Indigo-Entertainment

O2Jam U!

05/31/2012
Posted by Jam de Vera
Posted in Reviews

The “Ultimate Rhythm Action Game” finally comes to the iDevices, bringing with it the hype it brought when it started back in 2007 as O2Jam, a casual rhythm online game produced by O2Media. Continued by MOMO Corporation, O2Jam has now been ported to many mobile gaming consoles.

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Bride in Dream!

Colorful musical blocks fall from atop the screen downwards. As they align with a cue area below, the player is tasked to tap columns the blocks are in line with, in time with a set song’s selected beats. All these culminate into one winning audio-visual, mechanical engagement.

The arrangement and timing of these musical blocks are not made on the fly. They’re placed and ordered by designers in a way to challenge would be players and to give justice to the music. This also means that with enough repetition, a player can master and memorize a given musical piece.

An Invitation!

O2Jam’s music base is majorly Korean. A good lot of songs are in that language. Some few others are remixed Classics. Regarding the selection of possible tracks to play with, as much as I wished that it had used O2Jam’s song library, O2Jam U starts off with a small selection. Some from the original O2Jam like V3 and Bride in Dream are thrown into the bunch adding nostalgia. Others, like Visual Dream 2 and Death Moon 2 are remastered versions of their former selves. The rest are fairly new, but are lovable and catchy still.

Death Moon 2

Graphics: 4/5

There’s not much art to see in this game. The background of each song you play would be the cover of the song you selected as seen on the song selection page, ergo all interesting art would be the song covers.

O2Jam U’s visuals is what I would call simplistic. As opposed to its colorful roots in O2Jam, having discarded the avatar system, the game has seriously toned down its graphical appeal. This, I think, is a good thing MOMO did. Few people really cared about their avatar and the splashy stars that would fly off from it when they do combos. This gives the play screen the much needed facelift and focus.

Audio: 5/5

Music is the game’s most defining factor. It is the sort that gets stuck on you even if you’ve just heard it once. The game’s collection, even in its current small state, covers a wide array of musical genres, in hopes of satisfying the players’ varying tastes. Also, this is one of those rhythm games you play for the music in it. Songs in O2Jam are specifically dedicated to it that they aren’t available on other games.

I combo twice!

Fun Factor: 3/5

Old time O2Jam players may think it’s the same game from before. New players may say it is very similar to the famous Rock Band or Guitar Hero. With the addition of the Jam Combo gauge, which builds up on continuous correct hits, O2Jam U has really stepped in the line that it copies the mechanic of the said games. Nonetheless, the game is still fun to play as the rules inherent in rhythm games have been mastered in this one fun small portable package. I just wish they added more unique features, like maybe a control for music tempo or some random touch-a-star element for bonus points.

Need 19k more points to beat the 1st Ranker!

Replayability: 4/5

Other than achieving an overall higher score than what you already have, there’s not much point in playing the game repeatedly unless you love the music or you’d like to oust the top scorer on the leaderboards. Thankfully, O2Jam U offers minor tweaks to gameplay through 8 speed modes, 3 difficulty levels, 2 to 5 beat keys, and/or altered beat positions.

...and, if one may so desire, achieve perfection on all alterations...

Overall: 4/5

O2Jam U has this reminiscent feel to it, being one of the firsts in its genre. It is actually amazing that it was ported on mobile devices even after the original game has already closed down. With its revamped air, new songs and mechanics, the game is certainly a gem even amongst rhythm games of today. Plus, you can get it free of charge at the App Store!

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