"Beatmania US made a lot of good and bad decisions that make it average out to a decent game."

I typically begin the review with a short synopsis of the gameplay so:

For those not familiar with Beatmania (based on the Japanese Beatmania IIDX), it's a game that is played with a specialty controller bundled with the game. The setup has 7 keys (4 white, 3 black, resembling F through B on a piano) and a turntable. This is a rhythm music game; you hit the notes as they scroll down the screen in specially designated columns for each note (and turntable scratch). While the game is titled beatmania, (which was originally released 10 years ago and had only 5 keys), this version is primarily Beatmania IIDX (with an included 5-key mode, more on that later).

Anyway... onto the review.

Graphics: 6

The graphics are a completely mixed mess. The game interface is based on IIDX 9th Style, so the in-game graphics are crisp and scroll smoothly. However they decided to slather on a hideous purple along with various other clashing colors. The main menu suffers from this horrible color scheme as well as having an extremely amateurish and rough design.

The in-game videos, especially those for the songs designed for this mix, are very nice. But in all honesty, videos are almost irrelevant because the player won't notice unless they're extremely distracting or interesting in some way. They're more for the spectators than the players themselves.

Gameplay: 7

While I typically give the gameplay category a 10, this mix does a few puzzling things that drop the score based solely on things that affect the game. The interface may be ugly at times, but it's forgivable. Some of the design choices, not so much.

First off, the inclusion of a 5-key mode was an excellent idea. While players have technically been able to play 5-key on the Japanese IIDX mixes, that option simply eliminates two columns. This is actually a genuine 5-key mode, as was seen in arcades many years ago (some of you may remember Hip Hop Mania Complete Mix 2). This is truly a great inclusion, as it is something not even the Japanese mixes have had any real access to until just now with the very recently released IIDX 13 Distorted (and only on a select few songs). Unfortunately, while 5-key is a great idea, the songs they chose as well as the severe limitations on the mode almost make it not worth playing.

To elaborate, unlike 7-key (or Beatmania IIDX mode), 5-key mode songs only have 1 difficulty, which seems odd as a good number of these songs had at least two difficulties in their arcade/Japanese PSX releases. Additionally, many of the songs chosen are downright terrible. Opinions on the quality of old 5-key songs are mixed, but there were other easy songs that could have been chosen as an introduction to 5-key mode. Another thing that seems completely odd is that many of the old songs retain their unbelievably tight timing windows, making it near impossible to get a decent score. I could understand if this was meant as a challenge, but this mode was included almost as an introduction to Beatmania. It seems lazy on the part of the developers not to change the timings to be consistent among all songs, as getting a poor grade on what should be an easy song is discouraging to new players.

Another problem I felt was that despite the inclusion of 5-key, it felt like an afterthought. 5-key songs were exclusive to the mode with the exception of about 10 global songs (songs that were either made for the mix or had previous note charts from both Beatmania and Beatmania IIDX). If they had truly wanted to made an impression they would have made an effort to give every song at least one 5-key chart and vice versa, so every 5-key song could be played on 7-keys on AT LEAST one difficulty. It would have given old players new exclusive content and old players a wider variety of songs and difficulties to play. As it stands, about 2/3 of the songs are playable on 7-key, and only about half the songs are playable on (real) 5-key mode.

Other minor but puzzling issues are the lack of a full-screen double mode and the lazily laid out expert mode. Double mode's display setting allows you to either have a large video on the side or two small windows playing the video on either side of your pair of note columns. While I am trying my best to review Beatmania as its own game, in this case the comparison must be made. The option to have a full-screen doubles mode (so the note columns take up the entire screen and there is no video) has been present since IIDX 4th Style (released roughly 2001). That an option was REMOVED for the American release is inexcusable.

As for the other complaint, it is minor but still a little disappointing. Premade expert courses in Beatmania have generic names (Beatmania01/02, IIDX01/02 etc). Expert courses have always had a name signifying an overarching theme like "Happy" or "Techno" or "Rapid". The courses in THIS game ARE all governed by themes, some are made up of really slow songs, others are really upbeat, others are artist specific, yet they simply have the generic names. It would also have been nice to be able to mix songs from 5 and 7 key in custom made courses. It's not like it would have been any harder to program. Since Beatmania and Beatmania IIDX mode are separate, so are the original courses you create.

I realize that this review is going to end up being fairly critical and negative but it is important to keep in mind as well that it does function fairly typically. Arcade/free/practice/training mode all work as well as they do in any other mix, though the records mode is a tiny bit cumbersome (but not really). Despite all of the flaws I have and will mention, it is still an incredibly fun game if you're willing to take the time to get into it, which many gamers are not.

Sound/Music: 5 or 9 (depending on your opinion)

Like the gameplay, there are some good and bad things in the songlist that give me very mixed feelings. I'm not going to complain about the fact that there are only 58 unique songs total (taking into consideration the limited playability due to the two different modes). As a completely new series to the US, it took a big risk just by being made. The first American DDR likewise had an extremely limited songlist compared to the 3rd Mix which it was based on (which had twice as many songs).

What I will take issue with is the songs chosen themselves. Not only are a good number of 5-key songs absolutely terrible, the most recent 5-key songs (that weren't global songs or new to the mix) were from 5th mix released in 1999 or 2000. 5-key Beatmania ended in 2002 with Beatmania the Final. Even ignoring the fact that songs only have one 5-key chart, almost every single song in Beatmania 7th Mix and Beatmania the Final has never seen a home release even as songs put on other Konami music games. Beatmania 6th + Core was the last console version. Placing songs from these mixes, which overall were much more polished and had a wide variety of difficulty, would have enticed more loyal 5-key players (like myself) into purchasing the game and might have even gotten the Japanese Beatmania players to import one of OUR games for a change.

7-key songs suffer from much the same problem. Because IIDX has gotten progressively harder over the years, the easier songs are generally in the earlier mixes making most of the songs on this mix from 7th or before with only about 5 songs from 8th or 9th (which was the most current home release at the time). In defense of 7-key however, the song quality is better overall with some really excellent music including a few that up to the time of Beatmania's release hadn't seen a revival in the newer and nicer 9th+ interface, like The Cube and Digital Mind.

The brand new licensed songs are good overall, a tad on the easy side but good overall.

Challenge: 7

On average I think the difficulty is very fair towards beginners, with a few really hard songs for the seasoned players. Unfortunately I find the difficulty to be a bit lopsided. The songs are either extremely easy, or they are very hard, with really only a few good songs in between. 3 star songs are fairly easy but past that difficulties become rather inaccurate. The American 4s are the equivalent of many of the Japanese 2s and 3s (compare You Really Got Me to Mr. T Take Me Higher both on Hyper) and Japanese 4s being really hard rhythmically and notewise.

Extras: 5

As far as extras go, there's really very little. "Anothers", which are the hardest difficulty (which some songs don't have), are unlockable by playing every song once. You almost have no choice as you can't play every song in free mode unless you've played it once. Understandable for a new player to a new series, it gives you reason to play through every song at least once and as a reward you are allowed to play the harder difficulties. For players that have stuck with the series for a long time however, this tends to be more a chore than anything as it forces you to play through a plethora of easy songs that you've already seen plenty of times on other Japanese mixes, just to unlock a difficulty that's available by default in the Japanese games. Not to mention that every song is typically already available in free mode.

There are no new songs to unlock, no hidden modes really, and the only thing that you unlock other than "anothers" and every song in free mode is if you play through expert mode you unlock a few more default courses which is basically par for the course anyway.

Replay Value: 5 or 10

As far as replay value is concerned, if you've never played the series there's a lot to keep you coming back, with many different difficulties and modes to go through. On the other hand, players that have really enjoyed Beatmania US and are genuinely interested in the gameplay generally use it as a launching point for importing the Japanese games. As you can deduce from my previous statements, without any real unlockable content a seasoned player will have little reason to pick this up except for the fact that the game and controller is very cheap compared to importing.

As a matter of fact, the controller that's included is actually better than the standard Japanese home controller in many ways (lighter, keys stick less, better design). When Beatmania US first came out it retailed for only 60 dollars and now if you can manage to find it at your local Gamestop it's only 30 dollars (I needed a second controller and called every gamestop in my area, but it paid off). Compare that to buying Beatmania US on Ebay or buying just a Japanese controller and you're looking to spend a minimum of 60 dollars. That's right, 60 dollars JUST for a Japanese controller, not even a game.

Overall: 6.5 rounded up to 7

Like I mentioned, Beatmania US made a lot of missteps and oversights that could have been avoided or corrected and made this a great game. The problem here is that Beatmania tried too hard to be everything at once. It wanted to be an all encompassing Beatmania mix with 5-key and 7-key songs, but the lack of more contemporary or exclusive content didn't attract veterans who are already familiar to the series. On the other hand it tried to pander to the tastes of the beginners by bringing in a lot of easy songs, many of which aren't known outside of Beatmania or Bemani games in general. So beginners weren't attracted to the songlist and high learning curve and veterans were turned off from the songlist and relatively easiness overall. A jack of all trades is a master of none as they say.

It's very unfortunate because Jason Enos really pushed to try and bring a unique home experience, which he did, but I don't think it turned out the way he thought it would. He was successful in bringing DDR but it had the simplicity and catchy songlist that made it appeal to a wide audience. Beatmania is a niche game even among music games which are already a fairly niche market. In light of poor sales, it seems at least for the time being that Beatmania in the US is being placed on indefinite hold, which again is unfortunate. The original DDR games in the US were virtually watered down carbon copies of the Japanese games. I believe with time Beatmania could also have evolved into a unique series in its own right the way DDR has on the console front, for better or for worse. The entire game however, from the hideous menu interface to the poor design choices, just reek of laziness. It was okay when DDR first came out, because music games in America were relatively unheard of. But in this day and age when music games are plenty, it's essential to produce a game that's as highly polished as possible. The mistakes they made with Beatmania US were amateur, and seemingly incongruous with the fact that it was an adaptation of a series that has been receiving more polished home versions for at least 5 years.

I blame the poor success on the (relatively) high price tag due to a bundled controller, and poor sales due to it being a "daunting and mysterious" game. Without being able to buy the game and controller separately (for people that already have a controller or people that want a second without having to buy the game), it certainly hurt sales. Compare this to its contemporary Guitar Hero, which was not only more user friendly but also more familiar in both musical style and recognition. A lot of people know who Pantera and Ozzie Ozbourne are, but who the hell knows most of the artists on Beatmania? Some of the licensed songs like You Really Got Me, Toxic, Funkytown and Lift Me Up (by Moby) were a step in the right direction, but it too few to compare to the hit after hit on Guitar Hero. Had the game come out two years earlier I think it would have been much more successful. While I love Guitar Hero and think it is a great game, it made it much more difficult for Beatmania to even succeed.

My review has basically been a long-winded tour of what was essentially a sinking ship right from the start, but I still recommend the game to someone looking for an enjoyable music game experience. If only because the game and controller are so affordable these days, if you can find them. It's a shame that the cheap controller is almost the only reason that people are buying Beatmania US at all. Oh well, that's how the cookie crumbles.

Pros:

-Great 7-key songs
-The essential interface plays beautifully
-A great game for beginners to music games
-Extremely affordable, even at 60 dollars for a game with a good controller
-Really a lot of fun if you're willing to give it a chance

Cons:

-5-key songs are a mixed bag
-Songlist itself doesn't appeal to new players or old players
-Lack of exclusive content that make the game worth purchasing for older players
-Many minor issues that add up to be rather significant

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 09/04/07

Game Release: Beatmania (US, 03/30/06)