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BEAT MANIA - COMPENDIUM
Written By: Aoi
(aknight@frontiernet.net)

 
                           Hard              --Append 3rd Mix--
 Bossa Groove                House    
 __________                   __   
 \______   \  ____  _____   _/  |_                 Japanese Hip-Hop
  |    |  _/_/ __ \ \__  \  \   __\
  |    |   \\  ___/  / __ \_ |  |               
  |______  / \___  >(____  / |__|  
         \/      \/      \/         --Yabisu Append Mix--     Raga Rock

    			_____                   .__         
         Rave	       /     \  _____     ____  |__|_____       Crossover
  		      /  \ /  \ \__  \   /    \ |  |\__  \  
                     /    Y    \ / __ \_|   |  \|  | / __ \_
 		     \____|__  /(____  /|___|  /|__|(____  /
      Soul   		     \/      \/      \/          \/ 
                                 --Pocket Beatmania--               Ballad

 _________      Rakuga Kids                              .___.__                 
 \_   ___ \   ____    _____  ______    ____    ____    __| _/|__| __ __   _____  
 /    \  \/  /  _ \  /     \ \____ \ _/ __ \  /    \  / __ | |  ||  |  \ /     \ 
 \     \____(  <_> )|  Y Y  \|  |_> >\  ___/ |   |  \/ /_/ | |  ||  |  /|  Y Y  \
  \______  / \____/ |__|_|  /|   __/  \___  >|___|  /\____ | |__||____/ |__|_|  /
         \/               \/ |__|         \/      \/      \/                  \/ 

  --2nd Arcade Edition--	         Big Beat Mix "Metal Gear Solid"

      World Groove         --Beatmania GB-- 

                                             --Append Gotta Mix--
     Trance                                         
                        R&B                             Eurobeat

        Gabbah                Free Soul          Digital Funk

    Country	                 
                                           --Beatmania Wonderswan--

 __________________________________________________________________________

				       Aoi
                               Beatmania Compendium
 		       http://www.frontiernet.net/~aknight
			      aknight@frontiernet.net
				   June 2, 1999
    			   for Sony Playstation & Gameboy
			        DJ Simulation Game
			  BeatMania Guide for Club DJ'ing
 ___________________________________________________________________________

 Disclaimer:

 	Beatmania is a trademark of Konami, copyright 1997,1998, 1999. This 
 faq is copyright Aoi. No part of this faq is to reproduced without the rest 
 of it, leave it complete as is if you want to use it, just give proper 
 credit. As for magazines, I'd hate to have to fly way over yonder with a
 crew of army buddies to come kick your tails for not crediting people for 
 their faqs. So basically anyone can use and enjoy this faq just leave it 
 complete, status quo.

 Print this document from your web browser it looks best printed from 
 there.
  
 Enough of that let's get down with Beat Mania!

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 =======
 UPDATES
 =======

 June 2, 1999 -- First release. Initially I started this faq on January 14th
 but I never could get everything I wanted to put into the guide so since
 then a new edition to Beatmania has surfaced it's called Beatmania Append
 "Gotta Mix" a new append mix for the Beatmania collection. I have been 
 working on this faq for months now adding here and there and setting it 
 aside. The faq should help alot.

 I'll have more info on Beatmania Gameboy when I can get my Gameboy when I
 go on leave in July. I bought Beatmania GB in Seoul, but forgot I left my
 GB at home, heh. I have listed the songlist because I tried out the 
 Gameboy version on my friends' Gameboy Color and I only played a little 
 and the game is pretty good at a glance. 

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 =================
 Table of Contents
 =================

  NOTE: You need Beat Mania 2nd Arcade Edition to play the 3rd Mix if not
        when you put in the 3rd Mix CD you'll get a notice in Japanese
        with little english letters asking for the 1st disc of the 2nd
        edition because the 2nd edition is a double CD. So don't go and
        buy the 3rd Mix without the 2nd edition or you'll be lookin' 
        funny. Beatmania Append Gotta Mix is a whole seperate game so
        you can play it without disc 1. Also Beatmania is a Japanese game, 
        if you don't have a Japanese Playstation or MOD chip installed in 
        your American system, you won't be able to play the game. You'll 
        just get the blue screen for the CD Player. If the newer model
        Playstations allow you to play both American and import without 
        any alerations to your system then you are all set. If not you 
        will have to get a chip or Japanese Playstation.

    *When I say Disc 1-4 it means:
  
     Disc 1: Beatmania 2nd Mix
     Disc 2: Beatmania Append Yabisu Mix
     Disc 3: Beatmania Append 3rd Mix
     Disc 4: Beatmania Append Gotta Mix

 i.  Introduction
 ii. The World of Beatmania
 1.  Brief Description 
 2.  Controls, how to play, and how to complete a song
 3.  Configuration
 4.  Modes
 5.  Expert Mode on Disc 1 (Beatmania 2nd Mix)
 6.  Timing, listening and getting rythmn going
 7.  Scratching
 8.  Dual Shock and Beatmania Controllers 	
 9.  Complete Song List -- including Pocket Beatmania and Beatmania GB
 10. The rest of the songs and how to get them	
 11. Some recommended songs to practice with to get better
 12. Beatmania Append 3rd Mix (Disc 3)
 13. Beatmania Append Gotta Mix (Disc 4)
 14. Tip and Tricks
 15. Putting it altogether
 16. Where to find this faq
 17. Acknowledgements
 18. Beatmania Merchandise
 19. Pocket Beatmania & Beatmania Wonderswan 
 20. Credits	


 --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 i. INTRODUCTION

     Thank you for viewing my Beatmania faq for the Sony Playstation, 
     Gameboy, Pocket Beatmania and Beatmania Wonderswan. First off print 
     this document from your web browser it was written in notepad and looks 
     perfect in your browser. This faq will introduce you to the game as well 
     as get used to the concept, controls and pretty much everything there is 
     to know about this game. If you can't read the Japanese instructions 
     which I can't either, this faq will help you play through the game with 
     all the things I learned myself from just playing. Use this faq as your 
     DJ bible I guarantee it will help you alot so you won't sit there confused 
     like I did when I first saw the game at the Electro Mart here in Seoul, 
     S.Korea. The game now has 4 discs total. The first is the 2nd Mix and the 
     other 3 are Append Mixes. By the way I don't live in Korea I am just 
     stationed here.

 ii. THE WORLD OF BEATMANIA
     
     In getting started in Beatmania you should first check out all the 
     features and options given to you and utilize them. They are all very
     important in helping you play the game well even without knowing how to 
     read the japanese instructions. I haven't successfully finished all the 
     songs myself but that's what great about this game. The songs are all
     cool and some prove very, very challenging and some songs are insanely 
     difficult. You would have to play for months in order to perfectly play 
     some of the harder songs well. The notes just drop altogether like 20 
     or more right after the other. Beatmania is a very fun game and can 
     increase your hand/eye coordination tremendously. 

     The dual shock feature of Beatmania is much better than Metal Gear 
     Solid in my opinion. The beat of the music sets it off really well and 
     is just great. You can also purchase a turntable controller. I have 
     seen 3 or 4 different models: DJ Man, DJ Station PRO, Beatmania 
     Controller and I think there is one other model too. Check out 
     Section 8 about the Dual Shock Controller and Beatmania Controllers, 
     it has a detailed explanation of the controllers.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

 1. BRIEF DESCRIPTION

   Beatmania is a "DJ Simulation Game" that is truly awesome. You basically
   DJ at Club Katta (says the name of the club on Disc 4, Nonstop Megamix 
   "Bemani Hit Tracks") and if you are good you get different rankings but 
   if not, you get booed off the stage like a chump. If you like music 
   games like I do like Bust-a-Groove, Dance,Dance Revolution and other 
   music/dancing games this game will be somewhat easy to get used to. 
   This game is actually easy, but you do need rythmn, quick fingers, 
   proper control configuration (if you don't have the turntable controll-
   er), and basically a musical ear. You definitely need rythmn. I also have 
   Bust-a-Groove and it's the same concept. So I would recommend getting 
   that also. From what I hear Beat Mania is doing very, very well in Japan 
   so much that it beat out Konami's own Metal Gear Solid, which is a feat 
   in itself. The only problem is if you want this game it is one of the 
   many outstanding Japanese games that you'll have to import. 
   I am stationed in Korea right now so I am right near Japan. We get games 
   as fast as Japan makes them including the ones we'll never see back in 
   the states. I just hope many of you can enjoy this game if and when it 
   does hit U.S. shores. I go to the Electro Mart in Yongsan, Korea just 
   outside of Seoul. If you just so happen to ever come to Korea check out 
   the Electro Mart commonly called the "Electronic's Market". 
   It's a long strip that is just filled with electronic devices. If you 
   ever been to Toronto and been on Young Street the main street downtown; 
   you know how big it is imagine something sorta like that but everywhere 
   you look is electronics, a gamer's paradise. They have toys, Sony 
   Mini-Disc players, home appliances, tons of Playstation games (although 
   they are all CD-R) and N64 games, computers and alot more for very low 
   prices. Cheaper than the states and they are brand new electronics (by
   usually barganing).

   For some reason CD-R Playstation games are not illegal in Korea neither
   is mod chips like it is back in the states. Plus Mod Chips are cheaper
   here, $15 as opposed to $50 back in the states. Dunno why *shrug* 
   anyways enough talk, on with the game!!
 
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 2. CONTROLS, HOW TO PLAY AND HOW TO COMPLETE A SONG

    Ok this game is pretty easy to get the hang of, except it's not that 
    easy of a game. The first 3 songs are usually pretty easy but as you 
    progress to harder songs notes come down very close to each other with 
    2,3 or more simultaneously. One good thing though is if you get to a 
    certain song that you cannot get down you'll get booed, but if you go 
    into practice mode that song will be in the BGM list and you can set 
    the practice options on "autoplay" and the computer will play it for 
    you. You can then watch how it plays the song and pick up tips on 
    stringing notes better. This helped me alot when I first had trouble 
    with Bossa Groove "French Version" near the end of the song you have to 
    alternate left and right with the piano keys. Once I got the hang of the 
    song from when the cpu did it I got it down. So once you complete songs 
    other songs will appear on your turntable. Later I'll explain how to get 
    the other songs.
 
    The basic concept here is to key in the notes as they come down; if 
    you have multiple notes coming down, press the command for the lowest
    note. The red bar on the bottom is where you input the key command for
    the note. So once the note comes down to the bar, key in the note.
    You get GREAT, GOOD, BAD or POOR. You'll get GREAT if you key in the 
    note just as the bottom of the note hits the red bar, GOOD if you
    were a little soon or late (just a little), BAD if you were off key
    or were too early or late and POOR if you didn't key anything at all
    or were way early or late. 
    
    As for controls, you are in charge here you can configure the controls
    in the options menu to any of the buttons on your controller. What 
    works best for me is:

    --With auto turntable chosen--:

    Left bar: left & square
    Middle bar: up & triangle
    Right bar: right & circle
    Left blue notes: L1, L2
    Right blue notes: R1, R2
    
    --Without auto turntable chosen--:
    
    Left bar: left & square 
    Middle bar: up & triangle
    Right bar: right & circle
    Left blue notes: L1, L2
    Right blue notes: R1, R2
    Turntable: X


    I prefer auto turntable, but if you would rather be a all around DJ then
    the second configuration is what I use. The reason I have it this way is
    the upper buttons (L1,L2,R1,R2) I usually use for the blue notes (ebony 
    keys), left for the leftmost bar, up for the middle bar and right for 
    the rightmost bar. I also use square, triangle and circle for the 
    directional arrows because you sometimes get 2 or 3 notes simultaneously 
    and it gets hard hitting the directions on the D-pad fast enough or is 
    impossible to key in notes adjacent to each other coming down at the same
    time, so I just chose square to go along with left for the leftmost bar 
    because square is to the left, triangle to go along with the middle bar 
    because triangle is in the middle, and circle to go along with the 
    rightmost bar.
 
    One more thing is some notes are spaced out like one in the left bar and 
    one in the right, that is why you will need to have the action buttons 
    configured to some of the directionals. So like for a note that comes 
    down like this: 


     |      |      |      |
     |      |      |      |
     | ==== |      | ==== |
     |      |      |      |
     |      |      |      |
     |      |      |      |
     |	    | ==== |      |
     |      |      |      |
     |      |      |      |


    Normally you would think; "How would I get the 2 left and right ones at
    the same time", well if you used the action buttons like I have you can
    just press up to get that first note coming down in the middle then 
    press left & circle simultaneously which would register as left and 
    right.

    Here is a diagram of how the play screen looks:

     |      |      |      |      |
     |      |      |      | ==== |
     | ==== |      | ==== |      |
     |      |      |      |      |
     |      |      |      | ==== |
     |      |      |      | ==== |
     |	    | ==== |      | ==== |
     |      |      |      |      |
     |      |      |      | ==== |
     |      |      |      | ==== |
     |      |      |      |      |
     |      |      |      | ==== |                          
     =====================--------      
             RED LINE     {      }  <------------- RECORD PLAYER
     ====================={      }

    Your objective is to play the beats precisely and correctly to get the
    the music pumpin'. First off you may notice the 3 record scratches that
    are coming down together then one spaced out above with the middle 
    regular note in the middle bar lined consecutively with the first
    scratch. All you do is simply press the commands that you configured
    prior in options, and try to get either "GREAT" or "GOOD" beats. It's
    that simple just making sure that you get the button presses just as the 
    bottom of the note hits either the top of the red line or the record 
    player. If you are a novice player you might want to go into "options"
    and set the turntable to "auto turntable" so you can get the hang of 
    playing the regular notes first then once you become familiar, turn
    "auto turntable" back off and practice having to work the turntable 
    too.

    That corny DJ, DJ Battle can really be of some help when he challenges
    you to a "Scratch off". It's funny how Konami used the primitive flip
    book type animation for DJ Battle and the voice over will have you
    crying laughing too when he says: "So you think that you can scratch,
    well...." That first part alone has me cracking up all day after 
    hearing that. Konami does do a keen job with voice over work and
    dual shock vibration though. DJ Battle does make a return appearence in  
    the new Append "Gotta Mix" with a little better graphics for his hand 
    while he scratches. 
    If you play "Normal" mode (2nd Mix) and pass the first two songs, then 
    on the third stage DJ Battle will challenge you. It's a good idea not to 
    use auto turntable for normal mode so you get some good practice in. If 
    not the computer will play stage 3 for you getting all "GOOD" ratings for 
    the scratches that you play. It's a pretty easy challenge so don't get 
    mesmerized by the 5 and 6 scratches that come down at once.

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 3. CONFIGURATION
 
    Like I said before, configuring your controls is very important if not
    you'll be confused and in a world of hurt when you do progress to the 
    harder songs. If you have the turntable controller it should be alot
    easier to work with than the regular controller.

    To configure your controller goto the "options" menu then highlight
    "Configuration", you can set the controller to anything you like that
    is comfortable to play the beats correctly. I have an example of how
    I configured my controller in the prior paragraph above which is 
    section 2. Also remember to choose autosave from the option mode under
    "memory card", so that when you turn on your game for later use the game
    will auto load and load your settings depending on whether you have a
    regular controller connected or a Beatmania Turntable controller plugged
    in. 

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 4. MODES

    Game Start
    Training 
    Free
    Options
    Disc Change

    Basically everything is self-explanatory. The last option "Disc Change"
    allows you to play disc 2 Yabisu "Append" Mix from the 2nd arcade mix, 
    the Append 3rd Mix CD and the Append Gotta Mix CD. You can interchange
    any of the 4 CD's using the "Disc Change" option.

    Once you go to "Game Start" you have 3 options: Practice, Normal and
    Expert modes which is on Disc 1, the Append discs don't give you 
    these three options. Practice shows you the basic fundamentals of the 
    game with DJ Kunani. He'll explain how and when to key in the commands 
    you set for the piano keys and record player. Once you finish with him 
    you will then be sent to the club to play your first gig, if you 
    perform successfully you'll then move on. The third stage is DJ Battle 
    on Disc 1 you have a "Scratch Off" with him then finish the remaining 
    songs. The ending is pretty simple but could have been way better maybe 
    a CG of a DJ playing at a Club meeting the club dancers or something 
    like that, but oh well they didn't think of that. 
 
    Free mode lets you mix with a friend or the cpu making the songs sound
    much cooler. In free mode you can also choose the option of having the
    notes disappear just before they reach the red line. It helps you by
    making you rely on rythmn and remembering what key commands where
    displayed.

    There is one song that can only be played in 2 player free mode which
    is Ambient "Greed Eater" (Disc 1).

    Under the options menu you will find "auto turntable"; basically all 
    that does is have the computer scratch for you. This can be a plus or 
    minus. The reason is, is because yes you don't have to worry about 
    scratching when you get to harder songs that have you scratching
    while playing 2 or 3 other notes around the same time frame and may 
    throw you offbeat, but you don't get the full effect of the game
    with auto turntable turned on. I'm not against auto turntable, but
    this game will be way more exciting without always having the 
    feature turned on. 
    The minus is the cpu will always get a "GOOD" rating for all the 
    scratches. You won't be learning how to scratch and it may become 
    pretty boring plus you can work on getting "GREAT" ratings for your 
    scratches instead of just "GOOD".  

    Training mode has alot to offer. You can even record practice sessions
    and save them to your memory card for later listening. Training also 
    gives you a chance to hone your skills with no assistance from the 
    cpu such as "auto turntable". You can replay saved songs over and over
    and practice at will. There is also a "Judgement Review" feature that
    tells you how you did during your recording session except it's in
    Japanese. One thing in training mode that is great and you may not
    realize at first is, no matter what your turntable settings are, you 
    have to manually scratch, meaning you can't depend on the cpu to assist 
    you.

    Once you play a song, it will appear on the song list in practice mode
    where before there were question marks. Practice also allows you to 
    listen and watch as the cpu performs the songs so that you can get 
    better. If you haven't played a song yet question marks fill in it's
    spot.

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 5. EXPERT MODE ON DISC 1

    Expert mode has some pretty cool songs once you play normal mode and get
    most of the regular songs down first. The farthest I've gotten is stage
    3. The first 3 songs are: 
   
    Classic "Break Beats"
    Techno  
    Vocal
    
    I also got Soul, but have to progress further to get the other expert
    songs.

    Techno is a pretty good track as well as the others I've played in
    expert mode. The only song that I have added to my list is Soul "Love 
    so Groovy" a 2nd mix to the "Love so Groovy" in normal mode. 

    Expert mode is very deceiving. You'll play and get a few "BAD" and
    "POOR" here and there twice too many and fail. The object is to get
    "GREATS" you can pass with "GREATS" and "GOODS" but you have to get
    nearly no "BAD" or "POOR". You shouldn't rely on "GOOD" either because
    you gain little on your crowd meter that's why you need to shoot for
    "GREAT" notes. Don't get me wrong you can have "GOOD" notes in there
    but, your an expert DJ now, you gotta show them what you got and play 
    the beats.

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 6. TIMING, LISTENING AND GETTING RYTHMN GOING
  
    Timing is very important if you want to successfully key in notes at 
    the correct time. The concept of the game is simple but you have to time 
    your keystrokes right or you might wind up inputting too early or late.
    Your are going to need rythmn without a shadow of a doubt you NEED 
    rythmn. If you have some rythmn tapping the commands at the correct 
    time, you shouldn't have a problem. The beat changes constantly for 
    some songs so you have to be on the money with your timing of keystrokes 
    and scratches. You'll notice the little red club dancer on the bottom 
    left of the little Titan Tron T.V., if you are getting the club going
    doing slammin' beats and rocking the club he'll start dancing faster,
    but when your messing up and making a idiot of your self in front of 
    the crowd not producing beats like your supposed to the little red
    club dancer will shrug his shoulders as if to say what's up with the
    music.
  
    Listening is also important in this game. I played percussion/drums
    from the 4th to 9th grade and quit after 9th cause our band instructor
    just was too demanding at the time and I wasn't used to that, heh. I 
    came from being a junior high lead drummer which I worked for then
    ended up at the bottom again which was hard for me being young at the 
    time. Anyways I listened to certain beats and rudiments I had trouble
    with and basically mimicked them by ear; you can do this here too. Just
    let the CPU play the song in practice mode if you failed with the song,
    and listen and look as to where notes fall so you can know what to 
    expect when it's your time to get on stage.

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 7. SCRATCHING
 
    Scratching is just the same as the other keystrokes except it's on 
    the far right with the yellow notes coming down. The record player
    plays the same role as the red line, you must wait till the yellow
    note or free zone bar comes down with yellow notes inside and press
    the scratch command the same as you would the other notes, in this
    case just as the bottom of the note reaches the record player.

    If you don't feel like scratching the records yourself or just have 
    problems scratching and hitting the other notes well, you can turn on
    "auto turntable" in the options menu.

    When using the turntable controller for scratching, it's best to 
    move the record back and forth instead of in one direction if you
    have multiple scratches. 

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 8. DUAL SHOCK AND BEATMANIA CONTROLLERS
 
    Beat Mania supports dual shock very well. Konami did a great job with
    dual shock for Metal Gear Solid and did just the same for Beat Mania.
    The best vibration option is "on every beat".
    DJ Station Pro currently sells for 110,000 won here in South Korea which
    is about $104. I own this controller and it is the best one that I have
    seen on the market.

    Here is a explaination of each of the controllers I have seen and 
    how I would rate them. 1 star for Poor - 5 stars for excellent.
 

    DJ Man *****

    DJ Man is probably the best Beatmania controller on the market. It's
    about the same size as the Beatmania Controller, but way better. The
    record player looks like an actual record like DJ Station PRO as
    oppossed to the cheap looking Beatmania Controller interface. The
    only thing I don't like about this controller is that there are one
    too many accessories for me. Mainly just the wrist sets for the 
    rumble pak compatibility. The "shock" from the wrist sets is mediocre 
    not as good as the dual shock vibration on the regular dual shock 
    controller, but it is pretty good. I understand the reason why
    Konami and Bemani didn't incorporate the dual shock effect into
    the actual turntable, because the thing would be shaking all
    over the place when you set it on a table and that would get
    annoying. The wrist sets aren't that bad but it sorta got
    on my nerves thinking about having to keep up with them. If you 
    so happen to lose them, then no more vibration with the controller.
    That shouldn't happen to you though, hopefully not. There is an
    accessory available called the PS Rumble Pak. I saw it for $5 in
    a shop here in Korea. It plugs into a controller port on your
    Playstation, then you can plug the turntable controller into the
    device and feel the vibration through the wrist sets.

    One other great feature is the keys light up like DJ Station PRO.
    The keys on the DJ Station PRO completely light up and the keys
    on DJ Man only light up in the center of the keys. Nothing to
    really cry about though, the feature itself is a cool idea. Also 
    the ring around the record lights up and pulses to the beat of the
    music if you choose "music" instead of "rumble". DJ Man Controller
    deserves 5 stars because it is a superb controller, just edging out
    DJ station PRO by a little because there is no "dual shock"
    feature on DJ Station PRO like DJ Man has. DJ Man is about the same
    size and shape as the Beatmania controller, but is a better controller.
    DJ Man retails for $50-60.



    DJ Station PRO ****1/2

    DJ Station PRO is the best looking turntable controller that I have 
    used and seen on the market. The performance is also great. You have 
    to be a all around DJ in order to use the turntable controllers because 
    there is no auto turntable when you have the turntable controller 
    plugged in. It plays every note precisely and never misses when you hit 
    "double & triple notes", that's when you get the two notes coming down 
    simultaneously. Another cool feature is when you hit the piano keys on 
    the controller they light up. Also DJ Station PRO has heaphone jacks 
    with volume controls to the left of the keys and has audio video cables 
    in the rear of the controller. It does not support "dual shock" which 
    is why I didn't give this controller a full 5 stars. If it did, this 
    controller would be the most amazing controller for Beatmania. The DJ 
    Station PRO controller retails for $104. You could get the PS Rumble 
    Pak and plug the DJ Station PRO into it then play with the wrist sets 
    if you want to feel the vibrations, which would make playing more 
    exciting.



    Beatmania Controller *

    This is the first controller that I got. DJ Station Pro wasn't out yet 
    and DJ Man was the other option. I jumped the gun and bought this one. 
    Bad mistake. This controllers' main problem is it won't play "double &
    triple notes" correctly. For some reason it will play one of the keys 
    and won't register the others. I have tested it over and over and it 
    simply won't do it. I play the same notes fine with the DJ Station Pro, 
    but the Beatmania Controller won't do it. One other problem is the 
    record player for scratching.....it is very, very unexceptable. It 
    sucks..period. The record sticks and doesn't allow any freedom at all 
    to move the record back and forth. When DJ Station PRO came out about 
    a week in a half later at the Electro Mart, I told the Korean vendor I 
    wanted to swap controllers for the DJ Station Pro and pay the difference 
    which was like $54 dollars, and it was worth it.

    The Beatmania Controller was the first one on the market, but that's 
    not a excuse for the poor interface and control.
 
    Although, the Beatmania Controller is very light weight and affordable. 
    $50 dollars to be exact I do not recommend it at all though. You'd be 
    better off using your dual shock controller and get the vibration effects 
    with it. Lesson learned here is try before you buy.

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------


 9. COMPLETE SONG LIST

    You'll notice you might see Reggae, Hip-Hop, Ambient or another song
    listed twice they are just different versions of a easier song of that 
    genre just remixed and just a bit harder to play and are most of the 
    time slammin'!!

    You might think some of the harder songs like the Rave song "E-motion"
    which they have 4 stars for difficulty is hard, turn on the auto 
    turntable and it becomes just as easy as the first Reggae song "Jam Jam 
    Raggae Master 73". "E-motion" is actually easy if you have the auto 
    turntable on or off I think it should have gotten either 2 or 3 stars 
    cause it's not that hard of a song as opposed to some songs that got 2 
    stars for difficulty which are pretty tough sometimes like Ballade "Do 
    you love me" during the middle part with like 12 notes that drop all 
    together you just have to remember the correct commands and you should 
    be set. To become a "real" DJ though you should try not to use auto 
    turntable but it certainly does help for some of those faster Ska and 
    Techno songs.

    There are 70 songs in all (when viewing the list in training mode) not 
    including Expert mode on Disc 1. I haven't really played that mode 
    much because I can only get to stage 3, so I don't know if there are 
    more songs in Expert mode.
   
    Disc 1 of Beat Mania 2nd Arcade Mix
   
    There are actually only 20 songs on the song list in "Training Mode", 
    but DJ Battle's Scratch Off makes 21.

    1. Hip-Hop
    2. Reggae
    3. Ambient
    4. Techno
    5. Ballade
    6. Break Beats
    7. Hip-Hop Street Mix
    8. Japanese Hip-Hop
    9. Konamix 
   10. Rave
   11. House
   12. Soul
   13. House Spiritual Mix
   14. Minimal Techno Mix
   15. Ska
   16. Hard Techno
   17. Drum n' Bass Mix
   18. Rave (2nd Mix)
   19. Ambient (2 player mode)
   20. DJ Battle (Scratch Off)
   21. Reggae (2nd Mix)

    Disc 2 Yabisu Append Mix of Beat Mania 2nd Arcade Mix

    1. Funk
    2. Style Garage
    3. Bossa Groove
    4. Speed Garage 
    5. Funky Jazz Groove 
    6. Asian Traditional 
    7. Hard House 
    8. Big Beat Mix ---- Metal Gear Solid Main Theme 
    9. Bossa Groove French Version "La Bossanova de Fabienne"
    

    Disc 3 Beatmania Append 3rd Mix (add-on disc)
  
    These are somewhat harder than the previous discs.

    1. Ambient
    2. Soul
    3. Reggae
    4. Soul (Classic)
    5. J~Dance Pop
    6. Ballad (classic)
    7. Hip Hop
    8. Bossa Groove French Version "La Bossanova de Fabienne"  
    9. 80's J~Dance Pop
   10. Eurobeat
   11. Hard Techno
   12. Drum'n Bass
   13. Digi Rock
   14. House (classic)
   15. D'n Bass (classic)
   16. Digital Funk
   17. World Groove
   18. Big Beat Mix
   19. Funky Jazz Groove
   20. House


    Disc 4 Beatmania Append Gotta Mix

    1. Real Garage
    2. Hip and Soul
    3. Raga Rock
    4. Big Beat
    5. Hip Hop
    6. Crossover
    7. DJ Battle (Naha Naha & Gattchooon DJ Duel)
    8. R&B
    9. Rock'n Techno
   10. Japanese Garage Pop
   11. Free Soul
   12. Break Beats
   13. Collage Techno
   14. Jazz Electro
   15. Trance 
   16. Euro Beat
   17. Gabbah
   18. Nonstop Megamix 
   19. R&B (Hard Version)
   20. Drum n' Bass


    Beatmania GB
   
    1. Break Beats
    2. Country
    3. Classic 1
    4. Classic 2
    5. Latin
    6. Rakuga Kids
    7. Jazz
    8. Reggae
    9. Minimal Techno
   10. Konamix
   11. Bossa Groove
   12. J~Dance Pop
   13. Techno
   14. Funk


    Pocket Beatmania Songlist (This is the list in the instructions, some songs are
    different mixes if their names are repeated)

    1. Reggae "Jam Jam Reggae"
    2. DJ Battle 
    3. Rave "E-motion"
    4. Reggae "Jam Jam Reggae" 
    5. Break Beats "2 gorgeous 4U"
    6. DJ Battle
    7. Rave "E-motion"
    8. Funky Jazz Groove "Stop the violence"  
    9. Eurobeat "Luv to Me"


    Disc 3 is a seperate disc from the double disc set of Beat Mania 
    Arcade Mix, but disc 3 is a add-on and is not meant to be a 
    seperate game, Disc 4 is a seperate game so you can play it as a 
    seperate game. You need disc 1 to use disc 2 & 3, although disc 2
    comes with disc 1 as a set. Disc 3 is a seperate add-on of mixes. You 
    can just change back and forth between discs by using the "Disc Change"
    option. Just leave the power on, open the lid and change discs then
    press start. Don't completely turn the system off you have to leave it
    on to change discs. If you turn the system off and try to put in disc 
    2 or 3 it will have some Japanese writing and say "disc 1 arcade"
    "disc 2 append" or "disc 3 append". So when changing discs it's safe to
    leave the power on.

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 10. THE REST OF THE SONGS AND HOW TO GET THEM

    Well these songs aren't really secret but you have to either simply 
    pass the previous songs or do exceptionally well in previous songs on 
    the list to get them.


    *IMPORTANT*
    
     There are two factors in getting all of the songs for all 4 discs.
     Basically if you do very well in the normal difficulty songs harder
     songs will appear. Since I can't read the instructions this is my 
     observation from playing Beatmania for a long time.   

     To get the other songs you must PLAY HARDER songs too, when you beat the
     game. For example, start off by playing a "normal" difficulty song and
     play progressively difficult songs. If you only play the easy songs and
     a few normal here and there you will not get all of the songs. So if you
     notice that you are still missing some songs when you go to training
     mode to practice. Play all normal mode songs, then a harder one for the
     final stage. You can also play all easy songs then a normal or hard one
     for the finale to get different songs.

     The second factor I've noticed is your PERFORMANCE on certain difficulty 
     songs. For example if you get almost all "GREATS" on a normal mode song
     like Japanese Garage Pop you will then get Nonstop Megamix and so forth.
     The songs you get from doing exceptionally well on normal difficulty
     songs are usually hype.
    
     Both factors go hand and hand. Don't get confused and think that you have 
     to get all "GREATS" in a normal mode song. Just get as many "GREATS" as
     you can.


    Here's how to get the other songs (and it works all the time):

    Here are some examples of the factors I talked about....

    Disc 1: 
 
    Konamix -  Your performance is key here (not just simply passing the 
               stage, it's how well you did). Try not to get any "BAD" or
    	       "POOR" notes. The worst I've had in a performance is 2 BAD
   	        and 1 POOR when getting Konamix, so you are allowed some 
   	  	leway but you have to try to get as less "BAD" and "POOR"
  	   	notes as possible.

    Japanese Hip-Hop - You get Japanese Hip-Hop along with Konamix. 

    Disc 2:
  
    NOTE FOR ALL DISCS: Once you play a song it will disappear from your DJ 
    Booth so you must play any of the remaining songs to progress.

    ie. You start with Bossa Groove, Style Garage and Funk. Say you pass
        Bossa Groove you will then have Style Garage, Funk, and Speed 
        Garage. Pass Funk for example and you'll then have Style and Speed 
        Garage, Asian Traditional and Funky Jazz Groove. Pass Asian 
        Traditional for example and you'll get both Hard House and Big Beat 
        Mix "Metal Gear Solid" Main Theme added. After that you beat Disc 2.
       

    Speed Garage - Pass any of the first 3 songs
    Asian Traditional - Pass any remaining songs on your DJ Booth of records
    Funky Jazz Groove - Comes with Asian Traditional
    Hard House - Pass any remaining songs on your DJ Booth of records
    Big Beat Mix "Metal Gear Solid" - Comes with Hard House

    NOTE:
 
    If you perform just well enough you will only get Konamix without 
    Japanese Hip-Hop. The same goes for the remaining songs. If you perform
    very well though you will get both songs at the same time.

    Bossa Groove French Version "La Bossanova de Fabienne" has the same
    stipulations as Nonstop Megamix on Disc 4. You have to perform well on 
    Normal difficulty songs then the others will become available to you.

    Disc 3:

    The songs aren't that hard to get and I haven't seen any difficult
    "stipulations". There is a fair amount of songs on this disc.


    Disc 4: 
    
    Beatmania Append Gotta Mix is a great addition to the series. The songs
    are very good and they are more challenging than the previous CD'S.

    Nonstop Megamix has the same stipulations as Bossa Groove French 
    Version "La Bossanova de Fabienne".  

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------
 11. SOME RECOMMENDED SONGS TO PRACTICE WITH TO GET BETTER

     Here are some songs that seem difficult at first but are actually 
     moderately easy and sound good too. These are from all 4 discs.

     Rave (both mixes) "E-Motion"
     Bossa Groove "Papaya Bossa"
     Funk "Cat Song - theme of UPA"
     Techno "Expert Mode"
     Ballade "Do you love me"
     Trance
     Eurobeat (on disc 3 & 4)
     Gabbah (disc 4)
     Funky Jazz Groove
     Nonstop Megamix 
 
     These songs have multiple notes that drop at once in the middle
     and near the end of the song. Rave just sounds cool because of the 
     record scratches. The scratches in Rave will help you alot too when
     you progress in the game to other harder songs. There are a few other
     earlier songs in the game that are good practice. The key is to 
     practice. The songs don't change, you can pick up on your mistakes
     and be able to practice and go over the parts you have problems with
     in practice mode.

     Here is a list of songs that sound very, very good in "Free" mode:

     Rave - Emotion (both mixes)
     Nonstop Megamix 
     Japanese Garage Pop 
     DJ Battle (Naha Naha & Gattchooon DJ Duel)
     Big Beat Mix ---- Metal Gear Solid Main Theme
     Bossa Groove French Version "La Bossanova de Fabienne"
     R&B (Hard Version)

     These are just a few of my favorites. They sound really cool when 
     playing in free mode.   
     

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 12. BEATMANIA APPEND 3RD MIX (DISC 3)

     The third disc has 20 songs on it with wide variety. All I have to say 
     is practice, practice, practice the first 2 CD's on the 2nd Arcade Mix 
     game before diving into this one because these are really tough songs. 
     As a reminder the 3rd Mix is just a add-on Append disc and isn't 
     meant to be a seperate game. If you get just the 3rd Mix without 
     the first game, 2nd Arcade Mix, you'll be in for a rude awakening and
     big surprise when the Playstation asks for Disc 1 from the game. So 
     get the 2nd Arcade Mix first then get the Append 3rd Mix. 

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 13. BEATMANIA APPEND GOTTA MIX (Disc 4)

     Disc 4 is actually a whole seperate game. The new songs are very cool.
     The songs are very challenging this time and have some pretty nice 
     hooks. One thing I noticed is in some songs near the middle, the song
     speeds up and the notes fall faster which is a new feature. One example 
     is DJ Battle. Where two of the game creators Naha Naha and Gattchooon
     battle it out in a "DJ Battle". The original DJ Battle makes a cameo
     appearence at the beginning of the song. There are other songs that 
     have the "speed up" feature in them too.

     I don't know if there are two versions or what, but the one I have 
     doesn't need need disc 1 or the "disc change" option to play like
     the other Append mixes. I have seen some that require disc 1 (2nd mix)
     so just get all the mixes, they are all cool.

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 14. TIPS AND TRICKS

     Studio/Room Effect: Normally in the options mode you can choose this 
     feature under "Effect". If you press the "select" button during play
     you can toggle between the two effects. If you look to the middle of
     the screen right underneath the screen with the pictures there is 
     a small spinning record. It will change colors when you activate the 
     toggle effect. 


 --------------------------------------------------------------------------
   
 15. PUTTING IT ALTOGETHER

     Taking all you have read and learned here, try it out and incorporate
     it into your own play style. I basically explained the game in as 
     much detail as I possibly could. This game is a simulator so it is
     somewhat of a challenge and is a pretty good representation of DJ'ing.
     If there is something anyone wants to add, feel free to email me at 
     aknight@frontiernet.net. If your information is usefull I'll print it 
     into my faq and give proper credit.

     The biggest thing about this game is you must practice harder songs
     over and over, they will become seemlessly easy after a while. Konami
     did a excellent job with the Beatmania series and have a wide range of
     other cool music games as well like Dance, Dance Revolution which
     has the same play style as Beatmania except you play 70's and mid 
     80's music (you don't DJ though there is a Disco Dancer in the middle
     of a dance floor). Unlike Beatmania if you begin to slump and fail,
     the game will make fun of your rythmn and the dance club doors will 
     close which is sort of a slap in the face, but it's funny. Konami 
     also has Guitar Freaks which you play a guitar and play music just 
     like in Beatmania, although I read this in a magazine and have seen 
     pictures of it from the Tokyo Game Expo I don't know much about it. 
     It sounds pretty cool. Konami also has Drum Mania and another I have, 
     Pop n' Music which is almost identical to Beatmania with some familiar
     characters. Music/Dance games are very popular in Japan and they are
     making them so fast. There are a few more music games like Stolen
     Song and Dance, Dance, Dance but they aren't as good as the previous 
     ones listed. There are controllers abundant for the more popular music
     games like Beatmania and Dance,Dance Revolution. The one for Dance,
     Dance Revolution looks just like the old Power Pad for the Nintendo
     Entertainment System, it just has different controls on it. 

     Beatmania is one of the best games I've played on the Playstation and
     is very addicting. You've gotta practice and if you don't already have
     some.....get yourself some rythmn. Heh. This game is all about rythmn,
     timing and patience. Once you have put all of that together and you've
     got the hang of the game you'll have more fun. Also if you don't 
     already have a turntable controller, get one. It will help you out 
     tremendously and retails for about $45-104. One of the controllers, 
     DJ Man includes "Rumble Compatibilty" which vibrates just like the 
     Dual Shock controller. You can have a video game import store import 
     it for you. Otherwise just use your Dual shock and have fun and play 
     the beats.

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------


 16. WHERE TO FIND THIS FAQ

     An updated version of this faq can be found at:
   
     Sove Interactive -- http://www.frontiernet.net/~aknight
     Gamefaqs -- http://www.gamefaqs.com

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 17. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

     This faq is a compilation of all of my Beatmania knowledge. I really 
     enjoyed writting this faq which took some time because of all the 
     changes I had to make, to make the guide precise. There are many sites
     on the internet about Beatmania but 99% of them are Japanese websites.
     I wanted to make this guide as complete as possible so if you can't
     understand what the sites are talking about you can look to this guide
     for all the information you need. I haven't found any codes or anything
     for this game and I don't know if there are any codes for Beatmania,
     except for some Gameshark codes. Please feel free to email me any 
     questions about Beatmania. I am pretty busy nowadays so if I answer 
     your emails too slow I apologize. I will try to get back to you as 
     soon as I can.
	

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 18. BEATMANIA MERCHANDISE

     There is so much Beatmania merchandise available in Japan I can't 
     remember them all but here is a short list of things I've seen and 
     I have or plan on getting soon.

     
      1. Beatmania T-Shirts
      2. Pocket Beatmania (I have)
      3. Beatmania Zippo Lighters
      4. Beatmnia Books
      5. Beatmania Videos
      6. Beatmania Keychains
      7. Beatmania GameBoy (I have)
      8. Beatmania Wonderswan

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 19. POCKET BEATMANIA & BEATMANIA WONDERSWAN


     I just got Pocket Beatmania and it's a trip. The sound quality for
     a little LCD keychain game is phenomenal. You can pick out the songs
     from the various mixes automatically. The songs come from the 2nd Mix
     and the Append 3rd Mix. The funny thing is the record scratching is 
     alot better than the Beatmania Controller, heh. Plus the record 
     actually has grooves in it to make it look like a "real" record. The 
     features are about the same as the Playstation version. The little 
     Konami logo to the left of the game lights up when you get "GREAT" 
     ratings for the beats you play. It won't light up for "GOOD", "BAD" 
     or "POOR". The modes available are: Normal, Practice, Auto Play
     and Free Play. If you get confused at how to play when you first see
     the game. It's the same format as the Playstation version. The 
     little blue area is for the black keys while the others are for the 
     white keys and the far right is for record scratching. There is 
     a "Groove Gauge" to the bottom right and the "action" window to
     the upper right. 
     Pocket Beatmania is also headphone compatible. The game retails for
     40,000 won which is $38.   

     
     Beatmania Wonderswan retails for 60,000 won which is about $58.
     I haven't tried it out yet nor do I have it, but I have seen it on 
     display at the Electonics Market in Yongsan. I plan on getting it 
     later after I come back from leave, maybe in August 1999. Until
     then you'll have to wait for detailed info later.


 --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 20. CREDITS

     Konami of Japan for making such a phenomenal game. You guys should
     make more games of this genre. No other game company has utilized
     Dual Shock so well as Konami has recently. Great Job......One thing
     though, what's up with these crappy fighting games? I bought Deadly
     Arts of the Nintendo 64 when I was on leave from the Army back in
     November I traded it in for $15 when I paid $51 for it, every place I 
     went said the game was so bad that it doesn't sell often I got jipped
     $36 bucks on the trade cause the game wasn't even 24 hours from being
     opened; mint condition. Magazines rate most of your fighting games real
     low come on guys. I remember my Contra days from way back when in the 
     late 80's let's get some exceptional fighting games produced like 
     Namco.

     Electro Mart in Seoul, S.Korea for having American and Japanese games
     for the N64 and Playstation as well as full supplies of Dreamcast 
     systems. This place is awesome, I never thought I'd be in Korea.
     The service is pretty good, but knowing a little Hangul (Korean
     language) doesn't hurt either. Taking a Korean Cab is cool, you 
     can learn Hangul from the drivers who are mostly friendly. I 
     learned a little Hangul from them which is a great experience.
     I am almost finished up here, I leave in November. This place has 
     tons of things to do cause Seoul is the second largest city in the 
     world, New York City is the largest. New York baby!!! Home sweet home.
     I'm from Northern New York though, heh. 
     I'll let you guys in on new Beatmania games as I see them. 




  _ )            |      \  |           _)      
  _ \  -_)  _` |  _|   |\/ |  _` |   \  |  _` |               faq
 ___/\___|\__,_|\__|  _|  _|\__,_|_| _|_|\__,_| created by Aoi "DJ Solidus"
                                Konami of Japan         The Showstoppa
                                     Bemani
 
Please note that A.P.I shall not be held responsible for the accuracy of this article.

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