Pop’n Music (Popun Myujikku) is a series of rhythm video games created by Konami and bemani that resembles Beatmania but differs in that its buttons don’t imitate musical instruments.
Contrasting with its predecessor PStStation release, this game boasts a larger 104 song library and utilizes Key Disc technology. Furthermore, Enjoy Mode is introduced as an alternative to Normal Mode with shorter song lists and simplified note charts.
Gameplay
Pop’n Music (potsupunmiyuzitsuku Poppun Myujikku), published by Konami as part of their Bemani series, features bright colors, catchy songs, and cute cartoon character graphics that cater more towards children than Beatmania. As such, this game often attracts younger players.
Pop’n Music is an easy rhythm game with keys corresponding to different sounds in songs; missing steps will stop that sound from being played back. Unlike most bemani games, its buttons do not correspond directly with specific functions and can be used any way players see fit; furthermore, its machine design and colourful interface draw many fans in its direction.
Pop’n Music series games were first released for release in 1998 and included three distinct game modes – Beginner Mode, Normal Mode and Hard Mode. Beginner Mode offered the easiest gameplay experience, featuring a shorter tutorial stage and only two songs can be selected per round in Beginner Mode – Mimi and Nyami appeared as characters here as well.
Normal Mode is the default mode in Pop’n Music series and features three stages per round. Characters will block parts of the playing area using an Ojama effect and may switch places between left and right sides of screen; furthermore they change hudebni style with Mimi using traditional Japanese gisenhude while Nyami displays modern Western styles.
Hudebni games have always featured visual announcement systems; AM Show 1998 marked the inaugural display of such technology for this game series. Early footage revealed rectangular pop-kuns compared with their oval shapes in the final product and no judge line being present upon initial release.
Expert Mode, similar to Nonstop mode in other bemani games, was also included. This mode introduced another accuracy rating besides Great and Good: Cool; as well as an additional life bar which does not recover between rounds. Furthermore, a special ring can be used to perform combos while real-time song streaming from other e-AMUSEMENT machines was made possible as part of this game.
Characters
The game offers various playable characters for the player to select. To access this feature, press both yellow buttons on the mode selection screen or choose songs with this option enabled; default characters include Mimi (anthropomorphic rabbit) and Nyami (cat), with other notable names including ALPHA – who would later appear in several subsequent games; Takehiko Fujii from Beatmania Sound Director/GUITARFREAKS/drummania mainstay Hideyuki Ono from GUITARFREAKS/drummania fame as well as Mr. T from Pop’n Music who composed music specifically for this title.
Pop’n Music follows suit with other Bemani games by providing nine three-and-a-half inch buttons arranged in two rows (except in Wonderland which adds multitouch panel ). Color-coded notes fall from the top of the screen in rows that correspond with individual buttons; when one reaches red line at bottom, player must press or touch panel button or button accordingly.
Pop’n Music stands apart from other bemani games by providing songs rated from easy (kantan) to hard (muzui), which can be seen via the gauge that appears while selecting songs. This gauge also serves to demonstrate how quickly or slowly each current song is progressing.
The Character Selection Screen also contains several options that can impact gameplay. For instance, Hi-Speed allows players to quickly scroll notes across the screen; Appearance changes how notes appear; while Pop-kun changes their arrangement onscreen.
Apart from its standard cast of characters, this game also includes special-edition ones: an ape called MM and a sailor girl named YY are just two examples of these rare variants; additionally there are song-specific bonuses like Kawaii Bunny Megumi as well as Neko-Nyami who appears on both title screen and manual pages of game manual.
As opposed to its arcade counterparts, Pop’n Music for Wii features five buttons instead of nine in order to be more user-friendly for Western gamers; this change was intended to make the game more user-friendly; however it caused controversy from fans and was met with widespread backlash; various issues included beanie-shaped characters with missing limbs; difficulty in navigating menus due to changes; as well as religious concerns related to Poet losing her halo.
Songs
Pop’n Music 6 puts songs at the core of its gameplay experience, offering many licensed tracks from across a variety of genres and styles ranging from reggae to dance to anime theme songs. There are song-specific challenges available that unlock new tracks; plus it introduced Osusume mode which recommends songs based on player selection history.
Konami’s Pop’n Music series of music rhythm games is known for its vibrant colors, upbeat songs, and cartoon-character graphics. Unlike most Bemani titles, its interface does not represent an instrument but instead features nine buttons of various colors arranged into two rows (and since Popun Music 19 TUNE STREET also a multitouch panel on top row). Color-coded notes fall from the sky into respective panels that must be pressed; otherwise the song stops. A combo tally is kept but unlike Beatmania IIDX/spinoffs “Good” notes do not give extra score bonuses!
Pop’n music gained immense popularity in the early 2000s, leading to a fan community consisting of players sharing screenshots of their scores and fan art featuring characters like Mimi and Nyami as mainstay mascots for most modern games – mobile titles in particular as system voices or as vocalists in Lapistoria!
In the Western market, popularity for this series has diminished somewhat; Wii version received criticism due to its unsettling gameplay style and unusual character design. Still popular enough to attract a dedicated fan community though; many even created custom emulator software to play it on modern computers; anime Watamote includes parody pop’n music while manga Himouto! Umaru-chan does too.
Modes
Groove Gauge does not recover during songs; for optimal gameplay, players must hit all “Great” notes to raise it to higher levels and activate special animations when songs end. In most games, this mode also lowers accuracy scores to make higher scores more challenging to attain; it was removed in pop’n music 18 Sengoku Retsuden but later returned for pop’n music Lapistoria.
Game mode that offers players an opportunity to score points by clearing songs at higher difficulty levels than NORMAL and using OJAMAs (special mods called). Achieve a certain number of points will usually unlock a special pic. First introduced into arcade pop’n music 6 Sunny Park and later games (although its mods remain known as OJAMAs), EXCITE mode was eventually changed to EXCITE in later titles while its mods still live on as OJAMAs; although in earlier titles combined with CHOU-CHALLENGE
CHALLENGE mode allows players to perform any song at any difficulty level without stage restrictions, first introduced in Pop’n Music 5 Iroha and now widely implemented starting with Pop’n Music 8 Carnival. Furthermore, clearing three songs successfully earns them a special pic!
Originaly an arcade-exclusive mode, this mode enables the player to select any four songs from a menu and is played with a limited stamina bar that does not regenerate between rounds. In order to complete a song in this mode, all Greats and Goods must be cleared without hitting additional GREATs during a song – extra bonus points may be earned by hitting additional GREATs during one song while only needing one COOL hit is necessary for passing each round; unfortunately this mode was discontinued after Pop’n Music 17 Iroha but returned for use in its DS version.
Game mode that features simple 5- or 9 button charts from the core pop’n music series, as well as licensed songs. To succeed at this mode, one must score at least 85% GREATs within each song (although scoring a PERFECT will earn additional points!). Combo scores will appear directly above individual note hits; any time an error occurs or when hits become harder to come by than expected, they will slowly fade out after each hit.
Contrary to most BEMANI titles, Pop’n Music does not feature videos in its gameplay. Instead, its interface consists of nine large color-coded buttons organized in two rows arranged horizontally on screen; when pressed they allow notes descending from the top (known as “pop-kuns”) to reach their destination at the bottom.
The arcade version offers 63 songs while the console version offers 104. Both feature licensed songs from anime and television shows.
Gameplay
The Pop’n Music series from Konami’s BEMANI music video game division is an addictive rhythm game known for its vibrant colors, upbeat songs, and adorable character graphics. However, difficult modes make the series particularly difficult to play through – this wiki covers all official material related to Pop’n Music in depth, including gameplay, characters, songs, and any additional topics which might arise – readers and editors are welcome to contribute their insight!
Arcade version players select one of nine colored buttons for gameplay. When selecting their note ring to play, players must press its corresponding button, while avoiding other notes that may appear in the chart. It features several song lists with their own specific set of songs and difficulty levels; every song can be played on four difficulties ranging from Easy to Hyper.
Each pop’n music game offers multiple game modes and special features, including Cools (most visible when using the HI-SPEED mode) which score higher points than Greats. Other modes include Challenge Mode allowing two challenges per song selection; Courses which enable accessing songs not normally included on their roster; and Cools.
Pop’n Music 6 and later allows the player to use both yellow buttons to edit gameplay modifiers such as Hi-Speed (changing scroll speed of notes), Pop-kun (altering appearance of descending pop-kuns), Random/Mirror (changing placement of notes in chart), Hidden/Sudden (hiding notes for short time intervals), etc. It also features duel mode which pits two players against each other head-to-head battle mode, as well as Hidden/Sudden (hides or makes notes disappear temporarily) etc. Finally, Pop’n Music features a duel mode which pits two players head-to-head battle mode; two players go head-to-head against one another to compete head-on against each other in head-on battle!
Characters
Pop’n music stands out amongst the Bemani series games by offering characters with faces and bodies, rather than simply colored sprites. Additionally, its brightly-colored visual aesthetic and adorable character graphics make this game more approachable as an entryway into Bemani gaming than other titles in its series due to its easier gameplay and lower difficulty levels.
Pop’n Music features nine buttons organized in two rows as its controller. Once a song starts, nine coloured “pop notes” descend from the top down on time with the beat of music; player must time his or her button presses with this happening to clear song successfully; depending on their timing accuracy they could either receive a “Great” (hitting notes perfectly on beat) or “Bad” (“missed the beat completely”) score from game depending on performance.
As players progress in each song, their performance is displayed using the Groove Gauge on the right-side of the screen. As they play correctly, this gauge increases until their character reaches the “clear zone”, when an animation of victory will play out. Later releases of this game also enable Ojamas obstacles which further challenge songs.
Pop’n music 6 also includes an EXPERT MODE for added variety and challenge, where players can select different song lists or courses and play through them either at NORMAL or HYPER difficulty levels. A life bar begins as full and gradually lowers each time an error is encountered – once it reaches zero, game over!
Songs
Bemani games such as Pop’n Music are unique because their gameplay does not simulate actual musical instruments; instead, its interface consists of buttons (called “Pop-kun” or “potsupuJun”) connected by multitouch panels arranged in two rows – which players press to activate corresponding sounds within songs while lyrics scroll by in an adjacent text bar. Popular among teenagers and young adults in Japan but yet to gain much traction outside Asia; its spin-off called pop’n stage mixes these same songs and designs with DanceDanceRevolution-like gameplay for full releases on arcade machines and PlayStation Portable machines – creating a multitouch panel interface experience where users press buttons correspondingly; lyrics scroll past text bars displaying lyrics along its bottom rows.
Pop’n Music 6 for PlayStation is the last mainline Pop’n Music title released, offering 104 songs. Additionally, this was the first non-spinoff title that included anime licenses with Mimi and Nyami dressed up accordingly; a tradition which would continue up to pop’n Music 15 ADVENTURE and its spinoffs.
Challenge Mode, a unique new playstyle in this game, replaces regular scoring with an unprecedented chart system that assigns each song a Challenge Score; this score increases as players complete more challenging sections and decreases when missed notes are missed, unlike its counterpart – unlike a scoreboard – it never resets!
Pop’n Music Portable was the last mainline Pop’n music title that featured seven-button charts, first introduced in Pop’n Music 5. However, its successors (POP!N MUSIC Portable 2 and POP!N MUSIC PPORTABLE 1) would continue with this mode. Furthermore, this title marked the final mainline Pop’n music title to feature the GROOVE Gauge which filled up when reaching certain points during gameplay.
Difficulty levels
Pop’n Music has quickly become one of the world’s favorite rhythm games since its 1998 debut, thanks to its intuitive yet simple gameplay and massive array of songs and characters. Since then, there have been various spinoffs and console releases for Pop’n Music such as Handheld Mini Game Pop’n Music Anywhere VMU PocketStation releases of Pop’n Music 2, 4 as well as three mainline arcade games Pop’n Music 5, 6, Animelo 2
As with other bemani games, this interface comprises nine buttons organized in two rows. Color-coded notes known as “Pop-kun” (potsupuJun / potsupuJun) with faces fall from the top of the screen in columns that correspond with buttons; when one of these buttons is pressed, its sound plays and an accuracy rating (“Great”, “Good”, or “Bad”) according to how well notes were played appears along with a combo tally.
Bemani games differ in that the Groove Gauge does not serve to provide an additional score bonus; rather it acts as a visual indicator of player performance during songs. As long as all notes are played correctly without error, the Groove Gauge fills up until eventually becoming Fever Gauge which gives an animated win animation to players who meet certain conditions.
Players can utilize various modifiers to control the speed and appearance of arrows on screen and scroll, as well as how often Pop-kun appears on-screen and rolls through his moves. While newcomers might find these options tempting, using them too soon could complicate an already challenging gameplay further – especially since GOODs no longer interrupt combos! This game marks a first for pop’n music games: GOODs don’t interrupt combos anymore!
Releases
Pop’n Music 6 was the final main series release for PlayStation, featuring both a Key Disc and OSUSUME MODE; these innovations asked questions in Japanese that generated song lists based on player answers. Furthermore, Pop’n Music 6 boasted the largest song list at that time among pop’n music titles.
As with other BEMANI games, Pop’n Music uses a controller with nine large color-coded buttons arranged asymmetrically across two rows. This asymmetrical design encourages continuous hand movements instead of precise finger movements like in Beatmania. Furthermore, unlike its competitors like Beatmania or Dance Dance Revolution which emphasize precise finger movements. Furthermore, unlike its fellow BEMANI titles, pop’n music does not contain any other visuals aside from characters and songs displayed on-screen.
Pop’n Music 6 marks the final mainline pop’n music game not to feature a Hiroshi Takeyasu song and includes 104 songs overall, featuring two new licenses: Xiang be!gandamu and Tai Yang nihoeronotema. In addition, Expert Mode was introduced; this special mode requires selecting four songs consecutively using a GROOVE GAUGE that doesn’t recover, decreases faster for BAD scores, and fills faster when scoring high; later bemani titles made use of Cool Gauges instead.
Pop’n Music 6 differs from its other titles by not offering the option to save high scores or replay songs with different difficulty levels, though its Challenge Score system was introduced back into pop’n 20 as the primary means for ranking songs instead of using Normal charts; prior to Pop’n 20 Sunny Park the songs were organized alphabetically according to genre; since that release they are organized alphabetically according to song titles.