"This is a fantastic game despite what another reviewer seems to thank"

I was terrified to see this game ripped to shreds by another reviewer’s bad taste. I am sorry for saying that another reviewer has bad taste for not liking this game, but that is just how I feel : p . It is true, music games are not for everyone; but I thank that just about anybody can enjoy them if they just give a few minutes of their time to learn the play mechanics. I imagine that the person who did not enjoy the game probably played the game in Dino’s song; they might have played 2 or 3 games, and then turned it off never more to enjoy it. Beneath that horrible song lays a fantastic game however.

Pop ‘N Music is basically the under dog of the BEMANI series of music games by Konami of Japan. Like Beatmania, Guitar Freaks, Dance Dance Revolution, and so on, this game has a special type of music controller that you use to play the game. I will explain that a little later on though. I would like to first explain the actual game. The screen consists of 2 cartoon like characters on both the right and left side of the screen. The character on the left side of the screen represents you and the character on the right represents the computer. Between these 2 characters is where the action takes place. There are 9 different vertical bars that are different colors (from right to left) white, yellow, green, blue, red, blue, green, yellow, and white. On these bars, little circles with eyes on them (referred to as “Mr. Pop’s” by many fans) fall toward the bottom of the screen staying on their vertical line while falling. Right as the “Mr. Pop’s” reach a red line, you are required to hit that colored button on your controller. Depending on your timing, you will either get a bad, good, or great (fever if you are doing really well) rating. Below this red line on the screen is a gauge that looks somewhat like an energy gauge in a fighting game. When you get a few “good” ratings, the meter increases slightly. When you get a few “great” ratings, the meter increases a bit more. However, when you get a “bad” rating, your meter will decrease slightly (or greatly if you are doing really horrible). When you are doing well, your little character on the left will celebrate in different ways depending on whom you choose. Some characters give you thumbs up and others dance a bit. Chamel (one of the characters) gets so happy that you are doing well, that she sees it fit to turn around and shakes her behind for you. If you are doing badly at the game, your character will let you know by sulking or pouting in different manors once again depending on who you are. If you are doing badly, the computer controller character will celebrate and vise versa.

The game can be played with the standard Dreamcast controller. This is not a very fun way to enjoy the game. Although, if you have a VMU, the tiny screen will show you what button on the controller represents what button on the screen. This is a nice feature of Konami indeed, but there is really only one way to get full enjoyment out of the game. The way to enjoy the game to the fullest is to play it with the Pop ‘N Music controller by Konami. It is a transparent controller with color-coated buttons to represent those on screen. The controller is about 6 by 13 inch’s in size and this makes the game MUCH easier indeed. Although the controller is not without its problems; for one, the buttons are VERY sensitive and you must be careful not to push the wrong button in the middle of the song or you may find yourself doing poorly in a song that is really not too difficult at all. The other problem is not as major and that is the fact that there is no VMU slot on the Pop ‘N Music controller, so another controller must be inserted into port 2 and you must make the game save to that particular controller. I don’t believe that the second problem is really that big of an issue though.

Here is how I feel that the game roughly breaks down:

Game play: 10
The game is a bit difficult for your first few tries. If you stick with the game however, it really does get better. There is a great sense of accomplishment in being able to play a more difficult song without missing but once or twice or if your really good, none at all.
If you have the standard Dreamcast controller, I would give the game play about a 6. There are parts in songs (Judy’s song comes to mind) in which you will have to press the green and blue buttons on the left side at the same time, and with a standard Dreamcast pad, this just is not possible. When you have the special controller that was designed for the game, you will be able to do whatever combinations come falling your way… with a lot of practice of coarse.

Story: N/A
I cannot describe the story because to be quite honest, there is no story in this game.

Sound: 8
There is a song in this game for just about anyone. Music styles range from J techno to Anime hero. I imagine that if you like country music you would be disappointed, um… I don’t have any friends that do though, so my friends and I all enjoy the music. There are a few songs that I just can’t stand however. Dino’s theme sounds like a small Childs television program theme song, Chamel has a rather lame 1970’s style disco tune that I don’t much like, and another stupid pink guerilla (I can’t remember his name, but oh well) has a really lame disco song. These 3 songs keep the sound rating from getting a perfect 10, because the rest of the music is quite fantastic. I ordered the soundtrack about a week after I bought the game. The J techno song is particularly good. I like The Bonus Track as well because it has a J-pop sound to it. If you like 80’s music, there is a song called “Watermelon Woman” that has a cool new wave themed sound to it. And as a sort of 80’s bonus, the character “Boy” looks like he is straight out of the 80’s group “Frankie Goes To Hollywood”. Other memorable songs include Rave Girls “E-Motion” which is actually a song out of BeatMania called “Beginning Of Life” I believe (I could be wrong). It was nice to see that song “Pop” up in this game (pardon the lame pun). One of my favorite songs in the game has to be “The theme of Gambler Z”. The song sounds like a theme song from an Anime that might have been on Saturday mornings in Japan back in 1976 or so. The song has a distinctive sound that just brings that image to mind.

Graphics: 7
I really hate rating this part of the game because Konami’s line of music games have never much been about graphics, the games have always relied on great music and game play. To be quite honest, the graphics are more than adequate. The little “Mr. Pop’s” will wink at you and blink their eyes and also look back and forth as they scroll down the screen. The character artwork is nice. Just keep in mind that the graphics are not going to knock your socks off or anything. But as far as graphics are concerned in this game, they do the job just fine.

Replay ability: 10
Another part of the game in which it shines is the area of replay ability. Not only can you unlock hidden songs after a few plays, the fact that you must constantly practice song to remain good at them is a bonus. The game is 3 years old and I still play it today. There is just something about Pop ‘N Music that I love. I play the game all the time, and I thank that other people would really enjoy the game too.

In conclusion, I just wanted to say that this is one of my favorite games. I have played BeatMania, Dance Dance Revolution, and Pop ‘N Music. There is just something about this game in particular that I find very enjoying. Maybe it is the fact that you can have 3 other friends help you out if you are really bad at a song, maybe it is the eclectic music that graces Pop ‘N Music, whatever the reason, this is a game that is worthy of a purchase as soon as you stop reading my review. The game is really that fun. Don’t judge the game by its candy coated pastel visuals; actually play the game and you may find that it is right for you.
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Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/12/01, Updated 03/12/01