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Review : Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan for Nintendo DS
Gah the main reason why it is past midnight and I have not updated this site is because I have been playing an absolute kick ass import Nintendo DS game called Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan.
That roughly translates to Fighting Male Cheerleading Team Ouendan!
This is a music rhythm action game that is designed around the pen touch screen on the Nintendo DS. The story surrounds a dark trench coat clad macho cheer leading team that find people who need some cheering on and they dance and cheer to the music of Japanese rock. I love the music and find myself singing along even though I don't know any of the lyrics and bands.
The interface has you tapping numbered circles as rings shrink toward them as their part in the song comes up. You also have to rub and drag some items to the beat. The concept is not that different from Sega's classic monkey music game Samba de Amigo.
The concept it pretty simple to pick up but it take a lot of effort to master a song and it can get tough later on in the game. I see there being lots of replay value and I'll get some of the songs stuck in my head. I would love to get a soundtrack to this game if they make one.
The art style is done as Manga comics and is fun and completely insane. The cheer leading team Oendan dances on the bottom screen while the comical people that you are cheering on do their thing on the top screen and they do good when you do good. Just go to this game's website and watch some videos to see what I mean.
Nintendo really needs to get off their ass and release this game state side as fast as possible. It might be a little too Japanese with the weird sense of humor and syncing up to Japanese rock songs but that is not a problem in my book. You don't need to know any Japanese to play the game and it is not that hard to follow what is going on. If they left the music the same and just translated the text they would have a cult hit on their hands. Oh yeah there is Wifi support and the tunes rock with headphones or external speakers.
It is like a Dance Dance Revolution game in your hand. This game is twenty times more fun than feeding a Nintendog and I am so damn glad I took a chance and got this game. I am not going to hold my breath on a US release of Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan but luckily you can import this game and play in on a US Nintendo DS system without any problems. The game would be rated E and was about $45 at Pink Godzilla Games. Actually they can't keep this game in stock and keep having to reorder it. I knew the Nintendo DS would get some really creative fun games once the developers got a hang of it. This is the best damn music game that I have played since Parappa the Rapper. BBQ should stop playing Super Star Dance Club and get down with Fighting Male Cheerleading Team Ouendan!
Jake at September 21, 2005 
Reviews
Comments
wow. i think i might buy a DS now...
and the song from the website is gonna be stuck in my head all damn day.
Posted by: Ajani at September 21, 2005 12:59 PM
That is a fine game. I have played it a little bit. I would like to get it once I get a DS in a couple weeks. Cheerleading power!
Posted by: BBQ at September 22, 2005 2:34 AM
I got back from Japan yesterday and picked it up while I was out there based on good reviews in Famitsu and Edge (35/40 and 8/10 respectively) and I absolutely love it. The soundtrack is all real songs from actual Japanese artists and somebody's been nice enough to release a tracklist and torrent of the whole thing: http://torrents.mlydes.org/?page=torrentinfo&tid=325
Posted by: Olly at September 25, 2005 4:35 AM
Actually, the songs in the game are not the original versions but very close covers. This is the case in all console music games in Japan, even the Taiko Drum Master games.
Posted by: pattokun at October 8, 2005 11:57 PM
well, now this game is coming to the States, with brandnew content! The US version is called Secret Beat Agent or something like that...
Posted by: hypervolt at July 1, 2006 11:38 AM
It's called "Elite Beat Agents" and it will be my fourth DS game.
Posted by: Jim at July 4, 2006 3:26 PM
I bought elite beat agents yetserday and well... You could call me a freak, but I haven't slept since. I'm on the last difficulty and dang... it's challenging. BUY IT! IT'S AMAZING!
Posted by: Bane at December 16, 2006 7:32 PM
