Quirky music games always seem to find a cozy home on Sony hardware. Whether it be Vib Ribbon, Parappa the Rapper, Frequency, Taiko Drum Master, or hell, even Karaoke Revolution, music games have an undeniable presence on both the PS1 and PS2. However, a vastly overlooked and fun PS2 game called Mad Maestro is one of the most interesting music-oriented games to come out in quite a while.Published in 2002 by Eidos under their Fresh Games label (the same brand that spawned Mister Mosquito), Mad Maestro is a music game of a different sort. Instead of rap or techno as it's focus, the game leans moreso towards classical orchestral pieces. The graphics have a simple, cartoony style, but cel-shading is not used. The graphics and texture-mapping are reminiscent of Herdy Gerdy without the Disney-esque animation. The gameplay is entirely timing-based; a ball of light travels between four arranged points on the screen, and you must press the face button of your choice to ensure that the on-screen conductor keeps his rhythm. However, depending on the color of the points themselves, you must press the button either softly, firmly or in-between, and the music reacts to these changes by becoming louder or softer. Also, the points may expand or contract, meaning the tempo changes and you must compensate to keep going. As you correctly play the notes, a meter on the left will fill up, and when it reaches the top you will enter "Angel Mode"; continue playing in this state all the way till the end of the piece to finish the level.The most interesting part of this game is the somewhat buried "freestyle" mode, in which you can basically conduct any pieces of music you have unlocked, at your own pace. It's great fun to take one of Beethoven's pieces and conduct it, and the music will dynamically change based on the rhythm of your button presses. If you've ever wanted to conduct an orchestra with your thumb, this is it .In all, Mad Maestro is a fun, quirky game, and it's easy to see why Eidos would have made the decision to bring it over from Japan and publish it for a NA release. Although it wasn't a great success commercially, this game is definitely deserving of Eidos' Fresh Games label. Be sure to check "Under The Radar" for this one.atari_2600.zipConducting in front of a UFO? Those aliens had better like my rendition of Mozart's Third Movement.