Update: December 15, 2006
«©NCSX» Every new Beatmania game is something to be explored and taken in like a book. Some players may digest it over the course of several weeks, savoring the nuances like a hunk of gourmet cheese. Beatmania IIDX 12 features a blue sky motif with a dazzling title screen that opens up to show the heavens above. Once the game starts, remnants of blue skies are occasionally evident in the menus and in the game itself. The twelfth Beatmania IIDX starts off with 42 songs in Standard Mode but as conditions are met, an additional 46 songs may be unlocked for a total of 88 tracks. Songs that are selectable at the outset of the game including "Endless Summer Story" from DJ Yoshitaka feat. [Japanese Reggae - BPM 095], "EMPTY OF THE SKY" by Akira Yamaoka [E-Rock - BPM 182], "Pink Rose" by Kiyommy + Seiya [Heart BPM 116/146], "Holi"c courtesy of TaQ [Hard Techno - BPM 155], and many more. Songs are categorized into All Music, Happy Sky, and Old Music as primary categories but players may also choose songs that are grouped by Level (1-12), alphabetical order, DJ Level (from AAA to F), and Clear status. Game modes include regulation offerings such as Beginner, Expert, and Free but there's also a Gallery Mode which features 66 pieces of artwork and a customizable Original Course Setting where players pick and choose the music. View the back cover and screenshots on the main NCSX website. Jan Code: 4988602131543
NCS Game Notes
» Before the title logo appears, the screen opens up to view a bright blue sky with a smattering of clouds located in the upper left corner of the screen. White arrows may be seen flowing upwards. On the title screen, the logo portion of the screen features meteorites that drop continually from the blue sky and are shown as streaks in the background.» Press START and the player may set up the controller for Dual Shock play, Original 7Keys or Original 5Keys with the DJ Deck. Next, select "ARCADE" or "ORIGINAL" screen settings - ARCADE is 16:9 aspect and ORIGINAL is 4:3. Your DJ name may then be entered with Roman alphabet or numbers and some symbols. Since the name field only covered 6 letters, we entered "PAPAVE" Game Modes are:
BEGINNER
STANDARD
EXPERT
FREE
TRAINING [Practice your skills without fear of penalty or getting the boot]
ORIGINAL COURSE SETTING [Customize courses and music settings]
GALLERY COLLECTION [View 66 pieces of art - all must be unlocked]
STATS & RECORDS [Check out the leaderboard, music records, etc]
OPTIONS [Display settings, vibration, controller set-up, game level, etc]
CUSTOMIZE [Change the look of the playboard, change icons, sparks]
RIVAL DATA MANAGEMENT [Edit Arcade Rival List, Edit Rival List, Rename]
SAVE & LOAD [Store and retrieve data to and from memory card] » As GREATs are tied together, the Groove Gauge on the bottom of the screen slowly fills up and moves to the right. A little Dove begins shaking back and forth as the gauge ramps up and eventually reaches 100% and stays there if you're good enough. Your score also ramps up and the Combo Meter will keep track of your chains. » The song animations are a mix of light shows, quick cut CG animations, or full blown videos featuring the singer in crisp video. » The rankings are Just Great, Great, Good, Bad, and Poor. » After each play , a graph of your performance is shown and a letter grade is assigned. If you started out great and faltered as the game went on, your graph will show a nice downward sloping chart that looks like the right-side of a mountain. If you did poorly, you'll hear boos and rancor from the crowd. » Some samples of the animations featured in the game: Break Core | Scream Squad: Funky and discordant beat with street images that appear in the center of the screen mixed along with fast-paced effects and text. Trance Core | Aurora: A spider factors heavily in this one where it races across a city and dislodges cars as it rambles around with its ungodly long legs and busts vehicles up. The camera pans around it and the spider eventually climbs up a skyscraper and shoots beams from its eyes into the distance. The beams shatter buildings entirely. A girl joins the action and flies upwards like a bird and knocks the spider down to the ground. Dead. Trance | Frozen Ray: Blue salt cubes converge in the center of the screen as light rays flow around with nifty blue streaming effects. A blue tinged light show commences with fast-paced graphical wizardry that meshes beautifully with the synth that's pounding out from dj Taka. Trance | Hi School Dream | Pink Pong: Crushed geometric imagery appears on the screen and looks disheveled as if an earthquake earthquake just hit it. The camera pans back to take in the destruction as more and more wreckage is seen. An image of an egg appears and it seemingly hatches with a craggy rock and flowers inside. The camera returns to the scene of the wreckage from earlier again and eventually goes so far out that its moving away out of the solar system. Trance | Tomorrow Perfume | DJ TAKA: Rainbow lines and geometric shapes spin and rotate around to create a hypnotic light show. In the middle of the show, some text appears which reads, "every color plays sounds."
The alternative SKU # for this product is VW326-J1. This document is ©NCSX 2006. All rights reserved. No reproduction in whole or in part of this document may be made without express written consent of National Console Support, Inc.
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