DDR - and by extension, the decades of rhythm games that followed, - are 'expressive' experiences. They are about you, the player, being offered a curated selection of music with minimal interactive barriers, then picking out the songs and charts that best describe your tastes and playstyle.
Beatmania is an 'investigative' experience, especially the original. There're no song names on the selection wheel, and which songs you can pick depends on the stage number - you can't just pick all your favorites, you have to try a blend of everything out one way or another. It's like buying dusty unlabeled records in a garage sale and testing them out one by one - the dissection is just as much a passionate drive as the music itself.
Discovery is also the name of the rhythm gameplay - everything's keysounded, and if you can't time the music, it's gonna sound like ass.
Actually, it's all gonna sound ass, 'cause:
1) There's no High-Speed, all the notes scroll like a snail and melt together
2) Audio mixing is pretty poor - the notes you play usually overpower the base MP3, even if they're meant to be rhythmic/supporting sounds
3) Beatmania keys aren't color-coded to measured notes like DDR, and many songs have you play the beat instead of supporting it. I've played multiple songs across the series where everything sounded off-beat simply because I didn't know where the notes were supposed to occur
4) have you HEARD THIS PENIS ASS CLOWNSHOES ASS COCK-AND-BALLOON BOUNCY-HOUSE PULLING-COLORED-SCARVES-OUT-OF-MY-BUSSY MUSIC??
Janky-ass experience all-around - the novelty of just hitting a button and hearing a sound effect play overpowered the sensibility to make something melodic. Can't really blame the harsh first attempt, since this is like, even more genre prototypical than DDR. The latter may be the foundation western designers referenced for the proceeding future, but BM is the origin point of everything produced in the Japanese side of things. The charm and historical significance definitely overpowers the functionality.
And hey, it does have a few good songs mixed in, even if they don't sound great in this format. I love e-Motion, deep clear eyes, all the different versions of overdoser, etc. There's a reason these tracks stuck around for IIDX years later: They're classics.
Beatmania is an 'investigative' experience, especially the original. There're no song names on the selection wheel, and which songs you can pick depends on the stage number - you can't just pick all your favorites, you have to try a blend of everything out one way or another. It's like buying dusty unlabeled records in a garage sale and testing them out one by one - the dissection is just as much a passionate drive as the music itself.
Discovery is also the name of the rhythm gameplay - everything's keysounded, and if you can't time the music, it's gonna sound like ass.
Actually, it's all gonna sound ass, 'cause:
1) There's no High-Speed, all the notes scroll like a snail and melt together
2) Audio mixing is pretty poor - the notes you play usually overpower the base MP3, even if they're meant to be rhythmic/supporting sounds
3) Beatmania keys aren't color-coded to measured notes like DDR, and many songs have you play the beat instead of supporting it. I've played multiple songs across the series where everything sounded off-beat simply because I didn't know where the notes were supposed to occur
4) have you HEARD THIS PENIS ASS CLOWNSHOES ASS COCK-AND-BALLOON BOUNCY-HOUSE PULLING-COLORED-SCARVES-OUT-OF-MY-BUSSY MUSIC??
Janky-ass experience all-around - the novelty of just hitting a button and hearing a sound effect play overpowered the sensibility to make something melodic. Can't really blame the harsh first attempt, since this is like, even more genre prototypical than DDR. The latter may be the foundation western designers referenced for the proceeding future, but BM is the origin point of everything produced in the Japanese side of things. The charm and historical significance definitely overpowers the functionality.
And hey, it does have a few good songs mixed in, even if they don't sound great in this format. I love e-Motion, deep clear eyes, all the different versions of overdoser, etc. There's a reason these tracks stuck around for IIDX years later: They're classics.