★★★★☆

11/07/2025

Gitaroo Man - This Sure is a Rhythm Game

There’s not much else going on in Gitaroo Man than the rhythm but that’s a compliment in the era of free retro games I can emulate on my £1,000 computer. It’s so focused on cool tunes and a serviceable story wrapped up in a visual aesthetic that's half anime half totem pole. 

Immediately the game gets you on the line tapping that circle button to strum along with some blasting tracks. The guard sections barrage you with playstation symbols just rhythmic enough for you to keep your Gitaroo Man in the game. Deceptively easy at first Gitaroo Man as quickly as the first non-tutorial arrives the game reveals how serious it’s gonna be. You better stay in that line if you want to hear these disgustingly foot tapping melodies and the inventive animations that dance along with them. As is often the case with these kinds of rhythm games it's a shame how engaging the gameplay is that viewing the background animations will surely send you into a gameover. 

There's an interesting thing with the charging section that begins each level that determines how much life bar you’ll have for the rest of the level once the battle really begins. If you’re worse at the game you’ll have a tougher time going through the levels. I found this game pretty tough. At some points on those later levels I had a hard time sticking with it through to the end. The music that begins so deliciously inviting becomes after your 20th time restarting the level the very beginning of grating. But that's just how rhythm games go.

The story is what John Carmack might say “like a story in a porn”; it serves as a reason to move from level to level. The music really shines brighter than gameplay, aesthetic or story. But it shines real bright.