5 Games in 2005 #3: Ouendan

OSU!!

I already said quite a bit about last summer's surprise import, Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan, so I'd just like to summarize that quickly and then answer one question. So, what made Ouendan one of 2005's best games?

  1. Great soundtrack with full songs
  2. Insane story sequences with hilarious characters
  3. Rhythm gameplay is a perfect fit for the DS and incredibly natural, especially compared to stomping arrows or even playing a guitar

That third point brings me to the question: Why is #3 not Guitar Hero?

Well, because I already played Guitar Freaks like five years ago.

OK, long answer: Guitar Hero is really an excellent game, one which I am guilty of playing long enough to inflame the carpal tunnels of my future children. (I think of it as time saved.) And it was a welcome release considering how stingy Konami has been with Guitar Freaks console releases. And it had full-length songs, instead of those 90-second snippets in the arcade. But wait, so did Ouendan! Also, back the carpal tunnel thing: Guitar Hero made my hands hurt! Granted, so did Ouendan, but that was only after a lot of spinning.

OK, maybe that's a little unfair to try to take Guitar Hero down a notch just because it caused me physical pain. So here's one thing Ouendan really had going for it: Investment! First, you have the obvious emotional investment because of the story scenes. You want to know if that horse will catch the burglar! Will the kung-fu ramen chef be able to roll those noodles??? SPIN HARDER OR YOU WILL NEVER KNOW. Next, there's the musical investment. Sure, it's very immersive to wield Guitar Hero's guitar controller (or stomp, but the way Ouendan's gameplay didn't attach itself to just one component of the song means that for one section you can be doing the guitar, then vocals for the next, and then drums or back to the guitar for the next. Basically, your actions are synched with the most prominent track of the song at any moment, so you have more of a connection with the song throughout. It feels more like you're responsible for carrying the song through to the end. And isn't that what all the instrument-based rhythm games are trying for?

Now, all a developer needs to do to have the next great rhythm game hit on their hands is to develop a controller that is simultaneously a guitar, a drumset, a keyboard, and a microphone, yet operates as easily as it is to play whack-a-mole. Plus, when I sing, I'll need the game to make me sound like Bono. Get on it, iNiS!

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