Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan

Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan

The Short

Pros
- Excellent rhythm/music game on the DS
- Soundtrack is a delightful mix from a variety of Japanese song genres
- Premise is silly and stupid, and you'll understand it even if you don't speak Japanese
- Multiple levels of difficulty allow for a long string of progression

Cons
- A bit  heavy on the J-Pop
- One of the slower songs is a good change of pace, but it comes out of nowhere
- Game eventually ends

This game is pretty Japan. 

The Long

Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan (translated roughly into: "I have no idea what this is in Japanese") is a Japan-only released rhythm game, and remains to date the only game I have ever imported. It's a well known fact that I'm a massive fan of music games in nearly all their varieties, but Ouendan was the very first music game I ever played and got hopelessly addicted to. This was back before Elite Beat Agents (essentially the US version of this game) existed, and since I'd heard great stuff about this game I found a copy off PlayAsia or eBay or something (I honestly don't remember) and imported the sucker.

I am very glad that I did.

Ouendan is an absolutely fantastic music game, even when I had no idea what any of the songs were or what anybody was saying (either in the lyrics or the on-screen text). A great blend of silly, stupid, and challenge, Ouendan is a must-get for fans of music games...though if you live in the US you should probably get Elite Beat Agents first.

Study, little man!

The "plot" to Ouendan is stupid and over the top and I love it so much. Essentially, whenever people are stressed, tired, or feel stuck, they can just shout "OUENDAN!" Moments later, a group of all-male cheerleaders clad in black trenchcoats will literally break into your house, motivating you to do whatever it is you need to do by the power of dance. I guess "Ouendan" is the name of a real-life Japanese cheerleading squad that is all male and wears black trenchcoats? You can see how much fact-checking I do for these reviews.

Anyway, the situations start simple (do homework, get a boss to notice you and ask you out to a dance) and quickly escalate into the absurd (fight a giant Godzilla monster, save the earth from an incoming asteroid). All of these issues are overcome by the power of dance, with mid-song cutscenes that play out either good or bad depending on how you are doing. They are well-animated, very funny, and fully aware that they are being far too self-serious. It's tongue pressed firmly in cheek, and even with the language barrier I knew enough to get a lot of laughs out of the goofy premises. 

Screw up, and you ruin someone's hopes and dreams. 

But this wouldn't be worth anything if not paired with great gameplay, and Ouendan provides this and in spades. The top screen is essentially just used to tell the story, and honestly you won't have time to look up there because you'll be looking at the bottom screen. Made by the same guy who made Guitaroo Man, Ouendan is surprisingly similar. Essentially, buttons appear (with numbers for the order) and you have to tap them in order of the beat. As songs get harder you'll be sliding your stylus, spinning, and tapping in rapid fury. It sounds simple, but believe me: this game gets challenging very quickly.

Tap to use copier!

At the top of the screen is your life bar which, unlike most games, is constantly draining. Each tap is ranked into three tiers, the closer on beat you are the more life you get. Screw up and you lose a bonus chunk of life, which can mess you up very quickly. This becomes especially bananas on the hardest difficulty (appropriately titled "Insane,") where the health bar drops so fast on the later songs you have to hit every note perfectly; just getting an "Ok 100" for being slightly off won't fill the life fast enough to prevent death. It's a good system that keeps you on your toes, though it might be frustrating for those who don't pick up on it fast.

As stated, this game has four difficulty modes, the top two of which have to be unlocked. Beginner and Normal are pretty standard and teach the basics, but Hard is extremely rough. But things get even crazier on Insane: not only does the life drain faster (as mentioned above), but buttons are half the size and appear later (giving you a shorter window to tap). It's the same stages as Hard (though they might be mirrored; I don't remember, but they are in Elite Beat Agents) but this new level of challenge is only for the hardcore.

The cutscenes on top are hilarious, but you'll never have time to watch them. 

Graphically, Ouendan is fantastic. The dancers are 3D sprites that move with the button presses, while the story is presented in somewhat animated cutscenes on top. The art is charming and fun, and as stated completely over the top. It's a laugh riot, and luckily you don't need to know a lick of Japanese to get the humor.

Of course, a music game lives or dies by its soundtrack, and I'm pleased to say Ouendan picks a great batch of tunes, even for Western importers. I don't know any J-Pop to speak of, but I found myself humming a good number of these songs after the fact, and while they're all covers I...wouldn't know that. Like the Persona series, Ouendan picks some standout Japanese tunes that are fun, funny, and catchy. I admit to looking a few of these up on youtube after the fact. 

The Bossman don't let the Ouendan mess around.

Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan was an awesome intro to the music genre of games for me. Peppered with weird and silliness and coupled with an obscenely addicting game (loaded with content, too; those 15 songs go a long way over various difficulty levels), Ouendan is a must-own for fans of the genre. You can import it for relatively cheap, though again: Elite Beat Agents is the western version and is essentially the same game. However, that one just doesn't quite reach the oddness levels of this original, and since you can never have too many songs, I'd still suggest picking it up.

Absolute screen-tapping joy. Five out of five stars.  

Spin, you fool! SPIN!