Gitaroo Man: The Quirky Alternative to Guitar Hero

I miss the days when rhythm games embraced their quirky side. The massive popularity of titles like Guitar Hero and Rock Band set a standard that turned most rhythm games into straightforward musical performance simulators. Before that shift, rhythm games had a unique flair in their presentation. You were still hitting buttons in time with the music, but the experience was about so much more than just “becoming a rock star!” Gitaroo Man, released on the PS2 in 2002, stands out as one of the last truly eccentric rhythm games that thrived before the genre became dominated by Rock Band.

Gitaroo Man feels like a musical version of Sailor Moon. It features talking animals, transformations, and a monster-of-the-week vibe. You play as “U-1” (Yuichi in the Japanese version), a somewhat awkward kid who’s bullied by his rival Kazuya and has a crush on the girl next door, Pico. One day, while U-1 is trying to get Pico’s attention, aliens invade the town. His talking dog, Puma, transforms into a robot and tosses U-1 a guitar-like weapon, turning him into a taller, more confident version of himself: Gitaroo Man.

To fend off the alien invaders and other foes, Gitaroo Man battles using the power of music. Each song is divided into stages where Gitaroo Man powers up, defends against attacks, and delivers a final blow.

As the music plays, a line dances to the center of the screen, which you follow with the joystick as it twists and turns. Notes appear on top of this line that you need to hit and hold with button presses, creating the sensation of playing a guitar. Both hands are engaged like they would be on a real instrument. Strumming involves pressing and holding buttons, while changing notes means following the line as it wiggles across the screen. It’s simpler than what Guitar Hero and Rock Band would later require, but it’s still cleverly designed.

I’m already hooked. The visuals are stunning, especially on the PS5. The colorful characters dancing in the background are just as captivating as managing the flurry of PS controller buttons flying across the screen. After years of playing rhythm games, many have blended into a mix of thin plots stretched over lanes of notes. Yet, Gitaroo Man, despite being released 24 years ago, feels refreshingly unique with its music-fueled battles. And let me tell you, it’s a battle.

The gameplay format of Gitaroo Man is so different from the rhythm games I’m used to that it can be quite challenging. I expect the UI to pulse with the beat, a rhythm game staple for ages. But not here. You hit the button when it reaches the reticle in the center of the screen. Is it on the beat? Half beat? Who knows? Figure it out! This game is also not for those who struggle with visual processing. During a song’s guard stage, you must hit different face buttons as they zoom toward the center from all directions. It’s tough to keep track of what to hit when they all rush in at once, only to switch to squiggly line gameplay moments later, and suddenly, oh no, I’m dead. Game Over.

You do improve over time, but a sneaky aspect of Gitaroo Man’s design is that the song never plays the same way twice. It remixes sections during the battle stage, meaning you don’t just memorize the song in order; you learn it in chunks and piece it together as you go.

Is it frustrating? Yes. Is it a blast? Absolutely. Gitaroo Man’s gameplay gives me insight into why rhythm games became more uniform, but it also makes me appreciate how wonderfully unique it was. Playing this game reminded me of the joy I felt with Elite Beat Agents on the Nintendo DS. Little did I know that Gitaroo Man was its predecessor, created by the same designer, Keiichi Yano. That game, which utilized the DS touch screen in a similar way to Gitaroo Man, was also vibrant and different—one that still brings a tear to my eye when I think of some of those songs. (If you know, you know.)

I want rhythm games to capture that spirit again. The Guitar Hero era was a blast, and it was great to rock out with friends to our favorite tracks. But I crave that weirdness and cleverness that Gitaroo Man brought to the table.