Music/Dance

According to ESRB, this game contains: Mild Violence

Despite my relatively low scoring for Mad Maestro!, I actually liked it. Perhaps it was the offbeat nature of the premise or maybe Im just a sucker for cutesy Japanese games, but I definitely liked it. While writing this review, I was originally going to give it at least a point or two more, but when I sat down and took a good, hard look at the game, I couldnt really find justification for scoring it any higher than I did.

When it was announced that Mad Maestro! was going to see release outside of Japan, there was a fair amount of head-scratching in industry circles. While its true that Mad Maestro! is a music game, and music games are experiencing a steady rise in population, what really strikes a chord of wonder is that Mad Maestro! centers around classical music.

It's only March, and it's already been a great season for diverse gamers. For proof, we need look no further than the niche genre of music gaming. For a category of entertainment that had formerly been labeled too Japanese for western tastes, music games seem to be here to stay. It's funny to look back and see that such a thing was almost unthinkable even as recently as five years ago.

It's only March, and it's already been a great season for diverse gamers. For proof, we need look no further than the niche genre of music gaming. For a category of entertainment that had formerly been labeled too Japanese for western tastes, music games seem to be here to stay. It's funny to look back and see that such a thing was almost unthinkable even as recently as five years ago.

According to the ESRB, this game contains: Mild Language

Game Description: You gotta' do what? You gotta' believe that he's back! See if you have enough rhythm to keep the beat with everyone's favorite rappin' puppy. Join PaRappa and a cast of characters old and new on a mission of the greatest importance: to prevent the Evil Noodle Syndicate from turning everything into noodles. Dance along with the foot-stomping tunes and catchy lyrics created by musician Masaya Matsuura, the talent behind the original PaRappa the Rapper. As in the original game, the graphics were created by New York artist Rodney Greenblat. The title includes guest appearances by Lammy and her band MilkCan, plus the ultimate rapping sensei, Chop Chop Master Onion. The multiplayer mode allows two rapping disciples to square off, while the practice mode lets you learn how to get your beat on.

According to the ESRB, this game contains: Mild Language

Game Description: Gitaroo Man is an entirely new type of music rhythm game, in which your instrument is actually your weapon in the fight against evil. Unlike traditional music games that simply require the player to press buttons in rhythm with onscreen actions, Gitaroo Man makes players use both the analog stick and controller buttons at the same time, thus manipulating the onscreen characters with jumps, ducks, and attacks.