PROJECT RUB







After the multiplayer madness of the love it or hate it Mario Party series and the magnificent spasticity of the off center Wario Ware games on the GBA and the DS. Sega, Sonic Team, presents to us their take on the mini game phenomenon. With successful and sexy results. Yes people. Project Rub is now here for our perverted pleasure.

First thing you will notice of the game is the absolutely unique presentation. Highly stylised graphics mimicing design philosophies of the 50's retro coolism. Bright bold clashing colours give the game charm. In pics the game looks like still images but they actually are in 3D. Kudos to the art direction Sonic Team. The music consists of 50's style grooves and fans of Space Channel 5 will definately get a kick out of the music. The theme for the game is very addicting....na na na na na na na na na.

The game is presented in scenes, with your character going thru various and ALWAYS bizzare circumstances to win over a particular girl's heart. And if you thought Wario Ware was bizzare, wait til you see what is in store for you here. At the beggining you are given a goldfish in a bowl for no reason at all by a mysterious bunny man. Followed by you tripping over and said goldfish flying into a persons mouth and down their gut. Which lands you in the first mini game of trying to rub the mans stomach to regurgitate said goldfish out of his stomach instead of passing thru the other end. Weird in every sense of the word but very endearing.

The entire game, like Wario Ware, is controlled via touch screen and microphone. Stylus is ideal for precision but for that personal touch, try using the thumb strap on your index finger. Especially tasty during the "Love Scenes." ;) Whereas Wario Ware had many minigames that last between 5-8 seconds, Project Rub consists of minigames that can last longer. Most likely because you aren't pressured via a time limit. And the same minigame consist of stages that you have to pass to clear it. Eg. Stage 1 of the goldfish minigame consists of 1 goldfish to be regurgitated, stage 2 has 2, stage 3 has 3, stage 4 has 3 but a weaker stomach, etc etc. You are given a set amount of lives/tries so you can't be careless. Unlike Wario Ware, you are given specific instructions on how to play every minigame. Each Scene consists of 1-4 mingames you can tackle at any order, followed by a boss level. The boss levels last a lot longer and beating that rewards you with a "Love Scene" consisting of interaction with your said love interest in very flirtatious, naughty and suggestive circumstances. Keep in mind the game is rated "G8+."

Project Rub is also much more difficult than Wario Ware and should last a LOT longer than Wario's shenanigans. Mainly due to the nature of each minigame and how it is presented and paced.

It's certainly a worthy game to own for DS owners who enjoyed Wario Ware and after a more mature presentation. And one of the few games worth owning on the DS period. But for those who are weirded out easily or like their ice cream vanilla, go and get Spiderman or Sprung. Many quirky delights await the curious though. If only real life dating was this interesting. Sadly, it's not. So VERY not.

On a side note, I found out that Sega games are now distributed by THQ here in Australia and not Atari (woohoo!). Although Nintendo picked up distributing rights for this game as Nintendo was afraid of THQ not bothering to release such a "niche" game. Anyway I have to go and rub

Ooh whats going on here?...



-Stompy

Yes, must remember to see if I can borrow this off my friend today. It looks cool, but doesn't sound like it'll last very long.

This has come out now hasn't it? It's certainly a game I would like to try, dont know about buying it though. It's great to have another game that uses the DS features properly though :) .

I just got it and it's interesting so far. The theme song doesn't quite appeal too much to me, but at least I haven't found it irritating yet.

It probably doesn't help that my screen protector has so many scratches on it so they show up since I'm not playing in the dark.

Still, the games have been fun so far, from the afroementioned belly rubbing to punching in numbers to make parachutes open, and 'shooting' bulls.

Hmm it seems the game is quite short. There's roughly 50 minigames from what i can gather and I'm pretty sure I'm up to the last few mini games. Although there are a lot of unlockables to uncover, about 60. Including new skins for your girl and a slew of harder difficulties.

It's quite interesting to see a little homage to Space Channel 5 in one of the mini games. All up the game feels like an offshoot of Space Channel 5. It has the same feel, pacing, funkygroovy psychedelic feel to it.

Wario Ware is still the better of the two although this shouldn't be frowned upon or ignored. It's downright gorgeous and fun, just very short.

-Stompy

Yeah, though can't say I enjoyed the dancing bit too much. I tend to suck at rythym games. Good thing there were two other games to choose from.

I am almost tempted to get this game myself, but perhaps I might wait for the stocktake sales or something and hopefully it'll be discounted. I kind of want to unlock the stuff myself, although I don't know if I'll have enough patience for the harder difficulties.

Pffft... preferring this game much much more than Warioware as it stands.

So nyer to you stompy. :P

I finished it a couple of days ago, and I'll probably hand it back to my friend. I'm trying not to unlock stuff since it is rather annoying when someone else plays your game and they unlock stuff for you.

Some of the features of the game are interesting, such as the message you get when it's Christmas, New Years or your birthday. And I'm stll wondering why the bikini disappears when you switch it to Japanese mode...

Argh! The fucking Plants game!!!!

I hates it!!!!

:P

It took me quite a few tries to get it right. But once you've done it a few times it becomes pretty easy, especially since there's no time limit when throwing the torches into the plant's mouth(es)

Sorry Pres. Wario Ware is still superior ;p. Although Project Rub has a more sexier appeal.

Anyway that plant boss was tricky, but not too hard. Keep at it. I found Antlion and the Final Battle to be VERY difficult. And then I gave Hard mode a try and gave up lol. And theres meant to be a Hell difficulty.

Oh dearie me.

But must beat to unlock Ulala costumes. Mmmmm.

-Stompy

It has a Hard mode and 'Hell' mode? That would increase the life span of the game, hmm makes it more appealing :)

Much like with Warioware, I'm returning Project Rub but the latter definately got more hours of play.

I didn't find the antlion game to be too hard. it was really just a matter of spreading your rubbing between the people.

And the final battle (the mecha one) was rather difficult. But quite cool nevertheless.

Hell mode I think makes you go through a lot more stages in each challenge, basically like going through each of the memories. But the major plus is that you unlock outfts like the Ulala one (Or you could just have certain GBA games when you play it).

dont know why it wasnt a launch title but oh well its good to give a few games a little bit after launch too bad its all dried up for the next 2 months or so (other than polarium on thursday)

i was quite smitten by feel the magic (project rub is a stupid name)
but i could never be bothered to play through it again as the mini games were all shallow and not very replayable imho.

im putting wario in front if only for the more play time required to beat it but i will admit that some of the games were damn fun and i have never felt more dodgy playing a game than i did during the undressing mini game hmmm, thats why elpres likes it so much isnt it hehehhe

Have you tried playing them in the memories mode? There's a whole lot more stages and they do get quite hard towards the later stages. Plus you can also unlock clothing.

Yes I did try that Kami. There was like 10 levels worth per mini-game!

But right now I got sucked into getting Stars in Mario 64 and Mr Driller Spirits is strangely hypnotizing. This is the first time I've ever played a Mr Driller game and I'm impressed. It's a very interesting premise.

I still want my Ulala skins though in Project Rub. Then play the dancing mini-game... ahh Space Channel 5 ont he DS. Up, Up, Left, Right, Down, Chu, Chu, Hey!

-Stompy

Mr Driller? You didn't import it did you?

And personally I didn't like the dancing stage. My sense of timing sucks.

Looks like Sega thinks this game warrants a sequel.

Akachan wa Dokokara Kuruno? (Where Do Babies Come From?)

Heeheh, "where do babies come from", I wonder what the stylus would be used for :P .