E3 2008: Major Minor's Majestic March Hands-On

Surrounded by our colleagues, businessmen, and the games industry elite, we felt a little bit self-conscious playing Major Minor's Majestic March at E3. But even when you're shaking your Wii Remote like an authoritative bandleader and looking ever so slightly stupid, you're still having fun with NanaOn-Sha's latest crazy creation. Even when we were being distracted by the snap-happy efforts of one Mr. Aaron Thomas, we took to the two levels on show in the demo with aplomb.

Unlike in other rhythm action games, there's no onscreen guide in Major Minor. It's up to you to set the tempo of the music by swinging the Wii Remote up and down like a bandleader's baton. It's your job to set the pace for the band that follows you, and as you march through town, you can point at the animal residents to add them to your band. If you're maintaining a good rhythm and recruiting more band members, the music will sound great. But if you're not up to scratch, your band will have fewer instruments and a slower or faster tempo.

To create the distinct art style in Major Minor, NanaOn-Sha called back Parappa artist Rodney Greenblat to help with the overall design. Visually, the game boasts all the colour and style of his previous work, although some of the zany humour seemed to be missing at this stage. While the game looks to be an interesting take on the rhythm action genre, we're concerned about its potential simplicity in the long term. Hopefully the designers are working in more varied challenges over the game's proposed seven stages, and the two-player mode should help longevity.

Major Minor's Majestic March will be released before the end of 2008 in the US, but it's more likely to be 2009 by the time it reaches Europe. We'll look forward to seeing more in the run up to release.