Osu! is a freeware online rhythm game based off of the DS rhythm game series
Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii: Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan
(Burn! Hot-Blooded Rhythm Spirit: Hey! Fight! Cheer Squad)
and it's American/western counterpart Elite Beat Agents.
The point of the game is simple, click the circles to the beat of the music when
the ring around the circle gets close to it. Sounds simple yes?
Well, think again. The game is fairly difficult and it will take time to learn how to master.
Luckily for those who find just Standard Osu! to be too easy or difficult, other gameplay
modes are available to play. Taiko which is based off another Japanese rhythm game where you use the keyboard to hit the notes at exactly the right time in one straight line,
and Catch the Beat (CtB) in which you use the arrow keys to move your small character back
and forth while catching dozens of falling fruit to the beat of a song.
The game has two different play modes. Online which is the default mode which lets you
play with or against eight other people from all across the world, and Offline which is
just standard single player. Online is highly recommended because even though you're
playing online you can still play single player and compete for high scores on
both world and local leader boards. Online mode also features an EXP system
which keeps track of your stats and how well you do.
Overall Osu! is an extremely fun an addicting game to play.
The game is entirely opensource, and all the games various maps and skins are made
by the games loyal and fairly large community. As the old saying goes
"if your favorite song isn't there, then go and make it yourself",
meaning that anyone can make a song and ad it into the game for thousands of people to play.
The only real downside to this is all the songs/maps have to downloaded individually from
the website unless your willing to donate a few extra dollars to get Osu! Direct
which is the game's in-game high speed downloader.
This game can be played and enjoyed by anybody and everybody.
System Requirements
1GHz+processor
512mb+RAM
Microsoft.NET framework (2.0+, 32bit)
Supported Platforms
Microsoft Windows (XP, Vista, 7)