Gitaroo Man Lives!, or at least he will soon when KOEI unleashes the quirky Japanese hero on the PSP later this month. Gitaroo Man is truly the original Guitar Hero (pun intended), but unlike Red Octane's groovy guitar slinging' game series, Gitaroo Man is a different kind of animal.

In this remake of the PlayStation 2 hit, Gitaroo Man, we once again don the role of a hapless and oftentimes clueless U-1 (Yuichi) and his animal pal Puma as they take on the world's most dangerous rock 'n rollers in a no-holds battle for rock god supremacy. U-1 isn't capable of this on his own, but with the help of a powerful intergalactic guitar called "Gitaroo", U-1 is able to transform into the ultimate superstar: Gitaroo Man. Those that have played the PS2 version of the game are already familiar with the basic gameplay in Gitaroo Man Lives.

Gitaroo Man Lives is a basic arcade style rhythm action game where you do battles against guitarist by pressing corresponding buttons and use the thumb stick to follow a musical "trail". The "battles" are divvied up into three different phases - Charge, Battle and Final.

In Charge you use the analog stick to follow a trail by rotating it in a circle while press the circle button at the right time to play rifts. During this phase you'll fill up a power meter that you'll need to keep full during the battle phase. In the Battle phase, you'll have to press corresponding buttons to deflect attacks and play rifts to stick it to your challenger. The defense phase of Battle sends button symbols in four directions to the center of a "cross." As it reaches the center you push the right button to deflect the attacks. The charge and battle phase of the game come at you from all sides, so paying attention and keeping up is the key to survival.

If you deplete your opponent's energy enough you hit the Final stage where you finish him or her off with more hardcore guitar playing using the circle button and the analog stick. When you've bested your opponent you'll get a score and -- if it's high enough -- you'll unlock something cool. That's pretty much the entire game in a nutshell. As you progress through the game things will get a lot more difficult. You can bet that your fingers and your eyes will get a work-out as you slam buttons and try to keep an eye on all the things going on in the game while you're battling.

Gitaroo Man Lives! certainly has an interesting presentation style, both in cutscenes and while you're slugging it out in guitar battles. The stages are bright and colorful - sort of an epileptic's worst nightmare with lots of colorfully violent flashes that can sometimes make you lose track of what you're doing. The original game reminded me of Parappa the Rapper, with a dash of Viewtiful Joe thrown in for good measure, and Gitaroo Man Lives! certainly comes across the same way.

U-1, Puma and friends are as goofy as they ever were as well, with U-1 acting like a dolt at every turn. While there's certainly a lot of cheese in these character portrayals they are also a lot of light fun that you won't take too seriously anyway. The game really is about your guitar slinging skills and not your social skills.. We should also mention that the PSP game certainly looks a lot crisper than the original, and the character renders with all their pomp, circumstance and visual fireworks do look cool.

Beyond the single-player game, Gitaroo Man Lives! offers multiplayer and a few other interesting extras. Multiplayer lets you take on AI controlled baddies or another player in Vs. mode, while duet mode lets a player and a friend get together to make sweet, sweet music against a powerful challenger. Multiplayer is pretty seamless and there's really no lag or slow downs while playing, and it's different enough from single-player to give it a shot..

Other extras include the Jukebox, which allows players to listen to tracks that they have battled to in other modes, then there's Collection which gives player's pictures of U-1, Puma and other characters from the game and finally the Theater which unlocks the cinematics you've seen to play at your leisure.

Gitaroo Man Lives! will be released later this month on the PSP. Our biggest gripe with the game right now? Load times. The game takes way too long to load each stage. Hopefully this is addressed in the final version of the game. That aside, fans that missed the game on the PS2 should check Gitaroo Man Lives! out later this month. Just be prepared to give your reflexes a serious workout!