The "Official" Pop'n Music Thread

Tyma · Trick Member Joined: 03 Dec 2002 Location: Tymaland

Presumably, you can still unlock a large chunk through Gamlber De Z, conditional unlocks, and just leaving the game on for 10 hours

StarCreator · Trick Member Joined: 24 Jan 2002 Location: Maryland, USA

Err, don't you have to actually play for 10 hours? Leaving the system in demo loop hasn't unlocked anything for me since pop'n 6 or later...

I lack a rapid-fire controller so no forcing it to go into an infinite game mode loop that way either... (and I wouldn't want that number of plays on any one song x_x)
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* StarCreator *

Mega Man X · Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2004 4:24 pm Post subject:

Hi everyone, I'm new to the Pop 'n Music scene (I primarily play DDR and IIDX), but I recently played some Pop 'n 8 in the arcade and I really enjoyed it.

My question is this:

I import a fair amount of stuff - mainly DDR games, but some other stuff too - and I picked up my import copy of Final Fantasy X-2 International + Last Mission today. Right alongside it in the new release section, I saw Pop 'n Music 9 for PS2, and I've heard it's a pretty big deal in the Bemani import scene.

So... I guess what I'm trying to ask is, if I'm new to Pop 'n would you recommend Pop'n 9, and also, is the experience anywhere near worth it with just a normal ol' Dual Shock 2 (or can you even play the games without a Pop 'n controller)? They unfortunately didn't have the controller in stock...

Any advice and opinions would be really appreciated. Thanks!

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Superstar Player · Trick Member Joined: 24 Jan 2002 Location: Riverside, CA

Maybe if you played 5 key with the dual shock or IIDX controller it might be okay. Peferably with the IIDX controller, even if it takes a while to map the buttons to the right places. But you won't get the full experience unless you play on a Pop N' Controller or even better, an Arcade Style Controller.

The problem with 5 key is, everything is too easy and just isn't as fun.

I have yet to play Pop N' 9, since it came out today of course. I may get it at the end of the month. But I would say go for it, even though I haven't heard just about all the music in that game, except the repeats from Pop N' 8, it's that just about every song I heard so far in Pop N' Music is just great and catchy. And then you got all those modifiers with challenge mode
and the battle mode, which is probably the best battle mode I've seen in a bemani game.
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SuPa |LÂ©| · Posted: Sat Feb 21, 2004 9:40 am Post subject:

StarCreator · Trick Member Joined: 24 Jan 2002 Location: Maryland, USA

I still don't recommend getting the ASC from Himeya - the middleman fees they charge are just too unreasonable. Plus, with the Ransai controllers, you have pretty much the exact same thing (playability-wise) for several hundred dollars less.

I remember hearing about another store carrying pop'n ASCs that didn't charge Himeya's unreasonably and inexplicably high prices for them, but I can't seem to find it now...
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* StarCreator *

herbie · Trick Member Joined: 28 Feb 2002 Location: Warwick, NY

desktop arcade.
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SuPa |LÂ©| · Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2004 2:37 pm Post subject:

Ok so I got Pop'n Music 9 in the mail today, and boy is it sweet looking!

I got it about an hour before I had to leave for work so I didn't have much time to play it but here's what I've gathered so far:

It takes forever to unlock songs.

The Gambler Z thing is cool but when you start playing it you'll realize how long this may be to get to 100%. Here's how the Gambler Z game works:

After playing Arcade Mode and completing your 3 songs you get to roll 2 dice and then roll a third number. Whatever the sum of the 2 dice is times the third number is how many steps you get to take.

Example: You roll a 5 on dice number 1
You roll a 4 on dice number 2
You get 3 as your third number.
5 + 4 = 9
9 x 3 = 27
You get 27 steps.

At first songs are far and few between. Depending on what you roll you couild get the first unlock (which is actually just info) by your second time rolling.

I also played expert mode and when I finished the course in hyper I played the Gambler Z game. This time, however, I was able to roll 3 dice so this made the unlocking process much faster. I remember getting like 90+ steps because with 3 dice to roll, the numbers are bigger, obviously. Expert Courses only have 1 more song that Arcade Mode too so if you play Expert more than you unlock things faster IMO.

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong on any of these things as I was not able to check things out thouroughly before rushing off to work.
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GoofyFoot · Basic Member Joined: 27 Feb 2003

Bump for popn cafe.

herbie · Trick Member Joined: 28 Feb 2002 Location: Warwick, NY

has anyone finished gambler z yet? i'm at 92% so far, with pretty much everything unlocked except two more bosses (oi punk 0 and something else). overall, i'd have to say gambler z seems to have taken a shorter time than i thought, mainly due to its randomness, which causes it to seem slow also. it's still annoying as all hell, but i can't complain since i'm almost finished. =D
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Andy the happy mod-man · Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2004 12:02 pm Post subject:

Just to clear something Supa got wrong:

The unlocks you get in GDZ are COMPLETELY random.

My first unlock was Classic 9. My 2nd unlock was a Pop'n 10 machine containing Hama-Ska.

It's different for everyone. You might get all the great songs first, or you might get Z (money, which has no effect in the game) in your first 5 chests.

I actually loved this aspect (at 100%, btw). The fact that Konami didn't make the best songs the final unlocks like they did with Sugoroku De 8.

At first I hated Gambler De Z, but after a while you start to really like it - especially the Boss battles.

Oh, and Slash Beats muthafuckin' rocks. You might as well call it "Power Folk #", as it sounds just like one of those. It's just so great.

Other notable mentions are........like everything

Bio Miracle, Colors, Absolute, Hi-Ten Remix-K, so many great songs. Hi-Ten Remix-K is one of the best Pop'n remixes I've ever heard.
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korisu · Trick Member Joined: 16 Jul 2003 Location: Maplewood, MN

TOYBOX!!

... Ahem. That is all. ^___^
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Andy the happy mod-man · Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2004 6:16 pm Post subject:

Here's a tip for people who want to hurry up and unlock things quick:

Once you get a Long Version song, you can do this.

Basically, the 1st song you play is auto-pass.

Play a long version for your first song. As SOON as it starts, just hit the start button, and exit the song. You passed. That's two songs down.

Now all you have to do is play (and pass) one song, and you're already done with an entire round of arcade mode, and the Gambler De Z game starts ^__^

Or, if you want to get it done even FASTER, and not play ANY songs:

Play battle mode and fail all 3 songs right off the bat. Takes roughly 1 minute to get through arcade mode this way ^__^

CatchyPhraseOwen · Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2004 8:50 pm Post subject:

I'm.. 12% in. And I really don't get the whole system. Most of the stuff I've gotten is fairly un-cool, too (money), but I did get Des-Nawa, Hip Rock Long, French Pop Long, Hard Rock Long, Anime Hero R, a couple others and an EX or two... So far it's okay, and I'm in no hury since there's still 50 or so songs I've yet to play (and have never heard before). I like the 'play the long version' first idea Andy had, though...
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StarCreator · Trick Member Joined: 24 Jan 2002 Location: Maryland, USA

Okay, I'm notorious for sucking (well, maybe not, but you get the picture), so what do I do when I'm stuck at a dead end confronting a boss song that kills me within seconds? ^^;

Only about 20%... maybe I should copy down the maps and try to go in a different direction if getting killed by this song one more time makes me start over...
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* StarCreator *

SuPa |LÂ©| · Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2004 2:52 pm Post subject:

That's good to hear that the unlocks are random. I also didn't like Pop'n 8's unlocking procedure with the better songs towards the end.

I'm so glad the game just unlocked 6x and 8x speed. I was hoping there was an unlock for them since that was one of the things I liked about Pop'n 9 arcade.

And the Gambler Z theme music rocks. Only 70% to go!
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herbie · Trick Member Joined: 28 Feb 2002 Location: Warwick, NY

Andy the happy mod-man · Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2004 5:26 pm Post subject:

Andy the happy mod-man · Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2004 5:27 pm Post subject:

Good 'ole DDRfreak and its double posts.
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CatchyPhraseOwen · Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2004 8:56 pm Post subject:

I've yet to encounter a boss, and I'm like 15% now... Should I be worried? I just got a Pop'n 10 machine though, and that was cool. Out of curiousity, Andy, do you have Classic 9 EX? Can you pass it?
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