I liked it, it was cool and an interesting storyline. Which makes me wanna leave the comp now and go play it. Just seeing some people here and there completely diss it and others saying about wishing for more of it.
I give it my best score, what about you?

I completely understand where you're coming from. It's definitely hard to make a judgment on the "quality" of this game -- since it seems as if for every annoyance, there is redemption!

The thing that makes this game worth playing is its innovation! Sure, the whole "microphone" thing has been done before, but never to this extent. Games like "Karaoke Revolution" didn't use word recognition technology (how else do you think I got through the song "One Week"... haa I just hummed my way to victory!). Even though there are moments of utter exasperation in trying to get Rio to understand your obviously CLEAR declaration (okay, many moments), just the fact that you can say something like "Check the second locker from the left," and have her follow it, is amazing to me.

No other game developers have stepped up to the plate to carry off something this spectacularly innovative. Just the fact that Konami gave this a shot, regardless of whether they pulled it off successfully, definitely earns them points.

And people tend to neglect the fact that this game must have taken a RIDICULOUS amount of time to produce. Especially for the American audience... Imagine, they had to go through programming for Japanese (a complicated language in itself), THEN in English (not much easier!).

The storyline leaves to be desired, though. It's fairly unimaginative... But (and here comes that redeeming quality), Rio is extremely charming! I'm imagining guys playing the game falling heads over heels for her. But being a girl playing the game, I still found Rio to be emotionally deep and a well-rounded person -- somebody I wouldn't mind befriending. The creators have created a character that the audience can LOVE, and I think that's uber-important too.

Last, it was the first try -- and they'd opened the door for further development of this genre. I think, though, that next-gen developers have shied away from creating things like this because of how "Lifeline" flat-lined. They're too chicken to try it again, and maybe make improvements. I'm desperately hoping another Word-Recognition game comes out soon... Maybe somebody will step up to the plate and try again. And Konami shouldn't hang their head in shame -- because what they pulled off is absolutely amazing!!

I actually just beat the game today (haa, about time!)... And I had picked it up a few years back for like $6 used! For me, it was definitely a diamond in the rough.

So, of course, "Lifeline" isn't perfect by any means. I just think people should be giving credit to its developers for what they ATTEMPTED.

Wow you sure know what you are talking about! LOL. I had fun playing it. For something different where you shout what to do.