Beatmania provides challenge, proves rewarding
Konami has now made a name for itself in the U.S., with its phenomenally popular Karaoke Revolution and Dance Dance Revolution series, but these are just the tip of the iceberg. The “Bemani” series, Konami’s name for its music-centric library, started almost eight years ago with Beatmania, a self-touted DJ simulation involving playing five piano-like keys and a mock record turntable intended to be manipulated in time to falling bars on the screen to make music.
It has gone through numerous iterations there with a 13th arcade version of its recently released successor Beatmania IIDX. It has even managed to find a small but dedicated following here in the States, although importing costs are rather steep. However, Konami has finally decided to expand the Bemani line in the U.S. and has released Beatmania for the PlayStation 2.
The gameplay is relatively simple. There are two modes in this release: Beatmania, based on the classic version using only five keys and the turntable, and Beatmania IIDX, using seven keys and the turntable.
Each mode has a unique song list, and there is a modifier in the IIDX mode to play with five keys. Game mode lets you choose one of the two and play three songs, attempting to clear each song.
The goal of the game is to end the song with the “Groove Gauge” at 80% or higher. Hitting the notes accurately increases it, while missing them will deplete it, although if it empties the song will not end, unlike DDR or Karaoke Revolution.
Free mode lets you play any song you’ve played in Game mode with no stage limitation, and Practice mode lets you rehearse trickier passages. The Expert mode, while intimidating-sounding, is merely a run of five songs you must play in a row, and even has a feature to customize a song list with your favorites.
The graphics are not amazing, but they get the job done. The color scheme in the menus may annoy a few people, but there are a few nice effects here and there. Gameplay is nice and responsive. The controller that comes with the game is very solid, although some might have difficulties with the stiffness of the turntable. It is possible to loosen it but not recommended unless you know what you’re doing.
The sounds and music are extremely important in these kinds of games, and there is a very well-rounded selection from which to choose. Everything from house to hip-hop to drum’n’bass is present, and then some. A few covers of Karaoke Revolution songs like “You Really Got Me” and “Toxic” and licensed tracks from Moby and Timo Maas also appear.
A word of warning: unlike some of the other Bemani games, this is an unforgiving game with a fairly steep learning curve. Konami does a good job trying to smooth it out by adding a Beginner’s difficulty level, but this game requires a lot of time and effort to do well. However, just like playing a real instrument, it can be rewarding.
