Recently in Bemani Category

I'll admit, I never thought we'd see another CS mix of IIDX after 7th Style, and then in the same year we get 8th and 9th Styles. 9th has endured as one of the best overall styles musically in my opinion. It seems that nearly every track is a winner. Let's see what Konami does with the V-RARE for its CS release.

1. moon_child [E-S style mix] / 少年ラジオ / Remixed by Mr.T
Ever wonder what happened when you feed moon_child through a Progressive Trance blender? Apparently Mr.T did. But, since he's a god and all, it managed to work out very well while still managing to hold true to the original (even the original, original, as in Castlevania original) in many ways. A great start. ****

2. LOVE♡SHINE [Tropical mix] / 小坂りゆ / Remixed by Mr.T
Mr.T strikes again, perhaps he was bored or needed the work. Either way, he once again delivers with this completely different, and totally chill version of Love♡Shine. Slowed down, made a bit more J-Poppy, and overall just totally awesome. I dig this version. Put this in a Pop'n Music -now-, Konami. ****

3. Silvia Drive [NIGHT FLY MIX] / dj TAKA feat.Noria / Remixed by DJ SIMON
Call it blasphemy, but I prefer this one in many ways to the original. It's weirded out, a little darker (yes, that's possible, go figure). Somehow it pulls together to make something that's once again a very good, but very different remix. But, not great (at least compared to the rest of this V-RARE). ***1/2

4. 昭和企業戦士荒山課長 [時間外勤務mix] / AKIRA YAMAOKA / Remixed by DJ SIMON
The hard synth is removed and replaced with some ambient sounds and piano(!). Don't ask me what kind of drugs Konami had their staff do before these remixes, but damn, were they good. I almost don't even notice the Konamifanmixitis in this song. Almost. ****

5. BRIGHTNESS DARKNESS [WHITELIGHT MIX] / SPARKER
This is a holyshitfuckingamazing remix. It shares many similarities with the original, which is fine, because why mess with perfection, after all. Stretched way out to 5'15, and just when you think it's over around the 4 minute mark, it does a HA JUST KIDDING and throws more amazingness at you. I love you, Takehiko, I want your children. Please. *****

6. lower world [FIND A WAY MIX] / D.J. SETUP / Remixed by SLAKE
This is a totally rad remix of Lower World that's way different, but keeps enough hints from the original to keep it interesting. But, it's just a tad too repetitive and kinds of runs out of steam near the middle. Still, good. Very good. ****

7. BREEDING [ZETA MIX] / SLAKE / Remixed by PINK PONG
They are cranking out more amazing remixes than a whorehouse cranks out STDs. This keeps the feel of the original while adding a Pink Pongy feel to it. As far as I'm concerned, that's just great. ****

8. ライオン好き [HEADLINE MIX] / AKIRA YAMAOKA / Remixed by PINK PONG
They are really putting those Beatmania artists to work with this album. This remix absolutely owns, and by owns, I mean it. At the beginning, it's kind of like, ah, it's a slightly harder version of the original, but then around the 2 minute mark it gets all omgfuckingamazing with cool synth action that lasts through to the end. I love it. *****

9. CHARLOTTE [i-dep mix] / Db.Saka feat.Piasa / Remixed by i-dep
Totally stripped down with a light beat and distorted piano backing track. Hey, I can dig it, even in spite of its repetition. ***

10. The end of my spiritually [Post Production Mitsuto Suzuki 050218mix] / EeL / Remixed by Mitsuto Suzuki
Lots of cool weird effects over an amazing backing track. Once it gets to the 4 minute mark, it bridges into this rad dark sounding break. Did I mention it's all in minor key? God damn, this is great. *****

11. 80's カプセル [original long version] / め組 upper-slope
What can I say. It's the original. It's long. It's not bad. It's not great. It's just there, but I guess we need some segue into the new CS songs. ***

12. 5PM ETERNAL [original long version] / GUHROOVY fw.NO+CHIN
Japanese dub reggae at its finest. I realize how contradictory that must sound, but this track is amazing. And, as the title says, it's an original long version. I immensely dig this track. ****

13. エブリデイ・ラブリデイ [L.E.D.STYLE MIX] / Togo-chef feat.Sana / Remixed by L.E.D.
I. Fucking. Love. This. Track. I can listen to it over and over again. L.E.D takes a ho-hum typical Sana song and applies his magic to it making it a freakin' amazing piece of music. Typing this is detracting from my listening to it, so.. *****

This album is 100% absolutely essential. I honestly feel that the long delay that happened between AC and CS IIDXes gave the musicians over at Konami some real inspiration to put out some truly amazing, and truly unique remixes. Every track on this album is great, with even the mediocre tracks still being better than some of the crap on the previous V-RAREs. If you don't love this album, you deserve to get your Bemani Pass revoked. 'Nuff said.

Well, this concludes the sonic journey that was my 10 Days of V-RARE. I hope you enjoyed reading them as much as I enjoyed reviewing them.. well for the most part. :)

Pop'n Music 10 showed the world how Konami could take an excellent version of Pop'n Music and then absolutely cripple it with the shittiest unlocking mechanism ever giving you the great options of the "Pray to the Stars" slot machine of immense frustration or having to play for 9 hours (in-game play time, mind you) to unlock everything. Either way, it's ass. At least there are temporary unlock codes that allow one to play some of the (several dozen) locked songs, characters, courses, and options. On to the V-RARE..

1.　EGOIST ～original long version～ / GUzzle
It's a long version, it's an original. The song itself is decent enough, but the long version does little to sway my opinion. It's still decent enough. Not great, not bad. **1/2

2.　Invisible lover ～original long version～ / PICKLES
Vocoderiffic, indeed. Hey, I just realized where V.C.O gets its name from. Damn, I'm smart. Anyway, we once again have a long version of the original. This song is pretty good, and if you're into any V.C O stuff, then this is pretty similar, but it lacks the catchiness. ***

3.　Only One More Kiss -雨に唄えば- ～original long version～ / MAKI with GUzzle
Another long version of the original. I'm sounding like a broken record here. Decent enough, but not terribly memorable. **1/2

4.　さようならは言わないけれど ～original long version～ / WATER STAND
Just see the last few song reviews.. **1/2

5.　We Love Pop'n Music / SEIYA MURAI
This is a medley of all of the background musics throughout the game along with the voice samples. Makes me want to get nice items. Don't get me wrong, this track is pretty cool, and the BGM is good. But, I just don't see myself saying, "hey, I think I really want to listen to a medley of the background music and cheesy voices," so that's why I piss on it with a **.

6.　disable dA STACK キラmix / 黒棟ムルムル
Ok, FINALLY, something with the potential to be truly great. disable dA STACK itself is an amazing update to Disable Da Flaw. But, this is not necessarily a great remix. It stripped out all of the hard hitting percussion, the hoovers are almost indistinguishible, and it just falls pretty flat on its face. A complete let-down for sure. **

The next three tracks are all extended versions of some of the BGM. All decent, and I won't bother reviewing them individually. I'd say a cumulative ***.
7.　Replay Lonelyplay ～give me "Big Aura" at 3rd stopped～ / マロンちゃん
8.　WaterMelon ～give me "RARE" one～ / ASparagus
9.　CherryPie ～give me "2" pieces～ / ASparagus

This is by far one of the least essential Pop'n V-RAREs. Nothing really memorable or great. Just kind of there. Only recommended to huge fans of the 10CS or completists.

Blah blah blah, 8th Style rules, blah blah. Let's get on with the review.

1. Tell Me More... (original long version) / Togo-chef feat.朝比奈亜希
I was never a huge fan of this song, although it kind of grew on me a little. This is a real long version, and pretty decent. But, nothing particularly amazing. ***

2. LOVE BOX (original long version) / め組upper-slope
I would write a review for this, but I'd just be repeating what I said before. ***

3. LOVE IS ORANGE (MEGIDDO MIX) / Orange Lounge
Now we're talking. This is a kick ass remix of Love is Orange. Sped up, slightly tranced out, and even slightly euroified. I can dig it. Why they never put this version in IIDX as a playable song is well beyond me. ****

4. Drivin' (undulated mix) / NAOKI feat.Paula Terry / Remixed by Yu Takami
This one just shocked me greatly. This is a fucking trip-out amazing remix of Drivin'. Then again, Yu Takami is amazing, and turns this mediocre me-too Naoki Eurobeat song into a spectacular piece of Trip-Hop. Wow. *****

5. PINK DREAM (ZETA MIX) / PINK PONG
I really enjoyed the original Pink Dream, and this version does not disappoint. It slows down just a little, adds a harder beat, and stretches it to a ridiculous 6'12. Despite some of the slightly overbearing build-up, it still ends up being really good. ****

6. Luv 2 Feel Your Body (Decoration Mix) / Shoichiro Hirata / Remixed by SLAKE
I'm really mixed on this. On the one hand, I really like it, on the other, I'm like goddamn can this be any more drawn out? I suppose it just depends on my mood. It's really not terribly different from the original, but it does have some Slakeification added to it. It also unfortunately suffers from Konamifanmixitis. I suppose my opinion of this changes depending on where I am in my menstrual cycle. Today, I'm feeling ***.

7. rainbow flyer (DJ YOSHITAKA remix) / dj TAKA / Remixed by DJ YOSHITAKA
I remember the shock and awe at the abomination of the original extended Rainbow Flyer remix with Sana. Well, it's back, but it's much more tolerable. DJ Yoshitaka strips it down and makes it a bit harder and adds some cool good-cool style skippy breaks. It makes me happy, what can I say. ****

8. memories (full size cover version) / colors
I am ashamed to admit that I never noticed that in the memories video that dj TAKA is playing every instrument as well as singing. It took my wife (who didn't even really know what dj TAKA looked like at the time) to point that out to me. Then I was like oh, shit, that is TAKA doing everything. Well, I'll be damned. Oh, hm? This song? It rules, of course. Duh. *****

9. 合体せよ！ストロングイェーガー!! (Ryu☆remix) / L.E.D. /Remixed by Ryu
It makes me immensely happy to see that this is in IIDX 12th Style. Ryu is a God among men, and proves that he has the innou to one-up even L.E.D. in this wonderful remix. *****

10. murmur twins (srab the hardcore mix) / yu_tokiwa.djw / Remixed by kors k
Fucking awesome is just one way to describe this. This seriously awesome and evil remix is just too cool for school (not the good-cool /Hideo Suwa type, of course). kors k is just one twisted fuck to somehow take one of the most candy-coated IIDX songs ever (not that it's a bad thing or anything) and flip it around and hardcoreify it. Of course, it works brilliantly. *****

Absolutely essential. One of the great IIDX Styles gets an equally amazing V-RARE. Even the first two ho-hum tracks are still GOOD, it's just that compared to the rest, they fall way short.

Since I forgot Monday was a holiday, I'll hit you up today with a double review of V-RARE 6 and V-RARE 7. Let's dispense with the formalities and get on with the review..

1.　坤剛力 （スタジオバッティング スペシアル） / Des-ROW・組スペシアル
Starting out with a Des-ROW song certainly cannot be a bad thing. This version is a little different than the version on the D. album, with a cool little drum solo at the beginning. Other than that, it's not much different. ****

2.　無限軌道 / D-crew+1
Another Des-ROW song? Most excellent. This is pretty decent, but a bit too long and repetitive. Still, it's D-crew, which really can't go wrong. ***

3. Raspberry♡Heart (VOCAL Version)/ jun
Well, take Rasberry♡Heart, and add some nice vocals by jun, and this is what you end up. Although, I was disappointed that it remained around the same length as the original at 1'46. Still, quite good. ****

4.　White Eve (unplugged version) / Naya~n
Yamahariffic, reminding me of the disappointing I feel... mixed with the acapella version of Graduation. But, wait, where did that string section come from? Ah, so Naya~n. I love this, even if it's only 1'58. ****

5.　100sec.Kitchen Battle!! (tometaro,Kitchen Battle) / とどのすけ とめたろう
How can it be 100sec.Kitchen Battle!! if it's 3'02? They could have at least renamed it 180sec.Kitchen Battle!! a-la The Least 333 Sec., but alas. Anyway, if you liked the original, you'll like this. It's stretched out, adding all the same elements which made the original so much fun to play in Pop'n Music. No objections here. ***

6.　rings on the water ～thunderstorm mix～ / PEACH TREES
This is a quite good remix. It's sped way up from the original, but not so much that you have to end up with chipmunk vocals (think Ayu-ro Mix). It adds some Naokification to it with some Eurobeat and Trance elements, but isn't overdone or overbearing. Quite good, although I felt it ended quite abruptly. ****

7.　The chamomile of night ～velvet mix～ / SUZUKKI
The original was decent, and this holds true while being slightly sped up and doubled in length. I always wondered why this was never in GF/DM. But, hey, it's Konami, what are you going to do. ***

8.　くちうるさいママ / little toppy
Sweet! Return of the 8-bit remixes! This one is just flippin' amazing, and I actually kind of prefer it to the Sana original. If somebody does a mash-up effectively adding the original vocals to this, I'll give them a cookie. *****

9.　No more I love you / I.W.hyper
Another 8-bittastic remix. This version is most certainly prefer to the original. How messed up is that? I swear, Konami needs to do more of these. Why bother re-making 8-bit songs into modern tunes? I want to play Strong Jaegar NES-Mix. *****

A pretty decent V-RARE with a couple of great stand-out tracks, and more 8-bit remakes. Nothing to complain about here. High recommendation for any Pop'n fan.

On we go to V-RARE 7 (Pop'n Music 9)
1.　at Pop'n Cafe ～ポップンミュージック９タイトルより / Seiya Murai
Who would have thought it would have been possible to extend the Pop'n Cafe theme to 3'38? It works so well as a 5 second title jingle. But this works well coming off like something from GF/DM. It starts to wear a little thin near the end, but that's my only real gripe. ****

2.　The PLACE TO BE ver.red / Des-ROW feat.めぐみ
I really don't see much of a difference between this one and the full version on D. except for this being a little longer, and perhaps redder. It has a slightly extended non-musical intro and outro, but that's about all I can figure. Decent song regardless, but not one of Des-ROW's finest. ***

3.　Tangeline ～philosophical mix～ / wacとか
The original was good. This is awesome. wac slows it down, minimalizes it, and infuses it with overall wac awesomeness. Really good. ****

4.　掌の革命 moonlit mix / Kiyommy+Seiya
I absolutely love this remake. The original is slowed down and pianoified. This is how ever remake should be. I freakin' love it. *****

5.　いいひと ～USSY cool MIX / 岡めぐみ
Another really well done remix. This album is just churning them out in spades. I quite prefer this one to the original version in 9CS/11AC. It's got a really nice, laid back feel, and is just overall great. ****

6.　Sunny Sunday's Sky ～新しい牛の街MIX～ / Ariko Shimada
This is an amazingly freakish, and freakishly amazing remix. From the beginning with the wobbling and out of sync piano to bizarrely mixed vocals, it's quite weird. But, quite good. This just goes to show you how something can be completely flipped around and still remain listenable. *****

7.　GHOST / 黒ムル feat / 淀川ジョルカエフ
Now this is an interesting approach to what would appear in CS10/AC12 as お豆の哀歌. Unfortunately, this lacks the hard hitting percussion the game version would come to personify, and just ends up being lots of Japanese shouting over a intresting, but understated backing track. ***

This is one of my absolute favorite Pop'n V-RAREs that doesn't have the words "Best Hits" attached to it. Some really, really excellent tracks here with the only disappointments being the Des-ROW and Kuromeru tracks.

While not a V-RARE, Beatmania IIDX Remix for 10th Success Anniversary was released a couple of months before the IIDX 10th Style OST. It featured many unique remixes as well as a couple of Premium Party exclusives. Ok, perhaps "remix" is a bit of an understatement. Some of these remixes were taken to beyond even a Diverse System level of complete reimagining. We're talking a level where you can't even tell what song it's based off of unless you read the title. Let's proceed.

1.　Astral Voyage ～akakage's sweet peaktime samba～ / EeL / Remixed by akakage
I really enjoy this remix. It combines EeL's vocals of Astral Voyage with a funky and smooth Latin-inspired backing track. It feels completely different from the original Astral Voyage, but sounds excellent on its own. Good. Damn good. ****

2.　システムロマンス ～DJ 19 REMIX～ / AKIRA YAMAOKA / Remixed by DJ 19
This is a radically different reinterpretation of System Romance from 10th Style. Completely minimal, vocal track removed, slowed way down, and much harder hitting. This extremely well done, even managing to throw in the cool little backwards skip that was in the original. Wonderful. Damn wonderful. *****

3.　desolation ～dj Remo-con ReMixx～ / Mr.T / Remixed by dj Remo-con
This starts out enough like Desolation with a muddied and wavering piano track similar to what was in the original, and then about 10 seconds into it does a complete 180 into something that's not even close to resembling anything. Really, I just don't get the connection. But, since it's dj Remo-con, it's forgiven. Also, on its own it's a pretty good song. ****

4.　雪月花 ～DJ TOMO'S NIBURU MIX～ / Ryu☆ / Remixed by DJ TOMO
This is perhaps one of the purest remixes yet, staying very close to its roots. Then again, why fuck with perfection? Basically, take the original Setsugekka, stretch it out to 6'40, add a distorted guitar track over it, and make the beat a bit harder, and you end up with this. It's really, good, but eh, it could have been better. ****

5.　Pandora ～DJ WADA Remix～ / dj TAKA feat.Tomomi / Remixed by DJ WADA
Ok, seriously. What the shit is this? I really want to know. In no way, shape, or form is this anything even closely resembling Pandora (which for the record is one of my favorite IIDX songs). You basically end up with almost 7 minutes of a staticy drum beat with some occasional bursts of something a little different. Talk about a complete letdown. On its own, it's not really bad, but certainly not memorable, and certainly not my beloved Pandora. **

6.　SCORE ～Mars on mix～ / dj Remo-con / Remixed by Susumu Yokota
This is a pretty well done remix that manages to be completely different while still retaining at least some semblance of the original. It has done away with the 8-bit feeling of the original and represents a modern, slickly produced version. While just a bit too long at almost 6 minutes, it manages to not quite wear out its welcome. Not bad at all. ***

7.　Think of me ～ASYLUM Mix～ / good-cool feat. Sana / Remixed by AKIRA YAMAOKA
If you could ever imagine the original Think of Me dumped in a blender and converted into some sort of weird Hard House/Tech House style track, you'd end up with this. The thing is though, it works. It sounds really good, albiet a bit mash-uppy at times. But, it is Akira Yamaoka, who can do no wrong, after all.

8.　Back Into The Light ～A DAY IN THE LIGHT Mix～ / Sota Fujimori Remixed by SLAKE
It'll be interesting to see what SLAKE, beatmania remix god can do with this song. While I could have done without some of the weirdness in the beginning, this ends up being quite listenable. Much of the trancieness of the original has been stripped out and is a bit more minimal than the original. It even has some ever so slight hints of two-step in it. Really well executed, but not the kind of thing I'd actively seek out to listen to. ***

9.　DoLL ～L.E.D. Style Mix～ / TЁЯRA / Remixed by L.E.D.
Another great L.E.D remix in typical great L.E.D style. DoLL is made OMG HARDCORE, and is quite good. Sort of reminds me of a combination of Jaeger's Final Attack meets DoLL. I can listen to this over and over again. *****

10.　Love Is Eternity ～SF SYNTH TRANCE MIX～ / kors k ［Remixed by Sota Fujimori］
11.　Ready To Rockit Blues ～dj TAKA remix～ / SLAKE ［Remixed by dj TAKA］

Bonus Tracks from beatmania IIDX secret LIVE ～one night premium party～ 2003.09.13
12.　bit mania / AKIRA YAMAOKA
13.　Colors / dj TAKA
This is utter crap. Take "Colors," play it back, add some echo and crowd noise, and this is what you end up with. It's worse than Era from TaQ's Bounce/Connected album. If I could give it negative stars, I would. *

A real mixed bag here, but then again, this album was pretty much something never done before with a Bemani game. It took songs that had not been on an OST yet and sought to put a completely new spin on them. Some worked really well, some just sucked rocks. It's certainly worth a listen because the good tracks are REALLY good.

For many DDR fans, DDRMAX2 was the version that revitalized the series after the relative disappointment that was DDRMAX. It contained a trove of great new songs as well as bringing back many of the old favorites. It brought back many players to the series who had pretty much given up on it after DDRMAX came out. Let's move on to the CS release's V-RARE.

1.　Kind Lady (Funk Disco Extended Mix) / OKUYATOS
Kind Lady is one of those songs whose game version is a take it or leave it affair, but I really like the remixes. I really enjoy this mix that combines some of the best aspects of the Funky Interlude with the vocals and feeling of the original. Despite its relatively long length at 7'29, it doesn't seem to get old. A great start to this compilation. ****

2.　Do It Right (80's Electro Extended Mix) / SOTA feat. Ebony Fay
This song suffers from an unfortunate case of Konamifanremixitis. It is essentially repeating the same verse over and over again throughout it's 4'49 length. But, it's forgiven because of an amazing semi-acapella beginning and excellent backing track throughout the rest. I can dig it. ****

3.　Look To The Sky (Trance Extended Mix) / System S.F. feat. Anna
Another sufferer of Konamifanremixitis with once again, the same Engrishy lyrics that we all know and love being repeated over this song's 5'58 length. But, again, like with the previous song, it keeps itself interesting with a great trance backing track that keeps the song flowing really well. Not bad at all. ***1/2

4.　Feelings Won't Fade (Extended Trance Mix) / SySF.
I believe this marks the only album appearance of this song that was in DDR Party Collection. Yes, it's as derivative as any of Sota Fujimori's trance offerings (ever notice how they all sound just like Look To The Sky?), but he certainly has a working formula. I think this song starts to wear out its welcome around the 3 minute mark, but is pretty decent, although I wouldn't have placed this track adjacent to its step-sister Look To The Sky remix.

5.　Kind Lady -FUTURE TRANCE MIX- / OKUYATOS
With all of these trance remixes, it's starting to feel like an IIDX V-RAre. That aside, I dig the hell out of this Kind Lady remix if for no other reason then that it is so completely different from any other remix of that song up to this point. It somehow manages to stay intriguing throughout its ridiculous 8'19 length and its Konamiremixitis infused vocals. I would have chopped a few minutes off this song if it were up to me, but it's still really good. ****

6.　Midnight Blaze (SySF Mix) / SySF.
Finally, the last trancified remix on this V-RARE, not that there's anything wrong with that. I really like this remix too, for similar reasons to the Kind Lady -FUTURE TRANCE MIX-. It suffers from the same shortcomings, but manages to stay interesting with a good backing track and set of change-ups throughout the song. Again, I'd chop a couple minutes off of this 6'16 song, but hey, I'd rather have it too long than too short (unless it's that In My Eyes remix from the Ultramix 2 V-RARE). ****

7.　glacial(radio edit) / Riyu Kosaka
In a typical Naoki formula we follow this recipe:
1 - Take an already existing song (in this case Hyper Eurobeat)
2 - Completely change around the lyrics (make them Japanese)
3 - Completely change around the singer (Kosaka)
4 - Bake thoroughly and serve warm

Really, don't we have enough derivatives of Hyper Eurobeat already? *yawn*. **

8.　i feel... (New Age Hope Mix) / SySF.
At first there's a "holy shit" moment as it's like, "omg a piano accoustic version of i feel...", and then as it's a piano track that sounds nothing like "i feel..." combined with nothing more than "I feel it, I feel it," being repeated over and over again. C'mon, even the original "i feel..." had more words than that. A real let-down. **

If you don't like trance, stay far, far away from this V-RARE. A huge majority of the tracks are trance remixes, but they are pretty well done. My only real gripe was that most of the songs were just a minute or two (or several in the case of Kind Lady -Future Trance Mix-) too long, and there's really no reason some new lyrics couldn't have been added to freshen up things a little. Glacial is just meh, and i feel... was a cocktease that ultimately left me limp. This is a V-RARE that you're either really going to love or hate. I think it's pretty good for the most part, but not the kind of thing I'd want to listen to over and over (just wait until we get to V-RARE 10...).

So, we move on to this V-RARE, the one that was provided with Pop'n Music Best Hits!, and being notable as one of the first truly unique V-RAREs. Best Hits! combined some of the favorites from the previous six Pop'n Musics, and added some brand new songs into the mix as well.

1.　カモミールバスルームREMIX (AWA AWA MIX) / SLAKE
I absolutely love this mix. It starts off completely minimal with just accoustic guitar, vocals, and random sound effects. It then morphs into this weird mix of a hard (yet not overpowering) bass line over Yu Tokiwa's soft vocals. Exceptional. *****

2.　天麩羅兄弟ノ二度揚ゲReMIX / TEMPULA BROS.+SEIYA
Another very good re-mix. The first was somewhat more minimal and annoying, but this remix is far superior. Much more layering of sound, and much slicker production make it far more tolerable. Well done, but not quite at the level where I'd want it on my favorite song list on my iPod (4*+). ***1/2

3.　PROTO TYPE～戦火 / 村井聖夜
Oh man, do I love this. This is a wonderful remake of クチビル倀 from Pop'n Music 5. It's reimagined in a classical form slowed down with only piano and cello as the instruments. Extremely well done. ****

4.　STARS☆☆☆ (NM TRANCE DUB MIX) / NAOKI MAEDA
Hey, what's Naoki doing in a Pop'n collection? Well, since it's a ＴЁЯＲＡ song, I suppose he can get a pass. This is a pretty good remix of the original, although a bit overproduced in my opinion almost completely masking the vocals. It kind of just meanders on for 5'29. It's not bad at all, but it's not exceptional either. It's the kind of song that comes on randomly and I'm like, "hey, cool," but wouldn't actively seek it out for listening. ***

5.　CANDY (☆little a live style☆) / NAOKI MAEDA
All we need is yet another mix of CANDY. As far as I know, this is the only non-Dancemania appearance of this version, which is essentially a mashup of Candy☆ and Candy♡. If you've heard both, and like both, then, well, you get both right here. I'm feeling generous today, so I'll go for ***.

"And now for something completely different," we end up with a bunch of 8-bit preview versions of upcoming Pop'n 10 AC/8 CS songs. They are, well, as one would expect, 8-bittacular. Although most of these have been heard a million times since then, at the time this V-RARE came out, these were pretty new/never heard before. I love all of them, and can't really objectively rate them since, well, they are chip tune representations of the upcoming originals. They are all great in their own way, from the cheesy "poofs" to represent the gunfire at the end of Texas Gunman to the ultra-cheesy string section in Troika Dance, to the ridiculous beach sounds of Sea Side City. If you have some sort of hatred for 8-bit remixes, then you'll hate these. Me, I absolutely adore them. Here's the list of the 8 amazing 8-bit remixes:

6.　White Lovers / Tommy Angel
7.　テキサスのガンマン / Sludgy Hawks with H
8.　Troika Dance / "Hirotees"
9.　消えた!? ナポレオン / WILD ROSE
10.　dandelion / sotaro
11.　Sea Side City / T.H.Wavy Kiss
12.　HOLIDAY / らく楽器隊
13.　ラブ・アコーディオン / mon cheri H.T.

This marks the first truly essential V-RARE in my opinion, and certainly an essential compilation for any Pop'n music fan. It is packed from beginning to end with great remixes and reimagined Pop'n songs. Even if you're not a fan of the series, there will probably be something that you'd like. While up until this point, the V-RAREs had been a mix of a couple of break out songs with a bunch of other ho-hum material, this one is excellence defined.

Pop'n Music 7 is notable as being the first new Pop'n release for the PS2. At the time this came out, I did not have a PnM controller or access to the games, so my only real connection was listening to the OSTs. Let's move on with the review.

1. ロケット・ラブ ～ USSY cool Mix / ミッキー・マサシ
Take the original version, and add a slightly (more) progressive feeling to it, and you end up with this version. It's also way longer, at 4'07 compared to the original's 1'35. Pretty decent reinterpretation. ***

2. @n H@ppy Choice / Sana
This is just a freaky remake of the original good-cool and Hideo Suwa version (H@ppy Choice), but pretty damn good. It's a little more slowed down to better fit Sana's vocals and turns out being a great alterantive to the original while still sticking to its roots. I'm quite H@ppy with it, indeed. ***1/2

3. Betty Boo remix / SLAKE
Slake is one of the Bemani remix kings, as far as I'm concerned. He turned around the decent enough (but not terribly memorable) original and added a more thumping beat along with revamping the backing track. It certainly stands out more than the original and is a quite good song. ****

4. 愛車(キカイ)はタワシで洗ってる！？ / すわひでお
Basically, what I wrote about Rock Rap (song #1) applies here too. It's the same principle. Slow it down a bit, add a bit more progressive feeling, wash, rinse, and repeat. ***

5. Distance ~ Surrealistic Mix / Egoistic Lemon Tea
Arguably the best named musical group ever comes out with this excellent remix of an excellent song. In some ways, it's kind of strange because the mixing makes it almost sound like it was recorded directly from the game. Some of the samples and effects seem to really mask the vocals. Well done over all, though. ***

6. Micro Dream Remix / dj TAKA
I totally loved the original Micro Dream, and at first was utterly shocked by the total Hyper Eurobeatification at first. But, it ends up working pretty well in the end, since dj TAKA is god, and all. On its own merits, it's pretty damn good, but as a remix, it's very WTF. So, um yeah. Still good enough for ****.

7. Ska Ska No. 3 / 亜熱帯マジ-SKA爆弾
I liked the original Ska Ska No. 3, and, here we have the long version at 4'29. Really, I have nothing to complain about here. ***

A pretty decent and solid, but wholly average V-RARE. If you liked the originals, then this is most definitely a worthwhile find. But, otherwise it's not terribly notable.

Konami finally pulled their head out of their asses and really kicked the V-RAREs into high gear when they released their next offering, the 8-bit-tacular V-RARE-4 from Pop'n Music Best Hits. But, alas, that will have to wait for tomorrow.

After a seemingly endless amount of time after 5th Style CS, beatmania IIDX 6th Style CS was released. IIDX fans would then know the meaning of seemingly endless amount of time when waiting for 7th Style CS to be released. IIDX 6th Style remains one of my favorite releases because of the great features that were exclusive to it, such as the tatsujin videos and Music Clip mode that allowed you to watch the VJ movies in full screen (I'm sure the introduction of the IIDX Visual Works/Visual Emotion DVDs killed this feature dead). The song list was pretty damn good, with several never before heard songs such as Outer Limits, Jelly Kiss, Stick Around, 合体せよ! ストロングイェーガー!!, and unique Another versions of Something Wonderful and 電人イェーガーのテーマ (Theme of Denjin J).

1. jelly kiss -full size- / Togo Project feat. Sana
This is a true long version (3'46) featuring new verses. Other than that, it's more of the same. If you liked the original, than you'll like this one even more, most likely. I always thought it was an OK song but nothing terribly special. This does little to sway my opinion. **1/2

2. jelly kiss ('Kobo's step style) / Togo Project feat. Sana
It's a bit less two-steppy than the original with some added trance standards. Very slick production on this one. I actually like this version a lot more. ***

3. 合体せよ! ストロングイェーガー!! ~full size~ / L.E.D
L.E.D can do no wrong in my book, and his long versions of the Denjin J series always deliver. Strong Jaegar itself is already an awesome song, and this extended version makes it even more awesome. It's 6'04 of creamy L.E.D goodness. It works for me because it feels like the IIDX version was a shortened version of this, rather than this feeling like an extended IIDX version. Amazing. *****

4. MIX UP '電人イェーガー' / L.E.D
Why not follow a great full size version of Strong Jaegar with this song, which is kind of a mash-up of Denjin J and Strong Jaegar. And, yes, it works great. The switching back and forth between the songs feels natural and is not jarring at all. More greatness. ****1/2

5. Stick Around ~full size~ / Megu feat. Scotty D.
Another true full size song with additional verses. But, like Jelly Kiss, I'm not a huge fan of the original. I mean, there's nothing offensive about it aside from the silly Engrishy vocals. I would have preferred a long version of Outer Limits or something, though. **1/2

6. Stick Around (Twilight Bossa 'Togo' Mix) / Megu feat. Togo
I have to admit, I find this song strangely alluring. From the stark minimalism, to the clarity of Megu's Engrishy vocals behind said minimalism. It's another "Holy Shit" moment courtesy of Konami. As strange as it is to admit this, I quite like this version. Every time I hear it I want to whistle along with it. ****

We end up with another interesting mixed bag here. I am somewhat opposed to how the track placement was (two Jelly Kisses followed by two Denjin J songs followed by two Stick Arounds), but it was only siz songs, so what can you do. This V-RARE has several songs you won't find on any other OSTs, so it's worth checking out -- unless you really hate Jelly Kiss or Stick Around (even though the Twilight Bossa mix saves it).

The original V-RARE, came bundled with DDRMAX. DDRMAX was notable as being the first PS2 release of a DDR. I remember I bought this the day it came out, and while I was impressed with the perfection of the port itself (everything was so amazingly fast, it blew me away), the fact that there was nothing new in it aside from two new songs (Kind Lady and So In Love) was a let down.

On to the V-RARE review.

1. Look To The Sky (True Color Extended Mix) / System S.F. feat Anna
Keep in mind, this was before there was ever a DDR version of True Color Mix. The first time I heard this, I was blown away. Here was one of the best songs in DDRMAX (until Kyle Snyder took hold of it forever solidifying the image of that song with his SVGL2 freestyle) remixed and really, really long (6'30). However, it has suffered the fate known as Konamifanmixitis. This is a cruel fate common of fan mixes of Konami songs. Its most common symptom is that it's basically the same thing just seemingly looped over and over to make it seem longer. You have the exact same verse over, and over again. It's like the same song twice in a row with some nicely done standard trance hooks thrown in for good measure. That aside, it's a solid song, but it really doesn't stand out as being much better than the 2 minute DDR version since it offers little beyond it. ***

2. Kind Lady -interlude rough instrumental- / Okuyatos
This is the same song that found its way into DDR releases, and even the same length at 1'33. Kind Lady kind of grew on me after a while, and this is pretty decent musically with its funky beats and guitar, and makes a pretty decent DDR song. But, in itself, it's just kind of meh, I much prefer the true long version of Kind Lady. **

3. After The Game -POWER DUNKERS ver.- / NPD3
This is the Konamix instrumental version of ATG that caused the uproar because OMG THE DIRTY LYRICS ARE GONE. Little has changed, even though there is a bit more funky sax thrown in to compensate for hte lack of any vocals. **

4. CUTIE CHASER -morning mix- / Club Spice
I believe this is the first time this song had appeared in an album. Before, it was only found as a track in DDR Oha Sta. So, for many this was the first time it had been heard. It's a pretty decent rearrangement of the original, but not much more than that. **

5. AM-3P -303 BASS MIX- / KTZ
This song was another exclusive addition to Konamix. I personally despise this mix, and refer it to "ASS MIX." I is like a stripped down version of the original AM-3P with lots of annoying clicks in the percussion and little else. It serves only to annoy me. *

6. Firefly -RIYU VERSION- / 小阪りゆ
This is supposed to be Firefly without the BeForU, I suppose. Despite Riyu being the only vocalist. But, if you listened to the two versions side by side, you'd be hard pressed to find much of a difference. Firefly is a decent enough song, though. **1/2

7. DESTINY (piano ver.) / Paula Terry
This was the first real "holy shit" moment for a V-RARE. Not necessarily because of Paula Terry's always scintilating vocals, but just because this was such a radical departure from any previous Bemani remix. It's Destiny, of course, minus the Naoki. It's a simple piano backing track with Paula Terry singing over it. It's much slower than the original. Sure, without the Naokification, Paula Terry is further exposed as being a not-so-great singer, but really, it isn't as bad as it could be. ***

Very mixed bag here, and it's pretty obvious that Konami hadn't quite landed in their groove for doing V-RAREs. It's one part remixes, one part rehashed material, and one small part something completely different. Overall, it's pretty forgettable and not worth making a huge effort to find.

Since I haven't done any reviews in a while, I thought it may be fun to review some of Konami's, well, most interesting albums: the V-RARE series. V-RARES are the promotional CDs that are bundled with pre-ordered Konami software that contain remixes, unique, and full versions of select songs.

Every Konami Japanese Bemani release since DDRMAX has had a companion V-RARE. Even Konami's US Bemani releases have been bundled with V-RAREs, which I may or may not review in the future (I've already done Ultramix 2). For the next 10 days (excluding weekends), I'm going to review each of the V-RAREs.

I rate songs on a scale from *-*****, obviously with ***** being the best possible.

Stay tuned..

Yes, I'm that happy with it. I was able to get in about two hours non-stop yesterday and another hour today and I've just been loving it.

Everything has meshed together so well with this version, with the great new music, and excellent step charts. I've probably played a little over half of the new songs on Hard and a handfull on Expert, and everything has been great. It's gotten me back to the point to where I am totally excited about going back to the arcade to get more gaming in. That hasn't happened to me in quite a while.

It looks like many of the bugs I was experiencing before have been ironed out. There's no more crashing from using memory cards, and I only saw one instance of a little bit of slowdown today. So, either I hadn't been playing on a final build these past couple of weeks, or they figured out whatever hardware problems were causing those issues. Either way, it works great now. The end screen that shows how many calories you've burned is a really nifty touch, too.

Much respect to the ITG2 team for putting out an excellent product. It's turned me from being ho-hum about the game into a gushing fanboy, judging by what this post must look like. But, damn, it's just that fun.

In The Groove for the Playstation 2 is an extremely well executed port of its arcade brother. It features an enhanced user interface, improved graphics, and a huge songlist. However, it's not without its glaring flaws and problems including long load times, UI glitches, and idiotic song censorship.

Background:
My opinions of the arcade ITG game are no secret. To summarize, I wanted to see it succeed, but as a player, I didn't like it very much. I enjoyed the great music and slick graphics, but in many cases, the step charts for songs just killed it for me. In any event, recently I finally had a chance to sit down with the retail PS2 version of ITG and really put it to work. It has many good things about it, but it also has many big negatives. All of which I shall address. Since most people at this point are familiar with ITG's gameplay, music, and steps, I'm going to focus mostly on how well this was ported to the PS2 and how it compares to the arcade experience.

Interface:
Yes, it is almost exactly the same experience as in the arcade. It's got all of the same songs, and the UI is very similar. I actually prefer the PS2 UI. The colors are slightly darker and the fonts are much better. The whole thing is much crisper and easier to read than in the arcade. I never had any real complaints about the arcade UI, and they not only duplicated it, but made it even better.

Presentation:
The frame rates are very smooth, although I experienced some jerkiness using 2.5X and higher on some expert songs or when using lots of mods. For the most part, though, it runs very well. In normal circumstances, it's just as smooth as DDR Extreme is with arrows that feel like they are marbles rolling down a glass sheet.

The graphics are crystal clear, as one would expect. Much, much nicer than in the arcade. The textures and sprites are very well defined, the colors are vibrant, and everything looks very polished. Again, no complaints here.

As far as different gameplay modes, there are no surprises here, there's a workout ("Fitness") mode, training mode, marathon mode, and standard gameplay modes. Fitness mode features a nifty endless non-stop mode.

Audio:
Ok. The songs sound great. The audio is crystal clear and everything sounds really good, no real shocker.

Here's the real shocker: songs are heavily censored, and for the stupidest things! For instance, in Charlene, "sex," "drugs," and "dark side" are all censored.. uh, dark side? In Torn, "naked" is censored. Yes, "naked" is bleeped out. Land of the Rising Sun's second verse is very sloppily cut and changed with a verse that is in the original. ROM-eo & Juli8 has "sexy" bleeped out. But, Touch Me, a song with blatant sexual innuendo is left, well, untouched. Mouth, which features such lyrics as, "turn me on," and lots of very obvious sexual innuendo is left alone.

So, let's see.. "sexy robot," bad. "[W]ould it be so bad if I could turn you on," good. I don't get it. It's also worth mentioning that many of the censorings are very jarring and sloppy, almost as if it was a last minute consideration.

One could argue that it's an ESRB requirement for an "E" rating. However, take a look at DDR Extreme. It uses "fuck" in Highs Off You, has a cover of Like a Virgin, and has very suggestive lyrics in Wonderland. It got an E rating, too.

Update: I recently learned that many parts of Mouth are in fact modified. Also, the word "boyfriend" is apparently censored in Normal. Uh. WTF? There's a running thread discussing the censorship whats and whys.

Gameplay:
Carbon arcade copy, with much improved graphics, as was mentioned before. There's a few preview songs from ITG2 here as well: Liquid Moon, Tribal Style, Funk Factory, Wake Up, and Incognito are all unlockables. The timing feels spot on. All of the marathon courses are there along with some great new ones. If you're used to playing in the arcade, this should feel no different. All the songs, steps, and modes are there.

The Bad Stuff:
With all that said, and looking past the song censorship, there are some notable gripes about this game. The big one that everybody will likely be talking about is the infuratingly long load times. They are at times simply attrocious. We're talking 5-10 seconds at some places when transitioning from song to menu.

Loading the game to the PS2 using HD Loader hard drive creates an improvement, but that's by no means an acceptable solution to most. In addition, the loading screens have no music, and sometimes no background animations or any other indicator that anything is happening. Whenever I see this, I instinctively think the game crashed. This is really unfortunate. The console DDRs did a good job masking any load times by using music and background animations, but in ITG it feels very abrupt.

Another personal gripe is its "Event Mode." If you fail a song in Event Mode, it doesn't take you back to the song wheel as one would expect, it drops you back to the title screen, which means sitting through lots of menus and the long load times. This drove me batty, as I'm used to the concept of Event Mode where it's continuous play, even if you fail. But, if you cancel out of a song using select/start, it does drop you back to the song wheel. I don't know if this is by design, or something that slipped past Quality Assurance, but it's a real annoyance.

Update: I've also learned of other QA problems, such as save file corruption with certain options being selected. It looks to me like the game was quite probably rushed to market. But, that's how it goes in the world of software development sometimes. DDR is by no means bug free, but they have had much longer to perfect their engine as well. It's obviously no excuse for the problems with the game, but as a software developer myself, I am understanding of how these things happen. I'm sure that unlike the unchanging list of problems between Ultramix games, the ITG development team will indeed fix these problems if there is a future ITG console release.

Final Thoughts:
In all, this is a great console port, and great first effort in bringing ITG to the masses. I can sense that some pieces of this were rushed to get the game released on time, and in the process some things were possibly missed. But, as a fan of dancing games and of the series, I recommend this game if you're looking to augment your home DDR experience with something new. Just don't be surprised when you see the tarnished areas underneath the polished exterior.

Some great steps and really good songs make me happy. KeeL's new additions are all top notch. I've always had great respect for his material, and some of the new stuff is especially good. The freeze-rolls are a lot of fun, despite Robotix making my calf muscles want to rip themselves out of my skin.

Great steps in this version. Many of them are actually quite fun now and have more variety than the original's formula of "turn left and step, step, step." The difficulties are still a little inconsistent, but I can forgive that. We Know What To Do's Expert steps are just ungodly fun.

The UI is slightly improved; the fonts are much better -- a lot easier to read, and not fuzzy. The colors are also much nicer.

The new Marathon courses are ridiculously EVIL. Foy, you are an evil, evil man. The new Survival mode is an interesting take on the Oni-style of gameplay, and is deceptively difficult.

Yes, it's glitchy as hell, still. When Nekura and I were at Illusionz yesterday, we witnessed two crashes when memory cards were used. One was in the middle of a song - it core dumped and rebooted. The second was after the song and required unplugging the machine completely to get it to recover.

Another nifty little glitch was when Nekura and I had failed a Survival course, it tried to start the next song, and then instantly failed. It should have failed as soon as the previous song ended. These glitches (and others) were leading us to wonder if this was truly a final build or not.

At this point, until my opinion is swayed otherwise, I'm quite happy with ITG2 and am pretty excited to go back to the arcade to play it some more. It's just that damn fun.

Here's some more Flickr'ed screen shots for your viewing pleasure. The bluriness was from my phone's camera being smudged.