[Game Review] - Osu!

This game is a beat based point and click game based of the Japanese Nintendo Ds game: Osu! Tatakae! Quendan.

Which eventually led to the release of Elite Beat Agents in north america which is based upon the game Osu! Tatakae! Quendan. Osu! Tatakae! Quendan also has a sequel titled: Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae! Quendan 2.


Let's begin with the core game play mechanics of Osu!. There are a few different ways to score points in Osu!

Hit Circle: This is also commonly referred to as a 'beat'. These are circles which you will click to score points. The only way to successfully score however, is to make sure that the outer ring [called the approach circle] is as close to touching the hit circle as possible.

Sliders: These are displayed at two hit circles with a path which connects the two. The goal is to hit the 'head' or start of the slider [the hit circle which displays the combo number]. And then hold your mouse click whilst the a ball appears called a slider ball. While this ball rolls down the path you must also keep your mouse within the ball's 'slider circle'. If there is an arrow at the end of any given slider you must follow the ball back along path in reverse. Additionally along the path of a slider there are small white dots which are called 'slider ticks'. These are the equivalent of a hit circle, by increasing the score multiplier. However only give 10 points per tick.

Spinners: Like the name suggests a dialog which says: "spin". When this occurs the player must spin the mouse around the center point of the spinner. A approach circle will appear and once it reaches the center the spinner ends. If the player has reached the threshold to pass the spinner [gauged by the bars on each side of the spinner] the player receives 300 points and any additional spin counts after the threshold gives bonus score.

In addition there are a couple more terms and mechanics which relate to score:

Score Multiplier:

The number which appears at the bottom right corner of the screen. This number rises as each successful hit circle / slider / spinner. The number pertains to the amount your score is multiplied by: for example a 12x score multiplier will multiply your points received by 12x and then increase the multiplier to 13x. If you miss a note this number resets to 0. Missing a slider tick does so as well.

Geki: Referred to as a Beat! in Elite Beat Agents. This is a type of score which significantly regenerates the life bar. It is done by having an entire combo [hitting all the notes in succession of the same color] hitting only 300s.

Katu: Same as Geki, however at least 1 100 score was obtained with no 50s or misses.

There are 6 different ranks you can achieve in this game for each beat map: D, C, B, A, S and SS. Going by ascending order. Each is determined by how accurate you were. However S requires no misses and less that I believe 2% 50s. And an SS requires no misses in addition to a 100% accuracy. If multiplier mods are included, such as flashlight or hidden, the S or SS may become platinum/silver in color rather than a gold hue.

There are two additional modes in Osu! Such as Taiko which originates from Taiko no Tatsujin. And catch the beat, which basically has your character holding a plate above his/her head. Of which you catch 'beats' which are fruits in this game mode.

Multiplayer exists as a lobby system where you enter a menu which lists available multiplayer rooms of which you can join. The game can be put into teams or individuals which also allows the ability to lock rooms with a password. It is worthy to note that importing a song as the host can cause you to go back into single player mode if imported while browsing for a song to play.

Osu! feels like a very smooth game, props to the creater, peppy, who pretty much programmed and created the visuals for Osu!. Thus most of the game you have smooth rendering and tons of rhythmic fun. However I personally experienced some lag at the start of some maps; but, that is probably the fault of the beatmap creator since some of the beatmaps can be quite complex with videos or story boards. Another positive thing I found about this game was the fact that all the beatmaps are largely user made. With moderators to approve submitted beatmaps to filter out the WIPs and the completed and polished beatmaps. The in-game editor of beatmaps is a really useful tool and is actually quite complicated - in a good way. In which it has many different function to help you along the way. I fell the strongest aspect of this game is the ability to completely recreate the GUI for the game to match the current beatmap being played.

I'd give Osu! A Gamer's Tag of 9/10.