Maestro! Jump in Music (DS)

Just you're average pink duck platformer rhythmn game strum-em-up.

Maestro! Jump in Music was something of an unexpected pleasure for me during this year's gamescom. It's easy to become a tad desensitized when you see dozens upon dozens of presentations for three days in a row, but something about this game made me jolt upright and pay attention. It was almost as if someone from Pastagames used a DS to clamp hold of my nipple, and then twisted it round and round until my areola mammae went purple. [Important legal notice: this actually didn't happen. It just felt a bit like that. In a good way].

Maestro! Jump in Music is a strange but charming affair that's part music rhythm game, part classic 2D platformer. Each stage follows Maestro himself, a happy-go-lucky pink bird, as he dashes through a themed environment. Your aim is to collect a series of musical notes dotted around the level, but your control over Maestro is relatively limited: he automatically runs forward at a constant speed and will jump upwards or hop to a level below as you use the stylus to strum at the platform he's currently standing on. You see, everything in the game is connected to a musical effect: as you leap in an arc and collect three bits of fruit, for example, you'll play three notes from the main melody for the stage - which could be anything from Madness to Mozart.

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It's a pretty weird concept to get your head around, but the game's appeal is evident from the first time you see it in action. How can anyone resist the sight of a lilac duck playing Beethoven's Fifth by grabbing fruit in the jungle? Alright, that may still sound pretty weird, but trust me when I say that it's really quite endearing. The game uses a distinctive art style that somewhat resembles a modern update on Talkartoon animations of the 1930s (you know, Betty Boop and that dog with the big black eyes). Meanwhile the tracklist carries a heavy emphasis on well-known bits of classical music, interspersed with pop hits. It's a weird compilation that finds Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik sitting next to The Jackson 5's ABC, but somehow it seems to work - largely because most of the tunes are pre-eminently hummable.

Early stages of the action focus on simple hops and collectibles, but before long the game starts throwing all manner of other obstacles to be dealt with. There are sitar-like platforms that must be strummed vigorously, banks of harp strings that must be caressed with a single, steady sweep, and roaming enemies that must be popped with the stylus at precisely the right moment. If you manage to deal with all these demands, and if your timing is sharp, Maestro will find himself followed by a trail of adoring little bird fans; if you screw up, he'll be pursued by angry red notes with snapping jaws. It's all rather trippy - and that's before you get to the boss battles with Allegro, the game's villainous giant spider. Here the player must match the sonic patterns thrown out by the arachnid and his cohorts, banging on drums and strumming on a spider web with exactly the right rhythm.

Maestro! Jump in Music clearly has style and originality by the bucketload, but it's also fair to say that the DS already has quite a few excellent rhythm games - Elite Beat Agents and Rhythm Paradise immediately spring to mind. Still, there's always room for one more if it plays well, and no-one could accuse PastaGames of just following the pack. Maestro has an undeniable star quality that tends to make a big first impression when you show this game off to pals, but it's not yet clear if the game has the legs for long-term appeal. Let's hope that it does, because ideas this fresh don't come two-a-penny.

Maestro! Jump in Music will be released on the DS on November 30.