vib-ribbon

"Very unique game, definitely not for everyone"

I picked up this game from Network Video in Northern California after reading the review on www.gamefan.com. It sounded as if this game was really different from anything else I'd ever seen on my PSX, or any other machine that was capable of playing games. After playing this game for about half an hour, I stand by my initial impression. This is easily the most original and innovative game I have ever seen on the Playstation.

First a thumbnail for those who seem to equate a bunch of arbitrary numbers with the quality of a game:

Gameplay - 9: very easy to pick up and play, don't even need to know Japanese. Story - n/a: see reply to question "What kind of game is it?" Graphics/Sound - 7: very minimal graphics, and sound...well, read the review below Replayability - 9: being able to generate your own levels is very cool, but you'll mostly play this game with friends, and not by yourself Buy or rent? - Um, if you can find a place from which you can rent this game, do so, as imported games are expensive, unless you live in Japan or elsewhere in Asia, in which case, it's not imported. 8)

What kind of game is it? Tough question to answer. If I had to classify it in a particular genre that already exists, I would be stretching the truth by saying this was a rhythm-based game, but this is the best I can do right now. This is definitely NOT implying that this game is similar to Bust-A-Groove or any game in Konami's BEMANI series (i.e., Dance Dance Revolution, BeatMania, etc.).

This simple game takes audio tracks from an audio CD, or from the game disc itself which contains 6 audio tracks, and generates an obstacle course based on the music. You control a rabbit-like character named Vibri. Your task is to make as few mistakes as possible while guiding Vibri over the obstacles generated by the music. Each type of obstacle generated corresponds to one or two of four buttons on your controller. You press this button to overcome this obstacle, you press that button to overcome that obstacle, you press these buttons for this obstacle. Overall, really easy to learn.

The replayability and originality of this game come from the fact that you can generate your own obstacle courses with your own audio CDs. This is a good thing, as the music included with the game is very....well, it won't be on the radio any time soon. After playing through the game, I tried various songs, from the Beastie Boys (Sabotage was all but impossible) to Sarah McLachlan (much easier) to Mozart (actually, kind of difficult) to Santana (also quite difficult).

Graphics and sound? Well, as my friend put it when he saw the game, he thought it looked like a "living chalkboard". This is entirely accurate. White lines in various patterns on a completely black background, including Vibri, all vibrating and moving in time with the music. Although I can't confirm this, I'd be willing to bet that this game was made by Sony in less than 2 months, including debugging, testing, manufacturing, and recording the music included with the game. As for the sound, the sound is only as good as the CDs you use.

Minimalistic is probably the best word I can use to describe this game. It's too bad that imported games are too expensive; this game would have cost $20 new in the US. But if you have money to burn, or if you know of a place that rents imported games, pick this up. It's definitely worth a look or two.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 12/28/99, Updated 12/28/99