I came home to find a copy of Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii: Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2 waiting for me to play. The game starts out with one song (Sukima Switch’s Zenryoku Shonen) and the original cheer squad with Ryuta. After cheering the university student from the original Ouendan get a good job in New York City you meet the Blue Ouendan squad led by Hayato. It’s unclear why the two squads are rivals and the two cheer squads are separated by a small river. If you head over to the right side of the map you can play with Hayato’s squad and cheer on a girl’s choir to the tune of Real Life Real Heart from Kaela Kimura.
Ouendan 2 has notable upgrades that were seen in Elite Beat Agents, like an “easy” mode and the option to skip intro videos. There is also rumble pak support where the DS gently vibrates when you miss and shakes when you hit a note on beat. What hasn’t changed is the map. It’s a 2D town opposed to the 3D globe seen in Elite Beat Agents. The style and the gameplay is pretty much the same too. You tap on notes, follow a beach ball with your stylus and rapidly spin a wheel to keep your energy bar from emptying out. Sure it’s familiar, but the wacky scenarios are unique and most importantly Ouendan 2 is light hearted fun like the first game. I thought Ouendan 2 might be something you would rather see than read about, so check out the video past the break with samples of some of the first songs.
