The arcade precursor to Guitar Hero and Rock Band’s plastic instruments craze of the early 2000s is Beatmania, a rhythm game that lets players unleash their inner DJ. The unique mix of skill and rhythm needed to play Beatmania make it one of the most demanding music games of its time, but is the game’s DJ gameplay fun enough for most players?
Beatmania is a great start for a franchise, but by itself, it’s a simple game that lacks any meaningful depth. The arcade nature of the gameplay means that play sessions of Beatmania are kept sweet and short, with little reason to spend time with the game other than. Beatmania IIDX ULTIMATE MOBILEをPCでダウンロード！大画面でより楽しむ。電源が落ちてしまうとか通信料が足りないとかの問題を心配する必要がなく、PCの大画面でより快適にゲームを楽しましょう！. Beatmania IIDX (863 JAB) for MAME Rom file. File information/download page. Only beatmania IIDX game that has PLAY OPTION on the title screen until beatmania IIDX 9th style; Though officially named beatmania IIDX, it's often referred to as '1st style' by fans to keep it consistent with the numbering style of the later sequels. Songs are shown as records in the center of the screen, similar to the early beatmania games.
Money makes the world go round
Beatmania’s odd-shaped controller resembles a DJ console, complete with five buttons and a turntable. These buttons, arranged like an “M,” resemble the keys of a piano, and are the main controls of the game, as the players have to hit these buttons as they show up on the screen.
As with many other rhythm games, the notes on the screen fall in a cascade-like fashion, and players will have to press the corresponding buttons once they hit the bottom. Additionally, a prompt to scratch the turntable might also appear to spice things up a little.
The points in the game are represented as “Money” and players are graded on a scale. That scale isn’t affected by the player’s total Money, but by their overall accuracy during the song. It’s better to take your time and be as precise as possible rather than simply racking up points in Beatmania.
Learning the ropes
Due to the game’s unique nature, it’s a blessing that Konami decided to include a Practice mode. In Practice, players can learn the basics of the game from DJ Konami, as he tells players how to correctly play Beatmania via a voice-over.
Once you’re familiar enough with the basics, it’s time to take on Normal Mode. This mode, as its name might suggest, is Beatmania’s main event: players choose a song from a pool and play it for points. As the player beats songs, new and more difficult tracks get added to the song pool.
Expert Mode will give even the more skilled Beatmania players a run for their money. In this mode, players play through all the songs in a set in order, losing energy (represented by the “Audience” bar) faster than usual. Thankfully, continues are allowed, but that doesn’t make Expert Mode any easier.
Familiar beats
As a Japanese developer, Konami made sure to include the talents of many local artists. That said, these DJs might be a bit obscure for American audiences, even for the most avid electronic music enthusiasts.
There’s one negative aspect about the song selection that’s worth mentioning: most of the songs are too long. This baffling decision is weird considering that Beatmania started as an arcade game, where shorter songs would mean more quarters being spent.
Luckily for non-electronic music fans, the guys at Konami also made sure to include some great nods to their other game series. Remixes of music from Castlevania or Metal Gear Solid can be found in the setlist, meaning that fans of other series can try playing a song they’ve already listened to many times before.
Beatmania is a great start for a franchise, but by itself, it’s a simple game that lacks any meaningful depth. The arcade nature of the gameplay means that play sessions of Beatmania are kept sweet and short, with little reason to spend time with the game other than to master the small selection of songs it has to offer.
The controls work great, and if you’re a fan of Japanese electronic music you’ll find some great tracks here. This is a game for a very niche audience, and for those in that audience, Beatmania is a game that won’t disappoint.
Pros:
Beatmania Iidx 27
- Solid controls
- Clear interface
- Some remixes of other Konami classics
Cons:
- Lack of gameplay modes
- Obscure tracklist
- Earlier songs are of questionable quality