Just in time for summer comes Gitaroo Man, the weird and wildly creative rhythm game first released in 2002 on the PlayStation 2. This cult classic will be the first of several PlayStation 2 games hitting PlayStation Plus over the next few months. That's cool news, but is this game actually worth playing? To answer that question, I decided to flip through the pages of Electronic Gaming Monthly, Edge, Game Informer and more classic magazines that reviewed Gitaroo Man back when it first came out. Get ready to hit all the right notes in this rockin' episode of PlayStation Plus Review Crew.


As game consoles embraced CD and DVD technology, developers big and small were not just looking for creative ways to incorporate real music into their games, but hoping to create entire games based around that music. You saw that in the 1990s with the release of PaRappa the Rapper on PlayStation and arcade cabinets dedicated to Dance Dance Revolution and DrumMania. The rhythm genre would eventually break into the mainstream with Guitar Hero in 2005, but three years before that, there was another guitar god rockin' the PlayStation 2. I'm of course talking about Gitaroo Man, the star of a wonderfully weird Japanese game that Koei bravely decided to localize for an American audience. I would argue that Gitaroo Man was ahead of his time, but let's see what the critics said back in 2002.

We're going to kick things off with Electronic Gaming Monthly. Not because they are one of the biggest names and have multiple critics weighing in, but rather because they gave this musical oddity the lowest score of any English-language magazine. Greg acknowledged that Koei's gaining a reputation for releasing weird games. “And while I applaud them for it, I'm afraid only the hardcore music game crowd will get much out of this short title. The songs are awesome and Gitaroo Man features a better-than-PaRappa 2 multiplayer mode, but once the game is over, the only reason I felt compelled to go back and play was to hear the cool love theme one more time.” Chris liked it a bit more, giving it a 7 out of 10 and arguing that “it's a great combination of frantic, Japanese guitar rock and wacky anime-inspired action. Like most story-driven music games, Gitaroo Man's a tad short and the levels vary widely from awesome to so-so. Also, the control has a tendency to cramp up your hands as you try to follow the music trail with the analog stick.” EGM gave Gitaroo Man an average score of 6.8 out of 10.

While that may have been the lowest score, there were a few other magazines that largely agreed with EGM. PSM gave the game a very similar score, going with a 7 out of 10. That's the same mark we saw from Edge, who wondered if “perhaps it's this complexity that's also Gitaroo Man's (partial) undoing. While the feeling of hitting a riff perfectly and hearing the noise warp around a daunting S-curve is sublime, the lack of negative feedback is disconcerting and disappointing. If a note is missed, there's no aural feedback akin to PaRappa's characteristic yelps. But the cynics can stop smiling, because there's enough here to imply the genre's far from finished. PaRappa fans may start to question their loyalties towards Matsuura's brand because, while Gitaroo Man's not faultless, it's certainly a step forward, and one the doggy sequel will have trouble surpassing.”

The next tier up are the magazines that gave it an 8 out of 10, like Computer & Video Games, as well as Play. However, the magazine I want to look at is Next Generation, who went with a 4 out of 5. “The scenarios are so stylish, you hardly mind the less-than-original gameplay. In fact, one of our favorite bits is when (after several stages of intense combat) our hero just relaxed under a tree and serenades his girlfriend as the sun sets. It's that eclectic mix of gameplay and personality that makes this a must-play.”

When it comes to the highest score, that belongs to none other than Game Informer, who gave Gitaroo Man a 9 out of 10. “As sad as it seems, having done a little air guitar in your past will probably work in your favor in this, the best rhythm game ever released. Essentially a button-timer with a twist, Gitaroo Man takes you on a journey of a young boy who must play a magical instrument called a Gitaroo to defeat his nemesis. By outplaying your opponent, you advance in levels and gain access to different songs. From the inspired music to the quirky gameplay, Gitaroo Man will not disappoint. Go get it. Right now.”

In a world where Guitar Hero and Rock Band did not exist, this really was the guitar game to get on home consoles. Weird and wild in all the right ways, Gitaroo Man was a hit with most of the critics, averaging an overall score of 77%. If you somehow missed this quirky PS2 game when it first came out, then now is your chance to give it a strum.