Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashi - Osu! Tatake! Ouendan 2 (I’ll just call it “Ouendan 2”) is good. Like insanely good. That special kind of good you get when you take a game that was excellent to begin with and make a Sequel that recaptures that magic without cheapening it.

I have only had the game for a few hours now and barely scratched the surface of it. Still, I had to pry myself away from it long enough to write some impressions (and I suppose sleep and eat).

First of all the gameplay is mostly the same as the first game or it’s US counterpart Elite Beat Agents. Follow the beat of the song and touch rapidly shrinking circles, rolling balls and various spinners. There are a few new variations but the base gameplay remains mostly the same.

The songs (or at least the ones I have heard so far) are on par with the first game. Like all music games there were a few tracks that I didn’t think were so great and a few I absolutely love. Those preferences will differ from person to person. In general the game music seems a bit more “pop” that the first Ouendan but that is not a bad thing if that’s the type of music you like, and even if you don’t, the songs are made enjoyable by the great art and silly stories.

The graphics are very similar to the first game but it looks like the Ouendan members have a slightly higher polygon count. In general things seem crisper but that might be because I played the first game on a DS phat. I’ll have to compare again later. Regardless, the comic book style graphics do a great job of setting the mood and feel for the game.

The city map is now in 3D and divided by a river that separates the “turf” of the two rival cheering squads. This is also a story element in the game as the ouendan teams compete with each other. I have not tried the multiplayer mode yet, but I am assuming you can choose which squad you represent. I am also looking forward to the more challenging modes that I will be able to unlock as I go along.

In a nutshell, if you didn’t like Ouendan or Elite Beat Agents, you probably wont like this one either. If you did like those games, you will love Ouendan 2. From what I have played so far it is as good or better than the first and well worth buying for any music game fan.