Using the Simon Says concept behind Parappa the Rapper and Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) as its central design, Bizarre takes a game that sounds like a Japanese title (Chu Chu Rocket, anyone?), that looks reminiscent of the PS2 tech demo/game, Fantavision, and is technically playable with your Guitar Hero 2 360 guitar, and manufactures something somehow original and yet not at all original. The final product is good but not great, likeable but not loveable, somewhat but not terribly addictive, and doesn't drive home that memorable soundtrack to keep you around for weeks. Boom Boom Rocket is worth your while, but not too much of your while.

A music rhythm game designed with the Xbox 360 controller in mind rather than a dance pad or guitar, Boom Boom Rocket (BBR) plays like DDR and Fantavision fused together. Or looking at it another way, BBR is a musical take on Geometry Wars. Multi-colored fireworks shoot up from the ground into an anonymous city at nighttime topped with a horizontal bar. Your job is to time button presses when the fireworks cross the line to earn the highest points possible. When you time it right, the rockets explode into bright colorful 3D fireworks. Miss the bar and the rocket fizzles out. Miss too many and the game quickly ends. BBR rates your performance on timing, hit and miss ratios, consistency and bonuses, providing descriptors and different points for each firework that's timed right (OK, good, awesome, perfect, etc.). The fun part comes when you finally memorize the location of each face button and can start playing the game at higher speeds, getting into a rhythm and feeling the music tie into the game design.

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In the end, BBR is a neat semi-original endeavor that's a worthy addition to the empty musical annals of XBLA. It's ultimately a pretty shallow endeavor, but it's still worthy of your time, even if it's overpriced at $10. I know that sounds cheap, but honestly, we're not talking about Castlevania here. We're talking 10 songs. If there are only 10 songs here and there is the potential for more songs, will EA charge us for them? I cringe to think about it.