Advertisement

Register for free to remove this ad

Welcome to a new featured CAG Editorial, “Rare for a Reason?”, penned by our very own RockSolidAudio.
He will be sharing his opinion on rare/hard-to-find games and letting us know if they are worth a CAG’s time and money.

Rare for a Reason?
By RockSolidAudio

If you're anything like me, you often find yourself staring at an intimidatingly large backlog of unplayed video games, unsure of where to begin. Worse still, I have gone out of my way on several occasions to make sure that I obtain games that are acknowledged to be hard to find or valuable, fueled purely by the fires of being a collector and a Cheap Ass Gamer. I think we can all agree that there is satisfaction enough in the thrill of the hunt, but what "rare" games are really worth tracking down? More importantly, which of these titles are worth your precious gaming dollars? Disney Sports Football looks awfully nice on your Gamecube shelf and makes your heart swell with pride, but how much joy will it bring spinning in your system? I decided some time ago, that when this generation of gaming ended, I wanted to own all truly great and rare titles. As I finally get around to slowly playing through everything I have amassed, I would like to share with you which games meet both criteria.

Gitaroo Man

For the sake of explanation, I'm going to split rhythm games right down the middle. Those that are narrative and character-driven (Parappa The Rapper, Bust-a-Groove, Gitaroo Man) and those which are not (DDR, Guitar Hero, Beatmania). First and foremost to song selection and play mechanic, some games take the time to introduce us to their world of unique sights and sounds, and do their best to explain the motivations behind a dog rapping about karate. Since these types of games are almost exclusively Japanese-developed, they usually come with a nice dollop of wackiness - at least by our standards. The story of a kid named U-1 who can change into the sci-fi rocker Gitaroo Man simply by having his rock prowess threatened and being tossed his space guitar by his (cyborg?) dog may sound ridiculous, but it actually plays into the gameplay quite directly and really helps the game set itself apart.

Each of the ten levels involves a battle of some sort, whether it be running from a robot space shark, winning a young lady’s heart beside a campfire, or proving your rock skills to a trio of dancing skeletons. Most songs break down into several stages of battle – an introduction, several turns of attacking and defending, and a finishing outro of sorts. The attacking portions revolve around a fairly unique gameplay mechanic of following a curving line with the left analog stick, while hitting timed presses of the circle button along the way at various speeds and lengths with the music. It's a great combination of rhythm and physical movement, and thanks to the variety of great songs (more on that in a bit), feels different in every level. The rock anthems are slow and deliberate, the salsa guitar is fast and flashy, etc. - just the way it should be.

The other half of the gameplay, the defense, plays closer to a typical rhythm setup, with notes coming at you from four directions (corresponding with the Dual Shock buttons), requiring an appropriate button press when they hit the crossroads. It's a simple interface that again works really well with the variety of songs. Now that you understand the basics of both gameplay types, let me say that they work beautifully in tandem. The earlier levels split the songs up quite decidedly between them, but the further you play, the more erratically they are combined. You'll find yourself barely hanging onto a stream of attack notes, only to be barraged by a slew to defend against, and back the other way - it's fantastic. It's the only rhythm game that I know of to seamlessly combine two disparate gameplay styles with such symbiotic, sexy results.

Getting back to the game’s story, when I write that each stage is a battle, you actually SEE it play out. It's not a simple dance-off either - more in the style of Parappa, with a ton more effort thrown into the proceedings. You'll fight through various backgrounds and areas, meet new characters and challengers, and generally get a very entertaining show in the background while you duel. It's a great game to watch as a result, perfect to switch off stages with a buddy (though there is a multiplayer mode, it is ironically made significantly lamer by the lack of multiple stages and interesting crap in the background while you play). The bookending cutscenes on each level are fun, with some hilariously inconsistent text translation to boot.

Rhythm games are ultimately only as good as their songs though - Guitar Hero gets away with a pretty standard gameplay system (vastly inferior to Amplitude's even) because of a fantastic song selection (and peripheral, of course), while Technic Beat drowns in its awful song selection despite unique gameplay mechanics. Gitaroo Man has a pretty damn fantastic soundtrack, spanning several speeds and genres of both Western and Eastern origin. First impressions could easily dismiss it as J-Pop, but it goes a lot deeper and sticks in your head far longer than you'd imagine. I don't want to ruin too many of the stages by getting into more musical specifics, but suffice it to say you'll want to track down the soundtrack after a couple of sessions.

The objective problems are mostly mechanical in nature. Oddly enough, I think the menu navigation lost something in the translation, making it initially confusing to save and load your games. Also, you can't pause during gameplay without restarting the level, which is pretty annoying. Beyond that, I found the "Master Mode" that's unlocked after beating the game a bit too unforgiving for the wrong reasons (your life goes a lot quicker instead of the song being significantly harder to play), and the two-player mode gets old surprisingly fast. Beyond that, it's all gravy. Great songs, great gameplay and a presentation that oozes with character are the cornerstones of any standout rhythm game in the relatively new genre, and Gitaroo Man will have a place in history as a result. It's definitely worth tracking down (and shouldn't be too hard with the recent gamequestdirect.com reprint), and surely worth the support of an elusive full-price purchase.

Read more of RockSolidAudio's (aka Nick) work on G-Pinions.com

Not Nick...

Out of all my collection of games, this one is always the most requested to by my friends to play when we get together. Plus, it's the only pick up and play game that is very skill based, which is rare. Bravo and nice article.

Very good article, I might just pick this up now.

I can't wait to hear what you have to say about other rare games. Keep up the good work!

I'll be guessing REZ will be covered somewhere down the line...

Lets keep it to the truly rare games, though... Gitaroo Man can be found in almost every EB / Gamestop in a 100 mile radius here, and bought online.

Hell, it's about as common as the sports titles now.

Originally Posted by Roufuss Lets keep it to the truly rare games, though... Gitaroo Man can be found in almost every EB / Gamestop in a 100 mile radius here, and bought online. Hell, it's about as common as the sports titles now.

yeah, but every store that holds one has exactly that... only one copy.

Fantastic article you described te game perfectly. This is one of my all time favorite games for the PS2 but whenever I even pull out the box everybody laughs at the subpar boxart. Dude thanks for letting others know about such a flawless game. Ohe yeah 2fast definitely pick this bad boy up. I guarantee there is at least one song that you will love since the soundtrack spans ALOT of genres. In short......everybody who even remotely likes rhythm games should pick this up.

There is exactly ONE copy in the Entertainment Outlet on 40th street in Manhattan, I forget the price but it's certainly not 20 bucks. That's a heads up for anyone eager to seek it out that dosent have a dozen stores with it, which is generally the case in manhattan.

This is an interesting idea... and a very useful one considering these rare games cost so much... anyway, this has convinced me to take a look at Gitaroo Man... it actually sounds awesome...

now for a segment on Ikaruga or Rez.

I did a search for it at the Gamestops in my area. It is in stock at every single one. I wish GS would take EB gift cards, damnit!

Originally Posted by Alpha2 There is exactly ONE copy in the Entertainment Outlet on 40th street in Manhattan, I forget the price but it's certainly not 20 bucks. That's a heads up for anyone eager to seek it out that dosent have a dozen stores with it, which is generally the case in manhattan.

man I love that store. I picked up a sealed copy of Disgaea there last year for $30.

That game is great. I had it for years. I won't get rid of it. it's fun after all this time. Hard as hell though....lol.

Nice article, well written and not too fanboyish.

Having said that, I'd love to take issue with the entire concept of game collecting in the United States. It can be summed up this way:

Any Obscure Japanese Game can be considered rare and valuable. These games usually aren't rare because the company goes out of business or is a no-name brand (see: Atari 2600 and Intellivision games from 3rd party companies that came and went, or ultra-low production numbers due to the death of the system they were made for)....but rather they are "rare" simply due to obscurity and lack of interest on store shelves.

9 out of 10 of these are oddball Japanese-styled games that make the average American gamer shrug and go "Huh?".

Also, what makes a game "rare" these days can vary. Is my unopened copy of Intellivision Racing more "rare" than some hot Japanese RPG that is currently making the $100+ rounds on EBAY?

Which is more likely to exist....the unopened Intellivision Racing still in the cello, or the still-can-be-found-in-second-hand-shops opened version of Obscuro-Japanese Game Title...??

One is hard to find now, because of the current fascination with game collecting, whereas the other one is truly rare in that few examples exist.
PS: I know my unopened Auto Race isn't "RARE" by any definition of the word, I'm just using it as an example of Vintage versus "still avaialble on store shelves".

I haven't had time to read the article yet, but just wanted to say that this is a cool new addition to CAG. Look forward to reading this and any other games that are covered.

Great review article Nick! Now i've got an itching to play some Gitaroo Man...need to get one before it gets $$$ again.

Gitaroo-Man isn't exactly rare anymore... you can get it at gamestop.com and every single GS without 50 miles of me shows 1-3 copies in stock.

But still, good article. This will be a nice feature to read.

Nice article. I'm a huge fan of music games, and this one stands right near the top of my list. Recommended without reservation. To all that decide to give this a try, have fun, and good luck beating Level 7 Expert.

Good read.

And as far as the rarity... I'm sure there is probably a copy in all the stores because the general public is saying "What the hell is Gitaroo Man and why would I spend $40 on it?" Even if there are copies in every GS, that's only a few thousand copies, hardly enough to affect long-term availability and "rare" status.

Not to mention a ton of people who wanted it before just because it was rare don't want to touch it now that there's been a dreaded reprint.

Watched some vids on it (first time I've even considered the game) and... holy shit. This seems like Parappa or Um Jammer Lammy if it was a truly brilliant game. So how does this game hold up in terms of replay value? Is it something you could only play once and then cast aside forever, or is it something that is legitimately replayable?

There are only 10 songs, but they are endearing enough to play over and over again, at least for me. Plus, Expert mode will definitely keep you busy for a 2nd playthrough.