Vib-Ribbon
1999 · Rhythm · PlayStation
Overview
Vib-Ribbon (1999) is Masaya Matsuura's minimalist rhythm game, drawn in white vector lines, which builds its levels from any music CD the player puts in.
Deep Dive
Vibri, a rabbit, walks along a line of obstacles timed to the beat: blocks, loops, waves and pits, each matched to a button. Missing them degrades her into a frog and then an insect, and the game ends if she is hit too often in insect form. Because the whole game loads into the console's memory, players can swap in their own audio CDs, and the game generates levels from the tracks, harder for more intense music. The soundtrack is by the J-pop band Laugh and Peace.
Developer Story
Masaya Matsuura led the game at NanaOn-Sha, and Sony released it in Japan on 9 December 1999, where it sold 100,000 copies in its first week. Two Japan-only follow-ups, Mojib-Ribbon and Vib-Ripple, came out on the PlayStation 2.
Did You Know?
- It began as an advertisement for the Mercedes-Benz A-Class, until the car failed the moose test and Mercedes dropped the idea.
- The Museum of Modern Art acquired it in 2012.
- It never came out in North America on the PlayStation; it arrived there via PlayStation Network in 2014.
Sources & further reading
- Vib-Ribbon — Wikipedia
