Gitaroo Man was first released on the Playstation 2 back in 2002, and while most people had at least heard of the game, not many people played it. It soon started popping up in discount game bins and slowly became a cult classic. Unfortunately the awesomeness of Gitaroo Man had eluded even me, until now.

Now you can rock out to this great game on your PSP with Gitaroo Man Lives!  In Gitaroo Man Lives! you play as U-1, a boy with dreams of being a skateboard star, but a destiny to rock. With the help of his dog Puma and a few brushes with danger, U-1 discovers his musical powers.

Gitaroo Man Lives! is made up of musical battles and cut scenes...that's about it. After watching some story unfold, you will have a battle to fight with your trusty Gitaroo, then on to more watching, then another battle, etc. This really isn't a problem, though, since they could have just had you fight the battles with no context or story whatsoever. Plus the battles are really fun.

When in battle, there is a blue bubble in the middle of the screen. As you move the PSP's joystick around, an arrow will point in that same direction from the bubble. As the music starts, a line will come in from an edge of the screen and intersect with the bubble. You must keep the arrow lined up with this line. As the music starts, circles will come into the screen along this line, and you must press and hold the circle button on each of these while still following the line. This is your offensive mode.

At times during a battle you will need to defend. When this happens the line disappears, and icons representing the PSP face buttons will come in from each edge of the screen. You must press the button corresponding to each icon as it reaches the center bubble to deflect enemy attacks.

Each battle consists of three phases. There is a charge phase, where the notes you play correctly refills your health bar. In this phase missed notes don't hurt you. Then there's a battle phase, where missed notes will hurt you, but successful notes damage your enemy. Also during this phase, defensive and offensive notes can alternate at any time. Finally, final phase is used to finish off your opponent. There is no defensive note playing here, but you still must nail those notes since you can still take damage by missing them.

This all sounds pretty simple (or maybe it doesn't) but as you play the first couple levels the system seems very intuitive. It's extremely fun, and the line and button presses match up to the music extremely well. It's a very smart and original way to handle a rhythm game. But it was starting to feel too simple, and I was worried the game would be too easy.

As you progress, the difficulty slowly ramps up. In later levels, offensive and defensive note playing switch back and forth very quickly, and sometimes the speed and frequency of defensive notes can be mind-boggling. Luckily there's an easy mode for gamers not quite ready for that challenge.

I was very impressed with the soundtrack of Gitaroo Man Lives! It had a great variety while still sticking to the guitar theme. Each song is very catchy and fun to play.

When playing the single player mode, each stage you beat is opened up on a path that you can revisit. At any time you can go back to any previous stage and replay it to try and beat your old score and get a higher rank. You are scored at the end of each level, and based on your performance you are given a grade out of S, A, B, C, D, or F. Higher grades will actually unlock more stuff than lower grades.

Aside from the single player adventure, there are two multiplayer modes: Vs. and Duet. Each of these modes can be played with a friend over ad-hoc or the CPU. In Vs. you battle the other player just like you battle the computer in single player mode. In Duet, you and a friend (or the CPU) take on a boss enemy together. Duet mode has its own list of songs that aren't available in any other mode, and you and your partner take turns playing your notes and defending. At the end of the level, each of your performance is scored so you can see who pulled more weight in the battle.

A few other goodies were included, like a movie viewer and jukebox. Movie viewer allows you to rewatch the cut scenes from the game, while jukebox lets you listen to the songs from the stages you've reached. There is also a collection screen where you can view items you've unlocked. I was excited about this until I checked it out; basically it's just info on the various characters of the game. These are what you unlock as you play through the single player, and certain ones require an A rank or better. Not the best bonus content, but it doesn't take away from the gameplay at all.

Gameplay is what truly matters in a rhythm game, and Gitaroo Man Lives! has that taken care of. Following the meandering line while strumming each note makes you feel like you have total control over the music, something that doesn't seem so easy to do without a special controller. The quick shift into and out of defense mode adds intensity to seeming slow tunes.

With only ten stages, though, it depends on how much you enjoy the game to decide if there's any replay value or not. I almost pounded out the entire game in one 3-hour sitting, and am left with no real goals other than to replay songs out of pure enjoyment. It depends on the gamer if this one is worth buying or just borrowing/renting. Its length is definitely a detractor, but the game itself is great and worth a look. 

Gameplay: 9.0

The unique way you manipulate the notes, paired with frantically deflecting enemy attacks, creates a one-of-a-kind blend you're not going to find in anywhere else. This may be the only rhythm/action/RPG out there. However, there isn't much else to do outside of the 12 levels.

Graphics: 8.5

The quirky look of the characters goes great with the absurd story and theme of the game. The graphics are colorful, the characters are great, and each level is different and entertaining.

Sound: 9.5

The voice acting is decent, but the soundtrack really shines. Since the main focus of this game is battle by music, it's a good thing they really got some great tunes to play along to. There's a little bit of everything, and it's all extremely catchy.

Difficulty: Medium-Hard

If you aren't familiar with rhythm games, Gitaroo Man Lives! might have a bit of a learning curve for you. Otherwise there's a good chance you'll catch right on. That doesn't mean it's smooth sailing until the end of the game...the later battles can get really frantic.

Concept: 8.8

A sequel probably would have been better than just a port, but putting Gitaroo Man on another system only helps get the word out on this great game. Plus the addition of the duet mode is nice, since it gave them an excuse to make some new songs.

Multiplayer: 8.0

I didn't get a chance to play with any other humans, but Gitaroo Man Lives! allows you to play against the CPU in case you can't find a friend to challenge. The two multiplayer modes were really fun, and I can imagine they'd be even better with a friend.

Overall: 8.6

Gitaroo Man Lives! is a very unique and fun gaming experience. No other game combines rhythm and action so seamlessly, and the jamming soundtrack only helps you lose yourself in the battles. But with so few levels to play, and limited unlocks, there isn't much of a reason to replay the game other than to experience your favorite songs again. Even then, once you master a song it's not quite as fun as it used to be. Even with limited replay value, Gitaroo Man Lives! is one of those rare gems of a game that everyone should at least try.