Vib-ribbon should be a definite purchase for importers and music game fans alike.
User Rating: 7.3 | vib-ribbon PS
Music/rhythm games are more common place in the marketplace today. However, there was a time when all that was known to people was PaRappa the Rapper. Many other games arose from the game’s success and one game from the original developer. NaNaOn-Sha, the developer of PaRappa the Rapper, created a different take on the music genre with their game vib-ribbon. While vib-ribbon has a different visual style than the Parappa series, there is no denying its charm and distinct quirkiness. Vib-ribbon stars Vibri, a strange rabbit character that navigates levels by traveling along a constantly shaking surface and by avoiding dangerous obstacles. These obstacles can consist of loops, holes, walls and bumps. These four basic obstacles are all assigned to buttons on the controller. When Vibri approaches a certain obstacle, pressing the corresponding button will successfully doge that obstacle. The four main obstructions that cross your path can be combined, for example a bumpy loop. These combined obstacles require a combination of button presses in order to continue. If you manage to successfully avoid a certain number of obstacles without faltering Vibri will morph into his king like form. However, if you continually run into the obstacles Vibri will degrade into a small frog like form, then a snake and finally will die and the player will fail the level. Like all music games, vib-ribbon is about timing. There are many hindrances in vib-ribbon that can easily cause your timing to be off. The pace of the game changes with the tempos of the songs you choose and so does the camera view. The camera view is especially annoying since it can take different perspectives that along with the constant shaking of the ground can make it almost impossible to achieve a perfect game. The graphic’s in vib-ribbon can easily be dismissed as terrible but they do have a certain charm in them that is present throughout the game. Virbri and the levels he traverses are all represented with simple vector graphics. The art style used in the game is very unique and its Japanese roots can easily be seen, however the simplicity can leave a player wanting more. Vibri is always a vibrant character and animates well in his four different forms. The graphics do not seem like they would be a power hog on the Playstation hardware, however, there are small areas of slowdown in the game that happen when there is a large camera sweep and there are many obstacles coming in Vibri’s direction. Other than this minor annoyance the game’s graphics do not falter. Music is what games of the rhythm genre are focused on so it might be strange to find out that vib-ribbon does not have many songs, especially for a game of this simplistic nature. The game’s soundtrack consists of Japanese songs sung by Yoko Fujita. They, like everything else in the game, have a quirky nature to them and are very catchy. The reason for the game having such a little selection of songs is because you can replace the game with any CD. Putting in an audio CD allows you to play any song on that CD which has its own level and specific difficulty. The fact that the game allows this means it has an unlimited amount of replay value. Any new CD can be new levels to try and master, and since the pace and style of the songs change the difficulty of the levels it is always fun to try and find a new challenging song. The CD importing feature however can also be seen as an excuse for the game’s lack of replay value and features on its own. This does not overly affect the enjoyment of the game but it is something to consider. In the end, vib-ribbon should be a definite purchase for importers and music game fans alike. Its unique charm, graphics and CD import feature all add to an overly enjoyable game, even though it can seem to be repetitive after long play periods. It is sad to know that the game never graced western shores. It can still easily be found on import sites, and anyone who is a fan of NaNaOn-Sha’s work or games that provide the quirkiness that Japanese developers are known for, should give it a try.
