(stylized vib-ribbon) is a 1999 rhythm video game developed by NanaOn-Sha and released by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. The game came out in Japan on December 9, 1999 and in Europe on September 1, 2000, but was never released for the PlayStation in North America; it was re-released on the PlayStation 3 via PlayStation Network in October 2014, which finally brought the game to North America in addition to Japan and Europe. NanaOn-Sha had previously developed the PaRappa the Rapper series of games for Sony.

The game was initially commissioned as an advertisement for the Mercedes-Benz A-Class car. After design issues surfaced with the car and the ad plan was dropped, development continued as a stand-alone game. Masaya Matsuura returned to lead Vib-Ribbon. The game's software loads into the console's RAM, allowing the player to remove the game disc and insert music CDs to play custom levels; the game can generate a unique level from any track on a standard audio CD. The graphics for Vib-Ribbon are simple, consisting of straight, white vector lines forming crude, angular drawings of the level and the player character, named Vibri.

Vib-Ribbon has received generally positive reviews from critics, praising its minimalist visuals and innovative concept, and has garnered a cult following; though the game has also received criticism for its simplistic gameplay and design. It spawned two Japan-only follow-ups: Mojib-Ribbon (2003) and Vib-Ripple (2004).

Gameplay

left|thumb|An in-game screenshot, where the [[player-character Vibri runs through a loop, one of the game's basic obstacles.]]

Vib-Ribbon is a rhythm game in which players guide Vibri the rabbit across a line filled with obstacles tied in correspondence to the beat of the song, in a dimension called Music World. Stages contain four basic obstacles; block, loop, wave, and pit, which require players to press the L1, R1, X, or Down buttons respectively at the right time to navigate. Sometimes two obstacles will be merged, requiring the player to press two buttons at the same time (for example, a block and pit combination will require players to press L1 and Down together). Not pushing a button at the right time turns Vibri into a scribbled version of herself temporarily.

| rev2 = TechnologyTell

| rev2Score = B In 2020, the game was celebrated among numerous other PlayStation franchises in the PlayStation 5 tech demo Astro's Playroom, where a Vib-Ribbon stage is seen being played within the location "Caching Caves".

Notes

References

;Bibliography

;Citation

  • Official website