Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan

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Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan

Developer(s)	iNiS
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Release date(s)	July 28, 2005
Genre(s)	Music
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer
Rating(s)	CERO: All Ages
Platform(s)	Nintendo DS
Input	Touch screen

Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan (押忍！闘え！応援団, Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan^? lit. Go! Fight! Cheer Squad) (sometimes referred to as Ouendan) is a rhythm video game developed by iNiS and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS video game console in 2005. Ouendan stars a cheer squad rhythmically cheering for various troubled people.

The game is only available in Japan and is a popular DS import title, despite low sales in Japan.^{[citation needed]} Its developer, iNiS, is most notable for the PlayStation 2 video game, Gitaroo Man. By February 2006, Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan had sold roughly 60,000 copies in Japan.^{[citation needed]} There has been a large surge in sales of Ouendan among import web sites, including YesAsia who stated that they have sold 2,000 copies of it to customers in North America alone.^{[citation needed]}

1 Gameplay
2 Stage/Track listing
3 Elite Beat Agents
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Gameplay

Each level of Ouendan features a plot line accompanied by a specific song. A character (or characters) facing a problem will cry "Ouendan!" when their conflict reaches a climax. This call summons the cheer squad, and the song starts. The player uses the Nintendo DS' stylus to either tap numbered circles, trace lines or spin spinners, timing these actions with the music. Depending on how precise the player's taps are, he or she will either be awarded 50, 100, or 300 points. Prolonged beats are represented in the game by "tracks," where the player must trace the stylus along a thick line. And finally, usually at the end of the level, there are disks that must be spun with the stylus as quickly as possible to earn bonus points. There is a life bar that represents the player's performance, and if the player misses too many beats, the stage will prematurely end with a failure message. During the game, the story is told on the Nintendo DS's top screen, and gameplay takes place on the touch screen.

The game saves progress automatically once a stage has been completed.

There are four difficulty levels in the game. Initially, only Easy mode and Normal mode are available, but completing Normal mode will unlock Hard mode, and completing Hard mode will unlock Very Hard mode. Each mode uses a different cheer team:

Easy mode (気軽に応援, Kigaru ni Ōen^?, lit. Lighthearted Cheering) - Tanaka Hajime (new recruit), Saitō, Suzuki
Normal mode (果敢に応援, Kakan ni Ōen^?, lit. Bold Cheering) - Ippongi Ryūta (leader), Saitō, Suzuki
Hard mode (激烈に応援, Gekiretsu ni Ōen^?, lit. Fierce Cheering) - Dōmeki Kai (squad chief), Saitō, Suzuki
Very Hard mode (華麗に応援, Karei ni Ōen^?, lit. Magnificent Cheering) - Chia Gāruzu (Cheer Girls): Amemiya Sayaka, Kanda Aoi, Anna Lindhurst

Very Hard mode is basically Hard mode rotated 180 degrees, with discs being smaller and appearing faster. However, there are subtle differences, such as extra discs for short double beats.

[edit] Stage/Track listing

The music used in Ouendan consists of hit songs by well-known J-pop artists. The majority are taken from the mid-to-late 1990s and early 2000s, though The Blue Hearts' "Linda Linda" and Linda Yamamoto's "Neraiuchi" date from 1987 and 1973, respectively. All of the recordings featured in the game, besides 175R's "Melody," are covers, rather than recordings by the original artists. Each of the following list entries ordered as stage description, artist, song then followed by the cover artist.

Exam Crisis, Asian Kung-fu Generation - Loop & Loop (by Kyōya Asada)
Secretary's Busy Day, Morning Musume - Koi no Dance Site (by Kaoru Kubota, Fumio Kobayashi, Yūko Yajima, Mari Nabatame, and Akina Okabayashi)
Bandit-nabbing Horserace, Ulfuls - Guts da ze!! (by Hiroaki Takeuchi)
Matsuri Competition, 175R - Melody (original version)
The Ramen Shop, The Blue Hearts - Linda Linda (by Daisaku Shimada of Bevenuts)
Pottery Master, nobodyknows+ - Kokoro Odoru (by BUGASHMAN, CANTAMAN, MOSS, MOUSE-P, and SAUSEN)
Teachers' Dilemma, B'z - Atsuki Kodō no Hate (by Tetsushi Kimura)
Dodgeball Crush, Tomoyasu Hotei - Thrill (by Hiroaki Takeuchi)
Election for Mayor, Road of Major - Taisetsu na Mono (by NoB)
Cleopatra's Pyramid, Linda Yamamoto - Neraiuchi (by Kaoru Kubota)
Violinist, Kishidan - One Night Carnival (by Kei Imai of South 2 Camp)
Ghost Love Story, Hitomi Yaida - Over The Distance (by Ayako Kawajima)
Mutant Rat Attack, The Yellow Monkey - Taiyō ga Moete iru (by Mitsuru Yanagisako)
Policemen vs Robots, Orange Range - Shanghai Honey (by BUGASHMAN, CANTAMAN, MOSS, MOUSE-P, SAUSEN, mimi, and Akasanajar)
End of the World, L'Arc~en~Ciel - Ready Steady Go (by Tetsushi Kimura)

[edit] Elite Beat Agents

On November 6, 2006, Nintendo released an iNiS-developed game entitled Elite Beat Agents. This game features the same game play as Ouendan, but with a different song list geared towards a North American market. The scenarios in the game have also been tailored towards a western audience. Several general game play improvements were made as well.