The problem with Tail Concerto is not quality but quantity
2.) A hero that jumps on, captures, or somehow subdues his enemies non-violently. (Check: Waffle uses a Police mecha-suit that captures in enemies in pacifying bubbles that are then teleported back to police headquarters.)
3.) Saccharine sweet cut scenes that help the story along. (Check + Bonus points: TC has high quality, anime-style sequences with voices that sound straight out of Saturday morning cartoons. Double bonus points for the voice of Stare, who fits the character perfectly and sounds eerily close to MTV's Daria)
Sure, the characters in Tail Concerto are super-sweet but the plot carries a not-so-subtle undertone. The adventure takes place in the land of Prairie, where all of the towns and areas are floating islands. In Prairie, the Dogs are the dominate species. However, a few of the cat race have formed a gang called the Black Cats and are demanding equality and striking back at the Prairie system with terrorism. To make things a bit more complicated, they are lead by Alicia, who is an old cat acquaintance of Waffle. Nothing like a little interspecies tension to spice up a platformer!
On the surface Tail Concerto has everything that a platformer needs to excel. The control is decent, with the only real problem being the typical inclusion of jumps that require pinpoint accuracy. The graphics also look good for a Playstation game and extra special attention to detail was paid to the character animations. The music is also of superior quality but Atlus inexplicably removed the original Japanese vocals from the opening and replaced them with nothing, leaving the song an instrumental. After keeping the original Japanese lyrics in Thousand Arms, this is a bit of a disappointment. Even Tail Concerto's camera works well the majority of the time thus bypassing the major downfall of most 3D platformers.
The problem with Tail Concerto is not quality but quantity. My first play through, on easy, lasted just over five hours. The second tour, this time on normal, clocked in right about the same. The difficulty also didn't pose much of a threat until the last level , making it good for younger players but disappointing for veteran platformers. While Tail Concerto has all the right ingredients for a top-notch 3D-action title, it just doesn't have enough of them. Seasoned players will blast right though Tail Concerto.