Gitaroo Man Lives!

Nerd rock, musical superheroes, and a talking robotic dog. Need we say more? Here's the latest on the PSP port of cult hit Gitaroo Man

While it's becoming harder to find every passing day, Koei's cult-classic Gitaroo Man stands as one of the most addictive and unique games on the PS2. An homage to all things rock and roll, the game oozes camp and Japanese weird in its bizarre characters and equally strange (but still toe-tapping) tunes. Now Koei is bringing that magic to the PSP in Gitaroo Man Lives! While the game is essentially a port of the PS2 game, it's perhaps one of the best ports we've ever seen, managing to capture every single weird and funny feature of the original.

In Gitaroo Man Lives! you play as a young boy named U-1. It seems that nerdy U-1 is a direct descendant of the legendary rock and roll superhero Gitaroo Man. Using a magical electric guitar, U-1 must battle against the evil Gravillians, who have invaded his home world. Oh, did we also mention that U-1's dog can talk, and when U-1 is in possession of the legendary guitar, that dog also turns in to a robot? As weird as that little bit is, the game is filled to the brim with all sorts of other strangeness, including an eclectic cast of enemies that will probably leave you scratching your head in disbelief.

If you've never played the original Gitaroo Man, you shouldn't have too much trouble getting in to Gitaroo Man Lives! Using the PSP's analog nub, you'll have to play notes as they snake their ways towards an on-screen icon. When a note hits the icon, you need to press down any of the four face buttons, but also make sure you keep the analog nub pointing in the direction that the note is coming from. The notes will snake and twist as they approach you, changing direction to add more difficulty in playing them.

Occasionally, however, button icons will shoot towards the on-screen icon, so you'll have to hit the corresponding face button to keep up with the song. It sounds confusing on paper, but the actual gameplay of Gitaroo Man Lives! is easy to pick up after only playing a song of two. The difficulty, however, ramps up fairly quickly, giving even hardcore gamers a nice challenge.

Visually Gitaroo Man Lives! is probably one of the most faithful PS2 to PSP ports that we've seen yet. The CG cutscenes are identical to the ones found on the PS2 game, and the-game graphics, while slightly toned done in terms of overall detail, are still impressive. Every single outlandish level is recreated in the PSP version, so you'll be treated to some hilarious visuals while playing through a song. We did notice that the game did chub occasionally; particularly levels with a lot of background action, but those instances seemed to clear up petty quickly.

While visually impressive, the sound really takes center stage in Gitaroo Man Lives! The game includes a wide way array of music, including rock and roll, dance, and even some smooth, smooth jazz. The PSP's tiny speakers, though, doesn't do justice to the game's infectious tunes, so be sure to play it with some headphones on.

So far Gitaroo Man Lives! for the PSP is shaping up to be a dream come true for music game lovers. The original PS2 version is capture picture-perfectly on Sony's handheld, and while we hope it ends up getting a bit more new content (there's a new multiplayer mode), we're just happy to get the chance to rock out again with one of video game's most unique music games.

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