Import Worthy - Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan!

Now that I've had enough play time with the game, it's about time I give this awesome title it's import worthy post. For those not familiar with Ouendan, it's a music and rythm type game made by InIs, of Gitaroo Man fame. You play as 3 male chearleaders helping people through their problems by doing what they do best... chearing them on! Okay, I admit this seems like a weird unattractive setting for the game, BUT everything about this game is worth every penny it'll cost you to import it.

The first thing you'll notice playing this game is that the songs are of very good quality, even sporting lyrics unlike DaiGasso! Band-Brothers. A lot of people have been disapointed by the music and sound quality in some DS games, but the music and sound quality in this game truly shine, even when using the DS speakers. But as with other games like ElektroPlankton, you'll get even better sound when using some good old headphones. The game features 15 japanese songs ranging from the fast pace Ready Steady Go (theme song of Full Metal Alchemist) to some slightly melow music like Over the Distance. For players of DaiGasso! Band-Brothers, two of the songs return with lyrics : Ready Steady Go from L'Arc~en~Ciel and Shangai Honey by Orange Range, the same band that did the first Bleach theme song Asterisk.

The game is a blast to play, the single player game will keep you playing for a while. You start out with an easy and normal difficulty, and then unlock the hard mode. I am currently on the last song of the hard mode, so I can't say for sure if there's an even thougher mode or not. I will say though that if you can complete Hard mode with A or S ranks everywhere, you've acomplished quite a feat. There is also a pretty cool multiplayer mode packed in here that I rarely see anyone talking about. The multiplayer mode features a co-op and versus modes of play for 2 to 4 players. In co-op, each player takes turn playing parts of the song, while in versus mode both players play for the better score, sending a quake like effect to the other player when you do well. The versus mode include new animations to the songs, so it's great to try out even if it's just to see the new animations. You will need a cart for every player to play in multiplayer, so try to get your friends to buy the game if you plan on buying it. There is a DS Download feature, but it will only send the training level... just enough to get others gasping for more.

The game plays entirely using the stylus, you won't use any other buttons on the DS for this one. The gameplay is pretty simple, but that doesn't mean this is easy. You'll get a little manga explanation of what troubles a particuliar character (ranging from trying to get a girl's heart over a dodgeball match to a salaryman turning into a giant to fight off a giant mouse that was trying to either crush or kidnap a schoolgirl), then the Ouendan team arrives and the stage starts. Circles appear on the screen and you have to tap them as another concentric circle overlaps it. Now add like 7-13 of these on screen and some very excellent music and cutscenes on the top screen and you have a very enjoyable game. There are also some sections that you have to drag across the screen and some spinners that will require you to spin your stylus across the screen as fast as you can. The cutscenes that populates the level are hilarious and not hard to understand even if you're not japanese. This is all hard to explain in text, so if you're interested in this game, you can check out some videos on a lot of sites online.

This game will be in my DS for quite a while. Like all games of this genre you can play these for a while since there's always a better score to achieve or it's just plain fun to play. The soundtrack was very well chosen, and you won't get bored with these songs. I recommend this game for anyone, and if you're not sure if you should buy it or not.... BUY IT! It's really worth the money, and if you don't beleive me, check out this little article I've found here. I have to say they're right on all those points. :P