Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure | "DESTROY ALL FANBOYS!"

I need to do this on a more regular basis like some of my other fellow game bloggers (you know who you are, but I need to list you guys on my sidebar at some point today), so here you go, six new DS games added, all picked up quite cheap.

Aliens: Infestation is a pretty challenging side-scrolling shooter/adventure from WayForward Technologies (makers of some of the best “retro” style games out there) and Gearbox Software. Hop aboard an alien packed Sulaco as a squad of Marines as you search for survivors in this sort-of sequel/side-story to Aliens. With a limited number of squad members available (one they’re dead, they’re gone for good), some mean bosses that take a bit of work to put down and a decent amount of replay value, it’s not a bad game at all if you’re a fan of this sort of game.

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As much as I respect Warren Spector, I noticed he made a slight error in a recent interview when he noted that Junction Point’s upcoming Epic Mickey sequel would be the first musical comedy video game. Wellll, I bet Nippon Ichi Software may have a tiny issue with that. Their insanely cute, insanely easy and on a few occasions, insanely hilarious PlayStation One strategy/RPG, Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure gets to wear that crown. I was working in an indie game shop when it hit the US back in 2000 and it was one of those titles that we couldn’t keep in stock because a wide range of customers found something to love about the game.

Parents with young kids liked the total lack of violent content, kids liked the songs and jokes and JRPG fans of a few ages found the game easy, but funny enough to dive into just to hear every one of the songs in the game. I did have to explain why there were a few too many panty jokes in the game to one concerned parental unit, but overall, I remember it as a lighthearted romp that was also one of the simplest JRPGs I’d ever played. A wee bit too easy, but then again, it WAS a kid’s game. Anyway, there were a couple of sequels released (in Japan only, of course) and the game got a nice reworking on the Nintendo DS that changed up the combat somewhat and can be found pretty cheap online if you know where to look.

Anyway, I’m not her to raise a “gotcha” game ruckus about this at all – just pointing out a fact or two in case you’re wondering about this sort of stuff. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing how Mickey looks in HD and plays with the Move setup here, that’s for sure…