![]() ![]() Some of these DJs seem to think that randomly placed, off-key notes make for a good song, and not only are they wrong, but playing along with these notes defeats all purposes of a rhythm game since there isn't any. It's not just the "songwriting" that's the problem here, but how these tracks fit into the style of a rhythm game. Unfortunately, almost all of these are pretty bad, with some bordering on being horrid. Spanning over 50 tracks, these are all shortened (around two minutes or so) tunes that encompass both remixes of popular songs, like Britney Spears' Toxic or Funkytown, as well as original hip-hop, drum 'n' bass, trance and techno tracks from various DJs. While the core mechanics behind the game and its customizability are great, the game is marred quite a bit by its less than impressive song list. Some sections allow for freeform scratching where you can go to town on the pad, and the game will reward you with bonus points for cool moves. The turntable part of the controller matches up with the bigger notes to the side of the screen, and twisting the pad in either direction will trigger this. As for the gameplay itself, it matches up with basically every other rhythm game on the planet in that "notes" scroll down the screen and you simply need to press the corresponding button in time. Pick up a second pad if you're planning on some multiplayer action. As a note, it is possible to play the game with a standard Dual Shock 2, but honestly, you wouldn't want to. It feels good, the turntable section actually spins and you can even remove and switch around the keyboard section in order to flip the turntable to the other side. Aside from this sticking point, and this is something that may not bother everyone mind you, the unique controller is all-around great. I found this element of its design to be its weakest point as I constantly struggled between playing the controller like a keyboard with one hand and switching over to two hands in order to play it like it's meant to be played. Things might have been a bit easier were the keys simply circles instead of rectangles, helping to separate the look of the controller from a keyboard a little more. But, this is by design as it's not actually meant to mimic a keyboard per se, but perhaps rather a percussion sampler or something similar. Since they're situated on two different rows with spaces between each of the keys, rolling from one to the next isn't as easy as on a keyboard or piano. There can be quite a bit of a learning curve as the keys aren't spaced like a keyboard, though your brain will trick you into thinking they should be. They're also quite responsive, never giving us a problem in our time with the game. The rounded tops help to make playing them quite comfortable. The buttons are all made of hard plastic but feel soft to the touch as there's a nice bit of spring to them. ![]() The four white keys and three black keys that make up the keyboard segment are what you'll use to match most of the notes on the screen, with the occasional twist of the record to match a side note. The controller somewhat resembles a miniature keyboard with a small turntable on one side. While the beatmania controller isn't perfect in its design, its implementation is great and helps separate beatmania into its own, entirely unique experience. Like any peripheral-based music game, much of beatmania's success lies on the shoulders of its unique controller. On top of this, beatmania also tosses in a plethora of customizable play options, like note mirroring, hidden and sudden notes, a challenge difficulty and more. While the game takes on the name of the original release, it actually encompasses the seven-key beatmania IIDX release as well, allowing gamers to choose to play either the five or seven key game styles. But Konami aims to change that with its first PS2 release of the series, the simply-titled beatmania. ![]() Though its history has been highly successful overseas, US gamers have yet to have seen the game outside of import arcades, and its total lack of a console release stateside means that it's essentially unknown over here. ![]() The game and its sequels, beatmania IIDX and beatmania III, have actually seen more mix releases than DDR has, if you can believe it. A year prior to its introduction however, Konami brought beatmania to arcades in Japan, a DJ-inspired game that featured five "keys" and a workable turntable. Konami really stepped up (haha) the music and rhythm gaming scene with Dance Dance Revolution, and everything else is history. ![]()
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