Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan Import Review

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88%

Roughly translated Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan is Japanese for Yo! Fight! Cheering Party. The mission in Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan, should you choose to accept it, is to lift the spirits of residents of a Japanese city so that they can succeed in their day to day life. These seemingly mentally unstable people cry out for the help of a group of male cheerleaders to help them get through the day by calling for them like superheroes. This group of militant male cheerleaders doesn t have much going on in life, so whenever they hear the Ouendan cry they show up to cheer the citizens on. Ok so story hasn t always been Nintendo s strong suit but who really cares about that, lets see how it plays.

When starting the game a city map appears which can be scrolled using the touch screen. It is filled with people running around screaming Ouendan, so they must need help right? Click on a person in trouble and the rhythm action begins. Before the gameplay starts a short Manga story is presented which shows why the person needs help from Ouendan. It always ends up with the person really angry and ready for inspiration, and then the real gameplay begins.

The core of the gameplay in Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! Is tapping the touch screen in the correct locations at the correct times much like Pa Rappa The Rappa or Gitaroo Man. The uniqueness of the gameplay comes from using the touch screen of course but also from how the need to tap the screen is conveyed. Numbered circles appear on screen with a larger circle outlined around each of them. As time passes by the outer circle grows smaller. The player s job is to tap the circle with the stylus at the exact moment the outer circle lines up with the inner circle. Based on how close the player is to lining up the circles when they tap the screen, points are then awarded. 300 for perfect, 100 for close, 50 for an almost miss, and a penalty for missing completely. If there are too many misses the health bar on the top of the screen goes to zero and the level has to be restarted.

Along with tapping the circles at the correct time, the circles also have to be tapped in the correct order according to the numbers within the circles. From time to time there will be a path attached to the circle which has to be followed by the stylus once the circle is tapped. With all this going on along with the beat of one of fifteen included songs, the action quickly gets confusing and intense. Many times I threw down the stylus in anger as I realized that I had to repeat the same level once again. I also found myself humming certain level s songs while not playing the game, as I had heard the songs one too many times after repeating the corresponding level several times over.

So if you have a problem with the end of a level and always fail at a certain point at the end of a level you have to play through the entire level again just to practice the part you stink at. This isn t much of a problem early on but in the later levels where the action gets fast and intense it can be quite annoying. Also, if you re good at these types of games Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan flys by pretty fast. There are 14 core levels to complete and each isn t that long as the action corresponds to the length of a song. The gameplay length is extended only because of the difficulty of later levels that have to be repeated over and over and over again in order to complete. But if you re into that kind of punishment the game offers a few extra unlockable difficulties to satisfy your needs.
What Else?
The graphics in Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan are visually appealing and feature 3D male cheerleaders on the bottom screen and Manga storylines of the people being cheered on located on the top screen. All the visuals are very clean and well constructed as most Nintendo games are. Other than the main gameplay there are also special features such as wireless multiplayer which is pretty much a little gimmick. But by far the coolest option in the whole game and one which should be included in all stylus only games is the option to play the game right handed or left handed. Other than those two main extras there are leader boards and other smaller options like whether or not to use the backlight.

Japanese
Although all of the storyline, menus, and songs are in Japanese is oddly doesn t detract at all from the gameplay if you don t know Japanese. The storyline is presented so well visually through Manga that you can get the jist of what is going on just by watching what happens on the top screen. As for a US or Europe release, it s not going to happen. All the action is based on the beats of a song and all the songs are in Japanese. In order to bring this game over it would have to be completely redone with new songs to accommodate other language audiences. All in all this is one of the best imports ever released for the Nintendo DS seeing as it will most likely never be released outside Japan and the language barrier doesn t matter at all.

Pros

• Tiny language barrier
• Fun and challenging rhythm gameplay
• Male cheerleaders
• Unique stylus use
• Absolutely Insane Storylines

Cons

• Sometimes frustrating and annoying repetitive gameplay
• Somewhat short game
• Male cheerleaders