***This thread is posted on behalf of Pkrockinomega, via the Adopt-a-User Thread***
Pop'n Music is a rhythm game series created by Bemani and published by Konami. With the first game releasing in 1998 on the original Playstation, it has continued with consistent yearly releases since, with the 24th installment being released at the end of last year.
The two most notable aspects of the games are the controller and the art style. The controls have remained the same since the first entry, with some deviations appearing only in spin-off titles such as Pop'n Stage and Pop'n Music Wii. The controller consists of nine large color-coded buttons, in two rows. The rows are asymmetrical and heavily emphasize constant movement of the hands, which contrasts with similar games like Beatmania which rely more on precise finger movements. While this does lead to some pretty simplistic gameplay at lower difficulties, crank that difficulty to EX and you've got yourself a frantically fast-paced challenge ahead, hence the thread title.
The second most-notable aspect of the series is the many characters that have been introduced throughout the games and the art style they are presented in. The style, like the controller, has also remained largely unchanged throughout most of the series. Its simplicity leads to plenty of versatility, leading to a wide range of different designs and archetypes being displayed throughout. Starting with the 22nd entry, Lapistoria, the title screen and menu character art has taken on a different style, giving the characters more realistic proportions and making them more "anime"-esque. The actual in-game art remains the same, however.
Now it really goes without saying, what's a good rhythm game without a kick-ass track selection? Well, Pop'n has that covered. Not only does it have an absolutely stellar ensemble of original tracks, but many games have featured guest tracks from artists such as DJ Yoshitaka (a name I'm sure you're familiar with if you've had even the slightest interest in rhythm games), as well as a healthy amount of licensed music. There's even a huge selection of music originating from anime, spanning across series like Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon, Attack on Titan, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Madoka Magica and so on.
Now I'll go ahead and give a rundown of nearly all of the games released so far, and the best ways for you to get into them.
Playstation Era (All games also given arcade releases first, and 1-4 were also ported to the Dreamcast.)
Playstation 2 Era
Arcade-Only Era
One burning question that may be with you currently is: "How can I get into these games?"
Unfortunately, the vast majority of the titles mentioned remain exclusive to Japan, with very scarce international imports of the cabinets. One very useful tool to find these cabinets is zenius-i-vanisher.com's arcade finder page. Scroll down to the search area, then click the series dropdown and select "pop'n music." This will bring up every arcade in the world that has a pop'n music cabinet running. The majority of these in the United States appear to be contained in New York and Southern California.
The next best method, if you just so happen to have a Playstation 2 and a few hundred dollars lying around, is to import any of the PS2-era games. This will require hacking your PS2 to remove the region locking if you have a non-Japanese unit. You can find sales pages for import copies on Amazon, Play-Asia and eBay. Fever is the newest game in the PS2 era, so you may want to consider picking this one up the most. As for the controller, it is simply waaaaaaay too much to import a pre-made controller as well. Luckily, if you don't mind getting down and dirty, there is a guide available for building your own controller, complete with PS2 parts + cable. It can be found here.
That about wraps up this first post, I hope you were properly informed and are now maybe even interested in checking these games out.
Pop'n Music is a rhythm game series created by Bemani and published by Konami. With the first game releasing in 1998 on the original Playstation, it has continued with consistent yearly releases since, with the 24th installment being released at the end of last year.
The two most notable aspects of the games are the controller and the art style. The controls have remained the same since the first entry, with some deviations appearing only in spin-off titles such as Pop'n Stage and Pop'n Music Wii. The controller consists of nine large color-coded buttons, in two rows. The rows are asymmetrical and heavily emphasize constant movement of the hands, which contrasts with similar games like Beatmania which rely more on precise finger movements. While this does lead to some pretty simplistic gameplay at lower difficulties, crank that difficulty to EX and you've got yourself a frantically fast-paced challenge ahead, hence the thread title.
The second most-notable aspect of the series is the many characters that have been introduced throughout the games and the art style they are presented in. The style, like the controller, has also remained largely unchanged throughout most of the series. Its simplicity leads to plenty of versatility, leading to a wide range of different designs and archetypes being displayed throughout. Starting with the 22nd entry, Lapistoria, the title screen and menu character art has taken on a different style, giving the characters more realistic proportions and making them more "anime"-esque. The actual in-game art remains the same, however.
Now it really goes without saying, what's a good rhythm game without a kick-ass track selection? Well, Pop'n has that covered. Not only does it have an absolutely stellar ensemble of original tracks, but many games have featured guest tracks from artists such as DJ Yoshitaka (a name I'm sure you're familiar with if you've had even the slightest interest in rhythm games), as well as a healthy amount of licensed music. There's even a huge selection of music originating from anime, spanning across series like Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon, Attack on Titan, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Madoka Magica and so on.
Now I'll go ahead and give a rundown of nearly all of the games released so far, and the best ways for you to get into them.
Playstation Era (All games also given arcade releases first, and 1-4 were also ported to the Dreamcast.)
- Pop'n Music (1998)
- Pop'n Music 2 (March 1999)
- Pop'n Music 3 (September 1999)
- Pop'n Music 4 (March 2000)
- Pop'n Music 5 (November 2000)
- Pop'n Music 6 (April 2001)
Playstation 2 Era
- Pop'n Music 7 (November 2001)
- Pop'n Music Best Hits! (February 2003)
- Pop'n Music 8 (July 2003)
- Pop'n Music 9 (February 2004)
- Pop'n Music 10 (November 2004)
- Pop'n Music 11 (July 2005)
- Pop'n Music 12 いろは (March 2006)
- Pop'n Music 13 CARNIVAL (September 2006)
- Pop'n Music 14 FEVER! (Arcade release 2006, PS2 release July 2007)
Arcade-Only Era
- Pop'n Music 15 ADVENTURE (April 2007)
- Pop'n Music 16 PARTY♪ (March 2008)
- Pop'n Music 17 THE MOVIE (March 2009)
- Pop'n Music 18 せんごく列伝 (January 2010)
- Pop'n Music 19 TUNE STREET (December 2010)
- Pop'n Music 20 fantasia (July 2011)
- Pop'n Music 21 Sunny Park (December 2012)
- Pop'n Music 22 Lapistoria (June 2014)
- Pop'n Music 23 éclale (November 2015)
- Pop'n Music 24 Usagi to Neko to Shounen no Yume (December 2016)
One burning question that may be with you currently is: "How can I get into these games?"
Unfortunately, the vast majority of the titles mentioned remain exclusive to Japan, with very scarce international imports of the cabinets. One very useful tool to find these cabinets is zenius-i-vanisher.com's arcade finder page. Scroll down to the search area, then click the series dropdown and select "pop'n music." This will bring up every arcade in the world that has a pop'n music cabinet running. The majority of these in the United States appear to be contained in New York and Southern California.
The next best method, if you just so happen to have a Playstation 2 and a few hundred dollars lying around, is to import any of the PS2-era games. This will require hacking your PS2 to remove the region locking if you have a non-Japanese unit. You can find sales pages for import copies on Amazon, Play-Asia and eBay. Fever is the newest game in the PS2 era, so you may want to consider picking this one up the most. As for the controller, it is simply waaaaaaay too much to import a pre-made controller as well. Luckily, if you don't mind getting down and dirty, there is a guide available for building your own controller, complete with PS2 parts + cable. It can be found here.
That about wraps up this first post, I hope you were properly informed and are now maybe even interested in checking these games out.
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