There sure are a lot of music games these days

[Thoth 0]

Dance Dance Revolution, In the Groove, Pump it Up, Guitar Hero, beatmania, and then older ones like Taiko drum master and Donkey Kong's God The Japanese Versions Are So Much Better Why Did We Get This Bullshit Drum Game on Gamecube.

 

I remember thinking to myself that music games would spiritually die when they hit mainstream. But it seems like that may not be the case. There's still an underground feeling to a lot of the games.

 

Thoughts?

[AndrewTS 0]

Konami has patented the title "Guitar Revolution."

 

Which is really funny, since their own Guitar Freaks was pretty much the inspiration for Guitar Hero.

[Ced 0]

And don't forget Elite Beat Agents (the Americanized Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan!) should hit stateside at the end of the year.

 

Konami has patented the title "Guitar Revolution."

 

Which is really funny, since their own Guitar Freaks was pretty much the inspiration for Guitar Hero.

It sounds more like a way to prevent the name from being used by others and creating confusion. Now if they finally bring Guitar Freaks stateside and use Guitar Revolution instead, then the "WTF?" flags can be thrown.

[Special K 0]

The Harmonix games rule.

 

I like rhythm games and rule at them, in general. Well, besides Parappa the button-masher. IN-THE-RAIN-OR-IN-THE-SNOW-I-GOT-THE-FUNKY-FLOW

 

The hardest rhythm game by far is Cool Cool Tunes for Dreamcast, import only. Well, that I've played. Shit, I'm sure Dance Dance can be worse, if given time.

 

Most fun? Guitar Hero and Samba De Amigo.

[PLAGIARISM! 0]

Donkey Konga had 'Enjoy The Silence'!

[devo 0]

The music games I'm really into are Beatmania IIDX and Pop'n Music, only the former of which has seen a stateside release in the guise of Beatmania for the PS2. That game sucked very badly and pretty much guaranteed the death of US Beatmania console releases. I've heard that Pop'n Music had a US arcade release years ago, but I've yet to see one or even meet anyone who has played on the storied machine.

 

These games definitely still have a bit of an underground feeling to them, thanks in part to the above-mentioned lack of availability and the fact that there's only 10-15 IIDX machines and maybe 5 Pop'n Music machines available for public play within the country. Most of the road trips I make are journeys to arcades that have these games, such as Tokyo Game Action in Winchendon, MA (www.tokyogameaction.com).

[AndrewTS 0]

Lumines 2 track list.

 

http://younewb.com/index.php/2006/07/18/lu...music-revealed/

 

Beck – “Black Tambourine”

Black Eyed Peas – “Pump It”

Chemical Brothers – “Star Guitar”

Fatboy Slim – “Gangster Trippin’”

The Go! Team – “Bottle Rocket”

Gwen Stefani – “Hollaback Girl”

Hoobastank – “Born to Lead”

Junior Senior – “Take My Time”

Missy Elliott – “Lose Control”

New Order – TBD

 

ew

[claydude14 0]

I just imported Dai Gassou! Band Brothers for DS, man this games the shit. It was supposed to come out over here as Jam with the Band but it never made the cut.

[Boner Kawanger 0]

I can't pimp Electroplankton enough, especially since it's getting re-released. Just a simple time killer for the DS. Some nights it's relaxing enough to put me to sleep.

[AndrewTS 0]

And don't forget Elite Beat Agents (the Americanized Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan!) should hit stateside at the end of the year.

 

So it has been written.

 

So has it come to pass.

 

I never played Ouendan, but I picked up EBA today and it's so ridiculous it's terrific.

 

I'm even having fun with the levels with songs I hate.

[AndrewTS 0]

Reviews are rolling in...

 

IGN: 9.5/10

http://ds.ign.com/articles/743/743324p1.html

 

1up 9/10

http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3154775

[Invictus 0]

I picked it up as well, it's great. Stuck on Jumpin' Jack Flash right now on novice, the songs really ramp up in difficulty quickly, but I absolutely love the game.

 

I, for one, am glad they decided to redesign the game for western audiences. The male cheerleader aspect seems much cooler now that they all look like they're long lost Blues Bros.

[AndrewTS 0]

Yeah. "Beating" the levels isn't so hard, but mastering them is very tough. However, if you pay a bit more attention to the music than the on-screen cues, it's easier to get the 300 pt. markers. But "The Anthem" is really hard on Novice, for cryin' out loud. I might have to get Ouendan eventually--the game is really addicting.

 

However, there seems to be some mistranslation here and there. It still feels like a Japanese borne and bred game.

 

I, for one, am glad they decided to redesign the game for western audiences. The male cheerleader aspect seems much cooler now that they all look like they're long lost Blues Bros.

 

Agreed.

 

A comparison of the two, for those who didn't see when I last posted it:

[Invictus 0]

What's your favorite song in the game thus far, Andrew?

 

I really enjoy September by Earth, Wind and Fire, and despite Jumpin' Jack Flash being incredibly tough, it's also a great song for the game.

[AndrewTS 0]

September, as well, is probably my fave, followed by Highway Star and Canned Heat.

 

However, "Inspiration" is a really well done cover, the stage is fun and even makes you kind of weepy (well me, anyway, but I'm a sensitive guy anyway. )

 

I can't comment on Jumping Jack Flash because I've yet to reach it yet ("Without a Fight" is kicking my ass.)

 

I've yet to get a single A rank, though. The best I've been able to do is B's--I've been "Perfect" on several stages but it's very tricky to get 300s on every beat. However, the game is so damn fun I don't care if it happens.

 

Biggest surprise: how fun YMCA was.

 

"Material Girl" really flops between irritating (beginning) and rather fun (mainly the chorus). However, the part after the cabana is built--the return to gameplay really hits you off guard. No warning at all!

 

Nintendo is publishing it under their "Touch Generations" label, i.e. one of those games they assume is great for just about anyone (non-gamers included) to play. Not sure about that, with the way the difficulty ramps up, but I definitely see it having broad appeal and big sales if marketed right. Oddly, I haven't seen a single commercial for the game, except for one I saw while flipping past Kids WB one Saturday morning.

[Invictus 0]

Absolutely, the cover of "You're The Inspiration" is really well done and they handled the stage extremely well. I felt a bit of a lump in my throat the first time I played that one. However, if you mess up, some of the "bad" cutscenes caught me off guard and caused me to laugh really hard, thus screwing up my rhythm even more as the gameplay started again. Try it and you'll know what I mean.

 

Y.M.C.A. works really well, they built the gameplay around that song very well and it flows.

 

I find I have an easier time with the older songs (maybe that's because I prefer to listen to that type of music, hard to say) but it seems easier for me to find the rhythm and get into the groove of those songs. There are a few that just have weird rhythm that I can't seem to do well on, funny as you mentioned it, but Canned Heat was one of those songs. I like the track, it's got a good groove, but for some reason my rhythm is totally off when I play it, even though it feels like I'm following it right.

 

I've got mostly B's and C's as well. I have a couple A's, and I just got my first S rank on Normal mode with September. Now that I've unlocked hard (I'm completely stuck on Material Girl and a few others in Hard) I'm going to go back and redo all the novice songs to try to get S ranks on those.

 

From what I understand, you don't need perfect 300's for S rank, just a majority. Also, you can't miss any marks, and you need to try to finish off most, if not all, chains with one of the beat's (either 100 or 300).

[AndrewTS 0]

"Canned Heat" totally ruined me the first time--so I hear ya. Once you've played through it a couple times, it's not such a big deal, though.

 

"Let's Dance" is a similar deal--but what makes that tricky is that it keeps prompting you for more and more beats without really letting up.

 

I think I got a majority of 300s on many of my B-ranked missions--but by "majority" maybe it's "almost all."

 

Probably what helps on the older songs is that you likely know them inside and out.

 

A vid of the "Inspiration" mission for those without the game:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irTk0MO0T5s

[Invictus 0]

I just checked my rank page for that one, and you're right, it is almost all. I didn't really notice while playing, but to get S rank on that one I had only 8 100's and around 120 300's, and no 50's or misses.

 

EDIT: I just got another S, this time on Novice, and I did get one 50 on that one. So I think as long as you get mostly 300's and no misses you should be okay.

[AndrewTS 0]

Okay--sooner or later I'll have to get one.

[Anya 0]

I like DDR, Drummania and Keyboard heaven. I'm bad though.

[Ced 0]

I picked up Elite Beat Agents after work today.

 

Took me about an hour and a half to get through it on Normal mode. The first thing I did was get a Perfect combo on "Walkie Talkie Man"... for a B rating. First song that killed me was "Canned Heat" since the beats were far different that what I was expecting. "Let's Dance" and "The Anthem" took a few takes since I'm not familiar with either song. "Without a Fight" and "Jumpin' Jack Flash" also took awhile for the same reasons plus "Jumpin' Jack Flash" gets insane near the end. For the record, "You're the Inspiration" tops Ouendan's "Over the Distance" for heartwarming theme song in my opinion. And I really love "Over the Distance" too. I'm going to see what kills me on Hard mode now.

 

Despite the Americanization, they at least kept the same screwy humor in the stage stories and the soundtrack is pretty good as well. Screw the haters. It's the same exact game repackaged for a different market. If you played and loved Ouendan, get over the Japanophilia and pick up EBA.

 

Edit: "Material Girl" on Hard was the first song I died on. The tricky little "crossover" pattern in the first part of the song killed me a few times until I finally saw the pattern.

[AndrewTS 0]

Yeah--I honestly can't see how anyone could be upset about it other than some minor annoyance over a few crap songs being in.

 

I hope it's a hit here.

 

BTW, I encourage people interested in the game to *not* buy it at EB/Gamestop. They're charging an extra 5 bucks (at $35), when you can get it at Wal-Mart, Best Buy, etc. for $30. Why? I don't know. They're just bastards, I guess.

[Black Lushus 0]

believe it or not, I was an avid DDR and ParaPara Paradise player for a few years between like 2001 and 2003.

[Invictus 0]

Andrew, if you think Let's Dance is bad for not letting up, wait until you try Canned Heat and ABC on Hard....wow. It'll be interesting to see those songs on insane mode.

[AndrewTS 0]

I don't know if I'm good enough to even make it that far. I have a loooot of practice I'll need to put in.

 

Am I the only one here who has EBA and doesn't have Ouendan?

 

EDIT:

 

I just got my first A rank on Highway Star (Novice). I got a Perfect, 68 "300s", 16 "100s", 0 50s and no misses.

 

So yeah, looks like you have to get almost all 300s.

 

I started a little bit on Normal--I thought that would be all insane speed and tons more beats. Some of them actually just have different timing--a bit slower on many beats. So the trick is not jumping the gun there.

 

OTOH, Normal has way more circles on top of each other--which I guess takes some insane practice to get the timing for.

[AndrewTS 0]

Andrew, if you think Let's Dance is bad for not letting up, wait until you try Canned Heat and ABC on Hard....wow. It'll be interesting to see those songs on insane mode.

 

 

I've finally cleared novice (held up by Jumping Jack Flash for a little, that is), and had begun on normal. Canned Heat is creaming me now. It shifts from slow to fast beats so quick it's hard to adjust. Plus, the elite gauge drops so quick that if you don't get plenty of 300s you'll be screwed in a hurry.

 

To play the last few songs, do you have to clear Normal or Hard?

 

By fiddling around with the options, I discovered that the game is compatible with the Rumble Pak. Do you only get the Pak when you get Metroid Prime pinball?

[Invictus 0]

To unlock the extra 3 songs, you just need to advance to certain ranks.

 

Cher - Believe (Urgh) - Rank 4 "Captain of Soul"

 

Jackson 5 - ABC - Rank 6 "King of the Beat"

 

Destiny's Child - Survivor (Urgh X 2) - Rank 9 "Legendary Agent"

 

I guess I should have said before when I was complaining about Canned Heat, it was on the normal and hard modes, not the novice mode. The song really changes structure in each difficulty so far, and I always have the most trouble with the intro section, once I'm past that it's not too bad.

 

On Hard mode, the meter is dropping so fast on the last songs that it gets really tough, and you can very easily lose without even missing a beat, just because you're hitting 50 or 100 points. The final song's are absolutely killing me on Hard, I can't even get past the first song to get to Jumpin' Jack Flash just because of that damn meter dropping on me.

 

I have a tip for you guys, if you have a pair of decent headphones, definitely use them with the game instead of the speakers. The sound quality is so much higher through the headphones and makes hitting the beats much easier from my experience.

 

Oh, also, I have a rumble pack I got with Metroid Pinball, I'll give it a shot later and let you guys know what it does with the game.

 

And I never played or owned Ouendan.

[Invictus 0]

So the rumble pak does about what you would expect, it creates a mild rumble on each beat you hit, which actually provides quite a nice solid feel. Nothing mind blowing, but a neat touch for sure.

[AndrewTS 0]

I don't have the rumble pack, but I have Drill Dozer on GBA. It's really kind of "eh" for the rumble, but I suppose you wouldn't want too much on this sort of game anyway.

 

The Ouendan I ordered came. I was blazing through most of it pretty easily--then I got to a level where this dude was making pottery, and the 3rd section of it...BAM...the elite (or whatever it is called) gauge just DROPS and DROPS and DROPs. Several 100 pointers killed me over and over.

[AndrewTS 0]

I wish I had a digital camcorder...and could dance...

 

http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/tag/the-elite...test-221937.php