"Even if you don't read Japanese, you still NEED to import this game..."

When I saw the videos for this game, I said to myself ," I must have this game." I have been a fan of music games from Dance Dance Revolution to Beatmania to Uh Jammer Lammy and this game was no different. There was no way I was going to pass up this game. Like any other music theme games, this game is very addictive.

Is it Import Friendly...???
I don't read any Japanese so it's not very often that I would import Japanese games. This game is probably one of the most import friendly game for people who can or can't read Japanese. There isn't much to translate. The menus are easy to figure out through trial and error. Even the stories in the game are easy to understand without the need of reading the text.

Male Cheerleaders cheering you on..???
There are 15 levels in this game which have their own stories. The usual theme of the game is that usually the protagonist needs help and called for Ouendan to cheer them on in order to face the obstacles that they need to pass. Some of this obstacles that some of these protagonists face could be studying for a college exam, stop a army of robot, or saving the world from a giant meteorites.

Yep. I said it. They cheer you on to help you study.

Also, usually the story itself is divided into 3-4 sections. Depending how you did in each sections, you can either received the bad or the good scene in the game. Each stories are very quirky and very enjoyable.

Ok... I know they don't look very realistic...
The DS graphics isn't something you would considered to be the highest point in this game. They are draw in an anime style but is draw in a very quirky style.

Are you ready to play???
There are four modes in this game which goes from easy,normal, hard, and insane. You could only unlock hard and insane starting from completing normal mode.

Basically when the music starts, there will be numbered circles appeared. There will be a ring around each numbered circle and you have to use the stylus to touch it before the ring touches it . There are times where you would have to drag the sphere in a certain direction across the touchscreen. There also a bar on the very top of the touchscreen that basically like your life bar. The more mistake you make, it will be closer to the danger zone.

The gameplay does sounds pretty boring but when you are playing it, it's a different story. I think what makes this game works is that the touchscreen is able to help the player to be very active in the game.

I didn't think the DS could do that...
The song list consist of 15 Japanese songs ranging from Jpop to Jrock. I think what impress me about the music in the game was that I didn't think that the DS was able to include lyrics in the game. You are able to hear the lyrics along with the music in the game. In general, the sound quality of the game is pretty decent for the DS although I would suggest listening it through headphones.

Conclusion
The only minor complaint that I have with this game that it is a pretty short game. However, if you're the type of person who love challenge themselves, the game does get pretty challenging at times. I highly suggest you to import this game because this game is highly addicting and fun. You collection is not complete without this game.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 01/12/06