The US version of Beatmania not only will disappoint the Japanese fans, but newcomers as well.

User Rating: 4.4 | BeatMania PS2
Beatmania is a rhythm-based game based on the hit series in Japan. The objective is to press one of the seven keys or spin the turntable in accordance to the notes scrolling down the screen, the four white keys showing up as white notes, the three black keys showing up as blue notes in between the four white notes, and the turntable showing up as a red note to the left or right depending on which side you play. This US version of the game includes the original Beatmania 5-key gameplay in which you use the turntable, two of the three black keys, and three of the four white keys. It also includes the Beatmania IIDX gameplay in which you use all seven keys and the turntable. The controller itself is different from the Japan home controller, it is a more rounder design, and the buttons are springboarded to prevent the sticky keys that plague the Japanese home controller. However, the turntable is more rigid than the Japanese controller, making turning the turntable with you pinky slightly more difficult. The songlist is very, very, horrible. Many DDR veterans will recognize a few of the songs on this songlist like Spin the Disc from DDR MAX2 and 321 Stars from DDR EXTREME. The other songs are bad remakes of songs like Celebration or Virtual Insanity, or just a bad choice of techno like First Day or Lift Me Up. Out of the many mixes that were out in Japan before this release, they couldn't make a mash up of all the great songs of those collections into this version? The learning curve is extrememly steep, in the 5 key version of the game, the songs have only a number to differenciate the difficulty between songs. The higher the number of stars, the harder the song. You could have passed a five star song, but cannot pass a four star song. The seven key version of the game is split up into three difficulties, Beginner, Normal, and Hyper making it a little easier to discern what may be too hard or easy for you. There are many options at your disposal in the game such as increasing the scroll speed of the notes, and having the game automatically scratch the turntable notes. As you're playing the song, half the screen displays a movie to accompany the song. Many of them are abstract patterns or a very confusing video of robots, you won't be paying attention to them since your notes are on the other half of the screen. There are no unlockables within the game, nor any variety in the two player mode, making replay value very very very small. With a bad songlist, steep learning curve, and very small replay value, Beatmania US may not gain any die hard fans, and leaves those who waited for the game to come to US shores extremely disappointed.