Masaya Matsuura, the creative mind behind the addictive PlayStation classics Parappa the Rapper, hasn't been missing from a videogame universe that he helped with rhythm-based games like Vib Ribbon (EU & Japan) and the PaRappa sequel, UmJammer Lammy.

Musika, released around midnight on Monday night via the iTunes Music Store, celebrates Matsuura's return with a music visualizer game for Video iPods. In short, the game makes use of songs already on the iPod.

"The iPod is a device that revolutionized music and it is now poised to be a progressive gaming platform," said Masaya Matsuura, President of NanaOn-Sha. "Many years ago Apple's tools first opened my eyes to the power of music and multimedia, so it's exciting to release my first game for this device."

Players can choose by playlist, artist, genre, song or album to select the tunes they want to play. Once a song starts, the top of the screen displays the name of the song while the bottom portion of the screen shows a larger font version of the name, each letter in a box. On the main screen, a jumbled form slowly transforms into a letter. As soon as it's recognized, hitting the iPod center button confirms a correct or incorrect answer. Correctly identifying several letters in a row helps grow string of multipliers that helps add to the score. Guessing incorrectly blocks the letter from being selected in the lower version of the song title. By correctly guessing that letter the next time it appears, that unlocks the letter so it can be removed from the list of letter options. If letters that do not appear in the song title appear, simply hitting the forward button either adds another multiplier to the winnings or resents the chain of multipliers back to zero.

Musika is pretty easy for non-gamers to get into and it's a great way to remember the names of songs you may not clearly retain. Produced with Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Musika's visualization engine also works as a new music visualization display to add a new view for your favorite tunes.

You can down it for yourself through the iTunes Music Store for $4.99.

[UPDATE: Matsuura talks about his experiences with the game, iPod and going beyond rhythm-based gaming in a PR supplied interview.]

How did you become interested in creating music-based games?
Matsuura: When I first started creating music-based games, there was no precedent so this term did not yet exist. Even now, I do not really feel like I am making music-based games per se. Rather, I feel that, as a musician, I want to find ways in which the audience can be more directly touched by music.

What is it about music or rhythm based games that you find to be so compelling?
Matsuura: As opposed to passively listening, it becomes possible for one to interact with music. I'm really anticipating that in the West we will start to see new forms of musical expression emerge, despite the prevalent way in which games limit themselves to using existing musical recordings.

What can you tell us about the origins of the idea for musika?
Matsuura: The idea for musika basically came from a desire to revisit our 1999 PlayStation release vib-ribbon. vib-ribbon was an action game that created unique game course data from music CDs inserted into the PlayStation. Since then the times have changed, and most music fans enjoy their music on portable devices nowadays. I have long wanted to make another game based on the concept of creating game content from analyzed audio, but the timing never felt right. I feel that now, with the 5G iPod, the right chance has finally arrived. Of course, new ideas and systems are now necessary compared with '99, but I think that in this comparatively long interval we have done sufficient preparation to quickly make the idea a reality.

How would you describe the gameplay for musika?
Matsuura: At first glance the gameplay for musika is quite simple. Simply put, push the button if a character appears on screen that you think is also in the title of the song you are listening to. However, as the shapes on screen gradually morph from abstract shapes into recognizable characters; at what point within this process can humans guess assuredly? If you think about this, you can envisage some of the mysterious and fun aspects of musika that will grab your attention. musika also has quiz elements, puzzle elements, as well as a hint of action. musika adds an extra dimension to your music and puts it in your hand – this is a sense of the unique tonality of musika.

musika seems like a departure from your other games, in that it is not rhythm based. What was your motivation to base the gameplay on the song titles, rather than beats or chords?
Matsuura: Whilst I still believe that rhythm has an important place in music games, I have come to realize that in addition to explicit factors like rhythm, other factors such as sound and image, interaction, integrated gameplay and so on are equally important if we are to create experiences that are more conceptually complete with regards to the rhythm and flow of the game.

What do you think of the iPod as a gaming platform?
Matsuura: The iPod is an exciting platform with an undeniable charm. Whilst musika may seem simple on the surface, internally it is a surprisingly complex game, and the iPod handles it nicely. There are huge advantages to the iPod as a gaming platform and I think with musika we have taken advantage of them. It's a powerful device for music and video, and with its fluid, simple controls and amazing screen, its great to develop for.

How did the musika project happen?
Matsuura: Originally, we at NanaOn-Sha made a prototype "play from audio data" game in-house right from scratch. At this stage it wasn't directed at any specific platform. Sony BMG embraced the concept and we began working closely with their creative staff on it. As it progressed over the last year, the iPod became the most attractive platform to all of us. Sony BMG presented it to the folks at Apple, who expressed interest. Sony BMG then sourced Method Solutions', a fantastic developer, to get on board in order to optimize the game. Once teams were in place in Cupertino, New York, Texas and Tokyo, it became an extraordinary collaboration that was a great pleasure for me. We had the right people for a very unusual development job. I'm ecstatic with the results!

Are you interested in bringing musika to other platforms?
Matsuura: Sure, I would love to do that. Depending on the success of musika, we will definitely consider porting it to other systems, and will also think about other versions of the game too. The style of musika needs to be carefully adapted depending on the platform -- the existing version is very specific to iPod.

Most people are familiar with your work from PaRappa the Rapper -- but do you feel that UmJammer Lammy had the most impact? The guitar controller has become so huge these days with Guitar Hero...
Matsuura: Whilst UmJammer Lammy and Guitar Hero both have guitars as a central theme, even if we only compare the music, UmJammer had all-original songs compared to Guitar Hero which uses existing songs; so their approach is quite different. Musical instruments are an important element of games, but I don't believe that we can compare things based only on this aspect.

Beyond games, are there other areas where music is interacting with technology that you find inspiring?
Matsuura: Robots are one interest that we have been challenging ourselves with lately. Our original interest was sparked by Sony's Aibo, and more practically when we were provided with the opportunity to compose Aibo's music. Working through the problems involved in the relationship between music and interaction gave us greater practical confidence in robot environments. These days, we are also tracking the progress of MIT's Kismet project with great interest.