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[fugimax]

I'm a person who's just getting into the different Bemani/Music games out there. While DDR doesn't really do it for me, I'm really interested in things like Donkey Konga and Taiko Drum Master. I assume there are many others like me experiencing bemani for the first time..

Now, it's a well-known fact that the state of bemani outside Japan/Korea is pretty sad. That being said, I'd like to create this thread to help people like me find out about import options for the different bemani/music games available.

So, as a first question, how are Drummania and Guitar Freaks? Also, what is the availability of the controllers/games for import along with the cost. Can someone point to some import stores that stock this stuff specifically? I've tried wading through ebay and play-asia, but it's so confusing. Lots of different mixes, generally only third party controllers up for sale...what gives?

edit: can a mod change "Started" to "Starter" please?

 

[gmoran]

Frequency, Amplitude and Gitaroo Man, would be my picks from this gen; but then again I never got DDR.

 

[LinesInTheSand]

DDR is the best, though I'm assuming you're a lazy ass so it's probably not good for you.

 

[fugimax]

DDR just isn't my thing. I'm not lazy or anything...I just don't enjoy using my feet I guess. I like to drum and stuff...I've played a lot of musical instruments, so that's why most likely.

I've heard of Gitaroo Man...never played it though. Is that import only?

 

[dog$]

Gitaroo Man is not import-only, it was released in the US at least two years ago as far as I remember...

There are a lot of simulators out there for nearly all of the Konami music titles, so I'd look into giving some of those a try to figure out which one you'd like the best. In terms of series that will have current and future installments, your choices are Beatmania IIDX and Pop'n Music. That's about it.

 

[SiegfriedFM]

The reason why you only see third-party controllers is because not nearly enough official ones are produced. Your best bet would be to find someone who can buy stuff off Yahoo Japan auctions, I got a DC Pop'n Music set there for not too much $.

All Bemani games are good (except Beatmania itself, but it might be because I've only played the first horrible PAL version). I prefer Guitar Freaks and Pop'n Music.

Gitaroo Man isn't a music game as such, it's just a "rhythm action game" just like Space Channel 5 or Parappa. While you do create the music by playing on the controller, I think that you need a real plastic instrument for a real music game

I'd recommend you to get a Pop'n Music pad and the latest game (PnM9 I believe). Guitar Freaks isn't getting any new PS2 mixes and the third-party controllers are horrible.

 

[Mecha Gandhi]

Dreamcast: Cool Cool Toon, Samba De Amigo, Space Channel 1 & 2

PsOne: Um Jammer Lammy, Parappa

PS2: Parappa 2, Mad Maestro, Gitaroo Man, Drum Master

Cube: Donkey Konga


... all these things rock for Jesus

 

[oBa]

I personally preferr the Beatmania DX series, but Drummania and Guitar Freaks are both really good.

Drummania might not be the best one to start with, as it has a very high difficulty curve, and is probably the hardest Bemani title outside of Keyboardmania.

Guitar freaks on the other hand is really easy to pick up with and get good with fairly quickly. Although the later versions of Drummania/Guitarfreaks supports both controllers to form a pseudo band of sorts, so if you have a friend to bring over, it becomes a blast.

Unfortunately both series are not really supported on the home systems anymore (its been at least a couple of years since the last release) and getting ahold of the official controllers can be really tricky. Ebay and Himeya are probably your best bets (although you will pay through the nose at Himeya).

 

[Vlad]

I've got to throw in another vote for Frequency and Amplitude. The general idea to those is very similar to Konga (play the notes as they come), but both games are a lot more dynamic than Konga.

In case you're not familiar, in Frequency and Amplitude, you're basically constructing an entire song, one instrument at a time. You're flying down these tracks, and each track represents a certain instrument (vocals, drums, bass, synth, etc). If you do two perfect measures of a particular track, then that track will play automatically for a certain amount of time, then you have to jump over to another track and fill in that instrument.

This makes it so that the game plays a little differently depending on what you do. In Konga, all you've got is the drums, and if you mess up, you just hop back in the one track. In Freq/Amp, not only are you filling in practically an entire song by yourself, but you may be playing different sections of the tracks depending on the order you play them in, and any mistakes you make. Once you get better at the game, you then have to start considering the best path to take through a certain song to get the best score. It really does lend itself to a lot more involving gameplay than just playing the same set of notes every time through a song.

 

[Asskicker064]

Amplitude, Frequency, and Konga are for pussies (Though they're still fun). If you're a real man, play IIDX.

 

[ara]

The Harmonix games (Amplitude etc.) I always thought were OK, but the use of a standard controller for that type of game always seemed awkward.

My favorites are Guitar Freaks and (if you are a really real man) Keyboardmania.

 

[bjork]

I had my boss bring in Keyboardmania for me, but the sheer number of keys has made me hesitant to buy it and get my non-rhythmic ass owned by a game...