Gamertell

Title: Audition Portable
Price: $48.90
System(s): PSP
Release Date: June 4, 2007
Publisher (Developer): T3 Entertainment (T3 Entertainment)
ESRB Rating: N/A
Pros: Spiritual successor to Bust a Groove, fun puzzle/dancing game, cute characters, ad hoc multiplayer and 67 songs.
Cons: Not a lot of track variety, can get old quickly
Overall Score: 7.5/10

Once upon a time, a long time ago, the Playstation had a wonderful, dance/puzzle game called Bust a Groove. It was similar to Parappa the Rapper, and it had players pushing buttons to make characters dance. It became a cult classic, but was possibly ahead of its time.

Cue Audition Online the spiritual successor to Bust a Groove. The campy feel of the original game was gone, but the button-pressing dance goodness lived on. In Korea, Audition Online’s birthplace, the game became so popular that it spawned a PSP version - Audition Portable. Audition Portable is essentially a pint-sized version of Audition Online and is a lighthearted PSP game rhythm fans will enjoy.

Follow the beat to be the best.

There’s no story to Audition Portable. You simply create an avatar and dance through different stages and songs to prove that you’re better than the computer. It’ll be difficult early on, as the AI dancers are pretty good, but you’ll succeed with a little perseverance and patience.

Controls are pretty simple. A sequence of arrow and buttons will appear on a line below your dancer. You have to tap those before the fourth beat of every song, and tap the left shoulder button on the fourth beat. Keep doing so successfully and you’ll rack up combos and lots of points. Occasionally red direction icons will appear on the bottom, meaning you’ll have to push the opposite direction of what is shown. Just try not to mess up, otherwise your life bar will decrease and its game over.

Could be a hit or miss for you, depending on your music preferences.

First off - Audition Portable is one of the most import-friendly PSP games you’ll encounter. Menus are in all in English, so there’s no language barrier. The only adjustment you’ll have to make concerns the control scheme - is O is to confirm actions and X is to backtrack. (Normally X confirms and O cancels.)

There are also some cute bonuses you’ll encounter. The opening FMV is adorable. There are also interesting background areas with unexpected actions (ex: ghosts in the haunted school). You’ll also see unusual NPCs. I was surprised to see my character dancing off against a Shikamaru (Naruto) look-a-like. There’s also a Juke Box mode where you can just enjoy game tracks.

As for music - you’ll either love or hate the tracks in Audition Portable. There are 67 tracks included on the disc, and there’s an abundance of Korean Pop in the game. The songs in English are all by the Euro-pop group Sweetbox. (Note: Sweetbox’s singer, Jade Valerie, did the vocals for “1000 Words” and “Real Emotion” in FFX-2.) Now, I love Sweetbox, and enjoy K-pop, so this isn’t an issue for me. Some people may start longing for more song variety as the game goes on.

Speaking of variety, avatar individuality can be a bit of an issue. There are a substantial number of clothing and hair options available (ex. 60 fashions for girl avatars and 41 hair styles), but since only some provide score boosts or boost your hit points, you’ll tend to gravitate towards those styles.

Audition Online, Parappa, Bust a Groove and music game fans will love Audition Portable.

Audition Portable is a fun and entertaining import PSP game, but it isn’t for everyone. If you’d addicted to Nexon’s Audition Online, still remember Bust a Groove or adore Parappa the Rapper games, then you’ll love Audition Portable. Even Patapon, DDR or general music game fans could learn to appreciate the title. But if you don’t have patience, appreciate foreign music or nimble fingers, Guitar Hero: On Tour may be a better way to get your portable music-game fix.

A word of advice though - if you do decide to purchase Audition Portable, go with the Limited Edition version. A while back, Play-Asia had a sale where it was the same price as the game alone, and its definitely worth it. It comes with a cell phone/PSP charm, a calendar, a mini-soundtrack CD, a notebook, a special box and the game.

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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Last week Important Importables talked about Simple Series DS games.

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