the analog nub and press O to move along with the beat. When your opponent throws some punches, you use the face buttons to dodge out of the way. The final stage is where you play the harmony line and finish off the boss.
The gameplay is simple and straightforward. Overall, there are far too few battles to feel like a complete game and, if you are good enough, can beat the game in one sitting. All the battles are boss battles so that is what makes the game short. The story progresses rapidly, almost too rapidly but the personality is what shines. Gitaroo Man Lives! banks on that personality to carry the weight of the game and if you are a fan of quirky Japanese games you’ll fall in love with the charm of GML.
Still, GML is the same game that is on the PS2 and it shows. Not much has been updated but there are a few modes that include never-before-heard songs to add something new to the PSP version. GML works well on the PSP but for PS2 owners, there is very little, gameplay wise, to distinguish between the old and new version. The gameplay is not deep but, at the same time, gameplay is thrilling when the songs start to fly by at a high tempo.
Sound
With any rhythm game, the soundtrack is a key element that if done poorly, will ruin the game right before you press start. Fortunately, the completely original soundtrack rocks hard. The tunes are diverse but they never lose the overall feeling of the quirky title. As a bonus, the PSP version of the game includes a Jukebox to play your favorite songs without having to play through the level. If you are a rabid fan of Gitaroo Man, then the two new songs will be a delight.
Graphics
While the style of the game is reminiscent of Samba De Amigo for the Dreamcast, the quality of the graphics is something of a mixed bag. The character models themselves look nice but it is the textures that are the downfall in the graphics department. It might have been a problem getting them to the PSP from the PS2 but some textures look muddy while others are crystal clear. This disparity doesn’t seem to have an excuse and you’ll be left wondering why all the textures aren’t sharp.
Final
GML is a nice little title, while it lasts. After finding the PS2 version of Gitraoo Man at a used game store and beating it I was happy to hear GML was coming to the PSP. When I found out it was just another port, I was slightly disappointed to hear it only had a few small upgrades. If you have not played Gitaroo Man before, this is a perfect opportunity to check it out on the PSP rather than trying to find a copy of the PS2 game which is considered rare by many accounts. It is hard to recommend the game at the full retail price because of how short it is. The personality of the game is still intact which is truly is the selling point of GML. If you are a fan of quirky Japanese games and haven’t played the PS2 version, GML should be worth checking out even it lasts for a few short hours.
Story
The story begins with a young boy named U-1 (“you won,” get it?) who is at the bottom of the popularity scale. Others pick on him and the girl he is crushing on doesn’t even seem to know he exists, talk about a loser. That changes, however, one fateful day when the world is thrust into danger by a madman looking for Gitaroo Man. Who is Gitaroo Man? None other than U-1 the young lad with major confidence issues but he is not alone, Puma, U-1’s dog, is there to help along the way.
Gameplay
Don’t let the name fool you into thinking this is like Guitar Hero because it isn’t even close. Gitraoo Man Lives! is a standard rhythm game that keeps you on your toes without the use of any peripheral. The game is comprised of individual “battles” for pieces of the Gitaroo Power and each “battle” has 3 major phases. The first phase is where you perform the opening riffs and charge yourself for battle. The better you perform the more energy you have to fight with during the battle. After the charge phases, it is time to use the Gitaroo against the villain in the battle phase. During the battle phase, you have to keep track of the moving Gitaroo line with the analog nub and press O to move along with the beat. When your opponent throws some punches, you use the face buttons to dodge out of the way. The final stage is where you play the harmony line and finish off the boss.
The gameplay is simple and straightforward. Overall, there are far too few battles to feel like a complete game and, if you are good enough, can beat the game in one sitting. All the battles are boss battles so that is what makes the game short. The story progresses rapidly, almost too rapidly but the personality is what shines. Gitaroo Man Lives! banks on that personality to carry the weight of the game and if you are a fan of quirky Japanese games you’ll fall in love with the charm of GML.
Still, GML is the same game that is on the PS2 and it shows. Not much has been updated but there are a few modes that include never-before-heard songs to add something new to the PSP version. GML works well on the PSP but for PS2 owners, there is very little, gameplay wise, to distinguish between the old and new version. The gameplay is not deep but, at the same time, gameplay is thrilling when the songs start to fly by at a high tempo.
Sound
With any rhythm game, the soundtrack is a key element that if done poorly, will ruin the game right before you press start. Fortunately, the completely original soundtrack rocks hard. The tunes are diverse but they never lose the overall feeling of the quirky title. As a bonus, the PSP version of the game includes a Jukebox to play your favorite songs without having to play through the level. If you are a rabid fan of Gitaroo Man, then the two new songs will be a delight.
Graphics
While the style of the game is reminiscent of Samba De Amigo for the Dreamcast, the quality of the graphics is something of a mixed bag. The character models themselves look nice but it is the textures that are the downfall in the graphics department. It might have been a problem getting them to the PSP from the PS2 but some textures look muddy while others are crystal clear. This disparity doesn’t seem to have an excuse and you’ll be left wondering why all the textures aren’t sharp.
Final
GML is a nice little title, while it lasts. After finding the PS2 version of Gitraoo Man at a used game store and beating it I was happy to hear GML was coming to the PSP. When I found out it was just another port, I was slightly disappointed to hear it only had a few small upgrades. If you have not played Gitaroo Man before, this is a perfect opportunity to check it out on the PSP rather than trying to find a copy of the PS2 game which is considered rare by many accounts. It is hard to recommend the game at the full retail price because of how short it is. The personality of the game is still intact which is truly is the selling point of GML. If you are a fan of quirky Japanese games and haven’t played the PS2 version, GML should be worth checking out even it lasts for a few short hours.
November 20, 2009
