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If you’re a fan of music video games, then chances are you’re a Bemani fan without even realizing it. In Japan the term has become synonymous with music games, but it specifically refers to the music video games created by Konami. This division of Konami handles 10 different game series which all require music and intense player interaction to play.

In fact, many Bemani titles have been the inspiration for other music video games released in recent years. Also we can’t forget that the localization of Dance Dance Revolution is what brought dancing games to North America and helped game publishers and developers realize that audiences outside of Japan were ready for these kinds of games.

Since there are so many different series released by Konami, it is difficult to cover them all so I’ll concentrate on how the titles are played. While each of the series has unique, defining elements which make them unique, they do share some hallmarks that allow them to be grouped.

I’m the DJ

The most famous Bemani game in Japan is the series Beatmania, which inspired the name. Before this game existed, the music game division was known as GMD, aka Games & Music Division. The popularity of this single franchise made Konami’s music games famous.

Beatmania is basically a DJ game, where players use activator keys, turntables and pedals to mix the music. The original Beatmania, released in 1997, only had five keys and a single turntable. It was so successful that it multiple console releases of the game were made available, and Beatmania games could be found for the Playstation, Game Boy Color and the Wonderswan.

As players became more adept, Konami decided to provide more of a challenge. The success of Beatmania led to its 1999 replacement, Beatmania IIDX, which has seven keys, a turntable, more songs to choose from, a bigger screen and a better player area. Beatmania IIDX games also became available for play at home, with PS2 versions of the arcade games. The third entry in the series, Beatmania III, was released in 2000 and attempted to slightly mix things up by returning to five keys and the standard turntable, while also including a foot pedal. It didn’t enjoy the same success as Beatmania IIDX, so Beatmania III machines range from ‘rare’ to ‘non-existant’.

Beatmania isn’t the only DJ style Bemani game. There is also Pop’n Music, another wildly successful title in the division that was first released in 1998. It looks adorable but it is all a facade. When you first step up to a machine, you see adorable anime characters on screen, cute music and only buttons to press. It seems like no challenge at all, until you realize there are nine different keys to keep up with when playing.

The latest entry is Jubeat, which is frankly more similar to Pop’n Music than it is Beatmania. It is another arcade title, as most Bemani titles start, where there are multiple screens on the console that light up in time to music. When one lights up, you must touch it before it goes out or else you’ll fail. This game is so new that it is still in a testing phase in Japanese arcades, it was only even just revealed to the public in December 2007.

Dance for Me

The Bemani title most Americans are familiar with is Dance Dance Revolution. In Japan the title was first released in 1998 as Dancing Stage and, as pretty much everyone who has been in an arcade or video game retailer in the past few years, requires players to step up, down, left and right on a dance pad in time with the music. While Beatmania was undoubtedly the first major Bemani hit, DDR is definitely the second. Home versions were released on the Dreamcast, Gamecube, Game Boy Color, PS1, PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360 and Wii

The game inspired Konami to try releasing a more challenging spin-off in December 1999, known as Dance Dance Revolution Solo. Two more arrows, in the upper right and left corners of the pad on either side of the up arrow, were added in this release. It didn’t do as well as the main title, and it was later shelved - just like Beatmania III.

The success of DDR and the use of feet in play led Konami to create music games which required arm movement to succeed. The first game, Dance Maniax, was popular enough to warrant some machines being imported to America. (I remember seeing Dance Maniax at a local arcade during college.) In it there is what looks like a shelf jutting out towards the player, and it contains two motion sensors which can sense hand motions above and below them. You then must wave your arms above or below the sensors in time with the music. It didn’t do to well, and like Beatmania III and DDR Solo bit the dust.

The last dancing Bemani title is my personal favorite, and I was exceptionally sad when it too was shelved when the fad end. I’m talking about ParaParaParadise, first released in 2000. It involves using Para Para dance moves, triggered by five arrows on screen, to play. There are five motion sensors which register hand movements (left, diagonally left, up, diagonally right and right) and you must move your hands through the sensors. It features classic Konami music but also quite a few European dance tracks. I loved this game so much (a local Japanese mall had a ParaParaParadise machine), but once the Para Para dancing fad ended, so did the game. A home version of the game, with a special USB 5 sensor peripheral, was created for the PS2 during the height of the game’s popularity.

Musical Peripherals

If you love Guitar Hero, then you’ll love the Bemani title GuitarFreaks. Before you begin crying trademark or copyright infringement, you should know that GuitarFreaks (1999) actually existed before the Guitar Hero (2005) series ever did, and probably helped inspire that series. A guitar peripheral is used to play GuitarFreaks, and it is strikingly similar to the Guitar Hero controller. It has three fret buttons, a strum bar and the same motion sensor which causes action on screen if the neck of the guitar is raised. The series began in arcades and then was released in home versions. For all intents and purposes, a GuitarFreak game is nearly interchangeable with a Guitar Hero title. Home versions of this title were released for both the PS1 and the PS2, and are often bundled with our next Bemani game, DrumMania.

And then there is DrumMania, also released in 1999, which many Rock Band fans would be very comfortable playing. DrumMania provides players with four or five drum pads, which are beat in time to the music. It probably sounds like another peripheral you recognize. Like GuitarFreaks, PS2 home versions of this title were also played and it usually was released with GuitarFreaks.

There was a third entry released in 2000, Keyboardmania, but it now resides in the Bemani graveyard. While it was a game it could also be considered a teaching tool. This game had an actual 24-key keyboard attached to it and players needed to play the keyboard to progress through the game. There was even a mode called “Real Mode” which made gameplay even more difficult, as it required players to know how to read music and play a piano. Even though it eventually failed, there were still two PS2 versions of the game released.

An interesting point is the connectability between GuitarFreaks,  DrumMania and Keyboardmania. The arcade versions of each of these three games can be linked together if an arcade has all the compatible machines. Players can then form their own little band, minus a singer. I guess this is where Rockband got the idea from.

Before we end today, I just want to remind you all - while many of the titles above may be available for consoles and for sale at import sites, think before you buy them. In order to play Japanese console games, you either need a modded system (which voids your warranty) or a Japanese system.

COMING NEXT WEEK: Next week Important Importables will focus on a few games that might help you learn Japanese. If you don’t miss a single installment of Important Importables, or want to know right away when the next column is up, then sign up for the Gamertell Newsletter and RSS feed.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Last week Important Importables reviewed Tokimeki Memorial Girl’s Side: 2nd Season.

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