I remember in the early days of the Nintendo DS, I spent quite a few dollars importing titles from Japan. Ouendan, Band Brothers, and even Electroplankton—the latter leaving me feeling particularly stupid since it actually did cross the Pacific... twice. But importing from Europe? There's something I'd only done once in the past; I half-regretted it.

I recently had the opportunity to do it again, for a good price (typically the exchange rate doesn't make this a grand idea, but right now, it works out pretty well.) The game in question is Pastagames' Maestro! Jump in Music—made by a French team who shares offices with my favorite French developer—and this one, I don't think I'll be regretting at all.

Maestro! invokes shades of Ouendan inasmuch as there's to-the-rhythm touch action here; some of its mechanics even use those shrinking circles. But while Ouendan was a smooth, flowing experience playing out like a complex stylus dance on the touch screen, Maestro! revels in layering on the chaos. While I just got the game yesterday and have only been able to come near the end of "easy" mode (yeah, you do have to start there), the last handful of levels in particular are pretty insane. I was still working on getting the required B+ grade to pass the apparent second-to-last level before I had to hit the hay. (Before you accuse me of being weaksauce, I did not have nearly as much time as I wanted. This coming weekend should prove much more hospitable.)

You start out with a simple concept: a little pink bird named, appropriately, Maestro runs along wires. You can strum the wires he's running across down to make him jump or up to make him drop (think indirect action, like pulling back a rubber band) so that he can collect trinkets that sound off to the music as he goes. Some strings have shrinking cues that play notes as well; you can technically strum these either way, but you will need to keep an eye on where you want Maestro to be when making your decision of which direction to do it in. Simple enough, right? And yet, still presenting the potential for challenge to keep you on your toes.

As you move your way across the variously-themed worlds, new elements are thrown into the mix. Various flying animals will swoop in with Ouendan-like shrinking circles; tapping them in time will add percussion effects. Some strings are mandolinas, requiring you to strum them back and forth as quickly as possible. Underwater seaweed releases air-bubbles as you trace it with the stylus. There's even, at the end of it all, a Western-style enemy known as a Chickenito that needs to be "shot at" with rapid-fire percussive taps as cues scroll by... all while Maestro is still hopping up and down on the strings he's running on... to the familiar strains of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. It's quite an experience, even if the boss battles feel like they sort of bring the thing to a screeching halt temporarily with their rather easy Simon-Says-like tapping.

Now, after all this, you may be wondering where you can get your copy of Maestro! for yourself. This may prove difficult. Mine was sourced from UK online store TheHut.com here; but I see it's again out of stock. As of the time I'm writing this, out of the online stores listed on the official blog, it's only available at GamesBasement, and for about 50% more than I paid in the end. I'll let you know if, in the end, I feel like it's been worth it. Right now, it's looking quite promising.