Game:

PaRappa the Rapper (1996)

Duration: 22:34

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"Broadway Legend Ellena" is a niche work from one of Compile's many "Disc Station" titles (specifically Disc Station Vol. 4) and one of the earlier releases of a "Rhythm and Memorization" game. Released in 1994, the game closely follows the formula of works such as "Simon" or later games such as "Parappa the Rapper" where a character will illustrate something and the player has a small window to repeat what they just saw. It was the catalyst that later saw the release of the obscure Sega Naomi Arcade game (and Dreamcast port), "Puyo Puyo DA!" (which is even more like Parappa and borrows mechanics from both PP and BLE, it's whole name is "Puyo Puyo DA! -featuring ELLENA System-") in 1999. BLE was also revisited one more time in 2015 in a re-release of various Disc Station titles, this time being "Disc Station Re#01", a collection of various MSX2 and PC-98 Disc Station titles.

As far as DS titles go, BLE is one of the more memorable and meaty experiences on offer. The game stars an aspiring dancer, Ellena Stevens, who has dreamed of appearing on the big Broadway stage ever since she was a little girl, and she has practiced day and night for a chance to make her move. She finally gets her chance when she is scouted by a mysterious (and somewhat sketchy) man named J Sinatra who offers her a chance to travel and compete against some of the world's greatest dance talents. J. Sinatra ensures her that succeeding in this task will bring her that much closer to the stage she has dreamed of, but she can't just win -- she has to learn more about herself in the process and eventually face off against the headman himself (who she mainly refers to as coach) to become a Broadway Star. While Ellena doesn't know that her moves would eventually be eclipsed by J-Pop, she still puts on a good show... or maybe she did and that's why she tried again in PPD!

As stated, the game is like "Simon" or "Parappa"; the goal of the game is to face off against six dancers and repeat their steps in order. The game starts off easy enough, with basic steps that are slow and easy to follow, but each opponent gets progressively faster and eventually introduces the "jump" move or "wildcard" action (which is allocated to the space bar). Every opponent has two sets of steps (introduced at 50% mastery) except for the final boss who has three (introduced at 1/3 intervals). Each opponent is faced off in a best "two of three" fashion, but if Ellena makes even one mistake, she will automatically lose the round. Memorization games of this type are not particularly hard for most people, so this handicap was put in place as a steep penalty. The gameplay is very straightforward with no additional bells or whistles.

BLE looks cutesy enough with some neat little animations for the different dancers and the characters hail from different regions for the whole DEI element and such, but I wish there were a few more characters and the game was reduced to one round matches instead of two, as the game runs a little long for what it is currently, but it's a nice DS title nevertheless. The music is not quite as "in your face" as other works from Compile, but all the music is appropriate and composed well -- the final boss tune and Moscow / Russia / China themes are still notable bangers. There's nothing wrong with the play control either since it mainly relies on the arrow keys, though you can't just spam directions as there is a bit of "key recognition" in the sequencing.

This is a video of the game in action. Enjoy.

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