First of all, Maestro: Jump in Music thoughts
Maestro: Jump in Music is probably one of the rarest DS games no-one gives a damn about. It was a very small release by a very small french studio called Pastagames (they were also involved in some of the Arkedo series of XNA games on 360) in a handful of countries in europe on a very small budget.
It's also a pretty great rhythm game. There's something very polished feeling about the game, and it's absolutely worth the money it goes for (I picked it up for £20 recently, but it generally still runs about £30 - the full price for a UK DS game). You control a pink bird named Presto as he runs through musically themed levels to defeat his rival - a spider named Stoccato. Elements of the level must be manipulated in time with the music - plucking the ropes Presto walks along either up or down allow him to jump or fall, poking enemies with the correct tiing lets you 'defeat' them (they never hinder you either way though), and throughout the games 18 stages lots of new mechanics are introduced - mandolins that must be strummed repeatedly, enemies who require complicated rhythms to take down, black holes that levitate you if you spin the stylus on the screen, bars that must be followed exactly with your stylus - it keeps things interesting, and it's a lot of fun.
The boss fights are a weak point of the game. After every three normal stages you fight Staccato in a rhythm and response game where you must mimic the string plucks and drum beats his minions do. It would be fine but the music is very simple and boring every time, and it goes on altogether too long as you advance the difficulties.
Difficulty is handled in an odd way this game too. After my first run through of the game on Normal I was a little disappointed - 18 songs isn't too bad for a portable game, but they were all only a minute or so long and I'd have liked to see more. Turns out I could - the first run through of normal is nothing more than a tutorial, and playing through all the levels again gives me the full rendition of the songs (which are all free to license songs, mostly classical with one or two western themes and the odd classic pop song such as The Jackson 5's ABC or Our House by Madness). The full songs are fairly challenging, and Hard mode looks pretty tough. It's better value than it seems at first.
Maestro isn't the best game on DS, and it's not even the best rhythm game on DS (Jam with the Band, Elite Beat Agents and Rhythm Paradise are better and more obvious choices) but it is a lot of fun, and worth a look. Plus, it'll be a collectors item one day, mark my words
And, to follow Dave's cue, time for some stats!:
Generation and console breakdown:
Current gen console: 5 (Wii U: 3, Wii U eShop: 1, 360: 1)
Current gen handheld: 10 (3DS: 3, Vita: 4, PSN: 3)
Current gen PC: 1
Retro console: 11 (Wii: 1, GC: 1, N64: 4, SNES: 1, NES: 1, PS1: 1, MD: 2)
Retro handheld: 7 (DS: 1, PSP: 4, 3DS VC: 1, GBC: 1)
Retro PC: 0
Genre breakdown:
Action Adventure: 5 (Wind Waker, Link Between Worlds, Shantae, Symphony of the Night, Gravity Rush)
Action Platformer: 2 (Chiki Chiki Boys, Rondo of Blood)
Adventure: 1 (To The Moon Christmas Special)
Beat 'em up: 1 ( Double Dragon)
Fighting: 1 (Dead or Alive 5+)
FPS: 1 (Perfect Dark)
Platformer: 5 (Super Mario 3D World, Kirby's Epic Yarn, World of Illusion, Mischeif Makers, Tearaway)
Puzzle: 2 (Layton & The Azran Legacy, Ace Attorney vs Layton)
Racing: 3 (Mario Kart 8, Snowboard Kids, Wave Race 64)
Rail Shooter: 1 (Starfox Assault)
Rhythm: 4 (Project DIVA f, Project DIVA 2nd, Project DIVA Extend, Maestro)
RPG: 2 (Atelier Totori Plus, Final Fantasy VII)
Run & Gun: 1 (Cybernator)
Shmup: 1 (Akai Katana)
Stealth: 3 (Metal Gear, Metal Gear 2, Metal Gear Solid GBC)
Other: 1 (NES Remix 2)
Best game beaten that was released this year: Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA f
Best games beaten released before this year: Symphony of the Night, Link Between Worlds, Gravity Rush, Atelier Totori Plus, Super Mario 3D World
