Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan

While I'm not going to re-write the GIGANTIC post I made back before gff's crash, an Ouendan thread needs to exist for the good of humanity. Here, we discuss how awesome, balanced, innovative, cool, and utterly mind-blowing this game is.

For the people who have been under a rock since september of last year, here's a small description:

Originally Posted by Gamespot

The male cheerleader is a little known and mysterious individual whose existence borders on the supernatural. Much like the yeti, unicorns, and the rarely seen feral Care Bears, male cheerleaders aren't something you see often. There is, of course, a reason for this.

No, it's not because the notion of men jumping around like their female counterparts is both unsettling and hilarious. The reason the male cheerleader is rarely seen is because he's off doing important work just below the radar of the common man. What kind of work? Up until recently, no one really knew just what male cheerleaders did. However, the recently released import Ossu! Tatakae! Ouendan! for Nintendo's DS sheds light on the secret lives of male cheerleaders with a fun, addictive rhythm game that's something all DS owners must experience.



Ossu! Tatakae! Ouendan! is a rhythm action game that puts you in charge of a trio of male cheerleaders that, much like Batman, is never far from those in need. The trio remains in a state of catlike readiness until it hears the call of "Ouendan!", or "Let's cheer!", from someone in need of help. You'll find two main modes in the game, a single-player experience that offers easy and normal difficulties, as well as an unlockable cheerleader difficulty and a multiplayer mode for two to four players.

The single-player game is a collection of 14 slices of life that finds your trio of cheerleaders making the rounds in Japan and helping anyone that cries out for help. You'll find people in need by using the DS's stylus to navigate a 2D map of the city. The needy masses can be seen running around at specific locations crying for help.

You'll tap an individual to select him or her, and then you'll hop in to help him or her. As you progress through the game, you'll open up additional needy folk in search of help until you reach the mother of all help requests and find yourself saving the world.

The multiplayer mode comes in two flavors, a simple two-player versus and a four-player rumble, that let you mix it up with friends over the DS's Wi-Fi. You'll be able to choose from any of the 14 songs, and you can compete against your friends. The interesting twist is that although the songs are recycled for this mode, the artwork is not, which lets you appreciate a few more hilarious story sequences, most notably two that feature monkeys (which is always a plus).



So just what is the gameplay in a male cheerleading game like? It's surprisingly easy to pick up, but difficult to master. Developer Inis, which was responsible for the underappreciated Gitaroo Man for the PlayStation 2, has put together a very smart system for Ossu! Tatakae! Ouendan! You'll basically see a series of numbered circles that you'll have to tap in time with the music. A shrinking concentric circle will serve as your guideline, and it will alert you to when you can tap the numbered circle.

As you progress through the game, the mechanic expands a bit to include dragging a circle between two points in time with an onscreen icon and using your stylus to fill an onscreen gauge by spinning it on a wheel that appears on the touch screen. Your taps will yield points that fill a dwindling energy bar that cycles between red and yellow at the top of the screen. If the bar runs down to nothing, it's game over.

Okay, so now you've seen the game. If you have't imported it so far, there's no problem. Considering there's also apparently a european version going to be released, according to Kotaku:

Originally Posted by Kotaku

Nintendo DS import favorite Ouendan [Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan] will be getting a Euro release. A Nintendo of Europe team member slipped word to game journos that the game will be heading to the UK sometime in the future. No word on a U.S. release, but it should be in the cards.
The rhythm game follows a troupe of cheerleader like helper dudes that go around encouraging people who are stuck in difficult situations.

Source

Well, time to discuss.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

The confusing parts of Ready Steady Go on Normal seems to follow the drummer. Try it maybe, it might help those who can't complete it.

Anyway, I've S ranked every stage, and I've gotten an ALL 300 perfect on two stages, with one stage on all difficulties.

I like the Mayor stage, but the beats/hits aren't as cool as the ones in the Giant Rat one. Not to mention that the real version of Taisetsu na mono isn't as good as the Ouendan one, IMO.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I've heard many great things about this game, but unfortunately I don't have the money or the access to get imports. So I can only hope for a release here.

I really want to try this game... Being a rhythm genre fan, it upsets me this one is too far out of my reach. T_T

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Yeah, been like 2 months since I ordered my copy from Lik-Sang, still haven't seen it. Pretty fucking pissed.

- WraithTwo -

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Yeah, I played this game a lot when I got it last semester. Iloveitiloveit. I haven't played it much since then though, but it is a must-have for any music game fan.

I was speaking idiomatically.

I STILL haven't beat the game yet =(

I can't pass the FIRST LEVEL on Insane mode with the cheerleader chicks.

i feel so ashamed =/

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I'm still stuck on Ready Steady Go on Insane(or what I always thought, was called "pro" mode) though I'm not in any hurry to complete it. I managed to get an S on the peaceful ghost stage on Insane, but so far that's it.

I wish the first song, Melody, was a little harder on the hardest difficulty. I mean granted, it is harder than the previous Melody's, but in comparison to, say, the police stage, it's very basic. Melody's a great song and it really shouldn't of been used as a tutorial-type stepping stone.

FELIPE NO

I agree that Melody is a great song and that the stage is too easy. But I actually thought the Insane/Very Hard/Pro/Cheergirls/UltimateHyperFightingEditionTurboEX+Alpha mode of Melody was easier...or at least, I got a perfect 300 on that difficulty and have not gotten one on hard.

I got it last semester too, and I almost paid the price for getting it.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

*Playing Quendan... Beats "Thrill" (The Little Boy/Dodgeball One). Waiting for an "A" rank... "YOU GOT S!!!"*

Holy shit. And there I was trying to get all A's for every song and every difficulty *sobs*.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Ok, just for clarification. Is it Quendan or Ouendan? Because chaofan seems to think it's Quendan, and I have seen others spell it this way.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

It's Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan, 押忍！闘え！応援団 or "Go! Fight! Cheer Squad" when translated.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Shit! I dishonoured the most holy DS game!

Oue... Oue... OOOOOOOUEEEEEEEEEENNDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Since the boards went down, I've got to the second last level on Insane (the robots one). Hearing of a EUR release makes me smile for two reasons.

1) If they're the same songs/scenarios, it'll be much easier to understand what's happening in the game.

2) If they're not the same songs (unlikely, but with licensing issues as they could be), it'll be like OTO2

I was speaking idiomatically.

I already wasted a protective film on this game, it's been scratched like mad... but the game is too additive drop down, I love the characters' expressions in there, especially Ryuuta's face, so serious yet it's hard not to laugh...

This is a pick-up-and-play-anytime game, highly recommanded for everyone whether you understand Japanese or not.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I must say that this game is truly awesome, and I've had a blast playing it. But, at times, the difficulty can get frustratingly unfair.

Currently I'm stuck on Ready Steady Go on hard, and I'm really not liking the system how your life is constantly dropping. It's a bit unfair that your life drops steadily when notes don't necessarily come at the same rate. Say your life is pretty low, and you come to a part in the song that's maybe more mellow and has substantially less notes to hit. You end up in this situation where you die, but there's nothing you can do about it because there aren't enough notes to raise your life up.

The worst cases are when I die while full comboing a song. Hitting the notes should be enough to at least keep you alive, as in any other music game, but yeah, it gets to be a real drag sometimes when you realize a handful of perfects instead of greats would have kept you alive.

Anyways, I digress. The game is refreshingly original, and I show it to everyone I know as a testament of how much fun the DS is. It's definitely right beside Phoenix Wright on the 'awesome' scale.

FELIPE NO

Ouendan is my GOTY for 2005, and one of my favourite games I've ever played.

Normally I pass a game, and I'm content with that. But noooo, that wasn't enough with this game. I then had to play through it on hard. Then when I realised there was an insanely hard difficulty, I couldn't just sit there and be made to look like a sissy, I went and passed that too.

My final overall score was somewhere in the vicinity of 35,000,000.

Might try and get the last couple of ranks...

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

gawd making intros not skippable is so freaking annoying ;___;.

ready steady go sux :/ not yes not yes

no homo

Ouendan played on DS Lite

Not really that much of a difference. People over at gamefaqs are drooling over this for some reason, but it really isn't worth buying another DS for.

I must get back into this game when I have more free time..

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Translation of Guts Da Ze right there.

There's also a translation of Taiyou ga Moeteiru here.

Well, enjoy.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Is the soundtrack for this available anywhere? The Flash sample was amazing.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

I think surasshu uploaded a torrent somewhere, but I can't remember off hand exactly where.

I actually just spent the past 15 minutes trying to find a working one, but alas there's another torrent at mininova which has the OST.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Thanks! I found a couple of the songs elsewhere, and surprisingly, I really miss the whistle and percussion sounds.

Double Post:
Argh. Total lack of seeders.

Most amazing jew boots

I am proud to say I suck at this game! But it is still fun.

I'm still on normal mode (my bad), although I haven't touched the game in awhile. Do you need to hit a lot of perfects in some of the songs so your life won't run out? Because on one stage, I went without missing a hit, and still died near the end.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by blackjack

Thanks! I found a couple of the songs elsewhere, and surprisingly, I really miss the whistle and percussion sounds.

Double Post:
Argh. Total lack of seeders.

I'll upload it for you.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Chairman Kaga

I am proud to say I suck at this game! But it is still fun.

I'm still on normal mode (my bad), although I haven't touched the game in awhile. Do you need to hit a lot of perfects in some of the songs so your life won't run out? Because on one stage, I went without missing a hit, and still died near the end.

Yeah, you basically need a lot of 300s (and not 100s) in order to stay alive.

Jam it back in, in the dark.