Gitaroo Man (2001) is a surreal, bombastic musical odyssey rammed full of demons, wormhole-dwelling shark robots and jazz-wielding bee royalty. Though developer iNiS went on to make the superlative Osu Tatakae Ouendan, Gitaroo Man stands tall at the pinnacle of the rhythm-action genre.
The fantastical narrative has a familiar bassline. Teenage loner protagonist U-1 discovers his dog Puma can summon a mystical instrument which turns him into the heroic Gitaroo Man. U-1 immediately rejects his prophesied role as saviour of the universe and flees, forced into a succession of musical duels with aliens seeking to claim the Gitaroo for themselves.
Battle is a high-speed to-and-fro, each combatant taking turns to let rip with a devastating riff while their opponent rhythmically defends from each successful note. Flying to Your Heart’s electronica and Bee-Jam Blues’s trumpet-driven jazz are brutally satisfying, and victory can be euphoric. Yet Gitaroo Man doesn’t reach its peak until Born to be Bone.
Despite a touch of early-2000s cultural insensitivity - and some excruciating voice acting - this mariachi-inspired track succeeds through a conjunction of multiple escalations: narrative, technical and musical. The prior track is a love song with U-1 sitting peacefully under a tree, all gentle attack and no need to defend. Born to be Bone thrusts him back into combat against a trio of skeletons in the shadow of an intergalactic internment camp, the fate of both the prisoners and Puma at stake.
It’s the first time U-1’s fought for anyone but himself, and with Puma incapacitated, he begins the fight Gitaroo-less. The game’s usual back-and-forth is disrupted; U-1 has no chance to attack, only defend desperately with no special powers or fancy armor to save him. If he survives the Sanbone Trio’s overture, a ricochet frees Puma, and U-1 makes his transition from whiny child to decisive hero; in his shout of “Puma, Gitaroo!” is contained a new determination.
As U-1 takes up his mantle the track morphs from a deadly flurry of maracas into a split-second duel between the skeletons’ percussive rhythms and Gitaroo Man’s fast-fingered classical guitar. As liberated prisoners rally behind him, and a wave of trumpets lead his devastating finale, he seizes his destiny with callused fingertips.
U-1 is no longer alone. That moment of transition has changed him, and changed you too. Now you both have something to fight for.