So Elite Beat Agents, as I’m sure many of you already know, was a completely overhauled version of Ouendan with a localization so comprehensive that it should be considered a completely different game. The sound design is changed to a softer set of percussion for the game’s token sad song – although neither Ouendan game has anything that matches the hysterically overblown sentimentality of Elite Beat Agents’ “You’re the Inspiration” stage. The fact that the songs are accompanied by an over-the-top cacophony of whistles and cheers is also entertaining. These segments provide some incentive to replay stages if the desire for an elusive “S” rank isn’t enough, but most importantly they’re just plain fun. The direction of the cutscenes change depending on how well the Ouendan are cheering, potentially causing some downright hilarious outcomes and slight changes to the ending of the song. The songs are broken up by short animated evaluations that show the progression of the plot. While the rhythm game is happening, the story doesn’t stop as the action on the top screen changes based on the Ouendan’s performance. On harder difficulty levels it’s entirely possible to fail a stage without actually missing a single note.
This isn’t helped by the harsh scoring system where even being slightly offbeat can quickly drain the Ouendan’s life bar. It’s incredibly simple, but the difficulty level gradually increases to the point where memorization and a keen sense of rhythm are required to succeed. Apparently Yano had the idea for Ouendan when he first played the DS and the gameplay of tapping and dragging sequences of notes in time with the catchy J-pop playing in the background feels like a natural fit for the console. Unless anyone wants to bring up some forgotten title, I’m certain that Ouendan was the first rhythm game to rely entirely on using a touch screen for input. The Ouendan have to deal with plenty of seemingly mundane problems, like a kid trying to woo a girl by winning a game of dodgeball, but the way the game presents these rather trite dilemmas with the hot-blooded passion of a sh?nen manga never fails to be entertaining. The game has a reputation for how ridiculous the scenarios are, but that’s not strictly true. Each stage is its own self-contained story, beginning with a manga-style cutscene showing some stressed-out soul screaming for the Ouendan. With their goofy mix of ridiculous hairstyles, distinctive sideburns and massive eyebrows, the Ouendan are far from the usual American depiction of cheerleaders, but that’s part of the charm (and that’s not to say that the skirt-wearing, pom-pom-waving variation don’t show up). The titular Ouendan are a specialized squad of cheerleaders who show up out of the blue to help drive ordinary (and a few extraordinary) citizens to succeed in their goals – whether that be taking a university entrance exam or fighting off a giant rat. None of their games exemplify this approach quite as well as Ouendan because, really, who can express and incite passion quite like a good cheer squad? Rather than making games as pure entertainment, he wants to create experiences that “make people feel good”.
Case in point: their 2005, Nintendo-published title – Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan (“Yeah! Fight! Cheer Squad”, if you were wondering why nobody ever translates its name) In an interview with 1UP, the game’s director Keiichi Yano stated that iNiS’s philosophy was to create games with “passion” – both in terms of the act of making the games and the actual content.
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As a development team that takes a clear musical direction with each of their games (iNiS itself stands for Infinite Noise of the Inner Soul), they understand how to create a perfect blend of personality and compelling gameplay unlike anything else out there. I hope you all like anime cheerleaders and J-pop, because this week I’m taking a look back at a pair (or is it a trio?) of quirky rhythm games produced by iNiS that are up there as personally my favourite games on the Nintendo DS.
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