Anyone played the beatmania series?

[toredauei]

I just stumbled upon a video of a guy playing this on youtube (insane finger speeds). I had never heard of it before today but it looks pretty cool and I liked the music. So has anyone played it before? Im curious to know if its actually as fun and/or hard as it looks.

[crux]

It's very hard, rest assured. It's downright intimidating, especially to those only accustomed to Bemani's DDR series. Especially with the later titles, the difficulty is geared more towards veteran players. That's not to say that the latest title is bad for a newcomer, but that the song selection will be more limited until player skill goes up (as not every song is available at lower skill levels like in Guitar Hero, for example).

That said, it's also very fun and most players familiar to IIDX* consider it second to none among rhythm games. It is the epitome of a rhythm game, to put it another way. If you can stand the music and you're patient enough to improve to a difficulty where more songs are available, it's a very worthy experience. If Parapa is the father of rhythm games, Beatmania is the Godfather.

*IIDX is the "second" and most popular iteration of Beatmania - it stands for 2 Deluxe - and is what many people refer to the game as to distinguish it from the original five button game (IIDX is seven buttons).

[Niode]

Are we talking about the one with the little keyboard and faux turntable peripheral?

If so then yes. I have the first one for PS1. I found it hugely enjoyable when it first came out. However I haven't played it for years and don't know how well it has aged. I do recall it having few contemporary songs, most of the songs are konami remixes of game themes. It has an awesome remix of the Metal Gear Solid theme tune.

If you don't like 90s trance. Avoid. There's very little else aside from a few big beat songs and the occasional pop tune.

[Hisoka_Ryodan]

hahaha i love beatmania!!! its a very fun game, but took me about a month to get good/use to the controllers. Let me sum it up for you.... =D




PLEASE WATCH IF YOU WANNA HAVE ONE HELL OF A LAUGH!!!!!

[toredauei]

O_O wtfffff

[Ack]

Dear...God...

I now have to cleanse my pallet by watching metal videos.

[MrPopo]

I remember playing IIDX at a friend's house. It is fun, but as mentioned it is hard as balls. A similar game on the difficult scale is Pop'n Music. Both just have too many keys compared to input apendages (fingers/hands), and it really messes with your head.

I'd recommend listening to a soundtrack before picking it up, though, since your appreciation of the music makes or breaks it.

[crux]

There's a lot more genres in IIDX than "90's trance" (by definition most the music from the last dozen games isn't 90's). If by "the first one" you mean BeatMania, released... circa 1998 or so for PS1, the game has progressed greatly since then, including adding two keys. The latest release to hit the arcade last December is IIDX 16: Empress, which is game number 16 in the IIDX series alone (excluding Beatmania and Beatmania III titles).

But yeah, it's all house and techno in some form or another, with few exceptions (like J-Pop). Also of note is that the only US title that was released a few years ago is awful, but is clearly the most import friendly.

Pop'n Music is great but is the hardest game to import, as it isn't worth playing without an ASC (arcade style controller), which costs anywhere from $200-300 after shipping. With a mini controller the buttons can be fingered, like with IIDX, whereas with a ASC the buttons are large and spread out enough to make it hard to hit three buttons with the same hand. The music is also a lot more poppy than IIDX (hence the name, I guess) and the game as a whole is a LOT more Japanese.

This is actually how I'd sum up IIDX:



Here's Pop'n Music in a nutshell:



And while I have your attention, Bemani's newest rhythm game worth attention, Jubeat:

[MrPopo]

Those videos make me sad. At least with DDR and PIU you're constrained by people's physical ability. I can't even read those charts.

Here's the most insane Pump It Up video I've ever see:

[fast]

I am a closet bemania fan (popnmusic mostly). I have only played the dreamcast version on the controller but have almost commited to building an ASC more than once. They are not terribly complicated, but without the software I have no real reason for building one. Now if they ever make an opensource alternative, ala stepmania or frets on fire, that is decently support, Ill be all over it. I may be rubbish at the game but that wont stop me. (I am aware of stepnmusic and feeling pomu but have found their support to be very poor at best - please correct me if I am wrong).