Update: April 20, 2007
«©NCSX» Two music students named Shinichi Chiaki and Megumi Noda find themselves involved in a special kind of relationship as chronicled in the Nodame Cantabile manga. Together, the two overcome their own weaknesses and build each other up like two parts creating a whole. Or something like that. We're not interested in the love today however. We're more interested in the radical music rhythm game in NDS Nodame Cantabile which strays from convention and offers challenging stylus-tapping action. Along with the rhythm game which uses classical music for the background songs, a medley of mini-games which test dexterity and memory are also playable for a bit of variety. At the outset of Nodame Cantabile, the protagonist finds himself in a city with spots to tap and visit...Jan Code: 4582224491599 View the back cover and screenshots on the main NCSX website.
NCS Game Notes
» At the outset of the game, you'll be prompted to select a save file from four choices. A badger swings to and fro while playing a keyboard on the upper screen. Next, enter your name in hiragana, katakana, or numbers and symbols. The game starts at the bottom of a city where your position is denoted by a badger head on top of a pointer. Tap on the pointer and a woman appears on the top screen who's holding a "Classic Lite" book. After the short interaction, three music symbols appear on the city map. Tapping on each music note will bring you to an area where a main character is located. Tap on the leftmost note and you're face to face with Chiaki Shinichi. Tap on the middle note and you'll meet an older woman in a shawl with black hair. As you meet and greet new people and familiar faces, additional spots across town will open up to further your progress in the game. » Eventually you'll enter an auditorium and a rhythm music mini-game will ensue. Notes fall from the top of the touch screen and a note encased in a black sphere moves from right to left. As the falling notes collide with each black sphere, tap on the note inside each sphere at the point of notes-meets-sphere impact and Shinichi will conduct beautifully with perfect response from the orchestra. Tap too early or too slow and the music will sound off-key and distorted. Perfectly timed taps are denoted by an explosive rainbow effect that radiates from each sphere. Okay taps are denoted by a simple white burst that emanates from the note. In the first exercise, Shinichi will conduct through four songs. To get a perfect rainbow "hit" every time, wait until the falling note fits inside the exact perimeter of the sphere and you'll get a perfect cue-attack every time. » As you continue further into the game. new types of side-scrolling cues appear which are multi-colored with trailing appendages. The way to conquer these is to tap when the downward falling note hits it and then scribble a line in a shape that follows the appendage. For example, if a cue is connected to a "V-shaped" appendage, tap on the cue at the appropriate time and then draw out a "V" quickly to match the shape of the trail. If you do it quickly, you'll get a perfect hit. » The early music note exercises are fairly simple and easy to navigate with simple cues that drop one by one but as you progress further into the game, multiple cues will drop at once and you'll have to tap feverishly as the note-spheres roll from right to left on the top screen. The rainbow-colored spheres that require stylus swishing also add another challenge to the note tapping. » Another mini-game is touch-screen-tapping Taiko no Tatsujin. The Taiko drum is located on center of the touch screen and the familiar TNT cues move briskly from right to left on the top screen. As each Taiko cue reaches the reticule on the left side of the screen, tap the touch screen taiko to register a hit. Perform well and humans will eventually start bopping on the top screen similar to how Taiko animals and creatures bop when performing well in the arcade and PS2 versions of the game. » When you first meet Megumi Noda on campus, you'll play a side scrolling run 'n jump mini-game where Chiaki runs along the lunar surface. The Earth may be seen in the background. Your goal is to jump to avoid jagged rocky spires, jumping rabbits, fireball-meteors from above, and spinning teddy bears. The basic controls are move, jump, and duck to navigate through the stage. The goal is a lunar lander located at the end of the level which blasts off once Chiaki reaches it. » There's a cafeteria mini-game where players use the stylus to move pieces of food from a three-part conveyer onto a frying pan. Before the game starts, three foods are shown momentarily. Memorize then and then tap on the foods that move across the screen to drop them into a frying pan. Perform well and a dish will be made and served. If you choose the wrong foods, blackened charcoal-like detritus will be served to Chiaki on a plate. If you complete three dishes within the 1-minute time limit, you're granted successful passage. » A later variant of the main music rhythm game uses hearts instead of notes as the cues. » Music game events and mini games on the map are denoted by badger icons. » As you progress through the game, various bits of data, illustrations, character info, and music data is added to a database for perusal. This document is ©NCSX 2007. All rights reserved. No reproduction in whole or in part of this document may be made without express written consent of National Console Support, Inc.
|
