...The level with ABC… Do I even have to go on? First of all, why is a mother leaving her baby along with a freaking cat babysitter?! Next, instead of calling the police or alerting the construction workers, the Agents dance while the cat risks his life to save a baby who, for all we know if you get the bad ending, dies. Yes, I know there’s a level in Ouendan with the three woman involving a kidnapping where calling the police would be smart, but they were making a citizens’ arrest and it lacks the creepiness and horror of, once again, A BABY ON A CONSTRUCTION SITE, BEING SAVED BY A CAT, WHO COULD FALL TO HIS DEATH!

Way to go for stereotypes in EBA as well! One predictable level after the next: zombies, ninjas, aliens, pirates, wanna-be stars, a woman in labor etc. I was never impressed once and I was frequently disgusted and annoyed with each new level I unlocked. Of course we’ve all seen barbers before, but in levels such as these Ouendan put an unexpected twist on things and it was neat to see just what wacky-cool (or disaster!) haircut he’d come up with next.

Why am I so pbumionate and defensive of Ouendan and a major hater of EBA? It all started when I bought EBA when it first came out. I was impressed by the addicting game play but absolutely LOATHED everything else, soon tossing it to the side. However, something was bothering me. I soon recalled that on an episode of Cinematech on Tech TV a game that remarkably resembled EBA had been shown so I looked up EBA on Wikipedia, clicked on the Ouendan link, and the rest is history. I was hesitant to buy Ouendan at first since EBA is suck a train wreck, but in the end I gave it a shot and I’ll never forget the wonderful feeling of playing it for the first time. It doesn’t matter that I can’t understand a bit of Japanese; the cut scenes eliminate the language barrier, but looking at the translation guides will give you a better understanding and appreciation for the game. Music/rhythm games are my favorite, so I get excited when a new one comes out and am very hard to impress, but Ouendan quickly knocked Gitaroo Man and Space Channel 5 out of the top spots in my heart and I doubt any music game in the future will change that. It is truly and honor and a privilege to own Ouendan 1 and 2.

EBA is a mockery and insult to the fans. Thanks to this mess Ouendan will most likely never see an English translation. EBA is dumbed down and appeals to the worse type of gamers: Ones who don’t like to think and prefer drooling over themselves while watching pretty colors; not a wonderful and engrossing story with terrific characters. Apparently narrow-minded Westerners couldn’t appreciate a game that has themes from another culture and would get confused. The Persona series proves otherwise. P3 had many Japanese-exclusive themes but the player’s guide from Double-Jump cleared up these differences and there was nothing to stop gamers from enjoying it if they skipped buying the guide. Ouendan 2 hardly had any of these “strange and confusing” things, so this game should’ve had no issue if given a US release. We did, after all, go through all the trouble of importing it and EBA is the thanks we get? Pah.