• 11Jan 10

  Underappreciated Games: DJ Max Series

  Here's a new mini-series of blogs I'll be taking on, featuring some great video game gems I've come across which receive much less attention than they should be getting. Please advise that these are not entirely recommendations, but rather eye-openers to some less-known games out there. You may have actually played the game before and still don't give a crap about it, which it totally fine; but if some people widen their horizons and maybe even enjoy a new game or two from reading these, then that would make me one happy guy.

  .

  

  Today's game is not actually a single piece of software, but a series of games on the PlayStation Portable called DJ Max, not to be confused with 2009's DJ Hero; that's a completely different franchise. First originating on the PC in 2004 at South Korea, the DJ Max franchise takes a very simple yet unique approach to the music/rhythm game genre. After some moderate success with the PC version, DJ Max migrated to the PSP where it made its name as one of Korea's fastest and most competitive rhythm games, eventually spawning arcade and re-released PC versions as well.

  .

  

  It looks crazy and ridiculous, but that's because it is!

  .

  The DJ Max series has 5 games released for the PSP:

  • DJ Max: Portable
  • DJ Max: Portable 2
  • DJ Max: Clazziquai Edition
  • DJ Max: Black Square
  • DJ Max: Fever (re-release of Portable and Portable 2 in North American)

  .

  But enough about the history; here's a sample of me playing a song in DJ Max: Black Square on the PSP:

  .

  DJ MAX: BLACK SQUARE

  I Want You (6B)
  

  Song Level: 10

  Suee Character – Black Square Gear – Black Square Note – Fever x7 Effector

  
  

  

  The game might initially look like a Guitar Hero game without the peripheral, but initial impressions are where the similarities end. DJ Max more closely resembles Dance Dance Revolution with many rules and gameplay elements tweaked to be better suited for a competitive PSP game. The controls are rather simple, but take some time getting used to. Depending on what mode you're on, you could have anywhere between 2 to 8 different buttons you'll have to keep tabs on while playing. For example, if you decide to stick with 4B (4 button mode), then the left and second-to-left notes on the screen will be dedicated to the left and up directions on the D-pad, while the right and second-to-right notes on the screen will be dedicated to the circle and triangle buttons respectively. As you add more buttons (essentially like increasing difficulties in Guitar Hero or Rock Band) the control scheme changes somewhat to best suit that mode.

  Confusing? Yes, very. So I've prepared this diagram:

  

  Still confused? Then don't worry about it. It's not that important, and you don't have to memorize anything as long as you stick to one button mode at a time.

  .

  

  The entire concept of DJ Max is to become the DJ of a song, not by pressing and turning things on a silly peripheral, but rather become a part of the actual music by controlling the sounds which play as you press the corresponding buttons to the song. It's rather difficult to explain, but basically, the game assigns notes to each button; these notes will change into vocals, electric guitar, percussion, bass, sound effects, and various other instruments depending on the situation. The game basically hands you all of these small audio samples, and while changing what they sound like in each situation for you, they also present the sequence in which you must hit them to keep your life gauge running.

  I'm sure you're tired of reading, so let's watch another video. Here's one of the easier songs in DJ Max: Portable 2, but one of my all time favorites:

  
  

  DJ MAX: PORTABLE 2

  Ikarus (6B)
  

  Song Level: 7

  Laira Character – PG-Black Gear – Crystal Note – No Effectors

  .
  

  
  

  Now let's get this out of the way: these games pose exceptional challenges far beyond most other rhythm games ever released. No, really – I would rather take a risk at getting 100% on Through the Fire and Flames (Expert) to save my own life than try to get 90% on Nightmare (8B). The main reasons why these games pose a higher difficulty are that:

  • Every successful note is scored from 1% to 100%, which adds up to your total percentage. This is unlike Guitar Hero and Rock Band where all you need to do to get 100% is hit every note.
  • Every long note is judged not only on how accurately you start the note, but also how accurately you let go of it as well.
  • The game punishes you for missing a single note in Network Battles by giving combo bonuses to only successful players.
  • The default life judge is MUCH faster to fail you on a song.
  • The music is dictated completely by how accurately you hit the note, so while you might have successfully hit the note to keep the combo, anything other than 100% will throw off first-time players.
  • Most people will not recognize any of these songs, as most of them (with the exception of Clazziquai) were composed in-house or from small Korean bands.

  .

  

  Yeah, that's what you can consider a small combo.

  .

  

  The game has a few small gameplay elements which really set it apart from the crowd, but at its core, it's a very simple concept with a few twists added. As you've probably guessed by now, this is a rhythm game where you have to hit the appropriate note in time with when it hits a certain level at the bottom of the screen. These notes may demand you to hold that button for an extended period of time and even spin the analogue stick repeatedly or turn it towards a certain direction.

  One of my favorite features in the DJ Max games is the speed changer. If you're not in Fever Mode (which I'll explain later), then you can change how fast the notes come down. The higher the speed, the more spaced out and more accurate-to-hit the notes are. The slower the speed, the easier the reading is. Finding the perfect speed for each song is crucial in reaching a satisfactory balance between accuracy and readability.

  The most crucial gameplay feature in all DJ Max games is the Fever Mode. Your Fever Meter goes up faster as you hit notes accurately. When the bar fills up, you can initiate Fever Mode. In the first stage of Fever Mode, all notes hit are worth double points and combo notes, kind of like Star Power or Overdrive from Guitar Hero and Rock Band respectively. However, there's a twist: if you can accumulate enough Fever to initiate ANOTHER Fever Mode while still being within the first Fever's time limit, then you'll now start a TRIPLE fever mode. This perpetuated chain of Fevers can last up to 7x Fevers in DJ Max: Black Square, and 5 for the other games. Once you reach 4x however, the note speed starts to increase with no way of turning it down (except for Clazziquai), making it harder to hit notes as long as you didn't start off with a slow speed to begin with. The intensity of racking up crazy combos with the help of the Fever system is always an exhilarating experience.

  Here's another song that's rather on the difficult side. See if you can pick up when I initiate Fever Mode and continue chaining them:

  
  

  DJ MAX: CLAZZIQUAI

  Clear Blue Sky (6B)
  

  Song Level: 11

  Sky Character – Jewel Light Gear – Basic Note – Fever x5 Effector

  .
  

  

  DJ Max hosts a variety of gameplay modes to suit your mood and situation. For those who just want to get songs unlocked and trudge through many challenges, the Club Tour or Mission Modes may be appealing. The arcade mode is where I spend most of my time, taking advantage of the FreestyIe Mode to practice songs and set high scores. The Network mode allows me to connect to another DJ and battle it out in a score accumulation duel, creating some incredible tug-of-war matches which always seem to end in a dramatic fashion. The Options menus let you choose how difficult you want the life judge to be, change the languages, set the position of the interface, and all that jazz.

  Finally, the Gallery and Album modes allow you to listen to unlocked songs, watch unlocked music videos (which play in the background during gameplay), and view different unlocked pictures which can then be downloaded directly into the Pictures section in your PSP's main menu as a nice gift to players. Throw in the medal system, high score system, bonus video unlocks, a DJ score card, and ranking, and you've got one hell of a game that keeps on giving.

  .

  

  If you live in North America, then DJ Max Fever (a compilation of Portable and Portable 2) is now out for the PSP via UMD. I've seen a few copies around here myself, and this is Canada we're talking about, so I'm sure most of you shouldn't have too much trouble in the States.

  If you want to play Black Square or Clazziquai from anywhere other than Korea or Japan, then you're going to have to unfortunately import. All DJ Max games come with a multi-language option, so unless you cannot read Korean, Japanese, or English, you should be fine.

  However, if you own a PS3 and PSP in North America or Europe, this is where the exciting news comes in. Sometime in January 2010, Pentavision is bringing DJ Max Fever to the PlayStation Network, available for digital download onto your PSPs.

  I'm going to leave one more video here to (try to) win you over:

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  DJ MAX: PORTABLE 2

  Memoirs (6B)
  

  Song Level: 8

  Laira Character – PG-Black Gear – Crystal Note – No Effectors

  
  

  

  Only two game series have ever been able to completely addict me through many months or years of constant playing. One of them is BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger, and the other is the DJ Max franchise. Every DJ Max game is certainly a refreshing take on the rhythm game genre, so if you have a PSP and are itching to get seriously addicted, then I implore you to check out any of the DJ Max games.

  .

  

  That's one nice and large pair of... headphones!

  • Posted Jan 11, 2010 5:11 pm GMT
  • Category: Editorial
  • 40 Comments
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• 25Dec 09

  Joyeux Noel!

  Oh, hai thar!

  Here's a Christmas card for you darlings:

  

  I hope everyone has a Fabulous Christmas, a Naughty New Year, and a Marvelous Holiday Season! Regardless of what you may or may not celebrate at this time of year, it's undeniably a time where most of the world settles down and reflects upon their families, friends, and the gift of being alive; that alone is something worth being happy about.

  Anydoodle, Christmas is more than exchanging presents with frien- ah who am I kidding? It's the best freaking part!

  Loot:

  • District 9 on Blu-Ray (cuz I just had to see that mech action again in hi-def)
  • Rock Band 2 (game only; already have instruments)
  • USB Keyboard (for easy typing on PS3)
  • SkullCandy GI Headphone (because I have a fetish for overly-large headphones)
  • Small amount of pocket money (Christmas bonus from work)

  I'm probably not going to be sleeping tonight since I'll have to stay up to go line up in the freezing cold for Boxing Day (a Canadian shopping holiday). Dragon Age on the PS3 for $40; formerly-expensive earphones for $10; Tekken 6 for $30; New BluRay movies for $10, and the list goes on! Color me excited!

  Anyways, here's to a Happy Holiday Season, everyone! I hope your lives are filled with warmth and love, or at least a nice bag of chips which are pretty much the same thing.

  ~hazelnutman

  • Posted Dec 25, 2009 4:04 pm GMT
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• 17Dec 09

  Fabulous Awards for Fabulous Games

  So once the teachers found out that they had less than a month worth of school left in the semester to finish teaching the rest of the curriculum, they freaked out; they freaked out hard. To make sure they could finish the course, the students were given stacks of worksheets, projects, and tests. I happened to be one of those students caught in this whirlpool of "educational material", and so I'm justifying my lack of activity with the above statements. I managed to finish a lot of stuff though – enough to let me do whatever I want for the winter break without any school work on my mind. I was especially lacking in motivation to study for the past week, so I was pleasantly surprised when I learned that I managed to score perfect marks in many assignments and tests I completely during my time of homework-hell. Hooray for half-assing

  So yeah – I'll be a lot more active for now. I'm done most of my Christmas shopping too; expensive-ass scarf ring for my mom, something-something for my brother (lol, he might be reading this to find out), a crazy animal squeaky toy for my dog, some toys for the kids I tutor, and probably a pair of soccer shoes for my dad. I would get my grandparents something, but something suddenly happened and now I won't be able to spend Christmas with them. They're not with us anymore; they've passed on to a better place…

  …and by that, I mean Halifax. They get to eat lobsters and stuff every day, damn it. Lucky ducks. In case you don't know, Halifax is a port city on the East coast of Canada. Awesome place, and I'm totally envious of them.

  

  =HAZEL'S FAB GOTY AWARDS=

  =2009=
  

  Oh right, I'm here to give you my Game of the Year awards! The following games/characters are all from games I own and have played. However, this limitation means that not everything can be nominated – only the stuff I've actually played.

  Let's get right to it then:

  (Spoilers below)

  

  Male Character I would Sacrifice my Heterosexuality For
  

  WINNER: Nathan Drake (Uncharted)
  

  
  

  Probably the prettiest looking man in a wet shirt this year, Nathan Drake is undeniably a charming fellow. With his multi-purpose fingers used for hand-puppeteering and ledge hanging, he should do a damn-fine job with any other chore I might have for him.

  RUNNER-UP: Chris Redfield (Resident Evil)
  

  Any man who can punch a bolder into a river of lava is a man for me.

  

  Mai Waifu (Favorite Female Character)

  WINNER: Noel Vermillion (BlazBlue)
  

  
  

  She's just so damn cute – seriously. Writing poems secretly? Internet shopping to avoid human interaction? PANDAS?! HNNNNNNNG!!!

  RUNNER-UP: Taokaka (BlazBlue)
  

  Because Tao is Taokaka!

  

  How to Soil Your Pants

  WINNER: Batman: Arkham Asylum (Scarecrow Segments)

  
  

  I was all like, "This room has nothing in here; why would the designers even do this?"

  And then I was all like, "Okay, screw this – time to leave."

  And then I soiled myself, because I left the room to enter the exact same room. Craziness ensues.

  RUNNER-UP: Modern Warfare 2 (Helicopter Rain after EMP)

  Helicopter raaaaain.

  Some stay alive and others feel the pain.

  Helicopter raaaaain.

  A main character will probably die before the end.

  

  Hottest Soundtrack

  WINNER: BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger

  
  

  Hells yes – there isn't a single track in the BlazBlue OST that doesn't appeal to me. I love every single piece of eardrum sex, with some highlights being Bullet Dance, Rebellion, and Gale. Daisuke Ishiwatari can have my children if he wants to anytime.

  RUNNER-UP: Assassin's Creed 2

  This one was hard to separate from the rest of the herd, but when it came down to it, there was a particular song I really thought was something special. "Ezio's Family" further compliments the solid soundtrack of Assassin's Creed 2, making it an audible experience worth taking.

  

  Best Bosses

  WINNER: Demon's Souls

  
  

  While not all of them are particularly special in any way, the bosses in Demon's Souls represent a time where there was a mandatory boss at the end of every structured level you could look forward to – each with their own patterns and weaknesses. Simply, there were a ton of bosses, and all of them were fun to fight against. Nothing more I can ask for from a game, really.

  RUNNER-UP: Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time

  While they were on the easy side and not numerous in the memorable category, the few that stood out REALLY stood out for me. Most particularly, the ending was incredibly satisfying and brought back a lot of nostalgia from playing Up Your Arsenal. Good times.

  

  Eye-Candy

  WINNER: BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger

  
  

  Hey – I never said anything about the art styIe, so BlazBlue is completely up there to win. Yes, this game is a high-definition 2D game. I prefer the 2D visuals myself, so based on this, BlazBlue wins for simply not having that much competition in this department. Grats.

  RUNNER-UPS: Uncharted 2 and Killzone 2

  Yeah, I have two games up here. While both of them have completely different art directions, they both look equally stunning in my eyes. I'd take a bubble bath with either game any day of the week.

  

  
  

  Game of the Freakin' Year

  WINNER: BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger

  
  

  Screw my own rating system and the scores I gave to every game of 2009; BlazBlue is simply my favorite game of the year. It's loud, noisy, flashy, and always fun to play. The online is addictive, the characters are great, the soundtrack is awesome, and the game itself never seems to age on me. If a Game of the Year is based on how much fun you had with the product (you know, because it's a video game after all), then I don't think I could give it to anything other than BlazBlue based on my personal experiences this year. Hooray for fun games!

  RUNNER-UP: Assassin's Creed 2

  This game took me completely by surprise. I knew it was going to be good, but not this good. The story is incredibly fleshed out, the attention to detail is exquisite, and the overall mechanics from the first game are transferred over a game that isn't as repetitive as the first one. I'm inclined to say that Ubisoft Montreal is one of the few developers who actually listen to their fans nowadays. Good job guys; but next time, don't deliberately take out two levels so you can charge us for them later as DLC.

  

  So yeah, those were my choices and highlights of the year. None of them except BlazBlue really broke into my top 14 games, but when you think about it, it's been another exceptional year for video gamers everywhere. Here's to 2010 starting and ending awesomely as well! Hear, hear!

  I'll be back to post an annual Christmas blog sometime later, so until then, have a safe holiday season, my friends.

  

  

  BlazBlue Original Soundtrack - "Bullet Dance: Dual Violin Cover"

  Holy crap, this guy is amazing. Almost makes me want to put my bass and guitar down for a while in favor of a violin. Almost.

  • Posted Dec 17, 2009 11:22 pm GMT
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