For those about to rock

So you say you like Guitar Hero? Big shock considering it was one of the biggest crossover hits of last year, sucking in non-traditional gamers and us hardcore alike, which is no mean feat for a game that essentially cost eighty bucks.

And what’s that you say? (and yes, I have unlimited mind powers and can hear you think through your computer…you sick puppy) You can’t possibly wait any longer for Guitar Hero 2, slated for this fall. Well then, just sit here around the campfire and uncle Game Freak will set you up with not one, not two, but three games to tide you over until Guitar Hero 2 hits. The best part? All together they cost less than fifty bucks.


Frequency & Amplitude

The first two will seem a mite familiar, being as they were also developed by Harmonix, creators of Guitar Hero. Hitting in 2001 Frequency was part of the PS2’s experimental phase, which included games like the much-lauded Rez and the criminally ignored Mad Maestro (but that’s another post all together) and for the most part went unnoticed.

Combining acid trip visuals with classic Tempest style game play Frequency was very much an unabashed throwback to when games were simply games. No story, no cut scenes, just you, a never ending well and a relentless storm of…music notes? That was the real hook with this game, as you rotated around the grid, each lane was a segment of song (vocals, guitars, etc…) so the better you got, the more of the song you heard.

The game play taps into that primal spot of all gamers, that impulse that drives us forward, gritting our teeth saying “must…beat…high…score.” Very few games have this aspect today, which is funny considering it is one of few things that only a game could deliver.



There are a few drawbacks to this one, first and foremost being the song list. Everything, and I mean everything, is some variation on the dancehall raver scene with the exception of two songs. Hell, even those are acid hall trance remixes, which were so very popular five years ago. This may cause a problem for some people, but it becomes easy too look past when you realize how solid the game is (hey, it’ll even get you to enjoy a bunch of songs you would otherwise ignore)

It’s biggest problem though? It’s hard. Capital H fucking hard-core. I warn you now…have a good sense of rhythm, because if you don’t you’ll be chucking the controller out the window. There is no real learning curve, it starts out hard and just hurts you more and more (though if you’re a pansy and play it on easy its not so bad… pussy.)

The graphics don’t help either. The rave light show happening all around you really only help to distract you and obscure the notes so it’s a damn good thing you can turn it off and just have a blank grid, which gives a very bland desolate look.


This was alleviated in the sequel, which hit in early 2003, called Amplitude. Essentially having the same play mechanics, Harmonix tweaked the engine just so, making it easier to see the notes and still have the trippy visuals swirl around you. This was mainly achieved by changing the well design of the first game to a flat play area. The whole feel is akin to being on a roller coaster and gives you a much better view of where your next combo multiplier is. This is great news to those of us who play games like Tony Hawk and revel in being insane and pulling off that perfect combo.

Unfortunately, unless you’re familiar with the song and have planned things carefully it’s actually harder to keep the combos going, since you can’t just spin the board like a well, but have to travel across a five lane highway in three seconds to hit the next note.

This one change nearly nerfed the whole experience, but like I said all it takes is a little repetition and planning and you’ll nail the combos in no time, especially since the learning curve is much, much gentler this go round.


The song listing is also much more diverse, throwing in pure pop, some rock and even a track from my fave metal band Slipknot (Harmonix…if you’re reading this we NEED them in GH2) so it should be easy for more people to groove to the beats.

All in all, both are great games. I prefer Frequency for the pure visceral challenge, while Amplitude strikes an almost perfect balance between challenge and enjoyment.

Availability: Frequency can be bought used online for about six dollars, while Amplitude goes for about fifteen dollars used.


Um Jammer Lammy

For this one we hop into the way back machine with professor Peabody and visit a simpler time, a gentler time. A time when Sega still made hardware and Pokemon addiction had reached a fever pitch. Today we visit that magical time that Prince spoke of…1999.

Um Jammer Lammy was actually a sequel to the much more popular (and now collectable) Parappa the Rapper. Parappa was a nice little oddity, a rhythm game starring a rapping dog with paper thin, pastel stylized shrinky-dink –esque graphics. The game had style but it wasn’t until this sequel that it added the crucial part: wailing fucking guitars.

Lammy eschews the rap trappings and has you hitting buttons to shred your axe. Lammy herself is the epitome of late 90’s alt rock chicks (ahhh how I miss them so) looking something like a barnyard version of Gwen Stephanie circa 1996.

The songs are all original and each hit a different style (the metal and surf rock are my faves) and you even get different effect pedals for your guitar as you progress. All of them are catchy (I was singing them under my breath for most of my freshman year in college) which is important since you will be replaying them a whole lot.

See, for as hardcore as the above-mentioned games are, at least the controls were intuitive. This things handles like a dog in places and it takes a conscious effort to learn the in’s and outs of how the dual shock should respond. This ramps up the difficulty a bit more than necessary.

Thankfully this game makes you want to push on. The story is about as weird Japanese as you can get and is just plain silly fun. Each story sequence is a comedy of errors of sorts and the whole package just leaves you smiling as it just oozes style and character.

It hasn’t aged particularly well, but for fans of rhythm games, this is a must buy.

Availability: Amazon has a bunch being sold used for around three bucks…fricken’ sweet!

So until next time, keep the rock going!