Gitaroo Man Lives! (PlayStation Portable)

Gitaroo Man Lives! Review

IGN UK Staff
Exclusive: We put the English language version of Koei's superb rhythm action PSP title through its paces.
Aug 21st, 2006 - Aside from being one of the few games that can proudly say it has a Japanese lady reciting its title in almost exactly the same way a sex noise sounds, Gitaroo Man has the pleasure of being possibly the finest non-peripheral reliant rhythm action game ever made.

With that accolade out the way, onto Gitaroo Man Lives! What we have here is, essentially, not-very-much-more-than-a-PSP-port of the 2002 PS2 classic. As such, anyone's who's smashed their way through the pain barrier of gnarled and bloodied digits offered by the original's frightening 'Master' difficulty mode can probably skip to the end.

If you've not yet joined the Church of Gitaroo Man however, some explanation as to what exactly makes the game so utterly joyous might be in order. As rhythm action aficionados know, most entries in the genre live or die by their presentation and musical roster - two areas where Gitaroo Man succeeds in such huge dollops of quality it doesn't really seem fair on other games in the genre.

Story-wise, Gitaroo Man sees shy, retiring loser U-1 hurled awkwardly into the role of reluctant, guitar-wielding saviour of the universe. Everything else is a bit redundant, largely thanks to the game's utterly bonkers sensibilities. Told through gloriously stylised sequences, packed full of charm and character, it's one of those titles so off-kilter you'll either love or hate it from the get-go. If axe-wielding showdowns with nappy-clad demons, reggae robots and a half-Elvis, half-bee trumpeter sound like your kind of things, then welcome to Guitar Man. As far as the soundtrack goes then, it's all wonderfully diverse guitar-lead brilliance, covering genres as wide as hi-energy J-pop, disco and thrash metal. All of it's as catchy as hell and one of Gitaroo Man's most endearing features.

Of course, all that spit and polish wouldn't mean a damn if the game didn't play well. Thankfully though, Gitaroo Man's greatest achievement is its rhythm action mechanics, which are easy enough to pick up but deep enough to prevent that all-too-quick on-set of tedium generally found in its genre brethren.

Throughout the adventure, you're tasked with performing two types of action, depending on the level. Firstly, the game uses the PSP's analogue stick to mimic the sweeping pitch shifts and wailing of your guitar. A constantly shifting line passes through the centre of the screen and it's up to you to make sure the on-screen arrow remains within its boundries at all times. As simplistic as that sounds, it goes a long way to making you feel like you're actually responsible for the music you're hearing - a basic conceit generally lacking in most rhythm action titles. As you waver and miss your mark, the accompanying screeches and twangs are more than enough to make you want to up your game.

Secondly, certain musical segments demand you watch the screen closely and hit the corresponding face button as icons whiz from top, bottom, left or right toward the centre of the screen. As always, the closer to the middle - thus, on beat - you are, the more points you wrack up. Interestingly, Gitaroo Man pros are likely to find these sections much tougher than they remember on the PS2 - the main culprit being the PSP's elongated screen. While previously, it was possible to focus on the edges of the screen and memorise sequences as they advanced toward the centre, the PSP's widescreen ratio means that icons originating from the top or bottom appear much later than their horizontal counterparts - even if they're first in sequence. It's not a major issue, but certainly likely to frustrate old-timers. Next >>


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