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.
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.