Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick.

I sat playing Gitaroo Man, wondering what to write about next (I'm back in the swing of writing and doing it excessively). Then it hit me....I can write about rhythm games. I always dismissed it as a topic as I thought it lacked appeal, but as I recalled all the rhythm games I'd once played and loved, and those I continue to play I realised I had so much to talk about.

Like a lot of gamers my first experience with rhythm games was playing Parappa the Rapper, what a game. I exhausted the first stage on a demo disc so much I can still sing the song in my head. Mind you who can forget a Asian onion in a dojo teaching karate by singing "Kick, punch it's all in the mind!" I never really got a hang of it at that age. Parappa would just be going 'K-k-k-k-k-k-kick, p-p-p-p-p-punch' from the button bashing madness.

Next, for me, came Samba De Amigo on the Dreamcast, the first rhythm game I played with an instrument control (maracas!). Again, I wasn't the greatest at it, but it was novel that the game included recognisable songs to play a long with (much to the misfortune of others who may have heard me singing along).

My next experience of rhythm based games came from the good old dance mat. I'm not ashamed to say I spent many days with friends as a 12/13 year old at the arcade wasting oodles of money playing on these things. We eventually bought our own, but the experience doesn't compare to sticking 50p on the machine screen to say 'my turn next, bitch' and publicly humiliating yourself stomping around like a lunatic. Shamefully, I'd even mastered playing the Dance Stage games with the PlayStation controller.

The next game is a wonderful title that I still play regularly, everyone has that game that they just play senselessly without any aim just because it's, well, fun! Gitaroo Man, like Parappa, uses the control for the game play. The game implemented the analog stick to follow a line as well as using the rhythm prompts to play your Gitaroo. Now, if I told you I played a game where I had to do battle with a devil in a nappy, a troop of electronic flying saucers, a reggae robot shark and a disco bee/man hybrid, you'd probably think I was mentally ill. But this is the genuine quirkiness and fabulous imagination that Gitaroo Man encompasses. A cutesy Japanese-Esq love story incorporates nicely into the game play and I challenge everyone to give it a chance.

From here it rapidly escalated into games that used instrument style controls and this style of game continues to be highly popular. From Donkey Konga to Guitar Hero and even implementing an entire band. I can't say I play these games very much, I did get unreasonably good at Guitar Hero at one point about 6 years ago but, honestly, they aren't something I'd go out of my way to play now.

I have checked out rhythm based games I missed out on a long the way. Namely Vib Ribbon, which is an incredibly unique game. What made it most enjoyable is that once the game loads you can insert your own CD and it will create levels according to the music you are playing.

And there I was thinking I'd have nothing to talk about, how wrong I was. Rhythm games are lots of fun, but there are some genuine gaming gems hiding in this genre that people should not miss!