Vib-Ribbon (PS1) - Let's Play 1001 Games - Episode 658
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I'm Gaming Jay: Youtube gamer, let's player, fan of retro games, and determined optimist... Join me in this series while I try out EACH of the video games in the book 1001 VIDEO GAMES YOU MUST PLAY BEFORE YOU DIE, before I die. The game review for each game will focus on the question of whether you MUST play this game before you die. But to be honest, the game review parts are just for fun, and are not meant to be definitive, in depth reviews; this series is more about the YouTube gamer journey itself. From Mario games to the Halo series, from arcade games to Commodore 64, PC games to the NES and Sega Genesis, Playstation to the Xbox, let's play those classic retro games that we grew up with, have fond memories of, or heard of but never got a chance to try! And with that said, the game review for today is...
Vib-Ribbon
from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vib-Ribbon
Vib-Ribbon[a] (stylized as vib-ribbon[4]) is a rhythm video game developed by NanaOn-Sha and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was released for the PlayStation in Japan on December 9, 1999, and in Europe on September 1, 2000. Although the original PlayStation version was never released in North America, the game was re-released on PlayStation Network in North America in 2014.
The game was initially commissioned as an advertisement for the Mercedes-Benz A-Class car. After design issues surfaced with the car and the ad plan was dropped, development continued as a stand-alone game. Masaya Matsuura, producer of PaRappa the Rapper and Um Jammer Lammy, returned to lead Vib-Ribbon. The game's software loads into RAM, letting the player use any music CD to play against; the game can generate a unique level from any track. The graphics for Vib-Ribbon are simple, consisting of straight, white vector lines forming crude, angular drawings of the level and the player character, named Vibri.
Vib-Ribbon received positive reviews from critics, praising its minimalist visuals and innovative concept, and has garnered a cult following. It spawned two Japan-only follow-ups: Mojib-Ribbon (2003) and Vib-Ripple (2004).
The game that became Vib-Ribbon started production after the completion of PaRappa the Rapper (1996). Mercedes-Benz contacted Sony about using a game to promote their A-Class, leading NanaOn-Sha to be assigned the project. They made a prototype that used polygon graphics, and the protagonist was a living car. Issues with the A-Class and the team's dissatisfaction with the demo led to the promotion being dropped and the game continuing as an original project.[8] Vib-Ribbon's wireframe visuals are inspired by early computer graphics, and its gameplay is based on producer Masaya Matsuura's love of drumming.[8] The automatic music-generation concept was implemented when a programmer found a way to make the PlayStation analyze music CDs; the system looks eight seconds ahead of what the player is listening to and generates obstacles based on "interesting" frequency changes.[8] Vibri's voice is produced using NTT Communications' Speech Synthesizer.[9]
Masaya Matsuura and J-pop band Laugh and Peace (consisting of Toshiyuki Kageyama, Koichi Hirota, and vocalist Yoko Fujita) (also credited as Laugh and Beats[10]) composed the game's original soundtrack, with Matsuura instructing them to create music that fit the game's world without giving players the impression that a particular style of music is associated with the game.[9] It was released on vinyl in 2020, featuring the unreleased song "Rainbow".