After knocking the K-On! rhythm game out of the backlog last week, I went back to the PSP shelf, picked up Megpoid The Music#, booted it for long enough to do the data install, and stuck it in my bag to play during my lunch breaks at work.
Yes, the “#” is part of the name, and it’s pronounced “Megpoid the Music Sharp”. I do not lie.
After a few minutes playing, I made a major assumption. It turned out to be very wrong, but more on that in a moment.
It felt very much like a quick-and-dirty Project Diva knock-off, and I figured that it had been pushed out the door in late 2009 to cash in on the Miku craze. From that perspective, I was willing to forgive it some of its faults – like a constant barrage of “now loading” screens, a lack of auto-save, a painful “hitch” when changing outfits, and songs that are embarrassingly short – we’re talking less than two minutes in many cases.
(The songs are good, mind you – there are some very catchy tunes on this disc. They’re just very, very short)
Then, having made this initial assumption, I looked the game up online, because I was curious who the main character was.
That was… a eye opener.
It turns out that this actually came out in 2013 – and, from that perspective, it’s really hard to look at it too charitably. It STILL feels like a quick-and-dirty Project Diva knockoff, or maybe just a promotional tool to boost the popularity of the Megpoid Vocaloid production software, but it’s a promotional tool that they had the nerve to charge Y5800 for.
(There was also a collector’s edition, which came with a figure. It originally retailed for Y9698. If you’d like a copy, Amazon Japan has new copies in stock, priced to move at Y2800.)
Thankfully, I picked it up used in July of 2014, and I think it cost me something like Y480. I got Y480 worth of game out of it.
For extra weird factor, this isn’t available on the PSN store – so either it was a UMD-only release in 2013, or it got pulled down at some point. If you could play it on a Vita, it might at least help with the loading times, but it looks like that just isn’t an option.
I still have one more rhythm game to play from my 2014 used-game-shopping binge, and that one will have me breaking out my 9-year old Coral Pink Nintendo DS Lite, just for old time’s sake. Kind of looking forward to it, to be honest – the Vita and 3DSXL are phenomenal game systems, but the PSP and DS Lite NAILED the “portable” aspect of the portable game system.
Baud Attitude 
I was wondering—what are your favorite rhythm games?
I love Project Diva F 2nd (I see from another post that you’re not as keen on it) and I’m eagerly looking forward to Project Mirai 2. I also really love Rhythm Heaven Fever, and I’m playing the original on DS right now, though its finicky flicking is kinda making me mad. I also really liked the DJMax games on Vita and PSP, though I’m not sure that I’ll ever go back to them. Do you have a favorite Miku game, and why do you like it the most?
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Hey, thanks for the message 🙂
I have a real fondness for Project Diva Extend, which was the last PSP game. It had a really good song list, since it was drawing from the previous two games, and the scoring system was a little less gimmicky than Project Diva f but not as incredibly dependent on hitting a good combo in Chance Time as the first Project Diva PSP game.
I have Project Mirai DX preordered, really looking forward to that. The demo is up on the eShop and it’s one of the best uses of the 3D screen that I’ve seen so far.
Apart from the Miku games, I really enjoyed the Ouendan games (And Elite Beat Agents) on the DS. They’re a good way to mangle your touch screen, but really stylish and fun. Two of them are only available imported but will work on a domestic 3DS if you don’t have an older DS kicking around.
If you have an iOS device, there are a couple of Miku rhythm titles and three Idolmaster rhythm games on the app store. They’re ludicrously overpriced but are good “on sale” sorts of purchases.
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