"Osu! A short and sweet review for a short and sweet game"

Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan is the latest rhythm-action game by developer iNiS, famous for the cult-classic Gitaroo-man.

The premise of the game revolves around certain inhabitants of a local town, each one going about their daily activities until faced with a predicament of all predicaments. Lacking in courage and spirit it is YOUR job (as a leader of a group of male cheerleaders) to best motivate these hapless individuals in overcoming their problems, and all with the power of song and dance.

This noble act comes into play within a number of mechanics. As the characters stories and their respective songs play out, the Nintendo DS' touch screen is used to tap sequential markers for single beats and trace lines along predetermined tracks for prolonged beats, in addition giant discs must be spun as fast as possible.

As first impressions go the mechanics appear to be overly simple, you soon realise this is all a guise as your reflexes, accuracy but most of all rhythmic ability is tested to the limit, and all in the name of ‘cheering', plus a high score.
Indeed it is quite a feat for a game despite the challenge to still entice for another try, complete with tapping of the foot to an all-too familiar upcoming beat and stylus hand ever so slightly shaking in anticipation. It is more a feat when once completed the whole process can (and will) be repeated thanks to the expansive difficulty modes that pick out new segments of each song to make the old fresh again.

It is not perfect. The inability to skip a song's intro and outro can prove frustrating, as can the inability to save replays. Fortunately such oversights do not hamper Ouendan too much.

Overall however well conceived the gameplay, it is the characters you cheer on and the music used to do so that makes Ouendan so special. Whether it be them falling in love or just simply passing an exam - what would normally take a thirty-minute soap opera to express, Ouendan manages to compress into a mere three-minute segment whilst losing none of the potency. Here, with the true stars of the show the game shines.

Through a combination of expressive art, evocative songs and memorable characterisation and scenarios - all of which is affected (for the better or worse) by your performance - Ouendan is one of few games that induces concepts such as ‘hope' to the player. To the extent that the game becomes less about simply ‘playing to the rhythm' but rather ‘giving it your all to help another in need', and it is this that makes every individual experience within Ouendan as well as the overall experience unforgettably magical.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/27/06, Updated 05/18/07