A playthrough of Sony Computer Entertainment's 2000 rhythm game for the Sony PlayStation, Vib-Ribbon.
This video shows playing through every round for the bronze, silver, and gold song stages.
Vib-Ribbon was a NanaOn-Sha production, headed up by Masaya Matsuura, who was also responsible for Parappa the Rapper, Um Jammer Lammy, Rhyme Rider Kerorican, along with many others. Like all of those games, Vib-Ribbon is a rhythm game with a twist.
If you'd like the see my video for Rhyme Rider Kerorican, be sure to check it out here: • Rhyme Rider Kerorican ...
You play as Vibri, a rabbit (I think?), as he walks along a road littered with obstacles. The placement and type of obstacle that appears in front of him is determined by the music playing, and each obstacle has a specific action or combination of actions that must be performed in time with the tune. If you hit the right thing at the right time, he clears it and can continue on - if you mess up too many times, Vibri turns into a frog. Mess up again, and he'll become a worm before finally going down.
It's very simple to pick up and play, and exceedingly difficult to play well at the higher levels - just like a good rhythm game should be! And though I don't show the feature here, one of the game's neatest inclusions is the option to play to your own music. Like Ridge Racer, Vib-Ribbon loads its program data entirely into the PlayStation's RAM, allowing the game to continue playing once the CD has been removed. You can put in your own CD at any point and the game will analyze a track and create a new stage for you on-the-fly. How cool is that?
Another way Vib-Ribbon makes its impression is through its striking graphics and sound. To call it distinctive would be quite an understatement. The visuals are all composed of white lines and are reminiscent of the old games that used vector graphics (like Star Wars). It's simple, and it's the simplicity that really allows it to work so well. Not only is Vibri adorable and smoothly animated, but the graphics overall are crystal clear - you won't mess up by losing track of the game against any garish graphics. It's quite refreshing to see a game that commits to its distinct look, whatever it may be, as much as Vib-Ribbon does.
The sound is just as odd but endearing as the graphics. Using a combination of synthesized voices, old-school synthesizers, and vocal recordings, the sound design is just as unexpectedly effective as the visual design, and together they create a pretty unforgettable presentation.
And just so you know, Vibri isn't singing in gibberish. It's legit Japanese, and it's amazingly clear and understandable despite being synthesized. The English dialogue bubbles are direct translations of what he is saying.
I'm playing the British version of the game here, so everything is in English. Though it got a full release in Japan (1999) and in PAL territories (2000), Vib-Ribbon never saw a US release until 2014 when the game was put up on the PSN, so if you are in the US, it's quite possible that you missed this one. If you are a fan of NanaOn-Sha's other work, though, there's really no question - you'll love this game.
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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