Racketboy

I finished it today (on Normal) and I'm really impressed with the quality. Really nice game, some very funny stages and the "sad" song was rather touching as well.

I want to try Elite Beat Agents as well and I'll probably like it, but I'm guessing that I won't like the stages as much as some of the Japanese quirkiness.

Ivo.

I'm a HUGE fan of the series. I just recently was finally able to A-rank "Ready Steady Go!" on Very Hard mode. I've beaten all 3 games in the series [that includes EBA] on all the difficulty modes. I'm really hoping iNiS will continue the series; it's a breath of fresh air from all the rehashed Guitar Hero/Rock Band games that get released every week or so.

I haven't played any of the Japanese ones but I enjoyed the hell out of Elite Beat Agents. I think it's pretty quirky even if some of the Japanese stuff has been taken out.

Elite Beat Agents is still an awesome game, and the stages themselves are still very much like OTO, but it's the music that sucks. It only has a couple great songs, and the rest are either mediocre, or just awful.

I saw some videos of the highest difficulty and it seems rather harsh. I was wondering if I should dedicate time to it as there's so many games to play and not enough time for everything. I think it's better to play at least EBA before going into the difficulty modes of OTO. Spending time to S rank on the toughest mode is well beyond my intentions in OTO (even on normal is probably more than I want to spend) - but it is a feat of a lot of skill and practice with the game.

For now I'm content with having made what the game designates as "Perfect" - some 50s and a bunch of 100s instead of 300s everywhere (which is really hard) - I think the game gives you a "perfect" just for attaining max combo (i.e. not just 000 miss, as some "misses" are not counted on the miss counter but reset the combo).

Ivo.

I really enjoyed the first game. I haven't really given EBA a chance and didn't enjoy the second entry much. Before I lent it to a friend who's had it for THREE FREAKING YEARS I had gotten a perfect score on everything but the final song on the cheerleader difficulty. Someday I've got to get that game back and do it.

It's a real toss up between that and Daigasso! Band Brothers for my favorite music rhythm game.

These are some of my favorite rhythm games ever! I personally prefer the second one for it's music selection but I wouldn't have found such great j-rock bands as Asian Kung Fu Generation without the first one.

If you don't have a DS may I recommend this PC simulator
http://osu.ppy.sh/

It does a pretty good job of keeping the game play idea.

Edit: and by second one I mean Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2

and not EBA

I had no idea a homebrew OTO existed! But the site's mascot doesn't work; it needs to represent the hot-blooded fighting spirit of the cheer squad!!!

Its really great! I've been tweaking my laptop touch pad to try and get that OTO feeling. It's pretty rough though. I always thought playing on a tablet would be pretty awesome.

EBA is one of my all time favorite games. And I just bought Ouendan on a trip to Japan. Haven't dug into it too much but I need to.

Really love these games. They are simple in concept, but such a blast. I get just as much of the feeling of getting into the music -- if not more -- as with any other guitar game like GH or RB.