Today, I will introduce you to a very likable and simple game for the PlayStation 1 console. The game was available in a demo version in the Official Polish PlayStation Magazine issue 09/00, and that's where I discovered it.
Vib-Ribbon is the weirdest music game I have ever come across in my gaming life. The game has a very simple graphic design, painfully reminiscent of one of Gigi D’Agostino's tracks.
Apparently, the programmers at NanaOn-Sha decided that the strength of a rhythm game should lie in its simplicity, and that's what makes Vib-Ribbon playable even today. I must add that this company also created the PaRappa the Rapper series which, in my opinion, has aged much worse than the masterpiece presented today.
It may seem surprising today that a game in which graphics consist of several simple lines could compete with much more elaborate and colorful productions on most consoles at the time. In times when programmers were squeezing the last drops from a grayish look, NanaOn-Sha took a step back and used simple vector graphics to create a title that is hard to forget.
As you can see from the screenshots, the graphics of the game are composed of a few vectors. And that's it.
That's why these six basic songs are just the tip of the iceberg of what you can achieve in this game. Do you want to "dance" Vibri to the rhythm of Kazik's new hit "Your Pain Is Better Than Mine"? No problem, as long as you run the game on an original PlayStation console. Unfortunately, despite many attempts, I couldn't "marry" any emulator with this title. Apparently, emulators don't want to support CD-Audio discs. And I struggled with this for a few days...
Vib-Ribbon still has that special something in it, and despite playing it on an emulator and, as a result, not being able to swap out the disc, it's still a lot of fun. But those six songs were enough for me to enjoy this title for several hours.
Of course, there's nothing stopping you from getting the original CD and playing it on the first PSX. I've seen many auctions on eBay/Allegro, but the price...
In conclusion, I would like to add that Vib-Ribbon has had two sequels, Mojib-Ribbon and Vib-Ripple, but unfortunately they are only available in Japan.
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