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»Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2
"Elite Beat Agents, now with more J-Pop!"
With a name that translates, "Burn! Hot-Blooded Rhythm Soul: Hey! Fight! Cheer Squad 2,” Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2 has to live up to its predecessor’s name. Ouendan 2 takes everything that was improved in Elite Beat Agents, adds new tracks, and spits them back out in yet another fun and always stressful rhythm game. The formula still works in Ouendan 2, and if you thought you were done with cheering squads, you were certainly mistaken.
Ouendan 2 puts you once again in control of your three man cheering squad. Although this time, you’re also in control of a rival squad that resides on the east side of the river, while the original squad stays on the west side. The rest of the story really plays out within the stages themselves. The scenarios are just as ridiculous as they were in the original Ouendan, and include things as overcoming bedwetting or defeating a giant cat. There is also the standard slow and sad song like there was in Ouendan and EBA.
If you missed out on the original Ouendan or Elite Beat Agents, The gameplay mechanics are the same as before. You either have circles to tap, circles to trace, or disks you have to spin as quickly as possible to fill up a bar. The little circles are all numbered and you have to tap them when a bigger ring has enclosed the smaller circle. If it’s a circle you have to trace, you have to follow the circle as it moves along a trail. All of these mechanics are important for the main goal of keeping your cheering squad going. You have a health meter at the top that will go down if you don’t do well, and of course, you’ll fail if the meter gets too low. One big difference I noticed was the extended use of the trace circles. They seemed more in line with the music this time, and definitely enriched my playing experience. Another thing I noticed was that in the later levels, things were a bit more bunched together which made me rely a lot more of the rhythm of the song.
The problem with rhythm games is that when you have a formula set, games never really progress beyond the original. Games like DDR have had countless sequels, but almost all of them feel just like the original. They just have different songs. The same can be said about Ouendan 2. While the stories are new and just as good as the original, I still have a lingering sense that it’s been done before. If you’re one of those people that just wouldn’t be satisfied with a new set of songs, you may have to pass on Ouendan. However, if you’re like me, and just can’t get enough of this formula, definitely go buy Ouendan right now. The challenge is still there even after playing hours and hours of Elite Beat Agents and Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan, I still struggled to get past the hard mode.
It’s fairly obvious that the soundtrack makes a rhythm game what it is. Ouendan 2’s new soundtrack is a new mix of j-pop covers. Because I don’t understand Japanese, I can’t really tell you if the lyrics are fitting of their levels, but I can tell you that the music behind them definitely is. One glaring flaw of the original Ouendan was its lack of variety. Pretty much every song was J-pop or rock. EBA fixed this problem by having a better variety of genres. Ouendan 2 is much the same as the original and has mostly J-pop and rock, but there were a few attempts to slow down some levels. I won’t give a complete rundown of every song, but I can tell you that I enjoyed almost every song, with the exception of “Pop Star,” which reminds me so much of everything I hate about pop music without even understanding what it’s saying. All of the songs are put together nicely, and I only recall maybe once or twice where I felt the song didn’t match the rhythm I was tapping.
Ouendan 2 has the same multiplayer features as Elite Beat agents – single cart play for up to four players, a ghost mode, and a versus mode, and a co-op mode. When competing, the person doing the best will shrink their opponent’s circles, and when playing cooperatively, each player takes a different part of the song. Most modes are a blast, except ghost, which like in Elite Beat Agents, isn’t nearly as fun as it sounds.
Ouendan 2 is pretty much Elite Beat Agents mixed back into the original Ouendan. The game will really appeal to anyone who liked the original, or just about anyone. Even if you can’t understand any of the words, you’ll still be able to make out what’s going on via the manga presentation and the tone of the song. The language barrier is not an issue at all. If you haven’t played Ouendan 1 or Elite Beat Agents, I’d recommend buying Elite Beat Agents first to see if you like it just to save a bit on importing. After that, if you want more, get Ouendan 2, you won’t regret it.
Article by: Knives
Posted on: May. 24th, 2007 |
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Review Recap |
| Gameplay |
| Ouendan 2 almost felt better than the others. The songs seemed put together better. |
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Graphics |
| Very much the same as Elite Beat Agents. Everything looks good. |
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Sound |
| The soundtrack is excellent, but lacks the variety of Elite Beat Agents. |
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Replay Value |
| Just like the first two Inis rhythm games, I’ll definitely find myself playing through this one again and again. |
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