DrumMania
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| DrumMania | |
|---|---|
| Image:DM Cabinet.jpg | |
| Developer(s) | Bemani |
| Publisher(s) | Konami |
| Released | 1999 |
| Genre | Rhythm |
| Mode(s) | Single player (Can also have 1 or 2 more players but other players must be connected to GuitarFreaks and the machines must be linked.) |
| Platform(s) | Arcade |
| Input methods | Drum stick; 1 pedal |
| Arcade cabinet | Unique design |
| Arcade display | Raster, standard resolution, horizontal |
DrumMania (alternately drummania, abbreviated DM) is a video game created by Konami as part of the Bemani series. The player uses a simulated drum controller to play the notes of a chosen song's drum part as they are displayed on the screen. The game's music consists largely of rock and roll and J-Pop, many of which are covers by famous Japanese artists such as BeForU and notable Western artists such as Arch Enemy.
Eariler versions of DrumMania have been released in Hong Kong, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and other Asian countries, under the title Percussion Freaks. Konami has not produced an American version of DrumMania, since MTV Drumscape holds the US patent for "drum simulation games". Nonetheless, imported versions of DrumMania can be found in various locations across the United States and Canada.
Contents |
[edit] Controller
DrumMania is played using a controller designed to imitate a drum set. Five pads are arrayed from left to right for the hi-hat, snare drum, high tom, low tom and cymbal. There is also a foot pedal for the bass drum near the snare and the high tom. During play, the player depresses the pads and steps on the pedal.
The pads are actually a modified version of the DTXPRESS electronic drum kit made by Yamaha Corporation which is available in almost any musical chain store.
To the right of these pads, there are three buttons, Left, Start and Right, which are used to select and decide in the selection screens. In those cases, the Left button is assigned to the snare drum pad, Right to the low tom, and Start to the cymbal.
[edit] Gameplay
The screen setup is simple. On the left side, notes scroll vertically downwards. Colorful animations for each song are displayed in right side of the screen. Each note scroll consists of 6 columns: one each for the Hi hat, snare drum, bass drum, hi tom, low tom and cymbal. Individual notes are represented by small colored bars that scroll downward in the columns. To play the correct note, the player must hit one or two of these pads and/or stomp the pedal when the note bars reach the yellow line. The note scroll in DrumMania is in essence a drum tablature timed with the music and placed vertically.
The player's accuracy is judged for each note played, and while the individual note judgments have changed throughout the series, the current system uses Perfect, Great, Good, Poor, and Miss to evaluate performance of each note. Ratings of Poor or Miss will deplete the player's "Groove Gauge", while accurate play will replenish it. If the Groove Gauge is emptied completely, the game ends. Players will be able to play anywhere from three to five songs depending on the game's configuration, with the potential to earn one or two additional stages in certain versions of the game if performance is good enough.
At the completion of a song, players are given a letter rank for their performance which can range anywhere from E to A, as well as S and SS depending on how well the song was played, and how the particular release of the game being played computes ranks.
[edit] Session Linking
One of the major selling points of DrumMania is its ability to be linked to another of Konami's Bemani games, GuitarFreaks. This allows up to 3 players to get together for a virtual jam session. When set up correctly, the music will play from both games, and the players' guitar and drum sounds will be relayed between the two games as well. This is known for being quite loud and extravagant at times.
[edit] Super Session
Seen only in two releases each of GuitarFreaks and DrumMania, Super Session (or Multi Session) allowed the games to be linked up with Keyboardmania 3rdMIX as well. In addition to having three players control the guitars and drums, two more could be added playing along on keyboards. However, when linked with Keyboardmania, only about a dozen songs are available to play. Keyboardmania 3rd Mix can be linked with GuitarFreaks 5thMIX and DrumMania 4thMIX, or GuitarFreaks 6thMIX and DrumMania 5thMIX.
[edit] Successive Versions
- Drummania/Percussion Freaks「ドラムを叩け!」 (Released on 10th July 1999)
- Drummania/Percussion Freaks 2ndMIX「呼び覚ませ! 魂の鼓動（リズム）!」 (Released on 27th March 2000)
- Drummania/Percussion Freaks 3rdMIX「攻撃的に」 (Released on 3rd September 2000)
- Drummania/Percussion Freaks 4thMIX「”打”の衝撃を解き放て!」 (Released on 17th March 2001)
- Drummania/Percussion Freaks 5thMIX「本能で叩け!!!」 (Released on 13th September 2001)
- Drummania/Percussion Freaks 6thMIX「Pursuing insatiable game play! Much sophisticated and evolved. This is the NEW version!」 (Released on 28th February 2002)
- Drummania/Percussion Freaks 7thMIX (Released on 30th August 2002)
- Drummania/Percussion Freaks 7thMIX power-up ver. (Released on 29th November 2002)
- Drummania/Percussion Freaks 8thMIX「POWER UP over POWER UP!!」(Released on 2nd April 2003)
- Drummania/Percussion Freaks 9thMIX「Make a future groove!」(Released on 8th October 2003)
- Drummania/Percussion Freaks 10thMIX「IT'S A SHOWTIME!!」(Released on 22nd April 2004)
- Drummania V 「yes!! just wanna "V"est!!!」 (Released on 23th February 2005)
- Drummania V2 「LIVE 2 GO!!」 (Released on 24th November 2005)
- Drummania V3 「Big Bang! On Music Galaxy!」 (Released on 13th September 2006)
- Drummania V4 Яock×Rock「Are you Ready? Experience the "DoubleRock!!"」(Released on 8th August 2007)
[edit] Naming Conventions
Konami's numbering scheme for the GuitarFreaks and DrumMania series is such that the current release of DrumMania is numbered one less than the current release of GuitarFreaks. For example, as of this writing, GuitarFreaks 11thMIX can be linked with DrumMania 10thMIX. This is necessary due to the fact that only DrumMania 1stMIX was released on Konami's System 573 Analog hardware, whereas both GuitarFreaks 1stMIX and GuitarFreaks 2ndMIX were released on the same platform, and a System 573 Analog board cannot link to a System 573 Digital board, on which the following nine releases of both were made. Additionally, a PercussionFreaks game cannot be linked to a GuitarFreaks game, as despite being essentially the same game as DrumMania, PercussionFreaks units lack link hardware.
This naming system changed completely with the 2005 release of DrumMania V & GuitarFreaks V, with the "V" representing the fifth anniversary of the series. This tradition will be continued, as Drummania V2 and Guitar Freaks V2 was released in November. Otherwise, the functionality is the same.
DrumMania V4 is the latest version of the DrumMania series, and it links to GuitarFreaks V4. They are essentially DM 14thMIX and GF 15thMIX, but the games had been united with a single version number since Drummania V. Unlike previous mixes, there is not a set encore stage. Instead, there are many which become unlocked over time. The requirement for getting an encore stage is getting 98% perfect or more on an Extra stage.
[edit] Playstation 2
Seven versions of DrumMania have been released in Japan for the PlayStation 2 game console, with the eighth releasing on 4th October 2007. The game supports Yamaha's line of DTX drums, as well as the PS2 Dualshock controller and Konami's own drum controller.
- drummania (Released on 4th March 2000)
- GUITARFREAKS 3rd MIX & drummania 2nd MIX (Released on 7th December 2000)
- ギタドラ! GUITARFREAKS 4th MIX & drummania 3rd MIX (Released on 20th September 2001)
- GuitarFreaksV & DrumManiaV (Released on 16th March 2006）
- GuitarFreaks & DrumMania MASTERPIECE SILVER (Released on 31st August 2006)
- GuitarFreaksV2 & DrumManiaV2 (Released on 22nd November 2006)
- GuitarFreaks & DrumMania MASTERPIECE GOLD (Released on 8th March 2007)
- GuitarFreaksV3 & DrumManiaV3 (Released on 4th October 2007)
[edit] DTX Simulators
A handful of DrumMania simulators have been created for use on PCs, the most popular of which is known as DTXMania, which also supports GuitarFreaks. It can be controlled using the computer keyboard, any USB device that can act as a joystick, or any MIDI instrument such as a MIDI keyboard or professional quality electronic drumkit.
[edit] See also
- List of drumming games
[edit] External links
- Konami's official GuitarFreaks and DrumMania arcade website (in Japanese)
- DTXMania The most popular drummania simulator. (in Japanese)
- DigiBand Another GF/DM simulator, currently the only one available for Linux.
- GDAmania, a Drummania/Guitarfreaks community website (in English, Japanese and Chinese)
- Drummania Unofficial Homepage, a useful resource for DrumMania song information, including drum charts, artists, and difficulties (in Chinese)
- System 16's Bemani System 573 Analog Page, a listing of games that run on the same arcade platform as the first DrumMania game.
- System 16's Bemani System 573 Digital Page, a listing of games that run on the same arcade platform as the subsequent DrumMania games.
- System 16's Bemani PlayStation 2 Hardware Page, a listing of games that run on the same arcade platform as the most recent DrumMania games.fr:DrumMania
ko:드럼매니아 ja:Drummania zh:Drummania
