I suck at rhythm action games. But I love 'em to bits! So, like the half-Chinese-half-no-rhythm-honky that I am, I go into a rhythm action game like a lamb to the slaughter!
I think my penchant for music games started at uni, around 1997. My friend Shaolinsteele had picked up Parappa the Rapper and, despite its short length, its quirkiness and happy go lucky atmosphere charmed everyone watching, especially me. Soon after, through our Japanese contacts (namely a dorm full of Japanese girls come to learn English and this Earth thing called "kissing" - the Man from Del Monte, he say "YEEEEAAAAH!"), Shaolinsteele and I got our grubby English meathooks on Beatmania and a little gaming gold nugget called Bust A Move (you may know it as Bust A Groove because the Puzzle Bobble series had already inexplicably nicked the Bust A Move name for itself in the West, even though you don't bust moves in Puzzle Bobble. Hmmm...).
Bust A Move (BAM) had a gameplay system that I still don't fully get to this day. That's how much of an unco I am at the rhythm action genre! But I still had fun trying to outdance my rivals on each stage by tapping out the onscreen directions to the correct beat. The beat was flashed in the background of the box that displayed the directions or buttons you had to press.
Get the rhythm right, and you'd school your opponent with your own character's dance moves. Flub it and you'd get served!
The main reasons I have fond memories of this game are the game's sound, the character designs and the fun evenings I had with my friends while playing BAM. The concept of dance-offs, if not the actual execution, was easy to grasp and the characters were varied, running the gamut of cool, cute, anime sexy, funny, kitsch and downright "Huh? WTF?" bizarro.
As for the sound of the game, it was just as varied as the characters, as each song was made to fit the character and stage it went with. Every song was catchy and written to express the personality of each character. I have to admit liking a lot of the genres of music included in BAM, which obviously helped win me over. The attractive graphics, the music, the characters, the whole concept fitting together like bacon and eggs is why I still think about BAM now. I even listen to the soundtrack sometimes, even though it's dated as hell!
So, anyone else have any memories of this game, good or bad? What about it did you love or think sucked? I gots to know!
I'll leave you with some clips from the game, starting with one of my favourite characters, Hiro, because I'm a sucker for 70's disco (^_^):
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