We bring you an in depth look at the popular Japanese import, Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan!

With the American release titled Elite Beat Agents creeping up around the corner, ?Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan!? or just ?Ouendan? for short has many DS owners importing this bizarre and innovative title developed by iNiS.

Storyline [8.5/10]:

Ouendan has an extremely strange yet innovative storyline in which you control a cheer squad in hopes of helping a variety of troubled people. Essentially, the main storyline after completing a total of 15 songs is to save the world from a meteor. Each song you play through has its own unique plot. For example, in the first song you must help a young boy who is struggling to study for a test. You must keep a good rhythm by hitting the correct notes as shown. Although all of the storylines in the game are in Japanese, you are still able to understand what is going on by watching the clips. This makes the game definitely import friendly to all of those who are wondering if understanding the story is any problem to enjoying the game.

Gameplay [10/10]:

Ouendan gives its players a new and original way to play a rhythm game on their Nintendo DS. The gameplay is completing touch screen based and gives DS owners a true rhythm experience. The way Ouendan is set up is as followed: there are numbered markers laid out on the touch screen where there is a shrinking circle in which players must tap just at the right time when the marker is overlapped. The gameplay includes tapping the markers, sliding the markers, and spinning the markers when needed.

There are several unlockable difficulty settings included in Ouendan which includes Easy, Normal, Hard, and Insane. This gives replay value to the games gameplay department keeping the game fresh and appealing after completing one difficulty. After completing the first three difficulty settings, with ?Insane? mode still uncompleted, I can honestly say that I have yet to put down the game. Even after completing all the songs on the three difficulty settings, I still want to play the songs over again and again.

Overall the gameplay department is where the game truly shines. It offers a unique experience for DS owners with 4 game modes, 15 different songs, and complete touch screen controls.

Graphics [10/10]:

Although the graphics are not the reason to play Ouendan, it still manages to use the DS?s strength to its advantage. Featuring ongoing anime cut scenes on the top screen as well as three full 3d character modules on the bottom screen, Ouendan successfully uses the DS?s hardware to please its gamers. Nobody could have asked more from a rhythm game on the DS, which is why the graphics get a perfect score.

Sound [9.5/10]:

The sound in Ouendan is one of the most important aspects of the game, and truthfully, calling the sound in Ouendan flawless would be an understatement. Ouendan features a series of 15 popular J-Pop songs included in four difficulty settings. Although I don?t have the knowledge of the Japanese language to understand the lyrics, the beats and vibes are very catchy. Ouendan is set up very cleverly by making the markers hit accordingly to the beat in a song. This gives you a feeling as if you are actually playing along with the song, which is very innovative for a DS rhythm game.

The only downfall of this near-perfect score is the lyrics. Unfortunately I can?t understand the lyrics, which is why it can not receive a perfect 10/10. With the upcoming release of Elite Beat Agents, players in North America will appeal to the more modern songs that they have heard and can understand. Unfortunately, since people will be choosing to import this game, I believe some players will be turned off by this small problem, but it shouldn?t affect those gamers who love the sound of the songs.

Multiplayer [9/10]:

The multiplayer aspect in Ouendan works well. You are able to connect through DS Download Play with another player who has the game. Unfortunately, you are going to need to have two game carts in order to play together. The DS Download play has two modes where you can choose go to head to head against your friend or play one song with each player alternating taps. It works fine, but I would have liked to see some WiFi capabilities included with Ouendan which would have given this aspect a perfect score.

Life Span [10/10]:

After owning Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan for roughly two months, I can honestly say that I still play it and I am not tired of replaying the songs over again. This game contains very high replay value with four difficultly settings, the rating system, and the captivating songs. Simply put, there should no worries about the life span, Ouendan will keep you entertained until your stylus breaks.

Conclusion [57/60]:

The question that frequently comes up when somebody mentions Ouendan is the word ?import?. I can assure you that Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! is a first class import title for the Nintendo DS and it should appeal to anybody interested in the rhythm based genre. With rhythm games such as Guitar Hero or Dance Dance Revolution becoming a hot commodity, I see no reason as to why Ouendan can?t be mentioned with those top-tier rhythm games. With its multiple game modes, 15 different tracks, and essentially never ending life span, Ouendan succeeds as the systems best rhythm based game to date and should be played by anybody who owns a Nintendo DS.