From what I've gathered, America has a slim chance of getting this game. However, the Europeans have had the privilege to enjoy this somewhat short and simple game.
Lucky me, Malaysia gets almost every Playstation game that's released.
Vib-Ribbon is about a rabbit called Vibri. Vibri skips along a wire platform, avoiding traps and obstacles by pressing only four buttons that are fortunately placed comfortably far apart. As he skips along, music plays. Make too many mistakes (trip over obstacles), and Vibri will transform into frog, then a snake. Make too many errors, and it's over. Do it without a hitch, and Vibri gets wings and a crown. Really weird.
That's it. Really.
The graphics are nothing impressive. Everything is drawn from vectors and lines. It's a really simple game; don't expect anything graphically breathtaking. It's all in black and white.
There are 3 levels to choose from: Easy, normal and hard. Each stage has 3 rounds. It's relatively easy to finish all three stages without even dying once. I finished all 3 stages in less than 45 minutes. So you'll probably wonder, "What's the use in buying this game if you can finish it so quickly?"
This is where the second part comes in.
Vib-Ribbon allows you to put in your own music CD to play to. The game will generate levels based on the music you put on. The difficulty also varies with each different music. Escaflowne's "Machine Soldier" was extremely hard to play to, I'll tell you that. Depending on the music that you put on, you'll either get a fast-paced level or otherwise. Slow ballads would probably make the level easier. I don't know, I've yet to put in any Boyzone music. ^^;;
They have a few songs that accompanies the in-game levels. It's okay. Some are in English, some are in Japanese. The music is generally bouncy and it's by a group whose name escapes me now. Vibri also has a strange Japanese warble that I never recognized until much later.
At least for the Europeans, Vibri comes in Italian, French, Dutch, Spanish and English. I guess they could afford to translate it into so many languages since the game is so simple.
As I was saying earlier, Vib-Ribbon's gameplay consists of four buttons: L1, R1, Down and X. Certain obstacles are a combination of two simple ones. It's not easy to remember the button combinations at first, but you'll get the hang of it. Eventually.
So is Vib-Ribbon worth it? I guess so. Don't be fooled by its lack of pretty pictures; this is a fairly addictive game, enough to waste a few minutes before resuming your work. The replay value isn't that bad either.
+ Addictive gameplay
+ Simple to learn.
+ Doesn't take up much of
your time.
+ Lots of replay value.
+ In-game music is nice.
- The button combinations.
- Not for the reflexes-deprived.