Remember when Guitar Hero invaded our lives, swept all before it and left a scorched earth of devastation? In the aftermath of its dominion, music games are reviled creatures offering little promise or glamor. Only the dancing games remain, prancing and preening in a sparkly little world of their own.

It was not always so. Before Guitar Hero, before the fake guitars and living room histrionics, there existed a vista of innovation and magic. We can only hope those days will return.

Here's a list of ten great music games, prior to the era of plastic axes.

Release Date: 1995
Developer: IBM
Publisher: Virtual Music
Platforms/Current Availability: PC – no digital distribution.


Quest for Fame was an Aerosmith-themed PC rocker that came packaged with a light blue guitar pick peripheral. You know, back when the term "peripheral" didn't simply mean "enormous piece of plastic I'll later toss in my closet."

It's also kind of like Guitar Hero, but better in all the right ways.

Though the game suggested you tap the pick against a hard surface, a smacking of the thigh produced the best results via "rhythm EKG," the meter for measuring your progress on-screen. This also meant you looked like a total moron while playing.

It was quick, raw, and fairly dirty, almost like a BioWare sex scene. But it effectively simulated the feeling of "playing" a real guitar. And that meant something. Unfortunately, through repeated use and abuse, the guitar pick eventually only responded when slammed against a computer desk.

It was, however, a fresh look at a genre we'd never experienced before, and it hardly receives any of the credit it rightfully deserves as one of the first truly interactive guitar games.




Release Date: June 4, 2000
Developer: United Game Artists
Publisher: SEGA
Platforms/Current Availability: Dreamcast (original release), PlayStation 2 (port), Xbox 360 (via compilation)



Atomic pink-haired Ulala, a particularly scintillating tentacle scene, and some embarrassingly catchy electronic pop joined together like undulating Planeteers to create Space Channel 5. By your powers combined, indeed.

With every "chu!" and subsequent "HEY!", the quirky crew liberated groovin' presidents and helpless civilians from the clutches of the terrifying Morolians and those who dared side with them. In classic call-and-response fashion, enemies spewed out a string of nonsensical chants alongside "lyrics" that could only be described as lazy, leaving you as Ulala to repeat them back with the beat. Unless you had the memory of a goldfish, you could save the world.




Release Date: February 18, 2002
Developer: Koei iNiS
Publisher: Koei
Platforms/Current Availability: PlayStation 2, PSP (port – Gitaroo Man Lives!)

U-1 played a magical Gitaroo, or as us normal folk would call it, a guitar. And it was good. Still is. Don't hate.

Gitaroo Man, the classic drag-the-note-via-analog-stick-to-pitch-bend musical adventure had it all, even some particularly horrid English voice acting (why was the demo level in English?).

From cutesy J-Pop to orchestral songs littered with hardcore guitar riffs, to some Day of the Dead-like tunes, it's a cavalcade of songs meant to beat you into submission.

Though genuinely nightmarish in difficulty, it's still flyin' to my heart after all these years. A rare find on the PlayStation 2, saw subsequent release on the PSP for an affordable less-than-$20 steal.




Release Date: October 31, 1997 / August 17, 1999
Developer: NaNa On-Sha
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Platforms/Current Availability: PlayStation, PSP, PSN (via digital distribution)


PaRappa, with all the street cred a talking dog could muster after falling in love with a sunflower and rapping about seafood cake, was pretty darn dope. Lammy adopted the same premise as PaRappa, but you wailed on a guitar rather than relying on your rapping chops to solve every single one of your problems.

Rodney Alan Greenblat lent his magical touch to the games, giving them a "paper-thin" look, as well as some truly bizarre characters that to this day I can't forget. Alas Tupac defines old news, but lines like "In the rain or in the snow / I got the funky flow / But now, I really gotta go" deserve archival for future generations. Spreadin' troof. You know how we do.

PaRappa received a lackluster sequel (minus the bit about the burgers) and Major Minor's Majestic March ranks as one of the worst games ever. So stick to PaRappa or Lammy's first endeavors. And that's the bottom line, 'cause Chop Chop Master Onion said so.





Release Date: November 21, 2001 / March 24, 2003
Developer: Harmonix / Harmonix Music Systems
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Platforms/Current Availability: PlayStation 2

Amplitude and Frequency for the PlayStation 2 are video game gods among budget titles, and you should worship them accordingly. For without them, we may never have seen Guitar Hero stateside.

Unlike Guitar Hero, the object of each song involved conquering separate music tracks such as the vocals, the drums, and (obviously) guitar. Capturing tracks perfectly and combining multipliers netted you some astronomical scores. It didn't require any peripherals and preferred thumping party mixes to more mainstream fare -- BASELINE, BASELINE.

Infinitely more challenging than Guitar Hero, the world might have been different if Harmonix had expanded on the awesomeness of these games versus selling out to arena pretend-rock. However, it's unlikely we'll see a return to this scene as these games never performed at retail, mostly because they don't exactly cater to the "casual" gamer. Rare gems.





Release Date: December 12, 1999
Developer: NaNa On-Sha
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Platforms/Current Availability: Import, PlayStation 2 (no digital distribution)

To some, this is one of the strangest music games ever made. To those same people, The Human Centipede is "scary" and the Fright Night remake will likely induce nightmares. You know the type.

With its overabundance of vector graphics and trippy music, it's definitely an acquired taste. But one that goes down oh so good. Like Slyders, without the crippling heartburn in the morning.

As the SUPER KAWAII rabbit Vibri, you traverse each level (a thin white line) riddled with obstacles for Vibri to navigate.

If you're a chicken-wuss, you can use any CD to create stages for Vibri. Go ahead, use Limp Bizkit. Vibri trucks on to Rollin'. You'll quickly learn that Vib Ribbon also means to scare the bejeezus out of you, especially if you play along to the song "Polaroid."

Unfortunately, Vib Ribbon never saw a North American release, so you'll need to get crafty to procure a copy in this day and age.




Release Date: August 22, 2000
Developer: Metro Graphics
Publisher: Enix
Platforms/Current Availability: Import, PlayStation (no digital distribution)

NO! It's NOT the bubble-bursting puzzler! Get it right.

Following in the vein of PaRappa the Rapper, Bust A Groove boasted a varied mix of tracks ranging from trance to disco and everything in between. You input a string of arrows on the PlayStation's d-padfollowed by one of the four face buttons,all in time with the music, of course.

It stars a crazy cast of characters, including a grown woman with an infantilism fetish, your token zombie character, and even capoeira-dancing aliens named (you guessed it) Capoeira. No, it never won points for originality.

Each of the characters represent the mix of dance styles, so no matter who you pick you're destined for busting some "stone-cold grooves". If you could manage to pull off "Perfects" for three or more turns, you'd get a Freeze. Dance perfectly, or reach a score higher than recommended for that stage? You'd get what's called a "fever time", which showcased your character's amazing dance moves in a solo show that almost always turned out dismally, unless you chose to play as gangsta rapper Strike. And he's so much more street than Fiddy'll ever be.





Release Date: December 1997 (original inception)
Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami G.M.D.
Platforms/Current Availability: Varies (no digital distribution)



Quite possibly one of the most difficult rhythm games ever, Beatmania asks you to become a DJ. Its peripheral is a miniature turntable with a "record' to spin or scratch and seven keys. Borrowing heavily from DDR's song collection, it's really the same premise as DDR, except you must press the buttons on the peripheral in time to falling indicators on the screen, while scratching the record when appropriate.

It's difficult in that the keys must be played much like a piano, and even though you may think you're ready for the next difficulty, you'll quickly be proven wrong. There is a wide variety of releases for Beatmania, much like DDR. It has a fairly high learning curve, but you get to pretend you're a DJ. That's kind of awesome. Who hasn't air-DJed to a particular song before? Check it out if Activision's take on the popular series (DJ Hero) left you feeling more than a little cold.




Release Date: January 7, 2002
Developer: United Game Artists
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Platforms/Current Availability: PlayStation 2, XBLA (digital distribution)


What was once a cult Dreamcast/PS2 classic is now available on Xbox Live Arcade for a mere 800 points to download and enjoy. While not your traditional music game, it employed the mechanics of music in one of the most innovative ways yet devised. It's a rail shooter complete with enchanting vector graphics.

Attempting to inject a little synesthesia into its gameplay, the pulsating techno beats combined with shooting down enemies made for an entertaining and involving shooter. What's more, every move you made fit right in with the stage's music. Although it was an extremely short game, it is long on wonder and bemusement. Luckily the tradition lives on in Tetsuya Mizuguchi's recent wonder, Child of Eden.




Release Date: July 28, 2005
Developer: iNiS
Publisher: Nintendo
Platforms/Current Availability: Import, DS (no digital distribution)


Nothing is more appealing than a group of grown men acting as cheerleaders or members of an elite dance troupe setting out to make things right. That's what you get in Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! and Elite Beat Agents for the DS. Yes, technically the English Elite Beat Agents was released after Guitar Hero's North American debut, but its Japanese inspiration was released just months before Guitar Hero.

These are in no way the same game. It's true they share the same mechanics and art style, but Elite Beat Agents was created specifically for an American audience. In Ouendan, you will aid a male cheer squad on their journeys to settle different circumstances and solve problems faced by all types of people. In Elite Beat Agents, the squad is more of a Secret Service-type group, or akin to the Blues Brothers. The Japanese release of course includes popular Japanese hits (a few of my favorites as well, especially from Kimura Kaela). Elite Beat Agents received some awesome covers of hits such as "Let's Dance," "September" and "Sk8er Boi."

So what do you actually do? Numbered circles will appear according to the beat and tempo of the music. It's your job to touch them right as an outer circle nears the edge of the numbered one. Doing so will keep your life bar afloat. Phrase markers are also present, in which you will start at one numbered circle and trace a curved, often serpentine line to the end. Some songs require you to trace back and forth. As the difficulty level ramps up, you'll find yourself struggling with finding what circle goes first, even though they're numbered. Portable, fast, frantic and fun.

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