Shinzo recently let me get a copy of his Bust a Move soundtrack (Bust a Groove in the US) and it sent me into a serious spiral of reminiscing. Is it just me or has the market for rhythm games been gang raped into oblivion by now? Being a seasoned fake guitarist from the first Guitar Hero all the way up to the newest one, I cannot be surprised or excited with any other band who decides to jump on the bandwagon. No matter what is added it doesn’t feel any less than exploitation of gamers who love music games.

Bust a Move was one of the originals on Playstation that allowed rhythm-centric gamers to flex their timing against opponents or the computer. The game had a nice roster of personalities, my favorites being superhero Kitty Nakajima, the break dancing Heat and Hip Hop Shorty. The roster had dancing styles ranging from Kitty N’s classical high leg kicking to Strike’s gangster two-step. The gameplay was not immediately easy to pick-up but the learning curve was a fast one, allowing for you to get better and better with your chosen character. The dance moves start out simple with a few directional presses and then a button to lock it in. If you mess up your character would stumble and you are also given two attacks and a dodge. This allowed for more strategic gaming over being better at timing your dance steps as you can attack an opponent and ruin their solo while stealing the crowd’s attention.

Here’s a video of the game in action (Thank god for YouTUBE!) I am hoping that the Playstation Network picks it up for us nostalgic gamers who have grown tired of the plastic guitar.