Import GET – Mojib-Ribbon: Rhythm Calligraphy Bonanza

Import GET is our new feature highlighting games that you might have heard about along the grapevine but the language barrier, price, and overall bizarre concept have may ultimately swayed you from importing. Or you might not have heard about them at all.

Answer these questions truthfully:

  1. Do you know who Masaya Matsuura is?
  2. Are you familiar with NanaOn-Sha?
  3. Can you read hiragana and katakana?
  4. Do you like spirals? What about clouds?
  5. Do you like catchy beats accompanied by a syllable synthesizer?
  6. Is highly-stylized but still simplistic cell-shading your thing?
  7. Are you obsessed with rocks?
  8. Vib Ribbon, anyone?
  9. If you answered yes to one or more of the questions above or jolted up in recognition of Matsuura’s name or Vib Ribbon, the Playstation 2 game Mojib-Ribbon might be right down your alley.

    Masaya Matsuura is the mastermind behind Parappa the Rapper, which most gamers are at least a little familiar with. The man is full of creativity, and his games are more than a little bit crazy. Mojib-Ribbon is no different.

    The player controls Mojiburi and writes out the lyrics to simplistic and catchy rap songs voiced by synthesizer via pushing down on the the right (or left) analog stick. It’s hard to explain exactly how you play, so let the official trailer from ’03 be your guide

    It sounds and looks easy, but in Mojiburi’s rock-collecting-and-rapping travels it’s impossible not to trip him up once in a while and eventually push him into obesity.

    Mojib-Ribbon isn’t full of gameplay variety, but what it lacks in gameplay variety it makes up for in style. The whole game is done in Japanese ink and wash (sumi-e) style, from the menus to the background while Mojiburi is laying down phat.. ink. While minimalistic, it is an interesting sight to behold.

    Another bonus for those who understand Japanese is the ability to input your own lyrics to whatever songs you want, but if you’re Japanese-impaired that really doesn’t add any replayability.

    Mojib-Ribbon also features a (now defunct) network lyric sharing system, which allowed players to nab someone else’s rhymes and store it on their PS2 HDD, and likewise share their lyrical creations.

    Writing out lyrics with Mojiburi is delightful and a total pick-me-up, for sure — but it’s not all that newbie importer-friendly with the amount of reading needed in order to really enjoy the game.

    Japanese Comprehension: 4/5
    Gameplay: 4/5
    Graphics: 3/5
    Availability: 2/5
    Can be Found at: Play-Asia.com (Used), eBay

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