EVERYTHING about it is so good. I wish it wasn't so short. The story isn't serious, but the music is very wonderful.
The gameplay is so unique and engaging! It was so smart to design the game based on the guitar's melody, so I'm curious in how it was sampled.
It felt like the game repeated itself when I took too long, which was embarrassing to hear. It'll wait for you to bring the opponent's HP low enough, rather than be on a set time. Because I didn't want to ruin the mood, I asked "Please don't play that again" when a character repeated a phrase.
The call and response that Parappa The Rapper uses helps players understand the rhythm of how they should play, but Gitaroo Man doesn't do that, so I'd get lost very quickly if I did not know how to play a part.

Absolutely amazing game. Great art style, incredible music, and a very fair difficulty. My biggest issues with the game were the short length and the unnecessary romance subplot, but as a whole it was a fantastic experience. This version is also a vast improvement over the original, with fairer charts and more lenient.

Honestly? better than Parappa.



plus the dog is funnier

Legendary Theme.

That last level was so difficult. jesus christ

had to beat it basically three time because of the emulator.

Songs are fire. 9

I don't know what inspired a game like Gitaroo Man to ever exist, but man am I glad that it does. Also always happy to get a reason to pull out my PSP. It's not often these days, but I still love that little guy :').

Anyway, feels very much like Parappa the Rapper in that its extremely weird, could never have been made in any other country than Japan and probably not in any other year than 2001. Just like Parappa, we follow a boy (named U-1, of course) in love with a girl, but his social anxiety stops him from telling her so he goes through several trials in order to get the courage needed. Instead of doing real world things, though, U-1 travels into outer space with his talking dog, and with his musical weapon, the Gitaroo, he liberates an alien planet from its evil dictator Zowie. It's stranger than I make it sound and might also all take place in U-1's imagination since both planets have characters who look exactly the same and serve the same role, but at the core of it all, it really is just a simple love story and despite the plot's constant layer of weirndess over this, it's honestly very well realized. It even shows character and plot progression through the gameplay in one of the later stages in a way that is honestly one of the coolest and most unexpected experiences I've ever had with a rhythm game.

Being a rhythm game maybe the story isn't what you're mainly after when playing it, so I'm happy to say that both the songs and the gameplay are just as good. This is not a long game so it's just 10 songs to play through, but they're both of varied styles and, most of all, very, very good. Despite being someone who praises soundtracks a lot in these entries, I don't actually know music theory or anything so I can't really tell you why they're so good, though. Just that they sounded good to my ears and were very memorable, I guess :). Made me bob my head a lot, etc.

Gameplay is sort of standard rhythm game where you hit the right button at the right time, but it's also very much its own thing. Every song consists of defensive and offensive phases, where you basically tap buttons coming in from up, left, down, or right to avoid taking damage, and then where you have to follow a line with the analog stick (which admittedly does feel a bit stiff on the PSP, but it works well enough) while also pressing the right button when the line reaches there to damage the opponent. It can be a bit overwhelming on some songs, but it never became too much (I think I had one game over during the entire game, and that was on the final boss) and I enjoyed its uniqueness when compared to other rhythm games I've played, as well as switching between those two gameplay styles throughout every song. Really kept me on my toes and somehow made the experience more immersive.

Honestly one of the ugliest artstyles I've seen in a game in a long time, though. Didn't really affect my experience with Gitaroo Man at all, but it's certainly not a looker of a game.

Gitaroo Man Lives! may be both the strangest rhythm game I have ever played and the strangest game I have ever played period. This weirdness, however, is not at all a detriment and is really just a part of the Gitaroo Man Lives! Experience.

Gitaroo Man Lives! is a 2006 port of the 2001 PS2 game Gitaroo Man. While both games follow the same plot, Gitaroo Man Lives! adds local Ad-Hoc multiplayer, a new duet mode, and more difficulty options. The main character of the game is a young boy named U-1. He is constantly picked on by his rival Kazuya and tries desperately to gain the affection of his crush Pico. One day, as U-1 is suddenly attacked by a diaper wearing demon named Panpeus, his loyal talking canine Puma sheds his skin and gives U-1 the last Gitaroo he’s been storing in his body. Upon taking the Gitaroo in his hands, U-1 is transformed into the legendary warrior Gitaroo Man and the wild ride of this game really begins.

Throughout the ten stages of the game, both U-1 and the opponent have a life bar, with the player being tasked with depleting the opponent's life bar and reaching the end of the song without dying. Nearly every level consists of four main phases; Charge, Attack, and Guard, followed by an ending phase called Final. During the Charge, Attack, and Final phases, a line containing red strum bars will curve across the screen. The player must use the PSP analog stick to follow along with the line while holding down and releasing one of the four face buttons at the start and end of each red strum bar. During the Charge phase, strumming the notes successfully restores U-1’s health, whereas in the Attack and Final phases, successfully strumming notes damages the opponent. Missing notes of course causes damage to U-1. During the Guard phase, the player must tap corresponding buttons as they reach the center of the screen to avoid the opponent’s onslaught of musical attacks. Dodging successfully will yield little to no damage to U-1, while failing will result in U-1’s health taking a hit. This control scheme can honestly take some getting used to and is a bit strange compared to other rhythm games. It also makes the game incredibly difficult to master and even beat on the Normal difficulty. I failed several times during the later stages and suffered a couple of hand cramps along the way.

Each of the ten stages in this game are an absolute trip. While normal human characters in the game can lean too hard into the uncanny valley for me personally, the bosses of each stage have fantastic designs that are all interesting and unique. You will face everything from the aforementioned diapered demon, to a mariachi band of bones, a space shark, and even the current ruler of Planet Gitaroo. There are small custcenes between each stage to tell the story of the game, but don't expect a Triple A experience here. While the animation work is fine for a port of a 2001 game, the voice acting for every character is a bit off and doesn’t sync up well to the mouth moving animations. This is only a tiny gripe and doesn't effect the gameplay or overall experience whatsoever.

Gitaroo Man Lives! is a fantastic, if not short, rhythm game for the PSP that has stood the test of time. It is both fun and challenging, while also telling a compact story that will have you smiling from start to finish. Just be warned, if you decide to play this game prepare for a difficult yet fun and wacky experience.