Whether it's finding a crumpled fiver in an old pair of jeans or your train pulling into the station just as you arrive on the platform, everyone likes a pleasant surprise.
Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! undoubtedly qualified as such a surprise.
Released in 2005 with relatively little fanfare, positive word of mouth (combined with the wonderful region-free nature of Nintendo's DS hardware) catapulted this Japan-only 'rhythm action' title into the consciousness of gamers worldwide, the vast majority of who couldn't read a word of Japanese.
It ranks as one of the most refreshingly original releases in recent memory and is perfect proof that exemplary videogame concepts are truly universal in appeal. Indeed, such was the wonderfully loopy tale of an all-male cheerleading squadron assisting the general public with their everyday struggles – homework, school bullies, and impending asteroid Armageddon – that
Ouendan was eventually Westernised in the form of the superlative
Elite Beat Agents. Although many alterations took place to ensure it would be culturally relevant to Western gamers (including the unfortunate addition of Avril Lavigne), the same plaudit-winning gameplay shone through.
Developer iNiS has now delivered a true sequel in the form of (deep breath)
Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2 (aka Burn! Hot-Blooded Rhythm Soul: Hey! Fight! Cheer Squad 2).
This latest instalment marks the return of everyone's favourite crack cheerleading battalion, who face up to some stiff competition in the form of a rival gang, hell-bent on muscling in on the 'encouraging complete strangers to sort their lives out' gig.
Once again the team is tasked with completing a variety of missions, which are based around a series of crackpot manga-style illustrations. The intro to each challenge plays out like a deranged edition of
The Beano, with speech bubbles and exclamation marks exploding left, right and centre.
Each mission is a self-contained story where your dance-based encouragement is required to help ordinary people with their everyday gripes and groans: Expect to assist a young lad in beating his nightmares, help a hairdresser triumph over a local rival, and give a shoe salesman the courage to vend his footwear to the alien residents of a neighbouring planet.
In order to successfully complete each mission you tap a series of circular 'hit markers' on the screen, which relate to the tempo of the accompanying song. These markers are festooned with numbers that designate the sequence they must be tapped in. Handy timing indicators show exactly when each one is ripe for a press of the stylus, but to achieve true harmony with the game it's essential that you listen very closely to the music and locate that all-important groove.
Once familiarity with each track has been achieved it becomes hard to resist the urge to bob your head along with the worryingly contagious strains of J-Pop.
The eclectic selection of music is arguably what made the first game such a storming success. Essentially a smorgasbord of the finest names in Japanese J-Pop and J-Rock talent,
Ouendan introduced thousands of Western gamers to the little known delights of Asian Kung-Fu Generation, Ulfuls and the wonderfully named Yellow Monkey.
Sadly, although the musical accompaniment is of a high quality here, it doesn't quite reach the same glorious heights of its illustrious forerunner. Some of the tracks aren't really suited to the game and often don't relate closely enough to the hit markers on-screen (something
Elite Beat Agents also occasionally fell foul of). This is a minor criticism, however, and personal preference may well mean you'll find the more upbeat selection of songs more to your taste.
The first batch of songs break newcomers in gently, but as progress is made some truly fearsome challenges are thrown up. Before long the touchscreen becomes a chaotic swirl of icons and timing indicators, whilst in the background your plucky cheerleaders are busting moves as if their lives depended on it.
Each track is divided into sections. At the end of each section your performance is graded and you get either a pass or a fail. Fail too many of these sections and you won't succeed in your cheerleading duties. Similarly, dropping too many beats will see your constantly fluctuating energy bar drop to nothing – game over, man.
To the uninitiated it might seem a bit daunting, what with the reams of Japanese text and hyperactive storylines, so iNiS has thoughtfully included both an Easy and Normal mode from the start. In terms of difficulty,
Ouendan 2 is certainly a lot more relaxed and forgiving than its predecessor. Missing a few beats isn't nearly as catastrophic as it once was, and even when you experience a particularly woeful lapse of timing, it's fairly easy to regain your composure and complete the stage, albeit with a low score rating.
Although iNiS has been savvy enough to not make any sweeping changes with
Ouendan 2 – if it ain't broke, don't fix it, as the old adage goes – this game doesn't make quite the same impact, although this could be said of any sequel.
It is an undeniably excellent game though, and represents yet another 'must have' import title. You better start feeling around for fivers in your discarded jeans!
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