Games
Pop'n Music is a rhythm game series published by Konami and developed by their music video game division, Bemani.
Since the first game's release in 1998, the series has had 31 arcade versions, 24 home releases, as well as a few spin-off titles.
★Gameplay
The game is played with nine button laid out in two rows. The player must press the button to the corresponding Pop-kun (color-coded note) that falls from the top of the screen once it reaches the red line at the bottom of the screen. When a note is played, a rating will be given depending on the accuracy of the button press, either "Great", "Good", or "Bad" and later “Fever”/”Cool”. A “Combo” tally is kept of properly played notes.
From Pop'n Music 6 and onward, once a song is selected, the player can press both yellow buttons and edit gameplay modifiers such as Hi-Speed (changes the scroll speed of notes), Pop-kun (changes the appearance of the Pop-kun), Random/Mirror (randomizes or mirrors the placement of the notes in the chart), Hidden/Sudden (hides the notes or makes them appear for a short time), and eventually much more.
As the player plays through a song, they will have to fill up their “Groove Gauge” at the bottom of the screen. Playing the notes correctly will increase the gauge whereas playing the notes incorrectly or missing them will decrease the gauge. The goal is to finish the song with the Groove Gauge in the “clear zone”.
★Modes
Normal Mode:
The main Pop’n Music mode. You can play any available song using all 9 buttons at four different difficulties (Easy, Normal, Hyper, EX).
This difficulty levels of this game mode were previously separated by the number of buttons used in gameplay (5 buttons, 7 buttons, or 9 buttons). From Pop’n Music 7 and onward, the 7-button difficulty was removed. From Pop’n Music 20 Fantasia and onward, the 5-button difficulty was removed and replaced by Easy difficulty.
Battle Mode:
Two players compete for the higher score using three buttons each. After a certain amount of gameplay, a player can attack the other player by pressing the blue button. The winner is determined best 2 out of 3 songs.
Expert Mode (Pop’n Music 6 – Pop’n Music 17 THE MOVIE, Pop’n Music Lapistoria as “Course Mode”):
Play through four pre-selected songs with a stamina bar that does not recover. Later games add the ability to make custom courses.
Challenge Mode (Pop’n Music 5 – Pop’n Music 19 Tune Street):
Players are not only scored on individual song scores, but also a Challenge Score. Each song is assigned a value based on the difficulty level of the song and at the end of the game, the total is tallied. Players can increase their Challenge Score by selecting “Norma” or “Ojama” options before playing a song. A “Norma” is a set goal (e.g. No “Bad”s) whereas “Ojama” are periodically appearing modifiers used to distract the player.
Osusume (Pop’n Music 9 – Pop’n Music 11):
The player is asked a series of questions and they are recommended an Expert course based on their answers.
Net Taisen Mode (Pop’n Music 12 いろは – Pop’n Music 19 Tune Street):
Introduced alongside the e-amusement system in Japan, it allowed player to compete over the e-amusement network with other players in real time as long as they were playing on an e-amusement-ready cabinet. Since Pop’n Music 20 Fantasia, it has been integrated into Normal Mode.
Enjoy Mode (Pop’n Music 12 いろは – Pop’n Music 20 Fantasia):
A simplified gameplay mode designed for beginners. This mode contains a limited song list, simple note charts, and a point system rather than grades where the player starts with 100 points and 1 point is deducted for every missed note.
★Arcade Versions
1998
• Pop’n Music
1999
• Pop’n Music 2
• Pop’n Music 3
2000
• Pop’n Music アニメロ (Animelo)
• Pop’n Music 4
• Pop’n Music MICKEY TUNES
• Pop’n Music アニメロ2号 (Animelo 2)
• Pop’n Music 5
2001
• Pop’n Music 6
• Pop’n Music 7
2002
• Pop’n Music 8
• Pop’n Music 9
2003
• Pop’n Music 10
2004
• Pop’n Music 11
• Pop’n Music 12 いろは (Iroha)
2005
• Pop’n Music 13 CARNIVAL
2006
• Pop’n Music 14 FEVER
2007
• Pop’n Music 15 ADVENTURE
2008
• Pop’n Music 16 PARTY
2009
• Pop’n Music 17 THE MOVIE
2010
• Pop’n Music 18 せんごく列伝 (Sengoku Retsuden)
• Pop’n Music 19 TUNE STREET
2011
• HELLO! POP’N MUSIC
• Pop’n Music 20 fantasia
2012
• Pop’n Music Sunny Park
2014
• Pop’n Music ラピストリア (Lapistoria)
2015
• Pop’n Music Éclale
2016
• Pop’n Music うさぎと猫と少年の夢 (Usagi to neko to shounen no yume)
2018
• Pop’n Music Peace
2020
• Pop’n Music 解明リドルズ (Kaimei riddles)
2022
• Pop’n Music UniLab
★Home Versions
1999
• Pop’n Music CS
• Pop’n Music 2 CS
2000
• Pop’n Music 3 APPEND DISC
• Pop’n Music GB
• Pop’n Music アニメーションメロディ(Animation Melody)
• Pop’n Music GB アニメーションメロディ(Animation Melody)
• Pop’n Music GB DISNEY TUNES
• Pop’n Music 4 APPEND DISC
• Pop’n Music DISNEY TUNES
2001
• Pop’n Music 5 CS
2002
• Pop’n Music 6 CS
• Pop’n Music 7 CS
2003
• Pop'n Music Best Hits
• Pop’n Music 8 CS
2004
• Pop’n Music 9 CS
• Pop’n Music 10 CS
2005
• Pop’n Music 11 CS
2006
• Pop’n Music 12 いろは (Iroha) CS
• Pop’n Music 13 CARNIVAL CS
2007
• Pop’n Music 14 FEVER CS
2009
• Pop'n Music (Wii)
2010
• Pop'n Music Portable
2011
• Pop'n Music Portable 2
2020
• Pop'n Music Lively
★Spin-off Games
1999
• Pop’n Stage
2000
• Pop’n Music 打!! (Da)
2002
• Pop’n Music (i-αppli)
2004
• Pop’n 対戦 ぱずるだまONLINE (Taisen Puzzle-dama ONLINE)
2008
• Pop’n Music Be-Mouse
• 코나미 팝픈뮤직 (Pop’n Music mobile)
• Beat’n Groovy
2009
• 코나미 팝픈뮤직2 카니발 (Pop’n Music mobile 2)
2010
• うたっち (Utacchi)
2011
• Pop’n Music M
2013
• ポップンリズミン (Pop’n Rhythmin)
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