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- Gitaroo Man Lives!
Gitaroo Man Lives!
- December 04, 2006 15:18 PM PST
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We all know music is powerful, but in Gitaroo Man Lives, music is lethal. You play as U-1, a poor loser who is constantly picked on by pompous skateboarders and overlooked by girls.
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Unknown to everyone else, however, U-1 is also the legendary super hero Gitaroo Man with a whole lot of universe-saving weight on his shoulders. Guided by his trusty talking dog, Puma, U-1 saves his planet from zany enemies with his electric-beam shooting guitar and transforms from major nobody into an awesome guitar legend that chicks dig.
Music Wars
PROTIP: When enemies attack U-1, button marks fly from all directions. Guard yourself well by pressing the indicated buttons on time!
Gameplay in GML is spectacular and addictive. Even better, GML has a new multi-player function that allows you to jam with your friends. Each stage is a song divided into three different modes of battle: Charge, Battle, and Final. Battle consists of guard and attack. During guard, you dodge enemy attacks by pressing the appropriate button as the symbols move toward the center dot of the screen, similar to other music based rhythm games like PaRappa the Rapper.
Having a good defense is important, since each missed button cuts down your life gage. For both charge and attack, the strategy is a bit different. When a trace line appears and snakes across the screen, move the analog nub in the direction of the trace line and coordinate your button taps with the nub. For phrase bars that appear on the trace lines, hold the button for the length of the bar. Depending on the mode, by pressing and holding the button in sync with the nub, you either charge your Gitaroo and increase your life gauge or send out a musical attack beam to damage the enemy. When enemy health becomes low enough, the final mode is activated, and you knock out your enemy with an intense solo of musical death.
While the basic gameplay mechanics are simple, the game is anything but easy. After Puma briskly starts you off with a tutorial, Gitaroo Man Lives gets serious from the first boss on and furious button mashing is a must for all ten stages. Button symbols fly at you from all directions while the trace line twists and turns in unpredictable paths across the screen. Never take a momentary slow point in the song as a cue to relax, since you never know what crazy sequence of rhythm play might be thrown at you next.
Rock On!
PROTIP: During charge mode, hold the button for the length of the phrase bar to increase health.
Music is the heart and soul of Gitaroo Man Lives, and the game sports a diverse range of music styles ranging from rock, orchestral, reggae, Latin and Eurobeat. Great original songs from the first Gitaroo Man are back, including Bee Jam Blues, Flyin' to Your Heart, and Born to be Bone. A jukebox function also allows you to listen to music from the stages you've unlocked. GML also introduces some new tunes, such as Metal Header and Toda Passion. However, these songs can't compare to the ear catching tunes of the original classics.
The graphics in the game are absolutely awesome. Mitsuru Nakamura's Japanese pop-art style is vivid and creative while cell-shading gives the whole game a cartoon feel. If there were to be criticism of GML, it would be the voice dubbing. Over-exaggerated and unprofessional sounding, it sounds like the common anime dub treatment. Load times between bosses are also very long, sometimes around 30 seconds. However, this is not surprising for a PS2 game made portable. In addition, once a stage is loaded, replays don't require additional loading time.
Gitaroo Man Lives is definitely a worthy addition to your PSP collection. Though it has its glitches, Gitaroo Man Lives is a great gaming experience that will keep you rocking from sunrise to sunset.
PROTIP: In multiplayer mode, the character Kirah is available, and you can either team up to fight against an enemy or compete to see who has the best Gitaroo skills!
