Vib Ribbon is a PlayStation game (that needs a re-release in my opinion!) from madman Masaya Matsuura who created the Parappa franchise. Demented and genius in equal parts – you play your CD collection to make Vibri blossom into a winged dancer!
The Premise
You are Vibri – a kind of cute 2-D drawn rabbit. You must navigate an obstacle course of loops, pits and jumps that your CD track as generated and make it to the other side. Get it right, Vibri survives. If not, he de-evolves into a limp worm! I kid you not…
The Gameplay
As with most rhythm action games, the gameplay is simple yet tricky. You use four buttons, one assigned to each type of obstacle. The obstacles fly at you down a single wave line and you need to press the buttons at the right time to get over them. The speeds and angles can change and then obstacles combine themselves so you must press two buttons together. The only downside is sometimes it doesn’t always recognise you’ve pressed them together and you lose points and energy. If you get about 20 passes in a row you grow wings. If you get several wrong, you’ll end up with a line that shakes like crazy and eventually de-evolve back to a privative form. You can choose just one track from a CD or if you’re game, you can do the whole album.
The Graphics
These are plain, black and white with 2D single lined drawings. It is a line – no more and no less.
The Sound
The game comes with a couple of tracks from Laugh & Peace but after that its all down to your own CD collection.
The Replay Factor
Again limited to you CD collection and your patience (you will need it) this rhythm action game is fun but is best in short sharp bursts, like taking it in turns for a high score in a group.
The Positives
~Random gameplay
~No two tracks will give you the same game
~Vibri is just so cute for a scribbled character
The Negative
~Long gaming sessions can frustrate, especially if you play an album and it all goes wrong on track 12 of 12…
The Verdict
Vib Ribbon is a fantastic game. Original, stylised and full of raw gameplay that’s ready to burst. It may not appeal to the gun totting crowd with their FPS’ but quite frankly I’d rather be bashing buttons with Vibri screaming at me when I’ve made him fall into a pit by accident anyday.