YMMV / Vib-Ribbon

• Awesome Art: The splashes of color that do occasionally show up in the menus and UI really stand out, and Vibri's very detailed, sketchy appearance and expressive animations make it positively adorable. The complete lack of polygons ensures it's just as appealing as when it came out, something that can't be said for quite a few PlayStation games.
• Awesome Music:
  • "Universal Dance" with its sheer energy and pounding beat is pretty great.
  • "Roll Along" is fantastic, with its 60s rock style and sweet vocal harmonies.
• Cult Classic: It didn't even see a release in NA regions at first, but word of mouth over years has led to a small but devoted fanbase, which even included Shawn Layden.
• Difficulty Spike: The bridges in "Overflowing Emotions" shift from a massive increase in tempo to slowing the level to a crawl. The game had changed the song structure before, but it had been done much more subtly.
• Fandom-Enraging Misconception: Do NOT call Vibri "Vib-Ribbon" to a fan. Just don't.
• First Installment Wins: The succeeding two games are not nearly as well-known or popular. For Mojib-Ribbon this is due to it being so heavily centered around the Japanese language that translating it would require the game to be practically rebuilt from the ground up, and for Vib-Ripple it's because it completely ditches the Rhythm Game mechanics in favor of "hidden object" puzzles.
• Friendly Fandoms: With the PaRappa the Rapper fandom. Both games being developed by NanaOn-Sha helps a lot. While in terms of aesthetics they differ pretty heavily, they have a similar lighthearted appeal.
• Heartwarming Moments: For all its Gratuitous English, "Sunny Day" definitely qualifies as a peppy, high-energy song about waking up to take in the day while excited to reunite with a friend.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • Cakey. ^Explanation  Pronounced as "Kēki" (ケーキ), which translates to "Cake" (and doubles as Gratuitous English) in Japanese, as Vibri says the line in Vib-Ripple when revealing a Peta character that resembles a cake◊. It also has become a recurring inside joke within the community where it's Vibri's Trademark Favorite Food.
  • "This is what happens when you make a mistake." ^Explanation Said by Vibri when she gets injured in the tutorial. It's used in response to less-than-desirable outcomes or anything considered to be bad (such as an infamous 2007 YouTube video of NSFW furry art that used the tutorial's song where you can also hear vibri getting hurt and the failure jingle at the end as if the user recorded audio of him playing the game and didn't even try to complete the tutorial), though mostly within the fandom.
• Moe: Enjoyment of this game is almost directly proportionate to how endearing Vibri is as a character. The game seems designed with this mindset, as she'll make pitiable sounds with sad animations when she's not doing well in a run, reassure the player that they can do it on a continue screen, and transforms into a happy princess if her score is high and rewards you with a song! On top of being a cutely animated bunny.
• Most Wonderful Sound:
  • Considering how difficult it is to earn this in the first place, the sound effect where Vibri evolves into a fairy princess.
  • While her scream when hurt isn't, Vibri's singing is definitely this, especially when you beat a high score, it's like she's making a victory song just for you!
• Nightmare Fuel: While being a great rhythm game featuring an adorable vectorgraphic rabbit, there's a few elements that can be quite creepy:
  • The vibration effect after Vibri gets injured several times turns her and the course into an unsettling, scribbly mess.
  • The scene in the Game Over screen where Vibri will get close to the screen and shout at the player in frustration can surprise many, due to its suddenness and generally being out of place.
  • "Polaroid" is more of the subtle kind of creepiness. It's not so much full-blown horror as much as it is just... off, and the space in between beats can put people on edge. There are also otherworldy moans and a loud fanfare that can startle people who aren't expecting it.
• Scrappy Mechanic:
  • Not being able to play track one on any custom CD. There is a reason for it, as the first track of CDs with both music and data (such as Vib-Ribbon itself) is the data track, and attempting to play that would produce a high-pitched screech that could potentially damage your speakers and/or eardrums. However, it can be a real pain if you have a CD with a fantastic opening track, or if you want to play a whole album as a series of custom levels and don't want to exclude any songs. This was eventually done away with in the PS3 version.
  • Not an intentional feature, but the game has trouble reading Enhanced CDs (CDs with both Red Book audio and a separate sector for bonus features, usually music videos, mini-documentaries, or software). If you put one in, the game hangs on the "Checking" screen until you take it out. The only way around it is to copy the audio tracks from the Enhanced CD to a CD-R.
• That One Level:
  • "Overflowing Emotions" is a major spike in difficulty compared with the songs proceeding it. The very experimental structure makes it tricky enough, but add in many new obstacles and a particularly sadistic chorus that throws a mind-boggling amount of platforms at you make it hard to survive, let alone keep Vibri's princess form.
  • Your own music when playing with a Custom CD will become this no matter which difficulty you choose. However, it actually depends on how high is the track's tempo and how close it is to the pop genre. Otherwise, the faster the tempo is, the harder the track will be. Any Heavy Metal subgenre, for example, is highly guaranteed to be this.^note Case in point, in this case (pun intended), Dragonforce

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