Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2

Overview

Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2 (which can be translated to "Burn hot rhythm soul!") is the sequel to the DS original,

Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan

which was released in Japan in 2005. The game follows a group of superhero male Japanese cheer leaders, known as Ouendan, who travel all across Japan (and even outer space) to solve various people's problems through song and dance. The new twist for the second entry in the Japanese series is the group of rival Ouendan, who you will also play half the levels as, and solve the problems of their "clients". Although gameplay with these new Ouendan is no different from the Gakuran wearing ones of the original game, they do replace the originals as dancers in the background of each level they are in.

Gameplay

The gameplay in Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2 is exactly the same as both Ouendan, and

Elite Beat Agents

before it. Using the Nintendo DS stylus pen, the player taps out the rhythm of the song playing.

Hit Markers

Small circles appear on the bottom DS screen known as "Hit Markers", with a ring closing in around it. As the ring closes in close to the circle, the player taps the circle, which goes along with the song's rhythm. Based on how closely your tap went along with the song, you will be awarded 300, 100, or 50 points, while you can also miss a circle entirely, giving you 0 points, and taking away from your "health" meter.

Phrase Markers

Continuous sounds of a song are represented by long strips on your DS screen, known as "Phrase Markers". On these strips, you will need to follow a ball with your DS stylus, going along with the song. Small dots on the strip give you points if your stylus is on the ball while it goes over the dots.

Spin Markers

Occasionally, a spinner will appear on screen, which are called "Spin Markers", forcing you to spin your stylus around in circles on the screen very quickly, racking up points with each revolution of the spinner.

Health

"Health" is represented by a bar on the top of the bottom DS screen. The bar is half yellow, and half red, meaning you passed or failed a section of the level, respectively. Whenever you are not tapping out a beat on the screen, the bar is constantly going down from yellow (good) to red (bad). If you miss, a chunk of the bar will automatically be taken away. Allowing the bar to go all the way down will result in failure of the level, and your "client's" dilemma will hit rock bottom. Tapping beat markers in time with the music, successfully dragging phrase markers, and spinning the spin markers will all bring the bar back up to the yellow section.

EBA Localization

While Ouendan 2 is the sequel to the original Japanese Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan, it is actually the third game to use this gameplay and style, technically making it the third in a series. In between the two Japanese releases of the Ouendan games,

Elite Beat Agents

was released in other regions of the world, but not Japan. The game featured new main characters as the heroes, known as the Elite Beat Agents, resembling secret agents rather than a standard Japanese male cheerleader, like in Ouendan. It featured all new characters, and their dilemmas to deal with, and of course, all new songs to appeal to the non-Japanese demographic. In story and content, it is a completely different game from Ouendan, aside from the gameplay, which still remains exactly the same.

For a limited time in 2007, people that bought Ouendan 2 could take the game to Japanese stores with DS download stations featuring special data that would allow the EBA characters (Agent Morris, Derek and J) to be used in the game. When used, the EBA characters use the same dance/cheer animations as the Japanese characters with some slight very slight variations to account for the male characters holding microphones.

List of Songs

In order of unlocking:

1. Sukima Switch - "Zenryoku Shōnen"
2. Kaela Kimura - "Rirura Riruha"
3. FLOW - "Okuru Kotoba"
4. Ken Hirai - "Pop Star"
5. Hitomi Yaida - "Go my way"
6. The Checkers - "Julia ni Heartbreak"
7. Going Under Ground - "VISTA"
8. Home Made Kazoku - "Shōnen Heart"
9. mihimaru GT - "Kibun Jōjō ↑↑"
10. Tomoyasu Hotei - "Bambina"
11. SMAP - "Bang! Bang! Vacances!"
12. Ai - "Believe"
13. Kishidan - "Zoku"
14. Porno Graffitti - "Music Hour"
15. Hyde - "Countdown"
16. Sambomaster - "Sekai wa Sore o Ai to Yobundaze"

These tracks are unlockable after a certain amount of points have been obtained:

• Orange Range - "Monkey Magic"
• Nana starring Mika Nakashima - "Glamorous Sky"
• ZZ - "Samurai Blue"

All songs are cover versions, with the exception of "Samurai Blue" and "VISTA".