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Music is everything, and it can work for you or against you! Travel deep into the life of a high-rolling hip-hop mogul to build a record label, discover new superstars, and rule the hip-hop world. The soundtrack sets the beat as you play through the game, and the environments pulsate, crumble, and explode to life with every bone-jarring beat. Time your attacks to the driving bass and make use of scattered debris to pound your rivals. Use the Analog Sticks like turntables to add beats and switch songs, making music your weapon to unleash devastating combos. Artists like Ludacris, Paul Wall, and Big Boi are all players in your brutal climb to the top.

Beats trigger interactive hazards around you as your environment comes alive -- from exploding gas pumps to spinning helicopter propellers, taking advantage of your surroundings is just as important as your toe-to-toe fighting skills
Use the analog sticks like turntables to add beats, switch songs, and make music your weapon
Throw down blistering attacks and brutal combos with the next-gestural street fighting system
Build an empire and live the life of a music mogul by signing artists, managing their careers, and releasing their hit songs
Upload any song to create an endless soundtrack that drives the core fighting mechanics

This game is retarded. Sorry that I have to start my review like that but seriously, this is one of those games where I try to explain it to people and the words fail me every time.

I'm not saying it's the worst game I've ever played. For one, the graphics are really impressive and the way the levels are affected by the music is pretty interesting. Looking at the character models, you can tell exactly who you're looking at, i.e. The Game looks like the Game, Big Boi looks exactly like Big Boi, etc. The fighting engine is okay, if limited and not overly responsive. The music is okay as far as today's hip-hop goes (sorry to say it but rap music these days is in a sorry state... that's a whole other conversation though) but luckily you can upload your own music to play with and this feature works well.

The premise of this game is what makes me scratch my head. I mean, a typical scenario in the game would go something like this:

The record label exec you work for needs you to sign an artist, but Ghostface Killah might be there to stop you, so you two have to duke it out.

As ridiculous as it sounds, that's pretty much what the game is and it also has a lot of fighting which gets repetitive fairly quickly. The game has a weak frame around it which attempts to incorporate a kind of lifestyle management aspect like what to wear, how much to spend on your girlfriends, how much to spend on artists and their records.... but it all gets boring pretty quickly, especially when you're really just having the same fights over and over.

I've played online and like with most fighting games, I found the lag times to be a bit of a pain. Sometimes I'd have a clean match and other times, my opponent would be teleporting all over the level.

I'd have to suggest a rental on this one first or at least try the demo out. Seriously, this game is just really weird in too many ways to count to make any kind of recommendation.

There's one other thing that I should mention. I find it kind of sad that this game promotes the exact same kind of violence that gets the rap industry into so much trouble all the time. While it's all handled in a tongue in cheek way (I mean, fighting Sean Paul for whatever reason is just plain silly, no matter what), the fact that this is an officially licensed product from a well known record label makes me wonder what the intended message is.