I first saw Kamen Rider Hibiki at the 2005 Tokyo Game Show. A man with Down's Syndrome was playing it, thrashing the controller with gay abandon with no idea what he was doing. He was simply having the time of his life, and he was surrounded by kids that were obviously real Kamen Rider fans pissed off that they couldn't get near the game as a result. That, right there, is such a good analogy for Hibiki that I don't know if I even need to bother to write this review.

You see, Hibiki was never intended to be part of the Masked Rider thing. It was intended to be a sidestory / spinoff / whatever called "Music Riders." The studio, however, in a (hilariously dooomed) effort to appeal to the old guard insisted on the Kamen Rider stamp being put on the series. Now, it's true that the franchise is notorious for doing something new with most of the shows. We've gone from biker justice heroes through Highlander-style super showdowns and emo angst right up to the present day, where Kamen Rider Kabuto is fighting a private war against the shapeshifting aliens that are trying to infiltrate humanity on the one hand, and the government who see him as a vigilante and want him shut down on the other.

IN BULLET TIME!!!!111

Even by these shows' standards, though, Hibiki came out of left field. It's a show in which people dressed as Victorian gentlemen (both English and Japanese style) are making armies of monsters to destroy the world, and the only people who can stop them plan to do so by dressing up as oni demons and hitting them with musical instruments. It's been described variously by the Rider fanbase as shit, scum, pap, plotless and the worst thing the studio has produced in ten years. One poster on Japanhero.com [hi, guys!!] even said that if Kamen Rider is Batman, then Hibiki is Adam West.

If I haven't won you over yet, by the way, then I don't think Hibiki and I should condescend to talk to you.

The roster for the game starts off with three riders, three villain duos (Hibiki's bad guys were traditionally paired into "Bride" and "Bridegroom" couples) and three kaiju (giant monsters, and if I've spelled that wrong then I don't care). Ibuki is the fast, flashy one of the trio and fights using an SMG that doubles as a trumpet. Todoroki is the bruiser and comes equipped with a big sword...which also happens to be a guitar. Finally we have Hibiki, who slaps people around with drumsticks. While he's weaker than the other two, he compensates in style by sporting his transformations from the TV show.

The first mode simulates the TV show by having each rider fight a villain team and a giant monster. If your energy drops too low, your disk animals (the information-gathering dobots that the riders use in the field) can be summoned to fight by your side. The boss creature busts out as soon as the regular-sized villains hit the floor, and can deal quite a bit of damage. Hibiki fights a giant spider, Ibuki a bird and Todoroki a spiney Minotaur. Once their HP has been taken down to about a quarter, your character goes in for the deathblow using the show's trademark uber-techniques, all of which revolve around sending resonant sound waves through them until they burst (impressively).

Here's where the music format comes into its own - provided you have a Taiko no Tatsujin Tatakon controller plugged into port 2 you can drop the pad, grab the drumsticks and start fighting in REAL Hibiki style. Sure it's a pointless novelty, but good god is it a NICE pointless novelty.

Finally you get to the business of unlocking new stuff. The last level is Kurenai Hibiki (his first powerup) vs replicating plant monsters. However, playing on the top difficulty level will access a secret level where Armed Hibiki (his ultimate power level) fights against the final villain due from the show. Well, maybe it's not such a secret as Armed Hibiki and the Armed Saber are plastered all over the box, but it's nice to have a goal in life.

How does it all play though? Well, obviously it's no Soul Calibur, but there's still a good half a week of nutty fun to be had in one player mode. Following the multiple-opponent format of the show has proved a winner, and the action feels fast and frantic. Combos are satisfying to pull off (especially aerial ones), the difficulty level is suprisingly solid for a kids' game and having to always watch your back makes a proper return for the first time I can remember since IK+ on the Amiga. Admittedly it's short, but crucially it all hangs together in a way that really feels like playing the TV show. Once the story(ish) mode is complete there's also a lot of fun to be had unlocking new characters in the (surprisingly tough) standard arcade mode, and even after this, a secret mode allows you and a friend to pit the giant monsters against each other. Admittedly you can't use them to kill the heroes and then go on to destroy Tokyo, but STILL!

Of course, it would have been nice to see more cut scenes and locations from the actual story (or lack thereof). Don't fret, though, as the game is well laden with fan service. In addition to the unlockable extra characters such as Rider Zanki (Todoroki's teacher), a gallery of winnable cards gives way to a large volume of monster and character info read out by the show's extras in their inimitable (that's a nice way of saying "Bonkers") style. This is bolstered by a great level of attention to detail, with delightful little touches such as the spinning disc icon that appears on the loading screen transforming into a disk animal at the stab of a button. Honourable mention must also go to the free Taiko No Tatsujin disk that comes with the game and allows you to hammer out a tune to the opening and closing themes.

So there you have it (by which I mean the information with which to make an informed decision, which is presumably why you're still reading). Fans are probably going to love it (I do), while even the most casual will likely appreciate it for eye-popping value. If you can watch Todoroki spin, perform a under-arm samurai style stab with his weapon then thrash away on the guitar strings (while the minotaur jerks spasmodically on the end of it racked by lightning bolts) and not crack a smile, then you have a heart of stone.

If you don't think it's worth the money to have something like this to bring out when your stoner friend comes over just so you can boot it up and say "You gotta see this shit, man, I mean holy shit, that guy just blew a goddamn bird up with a trumpet," then you obviously take life far more seriously than I do and I wish you well. I'll see the rest of you back here, same Hibiki-time, same Hibiki-channel.