- Tired of dancing to the tunes? Konami lets you become the DJ, with the aid of a cool controller. Fun for a while, if not for the dated songlist.
Overview
Although Konami has been in the leading spot for rhythm based music games, it doesn't mean that they are done innovating. In fact, one of the first games of their rhythm lineup that hasn't been released in the States (until now) is a game called Beatmania. This game put you in the role of the DJ trying to see if you have what it takes to become the next best DJ. Well Konami has been talking about bringing it here to the US for a long time, and now here in 2006 it has arrived for the PS2. So the big question is has it been worth the wait? Read our full review to find out!
Gameplay
So to really get the Beatmania experience, you really have to buy the game with the controller, which tries to mimic what we saw in the arcades for the game. Now of course there are some differences and some limitations found on the PS2 version that aren't huge, but for players that are familiar with the arcade controls may take some time to get used to the at home controls. For those who have not played the game before, then you will probably be right at home. I have to say that the turntable controller really does look quite cool.
Alright so what is a great peripheral without a great game? Could Beatmania live up to the test? Well first off, you should know that there are actually two games built into this one package. You have the original Beatmania game along side the IIDX package. Now what are the differences between the two are that the original doesn't actually take advantage of the entire keys on the controller, while the IIDX does. So right there you would think you would be getting a great deal with Beatmania, but in fact you might not be.
The game itself works just like any other rhythm-based game, as you need to hit the right buttons at the right time. Of course having rhythm is always a huge plus in a game like this, the actual concepts of the game are rather straight to the point. Now I did find that for me there was a rather large learning curve having not played the arcade games before, but I would imagine for those who have played the arcade that sitting down to play this game will feel pretty comfortable.
So some may be asking is this just a perfect game then? Well actually it's far from it, and I will tell you why. The game has a lot of things in it that just feel overly dated. The game itself just feels like it was something at the very beginning of the PS2 lifecycle, and not now where we are at the end. Also the music in the game seems pretty dated and in my personal opinion just isn't the best of the bunch. I have seen Konami do so much better in their selection of music on other DDR games, but Beatmania just feels like it missing something in the music category.
As much as at first it feels really great being able to sit down and play the turntable in this game that initial satisfaction for me wore off. Everything in the game felt a bit too simplistic and dated. Some may still find things to enjoy, but for me I just felt like the game could have done much better in adding some new features, and maybe even some sort of original mode. For example, becoming the top DJ in some sort of climatic storyline. With that being, said Beatmania does have a lot of the basics down, but the final product I think could have been much better.
Graphics
Visually you are really not getting much of a show from Beatmania, as the experience is what I would consider an "entry level" sort of visual effect. The game never tries to do anything even marginally better then what we have seen on the games of this genre before. I have to say that I wanted more from this experience, being a DJ is something that needs more power running behind it, and I just never felt like Beatmania brought this to the table.
Fun Factor
Now I can' say that the whole experience of Beatmania is just thrilling, but it is still a fun and different experience. I really feel that the best aspect of this game is not so much the game but the peripheral, which really helps set this game apart from other rhythm based games. As much as the controller succeeds, the game itself still needed a lot of work and definitely could have been made into a really fun experience. In the end, I think everyone will have fun with this game at first, but unfortunately that tapers off pretty quickly.
Overall
In the end, Beatmania for the PS2 is a game that has a great peripheral but doesn't have a great game to go with it. As much as I would like to see this game do well, the transition over the United States just seems to late and makes the game feel dated and not worth the investment.
- Gameplay
6.0 - Graphics
5.0 - Fun Factor
6.0 - Overall
6.0
