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I turned to the mighty Ask.com to try and figure out what exactly a Champloo is? I was saddened to discover that not only was there no true answer, but Jeeves had retired. Where was I to gain this ethereal knowledge? Ah yes, trusty Google! It seems that Champloo pretty much means mixed up. Wow, I could have guessed that. But we're getting sidetracked. Speaking of which…(cue Champloo-inspired record scratch...pause...and cut to review!)
Hip hop beats and counter-activated sweeps are infused into a whacked out anime-inspired adventure that takes a series by Bebop-visionary Shinichiro Watanabe and hands it to zany developer Grasshopper Manufacture (the minds behind Killer 7). Watanabe, for those unfamiliar, brought his somber, quirky Cowboy Bebop to late night Cartoon Network years ago and even non-Otakus took notice. The main characters were witty, starving, and always finding themselves knee deep in trouble. Samurai Champloo takes pretty much the same concept, turns back the clock, and adds a bit more style.
What better way to extend the Champloo experience than to make it a video game? And as far as anime-inspired games go, it works on the surface, with flashy action and an episodic feel. Don't look any further though, much like the anime, Champloo's all about style, not substance. Before launch, there was a lot of hype about the action element, that it used rhythm in a whole new way. Well, yeah, but not really. Champloo is still an action game and while music plays an important part in creating the necessary atmosphere, it does little to influence the way you dispose of enemies.
Sidetracked is like an interactive episode where you follow 3D-rendered versions of Jin, Mugen, and Fuu as they continue their adventures (the overarching theme being to find a dude who smells like sunflowers). The game attempts to emulate the break-neck transitions of the show, but doesn't fully succeed. Champloo reeks of load times; the only mildly entertaining one shows Fuu drinking a soda as the load bar fills.
Watanabe has been praised for his melding of old and new, hip hop tunes mixed with ancient samurai action. Grasshopper took this concept and wrapped the action and combo system around the music. Once you get tired of all the surface style, this action will buy you a few more days with Champloo before you move on to something else.
From the beginning you'll have access to a dojo for training and because the controls aren't necessarily intuitive, you'll want to use it. The basics involve manipulating record tracks to power through multi-button combos. You gain new tracks along the way and switch on the fly between them. More advanced options are unlocked by mastering the basics. There're counters, hyper mode (follow a specific combo tree on your rhythm track to activate it) where you do lighting quick attacks for a set amount of time, and more.
By far, the most devastating mode is tate mode. Be warned though, the better you get at it, the more you will have to endure a Kill Bill-like silhouette "trance" mode. You enter tate by maxing out the tension gauge and then whacking the guy with a star dancing over his head. From there you have to mash buttons like crazy to get more than 100 hits in only a few seconds (the better you do at trance, the better item you attain). Even the most difficult moves (technique guard and counter) don't take very long to master, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. But after a few hours of dispatching pretty generic enemies, in pretty generic levels (there are few standouts though) and sitting on load times, you'll find yourself wandering away from Champloo the video game.
What it does, it does well. Watanabe got an above average adaptation of an anime series that was never really big on story or deep characterizations, but huge on style. The game's got that in its action and overall structure. Champloo just doesn't have the depth to keep hardcore action fans interested but as a rental or casual own, you could do a lot worse with your time than play Samurai Champloo. Of course, you could always watch your favorite episode of the anime while playing Devil May Cry 3 and listening to perhaps the most lasting part of the entire Champloo enterprise: the music.
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