Vib-Ribbon

Insert your own music CD into the PlayStation and watch brand-new game levels being born from your favorite songs, in 1999 it sounded like magic and to this day it is one of the boldest ideas a rhythm game has ever brought. Vib-Ribbon from the studio NanaOn-Sha is proof that sometimes less really is much more.

The game's visuals are radically minimalist: along a single line runs a vector bunny named Vibri, rendered as a clean white line on a black background. Your task is to press, at the right moment, buttons corresponding to the obstacles that appear on the line in time with the music. No garish textures, no polygon orgies, just an elegant line, music and a pure gameplay feel. If you make mistakes, Vibri gradually degrades into less advanced forms; when you do well, it evolves.

The trump card that placed Vib-Ribbon beyond all competition was the ability to generate levels from any music CD. The game loaded entirely into the console's memory, so you could take the disc out and insert any album of your own, and the game would create a track for it. That meant a practically endless number of levels limited only by your music collection, which was an extraordinarily clever and liberating concept for its time.

Masaya Matsuura, the lead creator behind NanaOn-Sha, is a name that stands at the very origin of the modern rhythm genre, his work gave rise to the charming rap hit PaRappa the Rapper, and Vib-Ribbon is its flip side of the coin: experimental, stylish, unyieldingly itself. Where PaRappa enchanted with colors and humor, Vib-Ribbon bet on pure abstraction.

In its time it was a title cult rather than mass-selling, but its influence and aesthetic daring made it a favorite of critics and players seeking something original. Stylistically it is utterly unmistakable and holds a firm and honorable place in the history of the genre.

Why play: A minimalist rhythm gem that conjures a game out of your own music, an unmistakable style and an idea seen once a decade.