Mojo Mojo Mojo King Bee!

There was a demo of Koei's Gitaroo Man for the PS2 at the 2001 E3 show at the LA Convention Center. The only level available was the one pictured above, Stage 3 vs. Mojo King Bee and I played it over and over until I finally scored an 'A' ranking.

A few years later, I found the game at an Electronics Boutique and bought it for full price. I played through the 10-or-so stages at the Normal difficulty, then struggled through them again on Master difficulty.

Gitaroo Man hit a soft spot in my heart for rhythm games and quirky Japanese art and character design. The gameplay combined tried-and-true simon-says button-matching (the guard phase) as well as a novel thumbstick beat-matching, pitch-matching and pitch-bending mechanic (the attack phase) that was as charming as the music and art.

Stage 6, The Legendary Theme, featured an acoustic guitar duet that I learned to play on the guitar. I picked out the chords and the melody and wrote out a tablature. I remember posting it to a guitar tab site but I can't find it anymore. Here it is again if you missed it. I know I have.

.E................A......
------------------------
---------4--------------
1^2-2^^4----4-4^6-------
------------------------
------------------------
------------------------

.E..............A........
---------4--------------
------------4-5---------
1^2-2^^4----4-6---------
------------------------
------------------------
------------------------

.Abm7............Db7.....
------------------------
---------4---4^6---6^7^6
1^2-2^^4---4-4^6--------
------------------------
------------------------
------------------------

.......F#m.......Am...Cb7
-------0---------0------
------------------------
4^^1-2---4-2-1-2--------
------------------------
------------------------
------------------------

.E................A......
------------------------
---------4--------------
1^2-2^^4----4-4^6-------
------------------------
------------------------
------------------------

.E..............A........
---------4--------------
------------4-5---------
1^2-2^^4----4-6---------
------------------------
------------------------
------------------------

.Abm7............Db7.....
------------------------
---------4---4^6---6^7^6
1^2-2^^4---4-4^6--------
------------------------
------------------------
------------------------

.......F#m.......Am...Cb7
-------0---------0--2-0-
------------------------
4^^1-2---4-2-1-2--------
------------------------
------------------------
------------------------

.E...........E7..........
-4---0-2-0-4--5--4--2-0-
------------------------
------------------------
------------------------
------------------------
------------------------

.A...........Am..........
-4---0-2-0-4^^5--4--2-0-
------------------------
------------------------
------------------------
------------------------
------------------------

.Abm7...........Db7......
-2--4-2-----------------
---------4----6---7^6---
-----------4--6---------
------------------------
------------------------
------------------------

.......F#m.....Am...Cb7..
--------------2--4-2-0--
4----------2------------
--4---2--4--------------
------------------------
------------------------
------------------------

.E7......................
-4---0-2-0-4^^5--4--2-0-
------------------------
------------------------
------------------------
------------------------
------------------------

.A...........Abm.........
-4---0-2-0-4^^5--4--2-0-
------------------------
------------------------
------------------------
------------------------
------------------------

.Dbm7........F#7.........
-4---0-2-0----------0-2-
-----------4-2---2-4----
------------------------
------------------------
------------------------
------------------------

..F#m7...........Cb9.....
-4------4^5-----2-------
------------------------
------------------------
------------------------
------------------------
------------------------

.E................A......
------------------------
---------4--------------
1^2-2^^4----4-4^6-------
------------------------
------------------------
------------------------

.E................A......
---------4--------------
------------4-5---------
1^2-2^^4----4-6---------
------------------------
------------------------
------------------------

.E................A......
------------------------
---------4--------------
1^2-2^^4----4-4^6-------
------------------------
------------------------
------------------------

.E................A......
---------4--------------
------------4-5---5--5--
1^2-2^^4----4-6---6--6--
------------------------
------------------------
------------------------

..Emaj7..................
-7----------------------
-9----------------------
-8----------------------
-9----------------------
-7----------------------
-7----------------------