Together with Mr.Mosquito, Mad Maestro! is the first release in the new Fresh Games brand created by Eidos Interactive to publish original, unusual Japanese games in U.S.

Mad Maestro! is targeted to lovers of music, but it's completely different from other music games you have played till now.
First of all the originality consists in the fact that you play the role of an orchestra conductor. The game features a rich selection of classical masterpieces, also giving space to some not very famous pieces, at least among people who don't know much about classical music. Usually, choosing classical music for music games, even when the piece is one of the most "commercial" ever, is unpopular, because it seems that average player is not very attracted by this genre. It's mainly a question of habits (bad habits I'd say!). When a classical piece is heard or used as a tune of a TV show or advertising is ok, people also find it a good background. But when it comes to listen to a whole album from a classical author, younger, and sadly not only younger people, try to avoid the experience at every cost. People only know few names of composers, usually not being able to connect his name with his works, apart from some cases. Mad Maestro! won't probably change this state of things, but at least will make some players able to recognize and learn something about classic music, that is not a secondary aspect.

Even if the gameplay of Mad Maestro! is based on the repetition of the same formula throughout all the game, and it consists basically in pressing nothing more than 2 or 3 buttons, player has few options that make the game more interesting.
When you start the game, you can choose the difficulty (Easy or Normal) or play in Child Mode, which has been created for very young players with simplified rules. You can also choose the Tutorial, to get used to the game's rules. When you choose to play a game, you enter the Room Menu, where you will be able to choose among few options: Story or Extra Fun (Free Play, Music Room, Bonus, Replay). Choosing Story you will be albe to play the stages of the game, while choosing Extra Fun you can replay stages you cleared, listen to music pieces, playing cleared bonus games etc. To play Mad Maestro! You don't have to know many rules, but the few rules you have to follow are fundamental to clear stages and complete the game. First of all Mad Maestro! won't let you clear a stage with a poor performance. The Tension Meter that shows you how your performance is going rises and falls, passing through different grades according to your ability in conducting the music. If your performance is good or perfect, the tension rises till it reaches Angel Mode. You have to complete the stage in Angel Mode to clear it. If you suddenly make many mistakes you enter the Devil Mode. The rise or the fall of the Tension Meter depends on various factors: first of all Tempo and Strenght. The Tempo Navigator, consisting in 4 circles called Cue Points, indicates the speed of the piece. They change position according to speed of the music. Every Cue Point indicates also the pressure you have to use when pressing the buttons (blue for light, green for medium, red for heavy). It means that when the Cue Ball reaches one of the Cue Points, you have to press the button accordigly to speed and strenght at the same time. Also, when an arrow is displayed on the Cue Points, you have to press the correspondant directional button to bring in a certain instrument. When the Cue Ball completes a lap, depending on the fact you conducted well (Bravo or Good) or bad (Bad or Baaad), the tension of the Tension Meter will drop or rise. In general the skills required for Mad Maestro! and the difficulty of the game is superior than the one of the greatest part of music games, Parappa included. The fact you have to complete the stage in Angel Mode means you can't conduct not paying much attention to the final result or single aspects. If you act this way you will never complete the stage. Very useful is the possibility to listen to the original piece in the Music Room, so you will be able to understand the speed and the volume (Strenght) of the music.