'Beatmania': Release Your Inner DJ
The videos featured in "Beatmania" are a distraction from the task at hand.
(Konami)
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Who's Blogging  |
This is JB the DJ spinning at a club so exclusive not even The Washington Post's nightlife reviewers can get in. We've got it all -- pop, techno, drum 'n' bass, trance, rave, electronica, hip-hop, dance, reggae and the freshest house music. And if you don't have an invite, you're left outside the velvet rope.
Then again, not many people are lining up to get into my basement. I may not be a hot club DJ, but "Beatmania" makes me feel like one.
Konami's latest hardware gaming device simulates a DJ's console and challenges you to lay down hot tracks with such masters of the field as Moby and DJ Nagureo. The hardware consists of a turntable and a soundboard that kind of looks like a piano keyboard with white and black buttons.
Like other popular hardware/software combination games I have played ("Pump It Up: Exceed," "Guitar Hero," "Karaoke Revolution"), the object is to interact with the hardware at the correct time. Once you select a song, it starts playing and a series of bars slowly falls across the screen. When a bar reaches the bottom of the screen, you are supposed to push the button it represents. This produces the correct sound and adds "excitement" to the club. You are also sometimes prompted to scratch your turntable back and forth. There is also a freestyle mode where you can make your own beats and are graded based on style. There is an excellent tutorial to get you up to speed on using the console.
Because it has been several years since I haunted nightlife hot spots, I didn't know most of the music. There are a few songs that most people will recognize, such as "Funkytown" or "Toxic." But many of the 50 songs that come with the game were either created by house artists hired by Konami or are songs heard only in dance clubs.
"Beatmania" shows videos while you play, though these are mostly distracting and repetitive and not much better than a screensaver. It would have been far cooler to drop you into a simulated club with people dancing and reacting to your prowess. Other than a percentage meter, you really don't get a feel for how well you are doing until the song ends. "Beatmania" is a fun distraction and a great tool for those into techno, dance and house music. But as far as hardware/software plug-in games for the PS2 go, it's probably the least interesting of the bunch.
-- John Breeden II
Beatmania E10+, PS2 ($60) Konami/ESRB
