THE COMPLETE UNOFFICIAL DRUMMANIA/PERCUSSION FREAKS FAQ
Version 0.1
- Jointly Compiled by the Members of the Team 'Ranking Task Force', typed and
compiled together by GurtyGurt (
[email protected])
- Last Updated: 20 November 2001 (first release)
- Ranking Task Force's homepage is at:
http://rtf.genxer.net
- Some of us also are in the Bemeni Order of Madness:
http://gurt.50g.com
This FAQ covers the following Drummania/Percussion Freaks games to date:
Drummania/Percussion Freaks (Arcade)
Drummania/Percussion Freaks 2nd MIX (Arcade)
Drummania (including Guitar Freaks 2nd MIX Session Mode) (PS2)
Guitar Freaks 3rd MIX & Drummania Freaks 2nd MIX (PS2)
Drummania 3rd MIX (Arcade)
Guitar Freaks 4th MIX & Drummania 3rd MIX (PS2)
aka Gitadora (PS2)
Drummania 4th MIX (Arcade)
Drummania 5th MIX (Arcade)
Contents:
_____________________________________________________________________________
0.0 Introduction
0.1 FAQ History
0.2 About Ranking Task Force
0.3 An Introduction to the Contributors
1.0 Basic Information
1.1 Frequently Asked Questions
2.0 Arcade Operation
2.1 Drum Layout
2.3 Session Play (old)
2.3 Session Play (new)
2.4 Drummania 2nd MIX
2.5 Drummania 4th MIX
2.6 Drummania 5th MIX
3.0 Console Operation
3.1 Drummania
3.2 Guitar Freaks 3rd MIX & Drummania 2nd MIX
3.3 Gitadora (Guitar Freaks 4th MIX & Drummania 3rd MIX)
4.0 Manouverability and Techniques
4.1 Seat Position
4.2 Drum Rolls
4.3 The 'Bounce' Roll
4.4 Buying Your Own Drumsticks
4.5 Listen to the Music First!
4.6 Home vs. Arcade
4.7 The Learning Curve
4.8 Auto-Bass Mode
5.0 Score/Song Guide
5.1 Normal/Basic
5.2 Real/Advanced
5.3 Expert Real/Extreme
6.0 Game Myths, Legends and Trivia
7.0 Codes and Cheats
8.0 Outroduction
8.1 Links
8.2 Credits
8.3 Disclaimer
8.4 Future Versions
8.5 Requests
_____________________________________________________________________________
0 . 0 I n t r o d u c t i o n
_______________________________
Thank you for reading this FAQ! This guide was written due to two main
reasons and several other smaller ones. The main reasons are that no other
FAQ existed at the time of writing this for the series, and this game really
could benefit a lot from a FAQ. Drummania/Percussion Freaks (hereto referred
to only as 'Drummania') according to many has the highest learning curve
in the Bemani series. This means it takes longer for a beginner to progress
to an expert. The learning process of this game will take months if not
assisted. Like I said in the opening of my (GurtyGurt) Dance Dance Revolution
FAQ, it is completely possible to get good at this game without the
assistance of a FAQ. However, like DDR, a FAQ will ensure you have more
playability in this game. This time, I have invited several of my teammates
in 'Ranking Task Force' to help me, for your maximum benefit. This means you
can learn many different playing styles. This was a crucial descision in
writing this guide and you, the player will benefit.
Note I usually call the Excite Gauge the 'energy bar'. Excite gauge is a
stupid name. It does not gauge my excitement at all!
0.1 FAQ History
---------------
v0.0b1 > Initial private beta. Began July 01, 2001.
v0.0b2 > Second private beta. Released August 01, 2001.
v0.0rc1 > Secondary private beta. Began September 01, 2001.
> FAQ past the 100kb mark.
0.2 About Ranking Task Force
----------------------------
Founded on 25 January 2000 (the day before Australia Day), Ranking Task Force
('RTF') is the largest Bemani team in Australia. The team leader is H.Edward.
RTF has strong connections with Japan, as H.Edward is a member of the
North-Kantou area DDR Team in Japan, whose leader is a member of the famous
'RCA' team in Japan. Partially due to this strong connection, H.Edward has
managed to promote the Bemani 'scene' within Australia to levels it would
never have achieved by itself. RTF's philosophy is to have fun and to support
the Bemani community ourselves. We are in now way elitist and we are all warm
and friendly towards other Bemani fans! RTF members have been selected not
only for their skills in games, but for their involvement in helping out with
things. Even though members of the team are of many different races, with
many different languages being spoken, we all enjoy each others company and
do our best to make life fun for everyone and not just ourselves. I hope
someday other countries may have a team which does as much as RTF, or at the
very least a community with a similar mind...and anyone who thinks because
we win all the competitions we cheat somehow (as indeed Galactic Circus
in Melbourne did when they barred us entry from their DDR competition in
November 2000, which had a prize of AUD$2,500), should remember that we only
organize them so people may have more fun playing their games - that's why
we rarely have prizes! We encourage the growth of new teams, both within
and outside of RTF...so anyone who enjoys these games, don't wait for us! Go
ahead and start a team!
0.3 An Introduction to the Contributors
---------------------------------------
Note that on 'Current Skill Level', this is simply the highest song
difficulty for a song that you can pass on a majority basis (ie 70% or better
basically). 'Play Speed' indicates both the learning speed (first number) and
highest playing speed _under_normal_circumstances_ (second number - this is
not the fastest we can play the game at, it's the fastest we usually play
the game at!)
By the way, when we started the FAQ our skill levels were way different,
with Kupster@RTF being in the higher Real songs and me and EBE@RTF around
5 star Real...just for those who wondered. Yes, I wrote down these ratings
and that's why this section was started!
Name: EBE@RTF
Contribution to FAQ: Song tactic writer, play strategy writer
(NOTE: Probably could use some padding for the above. Is the below right?)
Current Skill Level: 67
(NOTE: Everyone please submit NEW ratings, PLUS DM4th ones based on what
difficulty songs you do on average - see mine. Doesn't have to be
accurate, it won't impress anybody :P)
Play Speed: 2.5x/2.5x
Favourite Song to Listen to: Stop Spinning Me In Circles, Giant Slug, Monkey
Magic
Favourite Song to Play to: Heaven Is A '57 Metallic Grey/Real, I'll Remember
You/Expert Real, Giant Slug/Expert Real, Wanna Be
Your Boy/Real
Notes: * My uncle has been a drummer since I was young. He's played with a
number of different Australian bands, and I always used to play
around on his drumkit when I stayed at his place. So, it was a
complete shock when I sucked majorly at this game! I found DM so
hard that for 6 months after my first go, I didn't play it. After
playing solidly for 9 months now, I've found that it's not hard to
build up skills with a little practice and patience.
Name: GurtyGurt@RTF
Contribution to FAQ: Head writer, main design, initial concept, song tactic
writer, proofreader and many other bits
Current Skill Level: 10 Star/Expert Real / 93 DM4th
Play Speed: 4.5x/5.0x
Favourite Song to Listen to: Anything by Mutsuhiko Izumi or Thomas Howard
Favourite Song to Play to: Fire In The Dark/Extreme, Carnival Day/Extreme,
Jet World/Extreme, Day Dream/Advanced
Notes: * Left handed - this affects my playstyle immensely, meaning it is
much easier to do hi-hat/snare/kick patterns without arms crossed
but it is harder to do tom rolls right-to-left and to do songs like
Right On Time
* I do insane stuff a lot (Carnival Day 7.0x, Day Dream/Extreme with
no person on cymbal or auto-bass). Not that I pass!
* Also has written a Dance Dance Revolution FAQ, and is writing a
secret FAQ which will be out sometime before the end of the year!
(_hopefully_)
Name: Kupster@RTF
Contribution to FAQ: Song tactic writer, play strategy writer
(NOTE: I think all these need adding to...)
Current Skill Level: 10+ Star/Expert Real / 93 DM4th
Play Speed: 2.5x/3.5x
Favourite Song to Listen to: Primal Soul (Long Ver.)/Dynamite
Favourite Song to Play to: Least 100 Sec/Basic
Notes:
Name: Panda@RTF
Contribution to FAQ: Song tactic writer, play strategy writer
Current Skill Level: 10 Star/Expert Real
Play Speed:
Favourite Song to Listen to:
Favourite Song to Play to:
1 . 0 B a s i c I n f o r m a t i o n
_________________________________________
1.1 Frequently Asked Questions
------------------------------
Q. Why were some songs removed from Drummania 4th MIX?
A. I'm not sure yet, but most of the songs (Bad Medicine, You Oughta Know and
also Smoke On The Water in Guitar Freaks 3rd MIX) are liscenced songs from
the West. It may have something to do with the conditions of licence, such
as them being for a limited time, a set number of versions or because of
Drummania 4th MIX being released outside of Japan (was it?). Of course,
it may be due to limited space (Body Operation was removed too, as was the
original version of Newspaper).
Q. In Drummania 1st and 2nd MIXes there sure seem to be a lot of songs ending
with 'you' (I Only Want To Be With You, I Think About You, I'll Remember
You, When I Dream Of You). I only like one of them and I can't remember
which and what difficulty it's in!
A. This is a common problem for some reason and the similarities in the names
are rather stupid. When I Dream Of You is only in Normal and it's way down
the bottom of the list, so odds are that's not it as most people have
never seen or played that song (due to it being rather lame). I Only Want
To Be With You is obviously a cover of the Dusty Springfield song, so you
obviously know what that sounds like. Perhaps the best way to remember is
the animations. It's just kinda odd that they have so many similarly named
songs!
Q. Why is a Real mode version of I'll Remember You shown in the Drummania
2nd MIX demo?
A. I may be wrong, but I'm guessing it is in fact the Expert Real version -
keep in mind Expert Real is 'hidden' and putting Expert Real down the
bottom would have given that away! I also think there's a 7 star version
of Across The Nightmare in Session which is identical to the Normal one...
Q. Why was Anarchy In The UK removed from Guitar Freaks 3rd MIX & Drummania
2nd MIX for PS2?
A. No idea - but it's in Gitadora now...
Q. Why does Anarchy In The UK have no Basic version of the song in Drummania
4th MIX?
A. No idea - perhaps Konami felt there weren't enough hard songs in 4th MIX.
Q. What happened to Eyes Of Kids/Extreme in Drummania 4th MIX?
A. Once again, no idea. Perhaps Konami hate the song too. Play this, When I
Dream Of You and Loud! and watch all the people leave (Loud! is good, but
it sounds pretty distorted and...well, loud at first!)
Q. Is the PS2 version's drumkit like the arcade one?
A. No, but Gitadora allows you to use a Yamaha DTXpress drumkit (at your own
expense!) via the USB port, and no doubt further sequels will too. The
PS2 drumkit supplied should do fine, though! It is a far cry from dodgy
DDR mats...
Q. Why aren't their any new Thomas Howard songs?
A. There are - in Drummania 5th MIX. Thomas Howard is only contracted by
Konami and doesn't work in-house for them.
Q. Was Drummania ever released in North America?
A. No, another company holds the US Patent for Drum Simulations. I was told
this long ago and I forget who by, but they also said the drum sim that
IS over there is really bad. It's probably too late for Konami anyway
now - but the machine is about as common as imported DDR machines, perhaps
slightly less so.
Q. Is Day Dream possible?
A. Yes.
Q. Are there any cameo appearences from other Konami games in this game?
A. One possible one - the moon in Classic Party 2 (see Other Notes for
Classic Party 2). I've only spotted one penguin in the entire game!
(see Cassandra)
2 . 0 A r c a d e O p e r a t i o n
_______________________________________
2.1 Drum Layout
---------------
An arcade drumkit is generally laid out like this...pardon my crude diagram:
C
H T L
S
This would indicate the height, in other words this diagram is of a side on
view, not a birds eye view. H is Hi-Hat, C is Cymbal, L is Lo- Tom, T is
Hi-Tom and lastly S is Snare. No need for indicating a Bass Pedal here.
Note this appears very similar to the PS2 controller here, except for the
fact that the ride cymbal is higher. This is half true. In the arcade, the
ride cymbal is at a 65ø angle roughly, the toms are at 45ø angles, the snare
is at 15-20ø and the hi-hat is at 30-45ø. Also, the bass pedal is fixed to
the middle-right side of the machine. There are only two place it can be
installed, either there or on the middle left. If it is on the middle left,
it covers up some text on the machine. Also, the drums can be fixed at
any position - however these are the correct ones. Unfortunately at our local
arcade the ride cymbal is too low and this often results in is habitually
over-reaching and hitting the much less sensitive black thing attached to it!
You should consider how the arcade has set up the drums to find the optimum
position to sit. It isn't often in the middle an inch back.
For those drummers out there who are wondering, there is no floor tom,
although the arcade model is based on the Yamaha DTXpress electronic drum kit
(I think). Also, the drums aren't really adjustable (although our hi-hat has
a habit of snapping off, and the cymbal can be set elsewhere too I believe),
and they're more laid out for neatness and appearance than for convenience.
This may take some getting used to, but if you find it a poor simulation of
a real drumkit, you're looking at it the wrong way - because it's still an
excellent game. The patterns in the game are rarely in the style that most
drummers play, too, and they have a lot more flair in them.
2.2 Session Play (old)
----------------------
(Old refers to DrumMania 2nd MIX and loosely to DrumMania 3rd MIX)
* Difficulty can be changed from Session to Extreme Session mode by tapping
the hi-hat twice. Only two difficulties are available for drums, however
difficulties are as normal for Guitar. Difficulty is changed using the
hi-hat on drums.
* Drummania's animations are played, energy is displayed in the usual place
on a DrumMania machine. The yellow bar marked 'Dr' is the drummer.
* If one player fails, whenever he loses any more of his 'excite gauge',
the other players' energy will go down slightly (more so than if it went
down from his own bar). When every player is emptied of their energy,
regardless of if one player has not made any misses or whatever or not -
the game is over.
2.3 Session Play (new)
----------------------
(New refers to DrumMania 4th MIX)
* Each different player can change their difficulty level without affecting
the difficulty of those on the other machines. This is done by tapping the
hi-hat twice. All difficulties are available.
* If one player fails, whenever he loses any more of his 'excite gauge',
the other players' energy will go down slightly (more so than if it went
down from his own bar). When every player is emptied of their energy,
regardless of if one player has not made any misses or whatever or not -
the game is over.
* Players are not all required to select or highlight a song - feel free to
just sit there!
* If the song menu timer runs out, the song will be the one the first player
who started the game (usually the drummer) is currently highlighting.
* The song is selectable by any player - the first song selected is picked,
regardless of if the other players have picked one or not.
* The animation window displays the energy bars individually, the Drummer
being the far right one (or the middle one if KeyboardMania 3rd MIX is
linked). The normal energy bar seems to display overall energy for all
players...
2.4 Drummania 2nd MIX
---------------------
Here's what distinguishes 2nd MIX from the others:
* All menu/non-ingame music is from long versions of the 1st MIX sound track.
+ Result screen- Heaven Is A '57 Metallic Gray
+ Name Input screen- Depend On Me
+ Ranking/High Score Table after getting high score- I Think About You
+ High Score Table during demo- Look At Me
* Animations differ severely from Guitar Freaks 3rd MIX, like DM1, because of
the different size of the animation window. This allows a higher framerate
but limits the size of the graphics. (eg, Wanna Be Your Boy - Dancing
Gorby walks on and off the screen rather jerkily in GF, but is smooth in DM
and in DM4/GF5 he kind of 'floats' on and off screen instead) No actual
new graphics, though (mostly pallete changes and timing changes)
2.5 Drummania 4th MIX
---------------------
Quite a few changes in this version, worth mentioning on its own:
* Graphics changes majorly - appears to run on different hardware to DM3, but
in actual fact the viewing window is probably just resized to the GF3+
window size. Thus, now all animations are identical to GF. (this is why
Cosmic Cowgirl calls it 'GF 3rd' in animations)
Because of this many song animations are completely redone.
* Song ratings now given as a difficulty rating out of 99 instead of 1-10
stars.
* The Bonus song, given if you get A/S or higher overall (depending on the
settings), is 'Classic Party 3.' If you pass well, you get the encore song,
'The Least 100 Sec', which is rated 86-98 on each difficulty!
* 'Auto Bass' feature, so you don't have to use the bass pedal.
* 'Newspaper' was removed and replaced with 'Newspaper (Vocal ver)'.
* The following songs were removed: Bad Medicine, Body Operation, Holiday,
Killer Queen, Virtual Insanity, You Oughta Know.
* 'Double Orbit' and 'Primal Soul' have Basic versions of the songs identical
to the Advanced versions (bug).
* The vocals for 'P.P.R. (Long Ver)' were done by a different vocalist to the
original.
* 'Spring', 'Bambina' and 'Sunny Day Sunday' now in Guitar Freaks 5th MIX,
therefore they are new Session Mode songs. These songs were added in the
PS2 version of Guitar Freaks 3rd MIX & Drummania 2nd MIX. They do not have
Bass Guitar for some reason, though.
2.6 Drummania 5th MIX
---------------------
For those who are wondering what's in it so far, here is some poorly
translated info as I haven't played it much:
* The lisenced tunes aren't that special, but out of the western tunes there
are You Give Love A Bad Name (Bon Jovi), Long Train Runnin' (Doobie
Brothers) and Power Of Love (Huey Lewis And The News, not Cher or Frankie
Goes To Hollywood if you were wondering).
* Other songs of note: 'Blind', which both sounds and animates like Furi Furi
'60, 'Feel The Earth' which is supposedly like Captain's Voyage, 'Balalaika
/Carried With The Wind', which if you're wondering, Balalaika is a Russian
musical instrument with a trangle shaped body 3 strings, 'Brazillian
Anthem' which shouldn't be confused with 'Brazillian Rhyme' in BMIIdx,
'Hypnotieque' is the latest in the Hypnotica/Hypnotic Crisis 'Fireball'
which is the new Extra Stage and is similar to Heaven is a '57 Metallic
Gray, 'Miss You' which is a long version of Right On Time but sung in
Japanese, and of course 'Classic Party Triathlon' which is not a medley as
it sounds, but in fact a completely redone mix of some bits from the
Classic Parties (which, of course, are re-recorded and sound more fresh
than before), plus several new bits and is VERY hard - and in actual fact
is the new 4th hardest song in the game, perhaps with the exception of the
Extra and Encore stages (but perhaps not). The hardest long song, anyway!
Also, Jet World ~Long Ver.~ has finally been added and Riff Riff Paradise,
a medley of several of Mutsuhiko Izumi's Guitar Freaks 1st/2nd MIX songs,
has been added.
* A Nonstop mode is included, which is similar to Beatmania's Expert mode
apparently - your gauge does not recover. This is how internet ranking is
done, and you can either select preset orders or a random one (and god help
you if you get The Least 100 Sec/Extreme!)
* Auto bass mode might only be able to be switched on and not off (not sure).
There is also a auto hi-hat and auto-cymbal mode which obviously is for
the lazy and those who want to look cool by passing Day Dream/Extreme when
anybody could with auto bass and auto cymbal. It doesn't fool anyone if you
don't hit the cymbal!
* The following songs appear to have been removed: Look At Me, Sunny Side
Street, When I Dream Of You, Good Times, Ska Ska No 1, Love Affair, Anarchy
In The UK
3 . 0 C o n s o l e O p e r a t i o n
_________________________________________
NOTE:
At the beginning of each sub-section here is a small graph showing the number
of songs in each version. N is the number of songs in Normal, R is for Real,
X for Expert Real, S for Session and T is the total. P for Practice and
E for Easy are used if applicable. Total is for songs playable in Drummania
or Session ONLY.
3.1 Drummania
-------------
N: ************* (13)
R: **************** (16)
X: ************ (12)
S: **************** (16)
T: *********************** (23) ***** (+5 Session Only = 28)
As I don't own this game, I can't say much except the PSX only features which
I have read about:
* 3 PS2 only songs from the PSX version of Guitar Freaks 2nd MIX Append are
included: Koi No Dial 6700, Love This Feelin' and Eraser Engine. These are
not in any arcade versions.
* Although Session Mode is included, you cannot play Guitar Freaks by itself
in this game.
* Jet World, Holiday, The Adventures, Mr.Machine and Body Operation are in
the game, but are available for Session only. (these are GF2nd songs but I
don't think were in DM1st - except for maybe The Adventures and Mr.Machine)
3.2 Guitar Freaks 3rd MIX & Drummania 2nd MIX
---------------------------------------------
P: **** (4)
E: ***** (5)
N: ****************** (18)
R: ************************* (25)
X: *********************** (23)
S: ********************* (21)
T: *************************** (27)
Here are the differences from the arcade version and the features:
* Session mode is included. It is played using a multitap and can be viewed
in two screen layouts: Type A (normal, all 3 playfields displayed fully,
one energy bar in the middle, 3 score bars, no animations) or Type B
(same as Type A, but widescreen with an animation in the middle and two
energy bars - one between the two guitar displays, one where the drum one
normally is). Type B works on a normal TV but will be squashed. Difficulty
for session is restricted - you cannot do Normal on Guitar and Extreme
Session on Drums.
* Spring, Sunny Day Sunday and Bambina are in Guitar Freaks 3rd MIX now, and
thus are in Session mode. They were not in the arcade version (and are only
in Guitar Freaks 5th MIX and above).
* Jet World, Holiday, The Adventures, Mr.Machine and Body Operation are in
the game, both for Session and Drummania 2nd MIX. They also are in Guitar
Freaks 3rd MIX now.
* Anarchy in the UK and Love Affair have been removed due to copyright
reasons of some sort. (Anarchy in the UK is in Gitadora, and Love Affair
wasn't much fun anyway)
* Used Cars, Wanna Be Your Boy and Primal Soul are in Drummania 2nd MIX,
Guitar Freaks 3rd MIX and Session mode even though they were already
in Guitar Freaks 2nd MIX Append for PSX by themselves.
* Like the arcade version, 1175 is only selectable in Session mode. 1175 was
not selectable in Drummania by itself until 3rd MIX (1175 is of course now
in Gitadora)
* Training mode is included, similar to the same mode in other Bemani games.
* Free mode is included, which removes restrictions on songs - ie, you can
go back and forth between difficulties and play any song you have already
played. You can also select whether the player is controlled by a human
(HUM) or the PS2 (COM). This can be done in Session mode, too. Free mode is
NOT a freestyle mode.
* No Edit Data function is included.
* The number of stages and automatic Game Over on failing songs cannot be
changed/enabled, except for a 'Forced Game Over' option in Free Mode.
* Scores and results are recorded like other Bemani games.
* The Bass Drum (kick pedal) can be set to automatic, ie you don't need to
press it. Useful if your pedal is broken/poor quality. The game won't keep
record if you use this or change difficulty.
* Volume levels can be changed for guitars, drum and bgm individually and the
drum and two guitars can be channeled to specific directions.
* The timing of the notes can be changed (I don't know why this would be
needed, it would not fix a PAL desync problem)
* Background type, combo display position and judgement (standard/tight) can
only be changed in options. Small/Silent has been removed (because you can
change BGM volume now anyway).
3.3 Gitadora (Guitar Freaks 4th MIX & Drummania 3rd MIX)
--------------------------------------------------------
N: **************************** (28)
R: ********************************* (33)
X: *************************** (27)
S: ********************************* ******* (33, +7 long (S/XS only))
T: ********************************** ******* (34, +7 long (R/X/S only))
Here is what is known for certain (unofficial, but verified; my copy is on
order):
* The Drummania side of the game is based on Drummania 3rd MIX.
* All tunes are available for session.
* It is a DVD-ROM.
* Yamaha DTX series electronic drumkits can be plugged into the USB port and
be used with the game for the ultimate arcade style playability!
* The game will use the PS2 HD attachment as a cache. Because of this,
Endless mode is included.
* Anarachy In The UK and 1175 from 2nd MIX are in the game - both are
available in all modes (1175 was formerly session only).
* Depend On You, Marionette and Silly Girl from Drummania 4th MIX are in
the game. These Replace Sakura no Toki and Killer Queen, which are not.
Both these songs were licenced, as are Depend On You and Marionette
(Silly Girl is not). The normal version of Newspaper is still in the game.
Why Sakura no Toki was removed is not known.
* Several new songs are included: Pretty G, Jet "G" Crew, Complete Conquest,
Star of Muse (normal and long versions), Session Xmas (normal and long
versions) and Pegasus(?) (normal and long versions). Pretty G and Complete
Conquest are from Drummania 5th MIX.
* Note that as in the Arcade version, Classic Party 2 is an Extra stage that
you get if you get S's or SS's for all the songs, and Day Dream is the
Encore stage that you get for an S or SS on that.
* The total number of long versions of songs up from 3 to 7! 2 less than 4th
MIX arcade (but there's different songs)
(see www.konami.co.jp/kcej/products/)
4 . 0 M a n o u v e r a b i l i t y a n d T e c h n i q u e s
___________________________________________________________________
4.1 Seat Position
-----------------
The first thing to do is find the perfect stool position. Most people will
find it's roughly in the middle. For me, I position the stool about 1 foot
back from the pedal and, if there were a vertical line running straight away
from the machine on the top of the padding for the stool right along the
middle, that line would be parallel to the right side of the pedal. Basically
I position myself a foot back and a few inches to the right. But I'm left
handed - this may not suit everybody. The key things are, you must be able
to manouver freely on all drums and you must be comfortable with the kick
pedal. It is easier to do rolls on snares than toms, so position yourself
close to the toms if you need to. Do not go too close to the ride cymbal or
you'll hurt yourself hitting just about everything but the cymbal.
Of course, if you're using the PS2 version, you only have to worry about
where to place the pedal. You should place it slightly to the right of the
middle area under the drumkit (this is where it would be in the arcade).
4.2 Drum Rolls
--------------
Drum rolls are always hard to get used to. They can be mastered, though.
If you can, I suggest you learn to more or less flip and bounce the sticks
into the drums lightly from the outset, but if like most people you like to
play the game with more force, then you need to know a few things. First of
all, the main mistake beginners make is they roll too fast (and mess up
anyway). You only need to roll at the speed indicated - fast rolls are used
in PPR/Normal and later in Double Orbit/Real, but for most songs, you can do
slow ones. On this topic, also if you can, know which drumstick to -start-
with if you have to come out of it fast. EG, in Break Out/Normal, you will
find it easiest to do rolls on the hi-hat towards the ends, but there are
snare beats in between sometimes. You don't have time to stop, hit and
resume rolling. The solution? Start rolling with your RIGHT drumstick, as
the snare is to the right. When it comes up, hit out to it, then hit back in
with your left stick and it flows that simply.
Sometimes it is hard to perform a drum roll when coming out of long strings
of patterns, eg hi-hat/snare/kick patterns. This is because you are holding
the drumsticks really tight - loosen up your grip on them (not completely!
Just a bit) and it should be better. Practice a little with this. One way to
tell if you're holding it tight is simple as the result of a typical drumroll
(ie not Sunny Day Sunday or something slow like that). If you miss most of
the roll because you cannot move fast enough, or your drumstick 'sticks' to
the drum, you are holding it too tight. Ideally, the drumsticks should bounce
lightly in your hand. (this is slightly different with the smaller PS2 drums
and drumsticks as if these are held loosely, they bruise your index fingers
quite badly!) Basically the best way to loosen grip is by not holding the
drumsticks with your whole hand, only with the fingers. If they're firm
enough (the fingers that is), they should give the drumsticks enough
freedom to do movements like those nasty hi-hat/snare/kick patterns AND
drum rolls.
Finally, sometimes if the drums don't need to be rolled on, it is less
risky to just hit them fast. This is the case in some parts in the Classic
Party songs, and probably Break Out/Extreme as well.
4.3 The 'Bounce' Roll
---------------------
Although I call it many names in the FAQ, this is not really a roll anyway.
In a few songs - Ska Ska No 1/Real and Sunny Day Sunday/Real, for example -
you need to hit the same drum twice quickly. You MIGHT be okay on Sunny Day
Sunday doing it with one stick, but you're deadmeat if you try that in Ska
Ska No 1. The trick is similar to 'skipping' in Dance Dance Revolution - one
drumstick must hit it, then the other must hit it immediately after. This
motion should be fairly gentle, and gravity should be used to clear the first
drumstick out of the way. These kinds of rolls are especially common in Real
mode.
4.4 Buying Your Own Drumsticks
------------------------------
A lot of people hate it how arcades tie up the drumsticks to the machine.
Obviously the solution is to buy your own. They're very cheap to start off
with - about $5 US is the starting price...but if weight is a problem, be
wary. My cheapo drumsticks were pretty heavy and whilst it was easier to
hit things, it slowed me down on songs with fast patterns. Also, in
experiments with my PS2 drumsticks I have found that the shorter drumsticks
supplied can be better or worse depending on the song. Shorter drumsticks
make rolls infinitely easier, as well as odd patterns. However, longer sticks
help out when you need to move around a lot. Shorter sticks are a big help
on Sunny Day Sunday/Real, for example, but a hinderance on Depend On Me/Real.
It all depends on whether you're playing at home or on the arcade machine
though! Ultimately, though, you can get the same effect of a short drumstick
by holding a normal one halfway down the stick. This technique is especially
useful in songs like Newspaper or Dynamite/Expert Real.
4.5 Listen to the Music First!
------------------------------
If you don't know how the music goes, songs can be amazingly hard, unlike in
DDR or Guitar Freaks. Try to watch other people play the songs first, or if
you can, find the MP3. Knowing the song makes it infinitely easier, because
you know what to expect. Also, in the case of REALLY hard stuff, try to find
the patterns on the internet first!
4.6 Home vs. Arcade
-------------------
The PS2 versions (and the PC simulators) are good for practicing on if you
play in the arcade regularly. However, keep in mind the drumkits for these
are a lot smaller! Also, the foot pedal is just foam. This can be hard on
songs like Spring/Expert Real, so if you have problems with it, either
ignore the problem or turn on auto bass and just use the pedal anyway. Also,
some songs are infinitely easier on the PS2/PC drumkits, especially Depend
On Me/Real it seems. Songs like Cutie Pie/Real are harder due to the location
of the toms. Despite the overall lameness of the foot pedal for the PS2, I
strongly recommend using it whether it works or not, or at least tapping
when appropriate because it is by far the easiest way to master tricky kick
patterns for harder songs!
4.7 The Learning Curve
----------------------
Most Bemani games have tricky learning curves and Drummania is no exception.
The learning curve for this game, from start to being able to do most songs
in Expert Real, is 3 months. This may be slightly higher or lower depending
on your own skills and how often you play it - I played it 3 times weekly
and quite heavily myself. This means the learning curve is similar to DDR.
Unfortunately, it is also much more jagged:
BEGINNER
Beginners typically struggle to pass songs, so I would recommend using Easy
mode to get the hang of the game. Skip practice, though. This first hurdle
will be slightly easier to get over if you've played other Bemani games
(I had a hard time, being left handed).
NORMAL
So named because of Normal mode. This learning curve basically extends up to
about 4 or 5 stars on Normal mode. You will not be able to do Real at first,
but one day, you will suddenly gain the ability...literally, it's that sudden
and unexpected. Nobody gradually works their way up to Real that I know of.
REAL
Real mode has a steady learning curve until you reach 5 star songs. Then you
get horribly stuck (nasty, isn't it?). The only way I managed to break this
was by learning two songs harder than I could manage; Wanna Be Your Boy/Real
(which wasn't too hard) and Stop Spinning Me In Circles/Real (which was).
This is probably the longest phase because you have to learn all sorts of
complex things in your mind to make hard stuff easier.
EBE@RTF says he's been told that the only way to beat the '5 star Real'
barrier is to play easier Expert Real songs, as they use different patterns
to Real. This is true - Spring, Hypnotica, Ultimate Power and Sunny Day
Sunday are some of the ones that are easiest to pick up on.
EXPERT REAL (A)
After a while, once again you will 'suddenly' gain the ability to do complex
kick patterns. That mental block which confuses kicks with other drums
disappears totally, once and for all. You may still have trouble doing
REALLY nasty kick patterns, hence the 'A'.
EXPERT REAL (B)
Same but after you get the complex kick patterns. This might take practice to
reach, or it might just unlock in your mind again - it depends on your own
mentality, really. Songs in this category include Stop Spinning Me In
Circles/Expert Real and Jet World/Expert Real. This usually unlocks in your
mind rather quickly.
EXPERT REAL (C)
This is when you can do Day Dream/Expert Real or similar stuff. This takes
time to reach, but if you just play a heap, you'll get there very quick.
Once you reach this point, I guess you've masted the game, haven't you?
Honestly, it isn't anywhere near as impossible as it appears to beginners.
One week before moving onto Real mode, I tried Real mode and believed Spring
to be nigh on impossible. Ditto when I was on Real and I tried Stop Spinning
Me In Circles/Real. Ditto when I saw people do anything on Expert Real. It
always appears impossible, but once you know half of it...and can do similar
stuff, it's just a matter of filling in the gaps. And that is basically where
the learning curve comes from. Do as many songs as possible if you get stuck,
even go back to old ones that you've done from time to time to measure your
progress - usually you soar through old songs when you're ready to move up
a level. That's all - you don't need heaps of practice, but it helps. Make
sure you DO get heaps of practice on kicks when you move from Real to
Expert Real, though. It makes it so much simpler!
4.8 Auto-Bass Mode
------------------
Auto-Bass is in the PS2 versions of Drummania, and Drummania 4th MIX and
later. It is useful and a lot of people use it, but I recommend not using it
where reasonable. The fact is, Extreme mode is pointless with it and it
ruins it. Jet World becomes weak, Double Orbit becomes weak, Carnival Day is
the same as on Advanced and the Classic Parties become too easy. It's best to
accept that you will fail sometimes, but practicing the bass pedal will help
you improve - eventually. Nobody is any good at it at first, and you probably
won't be until you're well into the Advanced songs. But deal with it. Also
note it nullifies your high scores. I only use it on songs like Day Dream
Extreme, Fire In The Dark Extreme -maybe-, The Least 100 Sec/Extreme, and so
on. Basically if the drums themselves are extremely hard, use it, elsewise
do not.
5 . 0 S c o r e / S o n g G u i d e
_______________________________________
KEY
H - Hi-Hat
S - Snare
K - Bass Pedal (Kick)
T - Hi Tom
L - Lo Tom
R - Ride Cymbal
Actual Difficulty:
How hard the song is rated. Drummania 1st-3rd MIX songs only.
New Difficulty:
How hard the song is rated in Drummania 4th MIX. Highest rating is 99
(Day Dream, Expert Real(Extreme).
Overall Difficulty:
How hard we think the song is overall. Two or more individual ratings
must be present.
Animations: The in-song animations displayed in Drummania 1st-3rd MIX and
if 'New Animations' is not below it, in 4th MIX as well. This is
used both as a guide and for your own humour!
New Animations: The in-song animations displayed in Drummania 4th MIX only.
Only if they have changed!
(Name of FAQist): Song hints provided by that person, ending with a
difficulty percentage which they believe represents the
song (overall, not for the difficulty level (eg Expert
Real)). Eg, a 50% rated song means you'll learn it about
halfway through the entire song list (for that mix or
otherwise). 100% would be Daydream or The Least 100 Sec.
Basic Expert Real Pattern B-Type: Involves HH/Snares/Kicks. Goes roughly like
this: H+K K H+S K H K H (kicks are more
messed up and this pattern varies slightly)
5.1 Normal/Basic
----------------
ACROSS THE NIGHTMARE
Actual Difficulty: *****..... Overall Difficulty: 33%
New Difficulty: 61
Animations: Various shots of a Samurai wielding a katana, unsheathing
it, meditating with cherry blossoms falling around, etc.
Other Notes: Ride Cymbal makes a guitar sound if hit at the start! Also
there may have been a Real version of this song at one stage as in the
PS2 version of Drummania, Across The Nightmare has a 7 star version in
Session. It has the exact same combo so without the game to test it, I
dunno...
GG: It might be the hardest song on Normal...but probably not. This combines
the patterns from Wanna Be Your Boy/Normal with Jet World/Normal and has
a bit similar to Loud!/Real (but more in time). Make sure the speed is
set to 2.0x or higher - preferably higher! Try to keep your timing right
with the patterns used throughout like at the very start. It's very
easy to lose it when it repeats after a while. When it turns to patterns
involving the snare, hi-hat and ride cymbal one at a time going back
and forth, only use one drumstick on each side. When the notes all
become kicks and cymbals when the sword unsheathing animation is playing
take note that even though all the notes are off time they are still
exactly one beat apart. After this, you REALLY need to have the song
playing fast to see what happens. No advice here other than that!
And make sure you do well enough on the drum roll at the end! It can
be a life or death matter! RATING: 37%
-
EBE: By the time I'd gotten around to playing 'Across The Nightmare'
seriously, I had enough practice at rolls. A lot of people tackle this
and speed up the moment they see a long snare roll. This song is a good
way to learn how to set your pace back a little and relax into the
rhythm of a long, single-drum roll. The thing that got me the most on
these was the kick replacing the last beat of the roll... I always hit
it too late or forgot it was there. It's not vital, but it will take a
few tries to get used to. Another mistake I've seen other players make
is the timing of the beginning and end bits of the song (after the
initial roll). The pattern is like this: KC-S-KC S KC-S-KC S KC-S-KC S
KC-HSK (repeating). The mistake is often: KC-S-KC S-KC-S-KC (ie the
snare is hit too late).
Both this and the 'unsheathing' patterns are good times to listen well
to the music and follow it's lead. RATING: 30%
CLASSIC PARTY 3
Actual Difficulty: 51 Overall Difficulty: 54%
Animations: Ballerina with a swan on his/her head. The word 'HALELUIJAH'
split up into syllables along with faces singing it (their mouths move
correctly, too!). Some wierd split-face princess thing. A toy windup
soldier. A Spanish looking lady in a long dress with a rose in her
mouth. A William Tell scene where a grinning boy gets an apple shot on
his head.
Other Notes: Extra Stage in Drummania 4th MIX. The haleluijah chorus at
the end actually sings other things, including "CLA-SIC-PAR-TY". This is
most audible at the very end - the odd double notes before the final
note/s synchronise with the word 'party' (both syllables). Tunes include
March of the Toreadors (from Carmen), William Tell Overture (Rossini)
and Parade of the Wooden Soldiers (Macdonald/Jessel). Parade of the
Wooden Soldiers is also in KeyboardMania 3rd MIX as an individual song.
GG: Make sure you know roughly how the original versions of these songs go
or you'll be in trouble (less so than in the Advanced and Extreme
versions of this, though!). The difficulty on this is rather excessive
so watch out. It starts out easy enough, and for most of the song it's
easy enough - if you're good enough. Odds are you aren't though. Since
this is an extra song in Drummania 4th MIX and you can't pick it, I
wouldn't recommend trying to get this song as it will most likely be too
hard for you unless you play on Advanced level, in which case, how did
you get this version of it? No advice nessecary. Just don't assume you
will pass and if you do you have to survive The Least 100 Sec. anyway.
If you pass this, you're ready for Advanced, I'd say...all I'll say
is if you want The Least 100 Sec, you WILL need to get the rolls near
perfectly in this. RATING: 53%
-
EBE: You should really be passing the original Classic Party on Real before
you expect to pass this one. If you do get the extra song in 4th MIX,
just try your best. RATING: 55%
DOUBLE ORBIT
Actual Difficulty: 38
Warning: This song is a bug - the patterns for this are identical to
the Real/Advanced patterns for it below in every single detail! Although
it is rated 23 or something like that, it is a lot harder. Avoid!
PRIMAL SOUL
Warning: This song is a bug - the patterns for this are identical to
the Real/Advanced patterns for it below in every single detail! It is
incredibly hard even for Real - don't even consider it at this stage in
the game!
THE LEAST 100 SEC
Actual Difficulty: 87 Overall Difficulty: ??%
Animations: Sketches of Churches and things, usually paired with
wireframe/vector shapes (mostly pyramids). Wins the prize for lamest
animations in the game (and only barely beats Eyes Of Kids)!
Other Notes: Encore Stage in Drummania 4th MIX.
GG: On the off chance that you pass Classic Party 3, this will be your
encore stage in Drummania 4th MIX. The start of it is similar to
Waza/Real, and isn't too hard. Then about halfway through, it starts
going a bit crazy with the toms. They don't really go with anything
so I cannot give advice on this, except practice Helpless and River
Crossin' on the highest difficulty you can manage first. After this the
pattern becomes similar to Right On Time/Real, and after that it becomes
more like Day Dream/Real (ie you have to hit other drums randomly too).
If you can survive all this, you'll have a simple enough end which is
like the start, just make sure you don't panic! Just remember, this song
is the crux of Drummania 4th MIX as well as Guitar Freaks 5th MIX and
Keyboardmania 3rd MIX, and not only is it going to be hard to get the
song in the first place, it's going to be even harder to pass it!
No instruments rest for a second...if you have a lot of skill and play
on Expert Real a lot, this will be easy, of course. It's probably one
of the most fun songs! RATING: 85%
WHEN I DREAM OF YOU
Actual Difficulty: ****...... Overall Difficulty: ??
New Difficulty: 37
Animations: One of those wind up music boxes with the plastic ballerinas
on them. That's about it really.
Other Notes: Sometimes mixed up with 'Remember You' (Dance Dance
Revolution 5th MIX song) because the two are similar.
GG: Avoid! This song is HARD for a Basic song. 4 stars would be underrating
it slightly on Real, even. I'd give it 5 Real stars, myself. This uses
many patterns from Expert Real songs, however because the song is so
abysmally slow, it's not that hard. It just has awkward kick positioning
and near constant hi-hatting. It also mixes a bit of tomming in as well.
I struggled through this when I was well into 5 Real stars, but the
song I'd compare it to is Onion Man/Real. My advice? Skip it, nobody
likes this song anyway. It's amazing how many people don't know it's
there (since it's only playable on Normal!). RATING: 50%
-
EBE: Mostly a personal comment... I hated this song. I ignored it until I was
well into Real songs, and even then it was so slow and irregular
I had trouble with it. Add to that the fact that it's in no way fun to
play, I decided I didn't really need to learn it. RATING: N/A
5.2 Real/Advanced
-----------------
1175
Actual Difficulty: ********.. Overall Difficulty: ??
New Difficulty: 78
Animations: P.P.R. is the same, Cosmic Cowgirl has the Cosmic Cowgirl
backgrounds with the girl is replaced with the Butthead clone from
P.P.R. (he dances in the capsule and is in the tv), and Say What You
Mean uses P.P.R.'s animations a bit again, as well as some of the ones
from the original version (see our Guitar Freaks FAQ)
Other Notes: Medley of P.P.R., Cosmic Cowgirl and Say What You Mean (a
Guitar Freaks song). Only available as a session song in DM 2nd MIX but
also available by itself in sequels. Called '1175' because it has 1175
notes in Guitar Freaks.
GG: P.P.R. and Cosmic Cowgirl are identical to what they are on Real anyway
so see those bits for them. Make sure you have at least half your energy
for Say What You Mean because it is H-A-R-D hard. Auto bass is a BIG
help. The kicks are fairly constant and all quite odd. If you do well
you might have a full bar before the final chorus, but that even might
not be enough. The kicks are more or less every half-beat, but make sure
you are VERY good at kicks before you try it. Auto bass mode is a must
otherwise, and you might want to do Expert Real in that case. Don't do
this until you've done a heap of songs with tricky bass in Expert Real -
and I don't mean simply Mr.Machine and things. Do the Classic Party
trilogy if you can as well. Say What You Mean makes this hard, not any
of the other songs - they aren't _too_ hard. But it's still very
possible that you'll lose lots of energy or fail on them..however, with
the snare/cymbal combos with the kicks in between, treat them like they
were exactly in the middle and allow yourself to fill out to their
exact position in the future. On the hihat/snare patterns, just watch</pre><pre id="faqspan-2">
the kicks because they're not terribly frequent. If you don't panic
this is realistically possible. Watch out for the roll at the end - it
is in the style of Heaven Is a '57 Metallic Grey/Expert Real (complete
with the kicks for the cymbal splashes), however at the end of the snare
roll it speeds up. Say What You Mean is VERY tough and is one of, if not
_the_ toughest non-fusion/jazz/etc songs in the Drummania/Guitar Freaks/
Keyboardmania series. RATING: 92%
BREAK OUT
Actual Difficulty: *****..... Overall Difficulty: 62%
New Difficulty: 48
Animations: Waitress with dynamite, skulls, etc. Psychotic looking chef.
Stretching guy in what looks like a mouth. The words "r u ready?",
"It's a Gourmet Night." and most amusingly of all, a can labelled 'BOM'
opening by itself and a purple monster coming out, with in large capital
letters from the top left foreground to the top right background saying,
"SNIKT". 'SNIKT' has remained an enigma to everyone who has seen it!
New Animations: Many of the effects seem to be more windowed or fancy,
and "It's a Gourtmet Night." seldom appears.
Other Notes: At the start, before the first "Break the boundaries, my
philosophy" line, there is a distorted sound. It appears to be a speech
sample from what could be a MSX, Arcade or X68000 game saying "You are
all under my command"! (See trivia for further info)
GG: This was the first 5 star song I did, but most people moving on past it
still can't do it. I dunno why! So here's my advice. The start is simple
as it's just like Normal mode. Once the song starts properly, it repeats
this pattern for most of the first half of the song. The only tricky
part is the S-K-S K-S-S - I find it more relaxing (and sorta easier) to
swing back, kick at the pedal for the first kick, and let it go back a
bit before bringing it forward again. You only need your left stick for
this bit. Don't use your right until the drum roll comes along. The next
bit has hi-hat and kick patterns. It basically goes H H H H-K-H HK...
or as I see it when I play, tap tap tap tapkicktap both. Make sure you
see that tapkicktap bit as a different pattern to the rest. It's way
easier that way. Then you shouldn't have any hard parts until the SNIKT
scene. I must admit I don't have a proper tactic for this bit, but what
usually gets me through with maybe even a full combo is doing the
HK and HS bits as normal, but where a half beat is involved, I drag my
drumsticks down both the drums. It's hard to describe, but it usually
works. On the chords, it's a simple pattern - KR (3/4 pause) L(repeat).
This is basically my secret tactics I've used all this time and
hopefully, they'll help you! RATING: 60%
-
EBE: I was one of the people that skipped this one (after an initial
extremely bad failure) and tried some higher-rated songs. At the time I
tried, I found the early kick patterns very difficult. Going back now, I
do find it very simple... not sure I have any advice to help with
this. RATING: 64%
CARNIVAL DAY
Actual Difficulty: *********. Overall Difficulty: ??%
New Difficulty: 80
Animations: Poorly drawn. Sometimes they say the lyrics. Some of them
look very 8-bit.
Other Notes: At the start of the second verse after the first line, the
backup choir type singer things sing 'KO-NA-MI' instead of 'Clap Your
Hands'! (some lyrics sites say this is 'From a ring' but it clearly
isn't) Vocals by Paula Terry, of DDR/Naoki song fame, and the Fu Fu's
(Go Go Again - Guitar Freaks).
GG: Lots of hi-hats. Lots. Use one hand if you wanna be safe. You're bound
to lose some energy, so it's good that during the stupid bit in the song
the pattern is incredibly basic (in comparison) and it's a golden
opportunity to recover. Do this when you're up to Expert Real. Any soon
is suicide, sorry! RATING: 81%
COSMIC COWGIRL
Actual Difficulty: ********.. Overall Difficulty: ??%
New Difficulty: 75
Animations: Maid-looking girl with white hair in capsule dancing/riding
a 'love rocket' and in a tv so on. Also shows astronauts spinning into a
vortex (so don't mix it up with Double Orbit) and the title of the song
and game in yellow circles on cyan circles (which I presume should be
lights) - 'COSMIC COWGIRL' (or '1175') and 'DM 2nd' (or 'GF 3rd')
New Animations: None - but the 'lights' now identify the game as GF 3rd
regardless of whether it's Guitar Freaks or not!
Other Notes: In 1175, the Butthead clone from P.P.R. (the song before
Cosmic Cowgirl in it) is dancing in the capsule instead, and is on the
TV's. He doesn't ride the rocket though!
GG: Similar to the Normal version, but with kicks. The kicks are all by
themselves, so that's not a problem unless kicks are your weakness.
A snare/cymbal/kick pattern shortly after might prove to be hard, but
it uses the same rhythm as the first pattern and the kicks are only
every 4 beats (2 every 4 after the first 3). It's rather simple, really.
Next, another pattern comes up using the same drums. It is an utter
bastard once again! Kicks are all 1 beat apart, so try to remember to
stick to that and then just focus on the drums. It's the only way to
do this and this could fail you from a full energy bar if you mess it
up in any way at all! Very unforgiving...afterwards, the triple hi-hats
from normal mode come back (but with kicks now). Beware! After this,
the older energy recovering pattern from before the last one I mentioned
comes back, although it is slightly harder now, before returning to the
first pattern (sometimes with more kicks). Cosmic Cowgirl sounds easy,
but it's hard - consider how poorly people do on the Normal version
first, and maybe it's worth practicing on I Think About You/Real. A lot
of people still fail the normal version of this when they're well into
Real songs, so tread carefully! RATING: 74%
CRUNCHY NUTS
Actual Difficulty: ******.... Overall Difficulty: 58%
New Difficulty: 55
Animations: A busy city. Ends with a digital (ie calculator screen
style) sign saying 'CRUNCHY NUTS', although people often say because of
the way the N's are shaped, it looks like 'CRUHCHY HUTS', hence this
song is often known as CRUNCHY HUTS. (here anyway).
Other Notes: AKA 'CRUNCHY HUTS' (see above) and 'CRUNKY NUTS'.
GG: The kicks for this song are mostly on beat. In fact, the whole song
is simple except for the one part where the kicks and left hand patterns
are on beat and you need to hit the cymbal off-beat. This is confusing
but can be contrasted to MAGICAL JET TOUR (if you're playing on 4th
MIX!) how at the end there is a similar pattern - although it is
entirely on the left side. As such, use this mentality and a similar
strategy to overcome this problem. The rest of the song is easy, but
keep in mind it is only 1 minute 9 seconds long! Pick something longer!
Look At Me is just as short, too! But if you absolutely must do this,
Look At Me happens to be a similar song, and for that tricky part, I
would strongly recommend you concentrate on the patterns to the left -
the right ones are all half-beat-off cymbal hits and are easier to do
than if you concentrate on them and do the other bits in your head.
That's the big secret to passing! RATING: 55%
-
EBE: Given it's position on the songlist in DM 2nd MIX (where I was learning
most of my skills) I never played this, thinking it would be too hard.
Playing it for the first time recently, I found it pretty easy. And yes,
it is too short. RATING: 62%
CUTIE PIE
Actual Difficulty: *****..... Overall Difficulty: ??%
New Difficulty: 35
Animations: Lady walking Pug dog who sometimes get skeletonized (the
lady, not the dog). Comic books with nonsensical speech bubbles saying
things like 'Konami' and 'LOVE LOVE' 'YES!'.
New Animations: The lady's head flies out where it used to be tiled
(on two identical chords)
Other Notes:
GG: Not that hard. The thing you should try to remember is, when you see the
patterns with the hi tom AND the ride cymbal, hit the tom with your
left stick. These end up as rolling motions, so they're quite easy with
practice. Try to do the rest with your right stick. Also, there's some
parts where everything looks messed up. DON'T try to do what I said
above on these, it's not nessecary! Just use your eyes...if you're ready
it'll be obvious what to do, but it's easy not to remember to do this
if you're focused on the left stick/tom trick... RATING: 53%
-
EBE: This was one of the first songs I ever played on Real. The patterns
aren't complex, just more synched with highlights of the music rather
than any real beat structure. There are the odd hits you will miss the
first few times, but don't panic, and you will pass this
easily. RATING: 40%
DAY DREAM
Actual Difficulty: ********** Overall Difficulty: ??%
New Difficulty: 96
Animations: Soccer players on hills that hold ping pong bats for some
reason, also with wierd sheep and submerged upside down castles and
kicking blue legs and strange large heads coming up and down and I'm
pretty sure Thomas Howard's head is in there somewhere too and it's
green (dunno why). Seriously. I always suspected Konami used drugs, but
thanks to this song, we now know it for a fact! The credits are
displayed during the song, and the only other text is before the
very last nasty bit which says "ARE YOU READY?".
Other Notes: Encore Stage in Drummania 3rd MIX. Speed changes from 80bpm
to 300bpm to 170bpm to 90bpm to 170bpm.
GG: I'd like to say "not that hard", but that'd be a lie. Not as hard as on
Extreme. Keep hitting the cymbal fast enough, and concentrate on kick
and snare/toms accuracy, and pre-empt the rolls if you can. Messing up
any part of this song IS fatal. The final roll WILL sap you, because
it is VERY fast. I recommend playing this song at a very fast speed -
I use 5.5x minimum. RATING: 95%
DEPEND ON ME
Actual Difficulty: ********.. Overall Difficulty: ??%
New Difficulty: 87
Animations: Features a bi-plane flying past lots of stuff way up in
the sky (including very old cars, for some reason...I didn't know
cars could fly! Except DeLoreans maybe!). Ends with it turning into
a paper airplane and a hand catches it (which is rather stupid). NOTE
that DEPEND ON ME (CD ver.) has identical animations, only the sky is
orange instead of blue. DEPEND ON ME (LONG ver.) has the same sky, but
has photos of people instead and also credits the 'ASMD Band'.
Other Notes:
GG: Very hard. God knows why this is in Real mode, but I guess it gives
experts a reason to try out Real every so often (other than Sunny Side
Street, which ExpertRealists often point out things they like about it
when I play it). (Note: It's been moved up to Extreme mode in Drummania
4th MIX thankfully) Every single drum is used a LOT in this song, so be
wary! If you can, go through it once or twice with auto bass on.
Alternatively do it on the last song if the machine is set to let you
finish the song if you fail. Also, make sure you do this on at least
3.0x speed - 2.5x is too clustered. Make sure you are decent at kicks
(the patterns aren't overwhelmingly hard) and make sure you can do the
pattern which is done throughout the chorus: snare+kick, pause, snare,
tom1, tom2, tom1, repeat. Tom1 and Tom2 switch and sometimes it might
not even be like that - one may repeat twice in a row. There are two
ways used to do this: Both use the left stick on the snare, but if the
next hit is the hi-tom, some people hit it with the right stick then
move that stick to the lo-tom and back to the hi-tom, while others use
the left stick on the hi-tom. The first is the most common. If you have
problems with the kicks, do them every beat instead of every second
beat. Also, after this pattern ends, it becomes a little complex - it
looks simple enough, but note that the hi-hat (and later the cymbal)
often use 1/3 beat strikes. The song even ends on some of these - be
careful! A deadly but fun song! Good practice too! The kicks aren't
so bad in this, just make sure you are rather good at them. Ultimately
though this song is great practice for other songs which are even harder
than this! One problem you may have is the right drumstick working its
way up your hand until you are holding the top end of it and thus have
nothing to hit with. If you get this, just experiment to see what fixes
it - maybe using both the previously mentioned methods of doing the
chorus will help. RATING: 84%
DEPEND ON ME (CD ver.)
Actual Difficulty: 54 Overall Difficulty: ??%
Animations: Features a bi-plane flying past lots of stuff way up in
the sky (including very old cars, for some reason...I didn't know
cars could fly! Except DeLoreans maybe! Or Chitty Chitty Bang Bang!).
Ends with it turning into a paper airplane and a hand catches it (which
is rather stupid). Also note that DEPEND ON ME has identical animations,
only the sky is blue instead of orange. DEPEND ON ME (CD ver.) is a
short version of DEPEND ON ME (Long ver.), not vice versa (see DEPEND
ON ME (Long ver.))
Other Notes: Slightly different to DEPEND ON ME (starts different, most
obviously). In DEPEND ON ME, there were hi-hat sounds that you never
played that are played in this. DEPEND ON ME (LONG ver.) is the long
version of this, not the original. This version is one of the longest
normal songs in the game at over 2 minutes!
GG: Considerably easier than the original version. Be sure you're decent
at kicks. Most of it has simple patterns, although by no means is this
song easy. Towards the middle it starts making unusual kick patterns.
Towards the end, the cymbal hits become random sets of 1/3 beat strikes.
It is best to decide on your own which to concentrate on - those, or the
kicks and snares that accompany it. I would say the rating for this
song is fair. Also, on the bits where there are two hi-hat strikes
with either a snare or kick accompanying them, only use one stick on the
hi-hats and it shouldn't be too hard as you don't need to do it for
long. Make sure you can do these before you try it on Extreme - because
that makes up the body of the song in Extreme! RATING: 55%
DOUBLE ORBIT
Actual Difficulty: *****..... Overall Difficulty: 54%
New Difficulty: 57
Animations: Space themed.
Other Notes: In Drummania 4th MIX, the Basic version of this is
identical. It is presumed the reason why there is no Guitar version of
this is because it is strikingly similar to L.A. Rider, guitar wise
(as Say What You Mean is to Newspaper drum-wise). The astronauts in the
background talk backwards (they seem to be talking about velocity and
mostly say numbers). Double Orbit is also a cover of 'Prologue' from
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (or at least is near identical).
GG: Can be hard, can be easy. It depends on you and how good you are at
wierd patterns. If you don't pick them up immediately, then avoid this
until you've done several other 5 star songs. If you do, this should be
one of the first you do. Personally, I couldn't do it for ages (too many
kicks and patterns with kicks, plus the non-snare drum rolls), then I
came back after Wanna Be Your Boy and easily passed it with the energy
bar (sorry, 'Excite Gauge') well into the green. I probably could have
passed it sooner! So long as you can do decent drum rolls on the toms
and can kick well, not to mention do simple kick patterns, you should
find this not too hard at all! It's essential that you get the tom rolls
at the end. RATING: 52%
-
EBE: I found Double Orbit really easy to get into. Tight rolls like these are
something I really get into (although it's easy to mis-time the end...
finishing with the KC too early can be embarrasing). If you ignore the
cymbal during the KC S-KC K-SC section, the pattern is fairly standard
(K S-K K-S K-S K-K-S), you then 'punctuate' the right beats with the
cymbal.
With the wierd toms-pattern at the start, I just hope for the best. I
find it hard to get a fix on the pattern in my head. RATING: 57%
GIANT SLUG
Actual Difficulty: *****..... Overall Difficulty: ??
New Difficulty: 57
Animations: Fat bright pink guy in referree shirt with glasses features
a lot, often getting hit with pies being hurled by fat people, morphed
into a blob, etc. - also features a guy with a hinged mouth eating
sausages a lot (I think it's the guy who chops the plank of wood in
Loud!, actually!), as well as nonsensical garbled stuff which might be
newspaper clippings which says, if you can read it, 'YOU SHOULD TAKE
CARE OF YOURSELF.'
Other Notes: Vocalist is Aaron G (of B4U vocalist fame)
GG: Simple, yet has a great beat! For most of the song you can simply just
hit the cymbal once every beat and concentrate on the kicks and snares.
They're all pretty simple, so it's not very hard - I almost max combo'd
it last time, and I've never max combo'd anything (I never try to!).
If you're not ready or willing to learn snare/kick patterns whilst you
keep a beat with the cymbal, avoid it. Otherwise, it's an excellent song
for practicing on (or warming up). RATING: 50%
HEAVEN IS A '57 METALLIC GRAY
Difficulty: *****..... Overall Difficulty: ??%
New Difficulty:
Animations: Elvis clone. Closeups of Car Engine. Neon signs. That's it.
Other Notes:
EBE: If you can pass Used Cars, this shouldn't be to hard to pick up. It has
that early 60's rock/swing crossover sound. A lot of fun to play towards
the end, just be careful of the final roll. RATING: 55%
HYPNOTICA
See Expert Real/Extreme.
IMPLANTATION
Actual Difficulty: ********.. Overall Difficulty: ??%
New Difficulty: 72
Animations: Crazy. And not in the fun kind of way, just dumb.
Other Notes:
GG: Obviously one of the hardest songs in Real mode. It starts out innocent
enough, but once the left-to-right odd drum patterns come in, it gets
odd. The key here is to know how the music goes! It follows a fairly
basic pattern for these drums, and it goes with the techno gargling
sounds. The snares after this are odd, I recommend looking at the beat
lines or comparing them with the kicks. Once the Ska Ska No 1 style
pattern comes in near the end, you should be fine. It's pretty self
explanitory. You should not need many special skills here - this song
is rather simple, really. So long as you memorise the music! Listen to
it, know how all the odd prominent sounds go, and you'll be ok. I passed
this on my first attempt, for the record (not that I had the guts to do
it before starting on Expert Real, or before doing Stop Spinning Me In
Circles/Real or Depend On Me). With the snares, I have found that the
pattern it uses is a pretty common one - but the only way I can think
of describing it is like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles theme (to the
words of the chorus, basically). It's not exactly like it because
there's ONE last beat before the pattern repeats, but it's all that
springs to mind. Maybe it'll help, who knows? Once you can pass this
and the left-to-right bit, this is a piece of cake. Oh, one last piece
of advice: On the part after the wierd snares, you have some snare
rolls and left-right-left or vice versa tom patterns. DON'T do these
like Depend On Me/Real, it doesn't work because it's too fast. Instead,
incorporate the toms into the snare rolls if you can. RATING: 75%
JET WORLD
Actual Difficulty: *******... Overall Difficulty: 63%
New Difficulty: 61
Animations: Circus themed. Something is always lip-synced to the words
(the clown, the rolling balls, the divas) and the words appear down the
bottom (except for the grunting sounds). Easily the most skillfully
animated scenes in the whole game!
New Animations: Clown appears to be more pogo-stick shaped and wearing
a peach colored costume, balls are not lip-synced and zoom in/out (with
the elephants), the divas close their mouths early and no pigs fall down
and the sheep are gone, as are the spinning hair lady things. The clown
replaces them, as do stupid balls with his face on them. This marvellous
animation was slaughtered!
Other Notes: Suprisingly, Thomas Howard does the non-"Wow!" lyrics!
GG: Looks hard, doesn't it? Well in truth, if you're not good at kicks, it
is, but it's also possible to learn if you're _not_ good at kicks. The
pattern used from the start, alternating between snares and kicks - it
is used throughout the song, except sometimes it is varied so it uses
the hi-hat or the toms a little. Memorize this one kick pattern and do
it every time from memory, and you have this song in the bag. It's that
simple. You also have to worry a little about the snare/hi-hat and kick
patterns in the first third of the song, because the song is fast and
the kicks are pretty random here. As the snare/hi-hat bits don't change,
focus on the kicks. The speed might upset you at first, but after a few
tries this song will be a piece of cake (and a very tasty cake at that!
maybe one of those choc mud cakes...) RATING: 68%
-
EBE: Keep your left hand on the hi-hat for most of this, even if you're
comfortable playing cross-over (which I was practicing more at the time
someone suggested I play this).
The section involving repeated H-SC-H-SC-etc it's easy to just alternate
between hi-hat and snare with your left hand, and swing the right hand
to the cymbal in time. It's a tricky song, but not as difficult as it's
position on the DM2 songlist suggested. RATING: 59%
LOOK AT ME
Actual Difficulty: ****...... Overall Difficulty: 44%
New Difficulty: 43
Animations: Completely nonsensical. Mostly features a girl taking her
top off/putting it back on (but there's always another shirt underneath)
and shots of some horseheaded guy, and a guy who looks like Bill Clinton
oggling at her (which makes sense). Also features crab claws sticking
out of doorways which are later revealed to belong to a martian
in a spacesuit with crab claws for hands (I call him the Man-Crab!),
a wierd snail looking creature with a wierd head (Kupster calls him
the Jester Snail!), and a UFO which comes along, hovers above the
Jester Snail, a beam comes out the bottom and just when you think he's
going to get sucked up, it burns Jester Snail (to death I guess).
Easy one of the most zany animations in a Bemani game ever!
New Animations: The girl only takes her top off now - but she still has
an unlimited supply of them.
Other Notes: Composed by Jimmy Weckl & Thomas Howard, vocals by
Elizabeth Dobbs.
GG: I think the hardest thing about this is the beat...the start of the song
uses half beat hi-hat hits a lot, so it feels a lot faster than it is.
The other day my friend was playing it and when it got to the slow bit,
he said "oh, so that's what speed it is" - so I guess it's not just me.
It is easy to lose your timing in this song. The patterns are pretty
simple, though. I'd leave this until after the other 4 star songs if you
aren't confident - except maybe Onion Man. During the main verse, the
pattern is simple, but it's interrupted periodically by hard patterns.
These patterns are on par with those used on 6 star or above songs, so
I suggest you use this to practice a little. The end bit (3 snares a
pop, with a kick in between each set) can be tricky but once again, it's
great practice. It'll seem very easy once you're an expert! RATING: 48%
-
EBE: When I first moved into Real, I was very cautious about new songs. As
it turned out, by the time you've mastered the hardest Normal songs,
the earlier Real songs aren't that hard.
This was the case with Look At Me. I passed it pretty easily the first
time I played. I *always* missed the pattern at the end... it's tricky
to get used to the pause of the snare for the kick. It's easy to get a
little off time with the hi-hat all through the start of the song.
Another song where keeping the left hand on the hi-hat is a good idea,
due to the HKCs towards the end of the first bit. Half-way through the
song becomes more relaxed, so if you make it there, passing should be
certain (just don't panic at the very end). RATING: 39%
LOUD!
Actual Difficulty: *****..... Overall Difficulty: 57%
New Difficulty: 45
Animations: Wierd people chopping planks of wood with hands/holding
window cleaners/etc yelling "HI!" "HEY!" a lot. Wierd people coming out
of a womans head. Wierd guy who is lifting barbells. Little girl kissing
mother a lot. Most 'wierd' people in this have bad moustaches (except
the woman, girl and the old guy karate chopping the plank of wood).
Sometimes almonds (or Peanut M&M's!) fill the screen and 'DO YOUR BEST!'
is written over the top of them.
Other Notes: The lyrics, other than "LOUD!" include "Can you feel the
groove?", "I feel so good!", "Open up your heart!" "Dance to the rhythm"
"I'll show you how it's done", "Make some noise for me!" and "Lets get
moving!".
GG: For the kicks at the start, I recommend you use the 4 hi-hat beats at
the start to sync yourself to the beat. If you start getting great/good/
etc, then you are probably going too fast. Slow down a little. Once the
music starts if you are ready for the song you should be okay. At the
section which has kicks and ride cymbal hits, remember to slow down a
bit and try not to kick when not needed, it's good practice. Towards the
end you find bits which require you to go from the left side to the two
toms REALLY fast. There is one way you can do this if you're really
REALLY stuck: From the second kick in these bits, simply cross your
arms and hit the hi-hat with your right stick then as you uncross them
hit the toms with the left and right sticks respectively. This requires
practice but can be done! It's usually easier just bouncing the right
stick over, though...but we all have to start somewhere. RATING: 55%
-
EBE: Another song I didn't like much the first time I played, mostly due to
the difficulty. Coming back to it, it's a lot more fun to play now.
RATING: 60%
MAGICAL JET TOUR
Actual Difficulty: 61 Overall Difficulty: ??%
Animations: Similar to Jet World, except featuring zooming in on the
Divas' mouth in a hall-of-mirrors effect, fire breathers (why do fire
breathers in games always wear red pants and have curly moustahces? I
fully blame Karnov for this!), dancing girls and a magician who pulls
rabbits out of his hat, as well as characters from other songs (A green
flower headed guy from Ride On The Light(KeyboardMania 2nd MIX), Dancing
Gorbachev, the bull from Classic Party 2, the barbell guy from Loud!,
the gimp from Classic Party 1, fake Elvis from Heaven Is A '57 Metallic
Gray, some teeth from Stop Spinning Me In Circles, a programmer).
Refreshingly different and self-mocking! Also note another programmer
swings on the trapeze with the clown at the start before he swings back
across with another clown (nobody ever sees this in time)
Other Notes: Fully intended to be 'Jet World 2' (I believe Konami even
refer to it as this in Musician's Corner on their site). The "HEY!"
yells every so often are by the AM Sound team, whilst the rest of the
vocals are by Taeko.
GG: Not much like Jet World as far as the patterns go. It's fast, so be
ready for it. The first pattern is simple enough, as is the second (the
one that involves kicks and snares). After this it develops into a more
complex pattern, but the kicks are exactly the same. Remember that and
it should be easy enough. The next pattern is very similar to the most
common pattern found in Loud!/Real - kick, lo-tom, snare. Loud! is an
excellent way to learn these, as the speed here can be a disadvantage
(Loud! is faster though!). Watch out for the off-beat hi-hat/cymbal/bass
combinations before the next pattern, which involves HEAPS of hi-hats
and snares, as well as a lot of toms - all very fast. Don't use drum
rolls on these - the catch is, if you do these TOO fast, you get lots
of Poor's...and the section is long enough so that'll fail you entirely.
Just tap them. It takes practice, but this pattern is used in a few
other songs - only worse! After that, the Loud!esque patterns return,
except they are more densely packed - beware. After that, there's a few
bits involving both toms at once being thrown in randomly. These aren't
on beat, and I can't really give any advice on them (yet - wait for the
PS2 version of this to come out!). After this, you should be alright
until the end of the song. RATING: 60%
MAGICAL JET TOUR (LONG ver.)
Actual Difficulty: 57 Overall Difficulty: ??%
Animations: Same as the normal version.
Other Notes: Fully intended to be 'Jet World 2' (I believe Konami even
refer to it as this in Musician's Corner on their site). The "HEY!"
yells every so often are by the AM Sound team, whilst the rest of the
vocals are by Taeko.
GG: More or less the same as the normal one. Some patterns repeat, however
the nasty fasty hi-hat crazy one doesn't (it's still in it, of course).
There are minor variations which make it simpler if anything, and in
the overall sense, the length of simple sections in this means you are
less likely to fail (slightly). No suprises here! RATING: 58%
MARIONETE
Actual Difficulty: 46 Overall Difficulty: ??%
Animations:
Other Notes: Licensed song (Japanese).
GG: More advanced kick pattern song. Very basic, drum wise, semi-complex,
kick-wise. Everything is on beat or on half-beat, and it's not too fast,
but even so, be cautious. At least try to pass Venus first. Slightly
underrated. Very little else to this song...it's a learning song at
best. So give it a try! It's also good if you want a massive combo
or score for some reason...like if you want to try to get the extra
stage. RATING: 53%
MONKEY MAGIC
Actual Difficulty: 43 Overall Difficulty: 45%
Animations: Actually does portray Monkey Magic very well! Monkey even
rides on clouds and stuff!
Other Notes: The theme from Monkey, the 80s TV show (obviously)
GG: Quite simple. If you can do basic kick patterns, you should survive
easily - if you can't, it might be a good place to learn. The first
pattern is very basic. The next one is identical to Ska Ska No 1/Real's.
They basically repeat these two patterns a lot. A third similar to the
first one is used as well, but with extra kicks. It's fairly harder,
but excellent practice and honestly, it's not too complex. The speed
of the song helps enormously. When a row of only kicks sets in, beware
because the snare/hi tom combination pattern sets in quick. This is
quite hard unless you're an expert because it's hard to concentrate on
the two at the same time - you end up delaying somewhere. My advice is
to keep the drumsticks absolutely rigid - without the swing motion of
the sick, there's less room to screw up. That's essentially all there
is to this song. Do it around the time you do Spring/Real. RATING: 45%
-
EBE: The early pattern is almost constant hi-hats on each beat with snares
and kicks on some beats. The pattern involving constant toms after the
single kicks. If people have practiced cross-over for hi-hat/snare up
until this point, this is no different. You right hand just keeps moving
on beat. RATING: 45%
MR.MACHINE
Difficulty: ******.... Overall Difficulty: ??
New Difficulty: 62
Animations: IN GF: Shots of Guitarist with very tall hairdo. IN DM:
Shots of some kind of head thing with headphones and dancing people
scrolling up and down. IN BOTH: Shots of guy on some kind of bike going
through a green tunnel. The words 'MR. MACHINE' zooming up and in to the
screen.
New Animations: 'MR. MACHINE' zooms in, but not up.
Other Notes: In the GF animations, very small words sometimes scroll
up the screen. Although these are at too low a resolution to be read
properly, they are a list of the things the Guitar Freaks announcer used
to say in the older versions of the game (not 5th MIX though). Clearly
visible is "Are you ready?" and just below that is "You set a new
record!" and "That was the best play so far!". These are also shown a
bit in DM 4th MIX.
GG: Similar to Double Orbit/Real, and in fact it's the easiest 6 star song
of them all by far. If you can pass it on Normal, and you can do most
5 star songs, you should manage this fairly well. Double Orbit is very
similar...just this hits outwards more, and has no really fast drum
rolls (mind you the song itself is also much slower, so that's a bonus).
Not really harder or easier to Double Orbit/Real, just different.
Treat it accordingly. RATING: 55%
NEWSPAPER
Difficulty: *********. Overall Difficulty: ??
Animations: ?
Other Notes: The pattern is identical to the pattern for Say What You
Mean in 1175/Expert Real in most parts of the song! This appears to be
nothing more than a Drummania version of it...
See NEWSPAPER (Vocal Ver.)
NEWSPAPER (Vocal Ver.)
Actual Difficulty: 75 Overall Difficulty: ??
Animations: Similar to both Happy Man and Wanna Be Your Boy. Pictures
look like they're cut out from a newspaper and often displays wierd
animations that don't make much sense with newspaper cutout letters
saying 'CONVERSATION' or 'ETIQUETTE' (and yes they spell it right).
Other animations include an ugly green guy flexing muscles, human
headed fish, pig/human faced hybrids and the title of the song.
Other Notes: NEWSPAPER was removed from DM 4th MIX because the pattern
and animations are identical to this version of it. This version sounds
identical apart from the addition of words (nothing else changed).
Other Notes: See NEWSPAPER above.
GG: Quite tricky. Starts with a pattern like Magic Jet Tour's in terms of
speed and a bit of the way the pattern itself is. After that, there is
a snare/kick pattern very much like Jet World/Real's. Treat it the same
and it'll be easy. Looks hard to watch, though. The main problem with
this song, however, is the cymbal/kick/snare patterns - much like
The Adventures AND Stop Spinning Me In Circles/Expert Real. VERY fast.
VERY nasty. The first one isn't so bad. When it repeats, like Stop
Spinning Me In Circles/Expert Real, it adds more kicks. It is hard to
do these, the snare and especially the cymbal! Auto bass is used a lot
on this song. If you don't use it, do Stop Spinning Me In Circles/Expert
Real first if you can - you still might be able to do this first, but I
personally don't see why. Happy Man/Real also might be good practice,
but maybe not. For the rolls, I suggest holding the sticks a bit closer
to the ends of them, or just using shorter sticks. RATING: 84%
P.P.R.
Actual Difficulty: *****..... Overall Difficulty: 56%
New Difficulty: 61
Animations: Looks like Butthead in a bunny suit (seriously).
New Animations: None.
Other Notes: Also a long version in DM 3rd MIX and later.
GG: Decent pattern here, but if rolls are your weakness, leave this song
until later. It's hard for a 5 star song! It uses simple enough patterns
other than the rolls. If you can do rolls on all 3 drums, you won't
have too many problems here - the drum patterns might be a little
advanced (lots of hi-hats with snares/kicks every beat), but they're
the same thing that you're doing soon anyway on songs like Classic Party
so I strongly recommend learning them here. No other advice, except
learn your rolls! Oh, one little tip to save you embarassment, although
it won't be the difference between passing and failing - during the
section where the lyrics are "where nobody wants to beat anyone, and
nobody's bugging me, P-P-R!", there are some fast and short (ie 3 notes)
drum rolls. Start on the right stick with these - it's a similar trick
to the very start of Mr.Machine/Real, in fact. One tip for the rolls at
the end - all kicks are with the cymbal, so rather than kicking randomly
try just forcing your right leg and you right arm down at that time. It
is merely a much easier way of thinking about it. RATING 60%
-
EBE: The rolls are the thing. A good song to learn cross-over on early. If
you've played PPR on Normal enough, the roll patterns are still the
same, you just have to do them on different drums, and the kicks and
cymbals make it that little bit more difficult.
The first few times you play, the rolls towards the end probably will
cause you trouble, leaving that long speed-up/slow-down kick stretch to
sap your energy bar as you panic...but P.P.R. is well worth
practicing. RATING: 53%
P.P.R. (LONG ver.)
Actual Difficulty: ********.. Overall Difficulty: ??
Animations: Looks like Butthead in a bunny suit (seriously). At the
start the guy who looks like Konamiman a bit is in different colored
suits to normal.
New Animations: None.
GG: More or less the same as the normal version, except (a) it's spread out
more like most long versions of songs, so in that respect it's harder
to fail, (b) the third quarter is a bit like an extended Heaven Is...,
due to the strange kick patterns and things (you're not leading though,
so just copy the vocals), and towards the end it gets a bit crazy.
Fortunately, the final sets of rolls are simpler because only every
second one needs a kick. Ends with a double snare hit, I believe...
refreshingly different, yet like the regular P.P.R. still - which can't
be a bad thing. RATING: 64%
PRIMAL SOUL
Actual Difficulty: ******.... Overall Difficulty: ??%
New Difficulty: 71
Animations: South American/Aztec themed. Sometimes has athletic looking
people on a trippy background.
Other Notes:
GG: Probably the hardest song in Real mode (except for maybe Implantation
and Depend On Me, which both have their own 'traits')! The first thing
to say is, don't play this on your usual learning speed and don't play
it any faster than 2.5x at first. The reason is the bongo style tom
patterns. These can be learnt much easier at a slower speed. They don't
require much learning unless you're doing them at too fast a speed.
Also, with the hi-hats, it's probably easiest not to do rolls - it's
easy to mess them up if you do rolls on them and it's hard to mess them
up if you don't. With everything else, rolls probably work best, except
of course on the bongo style tom patterns. Stick to one stick for each
drum on those bits. Overall, this isn't terribly hard once you get those
bongo-esque patterns down! And that is not very easy! But personally, I
can't do this but CAN do it on Expert Real. Go figure. RATING: 75%
PRIMAL SOUL (LONG ver.)
Actual Difficulty: ********** Overall Difficulty: ??%
New Difficulty: 69
Animations: Identical to normal version.
Other Notes: Long version of Primal Soul (obviously). Has vocals, unlike
the normal version. Vocalist appears to be Thomas Howard, too...
I may be very wrong, but this song -may- have been in a Castlevania
(Akumajou Dracula) game. I'm pretty sure I'm wrong, but I distinctly
have a feeling of nostalgia about it and I seem to remember something
about a werewolf...which certainly goes with the lyrics!
GG: If you pick this, you will forever regret it, because it is both one of
the most painful and one of the most addictive songs in Drummania!
You'll hate yourself! Anyway, it borrows some of the nasty traits of the
regular Expert Real version - heaps of rolls, nasty tom patterns that
sound like bongoes. Except guess what? Now there's even MORE rolls,
and the tom patterns are WAY longer! Arrgh! Fortunately, there's less
kicks during the rolls and the tom patterns are just that now -
patterns. They were a bit random before, but now they have pattenrns.
Unfortunately when it's lo-hi-hi-lo-hi-hi-lo-hi-lo-hi-lo, that doesn't
help. Thankfully, the patterns seem to be in your favour if you mess
them up - if for that one you didn't see the doubles at all, you'd
end up doing the right thing anyway. This song is what I'd call an
'utter bastard', but this is slightly easier than the vanilla version of
Primal Soul. I'd also say, in the case of Drummania at least, that it's
more fun. Honestly, if you can pass it in Real, you should try this,
because it's not much different - this is sort of between Real and
Expert Real. And the song is so much better with words. The lyrics are
good, the patterns are fun, what more could you want? Perhaps easier
tom patterns...they're way too long. Expect to fail if you try this
because it's pretty random...two big tips though: (a) On the continuous
tom bongoesque pattern, just alternate left/right and ignore what you
see. You will lose a little energy, but probably not as much. (b) On
the chorus hi-hat rolls, the rolls seem to go faster but they don't -
the music just doesn't match them very well. Don't assume that because
this is roughly as hard as the Expert Real version of the original that
you can do the Expert Real version of this, because it is very hard,
auto bass or not! RATING: 88%
ROAD FOR THUNDER
Actual Difficulty: ******.... Overall Difficulty: 67%
New Difficulty: 59
Animations: Guy on a motorcycle. Vaguely like L.A. Rider (Guitar Freaks)
Other Notes:
GG: Like Depend On Me, this is far too complex for a Real mode song. The
patterns ARE simple in their own way, but the kicks are just too hard
for Real mode. You should be able to do this shortly after you're ready
for Expert Real. Try Body Operation/Expert Real first, or at the very
least pass Double Orbit/Real and Mr.Machine/Real. This song is harder
if you're not good at kicks, even if you do pretty good on Expert Real-
but it's definately too hard for Real! One last piece of advice -
at the start, you have to move from the hi-hats to the cymbals very
quickly. Don't do what I did and flip your drumstick way up into the
air by catching it on the cymbal. It's lucky I caught it or I'd have
failed! RATING: 69%
-
EBE: I first tried this when working my way up through Real, which was a
mistake. The kick patterns are a little too complex. A good song to come
back to, though. RATING: 65%
SAKURA NO TOKI
Actual Difficulty: ???....... Overall Difficulty: ??
New Difficulty: ??
Animations: Wounded animals drawn in the wrong colors, often with
nurse headwear with silhouettes of hearts on them. One purple thingy
with tentacles coming down from its face with a Doctor's thingy with a
heart on it (Kupster calls him Dr. Crabs!). Purple blob thingies crying
with gigantic boils ont heir head with "I LOVE YOU" written on them.
Other Notes:
GG: In parts, the patterns are the same as Body Operation/Expert Real, so I
would treat those the same. Lots of short but very fast snare rolls -
be prepared for them, and always start them with the right stick! The
kicks are wierd in this song, so unless you don't mind that, beware of
it.
SECRET OF YOUR HEART
Actual Difficulty: ********.. Overall Difficulty: ??
New Difficulty: 84
Animations: Often displays 'NOW:LOADING,,," in the top corner. Often
has pictures of a train going through some residential area, and of
a man's head - the man is sleeping (and is usually drawn in red over
a yellow background). Starts with some dancers and the words 'PLEASE
WAIT'. Ends with sideways faces and the word 'SECRETS'.
Other Notes: The title of the song makes it sound relaxing but it's
more like Stop Spinning Me In Circles with the way it sounds. Also,
the vocals sound like they're done by both Thomas Howard and Taeko
(whoever Taeko is). The music itself is by Hideyuki Ono (of Classic
Party fame). The vocals may not be by Taeko as all sites that say they
are only mention the one name when two vocalists are clearly audible...
GG: Overrated. Kicks are simple. The patterns are basic and similar to
Hypnotica/Expert Real's. The catch is, the song is FAST. While songs
like Newspaper and The Adventures paralyze your right arm, this one
does the same with your left. If you can handle the stamina it requires,
this song isn't too hard. I'd put it in the same boat as The Adventures.
If you can beat Hypnotica, you CAN beat this, but you might not have
the energy. Wait a bit. No rush. Difficulty is roughly the same as
Stop Spinning Me in Circles/Real but for different reasons. Once you
can handle the speed, you might want to use this song regularly to
'calibrate' yourself. It's a good warm-up song. It's also got such a
basic pattern that it's fairly simple to learn the song well enough to
pass it on 7.0x speed. RATING: 77%
SKA SKA NO 1
Actual Difficulty: *****..... Overall Difficulty: ??%
New Difficulty: 44
Animations: Muscle men recycling stuff. Goofy Sun/Moon going over city.
Sometimes called the Chesty Bonds song. Sun appears to crash into the
city at the end.
Other Notes:
GG: The first pattern is simple. If you can't do that, come back later!
When you see two hits really close together, like on the snares at the
end of these 'basic' patterns, simply hit the drum with both sticks at
once, but make one hit a bit earlier than the other. This trick is a bit
hard to learn at first but is essential for the tom patterns in this
song. The next hard bit is at the end - same as the start, but with an
extra kick. It IS hard, yet simple - practice it a bit. Imagine it's
simply kick-hihat-kick-hihat. Then imagine the third kick is also a
snare. And that's it! Practice it - it's dead easy then. This pattern
is also used again in Midnight Special. RATING: 58%
STONE COLD BUSH
Actual Difficulty: 52 Overall Difficulty: ??%
Animations: Wrestling themed (wrestler getting thrown in the air,
a wrestler who looks like he's from the original WWF Wrestlemania NES
game bouncing around a ring with 'STONE COLD BUSH' written in it).
Other Notes: Original song by Red Hot Chilli Peppers and, as far as I
know, has nothing to do with wrestling. I guess Konami's animators just
didn't know what Stone Cold meant, but had seen the WWF!
GG: Bloody hard! 52 my ass! Nasty kick patterns dominate this song so do
yourself a favour and turn auto bass on the first time! Do the kicks if
you can anyway, but they're very tricky. Practice is the best way to get
this song done. No real tips apart from that. USE AUTO BASS DAMMIT!
Or you'll be sorry! (unless you're well and truly good enough for this)
No other advice nessecary. RATING: 64%
STOP SPINNING ME IN CIRCLES
Actual Difficulty: *******... Overall Difficulty: ??%
New Difficulty: 75
Animations: Teeth themed. Teeth driving cars, teeth eating bagels,
teeth in spray cans, teeth in slurpees. The text 'WHAT YOU WANT?' is
seen from when the lyrics say "You've gotta tell me what you want". At
least that answers the golden question, "did the animators listen to
the music before they made that random nonsense stuff?"
New Animations: 'WHAT YOU WANT?' has been removed entirely.
Other Notes: A 'new version' of the song was made which is on the
Soundtrack CD (I think). It's an extended version, except it sounds a
bit err, retro...also the 'WHAT YOU WANT?' appears to be in 'Impact'
font, a standard font in Windows 95, 98, ME, 2000, XP etc.
GG: During the first chorus part, there is a really obvious pattern there.
3 beats are on beat, then 5 half-beats, then 2 more beats on beat. Hard</pre><pre id="faqspan-3">
to describe, but it sticks to that pattern like glue except for every
so often. Once it starts speeding up the patterns get a little complex
and a mixture of sightreading and practice is needed - Onion Man/Real
is a good practice song. For the next choral bit towards the end of
the song, note that the kicks go with the bass very well. Overall,
the main thing you need to pass this song is practice - and lots of it!
Try to memorise bits! It's a lot easier! If you're used to the bass
pedal, and I mean REALLY used to it, you should fly through this
without a doubt. Ultimately you'll come back to this in a week or two's
time and soar through it. RATING: 77%
SUNNY DAY SUNDAY
Actual Difficulty: ****...... Overall Difficulty: 33%
New Difficulty: 39
Animations: Baseball themed, with the emphasis that one team sucks
(fielder dives for the ball and misses it, the score board having lots
of 0's on the away team's side and someone accidentally writes up a 1
then crosses it out and puts in 0 again).
Other Notes: For some reason, this song is also in Beatmania GB
Gattchamix 2! It has to be unlocked using the password GREAT (or use
MAXIMUM to unlock everything). It's identical, but hardish!
GG: This song is perfect for learning drum rolls! There are heaps of snare
rolls, and none of them are very fast. It's also good for learning the
'bouncing' trick you need to use on the toms in Ska Ska No 1 and in
swing songs. This is probably easier than Spring is, so I'd probably
recommend starting here, especially if you have problems with patterns
that have kicks in them! RATING: 33%
-
Definitely one of the first songs to play on Real/Advanced level. Again,
people get panicky about the rolls and speed them up. Relax and groove
along...keep the first rolls in time with the words, and remember the
rhythm for later in the song. Good use of kicks as well. RATING: 33%
THE ADVENTURES
Actual Difficulty: ******.... Overall Difficulty: 73%
New Difficulty: 59
Animations: 60's-ish. Sometimes displays the words 'Jack Up'.
Other Notes:
GG: Cymbal hell! No other way to describe it! This will mess up your right
arm/hand, guaranteed. Do Stop Spinning Me.../Real first, hell do
Giant Slug/Expert Real too. In fact, skip this if you can. It is the
hardest song of its type...well, hardest on your arm! The pattern with
the snares and kicks is simple, but it can be very hard to those who
are not good at kicks or these kinds ot patterns. And I'm sure nobody
will think that The Adventures/Real is easy to do...VERY painful. You
can't do rolls, either! RATING: 75%
-
EBE: I like this song too much to never play it... but it *is* murder on your
right arm. Build up your stamina any way you can. It should technically
be no different to playing cross-over onto the hi-hat, but holding your
arm in position for the entire song is what causes the pain. RATING: 72%
THE LEAST 100 SEC
Actual Difficulty: 9? Overall Difficulty: ??%
Animations: Sketches of Churches and things, usually paired with
wireframe/vector shapes (mostly pyramids). Wins the prize for lamest
animations in the game (and only barely beats Eyes Of Kids)!
Other Notes: Encore Stage in Drummania 4th MIX.
GG: This differs from the Basic version in being central to the toms instead
of the hi-hat. There are still lots of hi-hat rolls, which I suggest
only using one stick for. RATING: 96%
USED CARS
Actual Difficulty: *****..... Overall Difficulty: ??%
New Difficulty: 58
Animations: Used cars (obviously). The lines "YOU CAN DRIVE MY CAR.",
"YOU TAKE A DRIVE TO DREAM WORLD." and "NO. 1 PRETTY CAR!" are shown in
parts. "USED CARS" shown at the end.
New Animations: 'No 1 Pretty Car!' now clearly visible instead of being
flashed up REALLY quickly.
Other Notes:
GG: Remember, this is a swing song - most of the beats, unless you can see
otherwise, are in pairs (dun-dun, dun-dun, dun-dun...). Kicks are pretty
much spaced out, so they're little problem until towards the end where
they become more consistant. The main problem here is if you're not good
at the swing type beat, you lose your timing and it is hard to regain
your energy - especially if kicks are involved! If in doubt, run through
it with auto bass on, or do it as the last song. Most people find it
easy, but I myself found it incredibly hard for ages due to the kicks.
If kicks are your weakness, expect the same. I'm rating the song based
on the emphasis on kicks here... RATING: 60%
-
EBE: I was told to avoid this one, because of the difficulty a lot of people
have with the constant swing-style snare pairs throughout. I don't know
why tho... for me this song was pretty simple. The only times I've
failed it is because getting slightly off-time with the pairs can be
enough to lose track of the whole beat... it can be very hard to
recover.
Also, remember to sing 'Used Caaars!" at the end... this won't help
you play, it's just fun :) RATING: 53%
VENUS
Actual Difficulty: 25 Overall Difficulty: ??%
Animations: Rather poorly trying to theme to the song.
Other Notes: Originally a song by Bananarama from sometime in the 80s.
GG: Rather easy. Excellent for learning the kick patterns contained within.
Use it as a learning tool. Do it before you try anything else on
Advanced mode if you can. Very little else to say... RATING: 25%
VIRTUAL INSANITY
Actual Difficulty: ****...... Overall Difficulty: ??%
New Difficulty: N/A
Animations: Pretty stupid really.
GG: For most of the song you only need to use the hi-hat and the pedal,
occasionally you may need the snare, and once or twice you may need the
other drums. So keep that in mind. VERY simple to learn. Just don't
get too panicky about the way how sometimes one beat might be a
millimetre earlier than the one paired with it. If it's too hard, ignore
the difference. If you have problems, position yourself facing to the
left a bit. RATING: 30%
WANNA BE YOUR BOY
Actual Difficulty: ********.. Overall Difficulty: 68%
New Difficulty: 69
Animations: Commonly referred to as 'The Gorbachev Song' because the
animations feature a guy that looks a bit like him in 'em. No birthmark
though...
New Animations: Gorby floats around a lot instead of doing the zoom in
zoom out trick with the picture he's carrying of himself that it used
to do.
Other Notes: Written/Arranged by Mutsuhiko Izumi.
GG: The difficulty on this varies according to your own skill. If you're an
expert of sorts at Beatmania (inc. IIdx), Dance Dance Revolution or
any similar games, you should choose this after you can pass 50% or so
of the 5 star songs. If you're good at Guitar Freaks or ParaParaParadise
I'd wait a bit. If you're not good at any of these, wait until you're
up to 8 star songs! Anyway, the patterns involved in this song are not
too complex. The hardest part I find is at the end where sometimes you
have to kick twice - if you are using the arcade machine, try literally
kicking the pedal - swing your foot to the lowest part of the pedal. It
should bounce the pedal and your foot and it'll in effect do two kicks
a split second apart. Otherwise, try to use the whole of your foot, not
the heel as a lot of people do. The rest of the song just requires
a bit of 'sightreading'. There's also two parts which look very hard -
you'll know when you see them. They simply go kick, lo-tom, hi-tom.
Just don't ignore them and you'll not need to worry about them too
much...just watch you don't lose your rhythm in this song! RATING: 75%
-
EBE: Good cross-over song. Makes switching from the hi-hat to the cymbal much
less complicated. I've found starting with the left hand on both the
S-S-S and S-T-S bits makes it much easier. I would occasionally miss one
of the first snare hits if I started with my right (which is natural for
most rolls). RATING: 62%
5.3 Expert Real/Extreme
-----------------------
1175
Actual Difficulty: ********?. Overall Difficulty: ??
New Difficulty: ??
Animations: P.P.R. is the same, Cosmic Cowgirl has the Cosmic Cowgirl
backgrounds with the girl is replaced with the Butthead clone from
P.P.R. (he dances in the capsule and is in the tv), and Say What You
Mean uses P.P.R.'s animations a bit again, as well as some of the ones
from the original version (see our Guitar Freaks FAQ)
Other Notes: Medley of P.P.R., Cosmic Cowgirl and Say What You Mean (a
Guitar Freaks song). Only available as a session song in DM 2nd MIX but
also available by itself in sequels. Called '1175' because it has 1175
notes in Guitar Freaks.
GG: P.P.R. and Cosmic Cowgirl once again are the same. Be wary that you can
beat Cosmic Cowgirl, as it can be quite tough. Say What You Mean is
more or less the same except now you're only doing the hard patterns
you got at the end of the song before. Guess what? That makes this song
almost identical to Newspaper! No kidding! The hihat/snare/kick pattern
is identical to the Expert Real version, as is the snare/kick/cymbal
pattern. Do either 1175/Real or Newspaper/Real or Expert Real as
practice and make sure you do adequately enough before you take this
song on. RATING: 95%
ACROSS THE NIGHTMARE
Actual Difficulty: *********. Overall Difficulty: ??%
New Difficulty: 84
Animations: Various shots of a Samurai wielding a katana, unsheathing
it, meditating with cherry blossoms falling around, etc.
Other Notes: Ride Cymbal makes a guitar sound if hit at the start!
GG: Looks pretty hard, but the fact is only the kicks are hard. The start is
simple - just basically kick for every drum beat you do. When you got
the hi-hat/snare patterns, if you aren't sure, just kick twice or so
for every kick you see. This way, you still improve your technique and
can pass the song. When it slows down to every two beats for a kick,
Note it is on 'even' beats, not 'odd' ones - ie the start (0), 2 beats
later, 4 beats later, etc. The kicks go with the hi-hats, not the hi-hat
AND snare. After that, there's only one hard part...the 'weaving'
pattern near the end. Looks hard, but it's dead easy. Once again, the
kicks ONLY go with hi-hats. If you have to hit snares, or both, there
is no kick. They are also all on a beat. The first is two hi-hat's/kicks
then two snares (think of it as a 'pause'), then a 5 beat 'weave'
(hihat/kick- snare- hihat/kick- snare- hihat/kick) then another 'pause',
then 3 hi-hat/kicks, then another 'pause', then a smaller weave
(hihat/kick-snare-hihat/kick), then after a slight delay, another
'pause', before it repeats 2 times. On the final time, it is slightly
different. This IS hard, but it's nowhere near as hard as it looks. On
first glance you probably thought this was impossible, and I'm here to
tell you it's not and I managed to get good enough to do it! RATING: 80%
ANARCHY IN THE UK
Actual Difficulty: ******.... Overall Difficulty: 79%
New Difficulty: 80
Animations: Horribly deformed animals, mostly rats on skateboards or
in cars with a 'R' plate on them. Pictures of skateboards (or surfboards
maybe?) scroll by, themed on Drummania 2nd MIX songs (Implantation,
Stop Spinning Me In Circles x 2 (slurpee container thing and teeth),
Loud x 2 (punching lady and pink underwear baldy guy), etc.
Other Notes:
GG: The main thing about this is the kicks are damn wierd. They're all in
sets of 3's, which sounds simple but in reality is hard to do. If you
are VERY good at kicks, they aren't hard, and the rest of the song has
a pattern similar to normal mode (but with more rolls - but they're
relatively easy rolls) as well as the generic Expert Real Hi-Hat/Snare/
Kick pattern. So basically, the drums are easy and the kicks are not.
The kick pattern is non-standard, so beware. PPR might be a decent
practice song. RATING: 80%
-
EBE: I still haven't passed this, mostly because I haven't gone back to it
yet. The kick patterns, from what I remember, are all on the beat, so it
shouldn't be too hard... what caused me problems was K KC K S K KC K S.
I can do it off the machine with no problems (like on the desk and
floor) but my foot and hands get mixed up whenever I try in the game.
Still one of the easier Expert Real songs, but don't try it until you're
truly at that level. RATING: 78%
BODY OPERATION
Actual Difficulty: ******.... Overall Difficulty: ??%
New Difficulty: N/A
Animations: Heart beating in a stone octagon. Words flashing up. Meteors
flying out from the screen to the background.
Other Notes:
GG: Like on Normal, the hardest thing about this is the way how the song
feels like it slows down then speeds up. It's definately one of the
easiest Expert Real songs - the kicks might be wierd at first, but the
pattern is so basic, and the song is so slow. If you're ready for
Expert Real, you should pass this and you certainly don't need any
advice. It's fun, too! Shame it's not in 4th MIX... RATING: 66%
BREAK OUT
Actual Difficulty: *****??... Overall Difficulty: ??
New Difficulty: 77
Animations: Waitress with dynamite, skulls, etc. Psychotic looking chef.
Stretching guy in what looks like a mouth. The words "r u ready?",
"It's a Gourmet Night." and most amusingly of all, a can labelled 'BOM'
opening by itself and a purple monster coming out, with in large capital
letters from the top left foreground to the top right background saying,
"SNIKT". 'SNIKT' has remained an enigma to everyone who has seen it!
New Animations: Many of the effects seem to be more windowed or fancy,
and "It's a Gourtmet Night." might be missing.
Other Notes: At the start, before the first "Break the boundaries, my
philosophy" line, there is a distorted sound. It appears to be a speech
sample from what I (GG@RTF) assume to be a MSX game, saying what sounds
like "You are all on my command"! (See trivia for further info)
GG: This is rather unusual for an Expert Real song, being that it's based
on the NORMAL pattern, not the REAL pattern. The verse starts out sort
of similar to the end of the Real version - concentrate on the hi-hat
and snare, as after the first few kicks, there's only two more in the
pattern and the snare is much more complex. The next pattern is
unchanged. By the time the next new pattern appears, as I said it is
based on the Normal version, except now it has kicks. This is similar
to Stop Spinning Me In Circles/Expert Real - if you can do that, you
can do this, if you can't, you might be able to do it after this! All
the patterns are pretty straight forward until 'SNIKT' comes up. Once
again, the next pattern is based on Normal except with heaps more kicks.
As you did with normal, do a roll starting with the right stick. When
the chords come, ignore the kicks and just kick on every chord, and
focus on the rest of the stuff. You can see it basically moves left to
right, alternating between toms for the middle of the sweep each time.
If you look at it AND the kicks, it will look like one big mess, so
don't! The rest is easy. RATING: 85%
CARNIVAL DAY
Actual Difficulty: *********. Overall Difficulty: ??%
New Difficulty: 8?
Animations: Poorly drawn. Sometimes they say the lyrics. Some of them
look very 8-bit.
Other Notes: At the start of the second verse after the first line, the
backup choir type singer things sing 'KO-NA-MI' instead of 'Clap Your
Hands'! (some lyrics sites say this is 'From a ring' but it clearly
isn't) Vocals by Paula Terry, of DDR/Naoki song fame, and the Fu Fu's
(Go Go Again - Guitar Freaks).
GG: Almost the same as on Real, but reinforced with a truckload of kicks!
With auto-bass on, this is both identical and a waste of time. The
kicks, however, are utter bastards once again. Simple enough patterns,
just they're in clusters of fast ones. If you're good at kicks, you
can pass this, but only if you can pass it on Real, and that's a mission
in itself! If you got smaller sticks, use 'em because it makes the
song a LOT easier. Bouncing your foot with the kicks is the key.
One of the most fun songs, in my opinion. RATING: 89%
CASSANDRA
Actual Difficulty: 76? Overall Difficulty: ??%
Animations: Walking dogs (right to left). Some bimbo with wierd hair
in what looks like a 16 color Windows BMP (the animal on her shirt
changes, too). Two still pictures of dogs wearing bandanas (the colors
change so it appears to be 4)
Other Notes:
GG: A perennially favourite song for Session (dunno why, it's pretty dull
in Guitar Freaks - like Vitalize!). Very similar to Ska Ska No 1 in
most bits, except faster. In fact, the only hard part is the first
pattern which involves one massive set of tom rolls with kicks. If you
can do rolls on these drums, you should survive. Being able to do the
kicks helps, too. Sometimes there are 3 kicks in a row instead of just
the one (ie, a second kick between two kicks). Beware of this! Keep the
kicks constant and this song will be simple. Needless to say, the song
revolves around the kicks, so be good at them - I suggest using a
fair amount of force with them. RATING: 75%
CLASSIC PARTY
Actual Difficulty: *******??. Overall Difficulty: ??%
New Difficulty: 8?
Animations: Woman with a rose in her mouth, dancing batmen thingies and
angel baby thingies (who fight too sometimes), a Mozart looking guy who
goes red in the face, a wierd looking conductor (who appears a bit in
Magical Jet Tour in DM4)
Other Notes: Tunes in the medley include the Orpheus in the Underworld
Overture, Fuer Elise (Beethoven),
GG: No really tricky elements in this. The start is simple enough. The off-
beat kicks before the slow bit aren't terribly hard if you have enough
experience. The slow bit is odd, but not lethal. The lo tom/snare/kick
bit is an easy version of Spring. The second to last pattern is generic
Expert Real stuff. In fact, the only REALLY hard bit is at the end -
where you have to hit the hi-hat then move to the snare and the cymbal.
Sounds easy but the music speeds up and it becomes very hard. It won't
kill you though. Good, solid Expert Real stuff here. RATING: 80%
CLASSIC PARTY 2
Actual Difficulty: *********? Overall Difficulty: ??%
New Difficulty: 8?
Animations: A grinning moon, two classic musicians playing rock/paper/
scissors (and one wins then laughs at the other, and the other pulls a
face, then they reverse), wierd M.Bison/Vega looking heads on sticks
popping out of holes with symbols in the background shaped like T's with
horizontal lines above them (I think this is some sort of train symbol
in some countries, which is why it seems odd!), a bullfighter with a
bull (who appears in Magical Jet Tour out of the magician's hat in DM4),
and Dancing Napeoleon (see Wanna Be Your Boy's Dancing Gorbachev - it's
the exact same dance)
Other Notes: Extra Stage in Drummania 3rd MIX. The grinning moon appears
to be very similar or identical to one in an old Konami game, Quarth
(known as many other games, including 'Block Game' on the Konami
Collection GB Carts, but Quarth is the original name). Quarth was a
puzzle game similar to Tetris where you had a spaceship who had to shoot
single blocks up into Tetris like formations and make rectangles out of
them to make them disappear before you crashed into them. Tunes in the
medley include Rondo Alla Turca (from Piano Sonata No.11, Mozart), Also
Spach Zarathustra (Strauss), March of the Toreadors (from Carmen)
GG: Beware of the speed changes at the start. The first pattern is similar
to CP1 on Expert Real, as is the pattern after that. The slow pattern is
the most unique one - it is only in two other songs as of Drummania 4th
MIX, that is a similar one in Depend On Me (CD Ver) and the same one in
Classic Party 3. Pay attention to what you do - it's rather simple at
this point in the game. When the generic Expert Real pattern comes up,
beware! The music speeds up during it - this catches out almost EVERYONE
and MANY people fail here. The hi-hats go every half-beat and only don't
get hit when you have to hit the snare/cymbal - but there is NO break
unlike most patterns, so beware of that as well, it is the other mistake
people make here! After this, you only have one last problem, which is
usually the coup de grace for most people - the offbeat kicks. No tips
for this from me, except practice! It's not as hard as it looks or feels
or seems or anything. Oh, and in the section where I said the music
speeds up, I personally keep the left drumstick as straight as I can so
it can move left to right quick enough. Just a tip. RATING: 86%
CLASSIC PARTY 3
Actual Difficulty: 8? Overall Difficulty: ??%
Animations: Ballerina with a swan on his/her head. The word 'HALELUIJAH'
split up into syllables along with faces singing it (their mouths move
correctly, too!). Some wierd split-face princess thing. A toy windup
soldier. A Spanish looking lady in a long dress with a rose in her
mouth. A William Tell scene where a grinning boy gets an apple shot on
his head.
Other Notes: Extra Stage in Drummania 4th MIX. The haleluijah chorus at
the end actually sings other things, including "CLA-SIC-PAR-TY". This is
most audible at the very end - the odd double notes before the final
note/s synchronise with the word 'party' (both syllables). Tunes include
March of the Toreadors (from Carmen), William Tell Overture (Rossini)
and Parade of the Wooden Soldiers (Macdonald/Jessel). Parade of the
Wooden Soldiers is also in KeyboardMania 3rd MIX as an individual song.
GG: The hardest of the three Classic Parties. Uses all of the elements from
the first two, but mainly the second, so play that first for your own
sake, or at least read my advice! The only new bit is after the slow bit
(which is the same as CP2) - very nasty toms here. Most people try to
roll on them and mess them up completely, so here is a big tip: DON'T
roll. one stick on each drum, unless if one of the sticks...well, sticks
to the drum, in which case, use two for that side only. This way, you
might even keep your combo through it and you'll only get a few misses!
Same as Advanced, really...except harder. Take caution! RATING: 88%
D.M. 'POWERFUL' MIX
Actual Difficulty: ********** Overall Difficulty: ??%
New Difficulty: 73
Animations: Similar to Depend On Me (flying plane), except no other
animations at all apart from a radio at the bottom of the screen showing
how long the song has been playing for and the 'track number' (1,2,3).
New Animations: Same, suprisingly.
Other Notes: Features 3 songs: Heaven Is A '57 Metallic Gray/Expert
Real, Ultimate Power/Expert Real and Depend On Me/Real.
GG: The songs are near identical to their normal forms, and the same advice
goes for them in this incarnation, except note now that Ultimate Power
starts completely differently (similar to the patterns later in the
song - still easy enough) and Depend On Me has 4 more beats at the end
that go REALLY fast (ie half a beat for all 4, and none are hit at the
same time) - they are lo-tom, hi-hat, kick and snare in that order,
as well as some variations at the start. Heaven Is A '57 Metallic
Gray is the only hard part. RATING: 85%
DADDY BROTHER LOVER LITTLE BOY
Actual Difficulty: *******... Overall Difficulty: ??%
New Difficulty: ??
Animations: Similar to Anarchy In The UK - everything looks sort of
deformed. Wierd guys driving little cars, women and stuff. Most of the
time flames scroll along the bottom of the screen.
Other Notes:
GG: As with most licenced songs, this has a very generic pattern to it.
It's the same as most Expert Real songs...it might be good for learning
the pattern on. The only thing new here is the long snare rolls - they
are very slow, so using two sticks might be a problem (you might get
out of time). Try using one stick instead if you have problems. Overall
though, this song is easy. RATING: 65%
DAY DREAM
Actual Difficulty: ********** Overall Difficulty: ??%
New Difficulty: 99
Animations: Soccer players on hills that hold ping pong bats for some
reason, also with wierd sheep and submerged upside down castles and
kicking blue legs and strange large heads coming up and down and I'm
pretty sure Thomas Howard's head is in there somewhere too and it's
green (dunno why). Seriously. I always suspected Konami used drugs, but
thanks to this song, we now know it for a fact! The credits are
displayed during the song, and the only other text is before the
very last nasty bit which says "ARE YOU READY?".
Other Notes: Encore Stage in Drummania 3rd MIX. Speed changes from 80bpm
to 300bpm to 170bpm to 90bpm to 170bpm.
GG: This is rated 99/10 stars for a reason! It is by far the hardest song in
the game. Harder than Waza, Centaur and just barely harder than The
Least 100 Sec. Forget auto bass, go grab a friend and give him a spare
set of drumsticks and he can do the cymbals for you! You can probably
manage the rest on your own, the bass is insane but not impossible and
if you just go nuts it should be okay (I guess). Your friend has to do a
drum roll on the cymbals, and a fast one too - it should be simple
enough. Basically, the second makes the song fairly easy until the end
instead of extremely hard - it is almost impossible to hit the cymbal
fast enough, and I've never seen anyone do it. It makes Centaur look
like cakewalk! The end of the song features a long drumroll going over
several drums and ending with (on the hi tom) the fastest drum roll in
the entire game. This song is pretty much impossible. One last tip:
play it at least on 3x speed, if not 4x speed. To make the song pretty
much impossible with two people, do it on 1x speed! RATING: 98%
DEPEND ON ME
See Real/Advanced.
DEPEND ON ME (CD ver.)
Actual Difficulty: 68 Overall Difficulty: ??%
Animations: Features a bi-plane flying past lots of stuff way up in
the sky (including very old cars, for some reason...I didn't know
cars could fly! Except DeLoreans maybe! Or Chitty Chitty Bang Bang!).
Ends with it turning into a paper airplane and a hand catches it (which
is rather stupid). Also note that DEPEND ON ME has identical animations,
only the sky is blue instead of orange. DEPEND ON ME (LONG ver.) has the
same animations yet again!
Other Notes: Slightly different to DEPEND ON ME (starts different, most
obviously). In DEPEND ON ME, there were hi-hat sounds that you never
played that are played in this. DEPEND ON ME (LONG ver.) is the long
version of this, not the original. This version is one of the longest
normal songs in the game at over 2 minutes!
GG: Easier than the original for the majority of the song, but it gets a
bit random at the end. It's probably the easiest song with these types
of hi-hat patterns that are used throughout the verses, but if you
REALLY suck at them, try Heaven Is A '57 Metallic Gray on Extreme. Use
the same technique here - one stick on the hi-hat, the other on the
snare, no bounce rolls. Like Heaven Is..., don't lift up your hi-hat
stick too high. Also, with the double kicks, don't lift your feet up too
high. 'Bouncing' your foot also works a bit here, but doing gentle kicks
is the best technique. The main chorus is easy enough, but after the
"one, two, three, go!" bit it gets very random - but only on the cymbal.
As such, focus on the cymbal and it's pretty simple. The snares/kicks
are all on beat and in a fixed pattern - the same one you've been doing
for most of the song. They're so incomplex that it should be easiest
this way. The song ends the same as the Real version of the old Depend
On Me, but there's three more beats after where the old one ends - be
careful! This is still pretty easy, though. RATING: 75%
DEPEND ON ME (LONG ver.)
Actual Difficulty: 63 Overall Difficulty: ??%
Animations: A plane flying past photographs of people. Also includes
the credits for the 'ASMD Band' after the final chorus during the
final guitar section.
Other Notes: Slightly different to DEPEND ON ME (starts different, most
obviously). In DEPEND ON ME, there were hi-hat sounds that you never
played that are played in this. This is a long version of 'DEPEND ON ME
(Original Edition)' from the Drummania (1st MIX) soundtrack CD. This
version is near identical - except for the inclusion of a keyboard in
this version (for Keyboardmania 3rd MIX - and it admittedly DOES
enhance it a lot) and the lack of a trumpet solo.
GG: Do DEPEND ON ME (CD ver.) first. If you can almost pass it but barely
fail, you can safely do this because it's the same, but with a few
less tricky bits, plus they're more spread out anyway. The same advice
goes for it, so read above. Also, on the final chorus, there is a
pattern involving hi-hats, kicks and lo-toms. Recognise it? It's very
similar to the verse pattern from the original DEPEND ON ME. Slightly
tricker, plus it deviates with a few other drums from time to time, but
it's still easier than the oriignal DEPEND ON ME overall. As I said,
practically identical to DEPEND ON ME (CD ver.). RATING: 72%
DON'T HIDE YOUR MIND
Actual Difficulty: 7? Overall Difficulty: ??%
Animations: A skull getting X-Rayed (shaded red for some reason).
Mechanical arms pulling up knob thingies. The whole thing is very
mechanical looking.
Other Notes: By the same guy who did Body Operation (hence the
similarity)
GG: Audibly, this song is most similar to Body Operation but otherwise it's
nothing like it. The beginning and end are very simple - but the middle
is nasty and uses kicks very effectively. It has very long patterns that
don't change apart from the kicks. All I can suggest is doing Anarchy
In The UK/Extreme or I'm Gonna Get You!/Extreme first. The rest of the
song is so simple it's not funny, though. RATING: 76%
DOUBLE ORBIT
Actual Difficulty: *******... Overall Difficulty: ??%
New Difficulty: 76
Animations: Space themed.
Other Notes: In Drummania 4th MIX, the Basic version of this is
identical. It is presumed the reason why there is no Guitar version of
this is because it is strikingly similar to L.A. Rider, guitar wise
(as Say What You Mean is to Newspaper drum-wise). The astronauts in the
background talk backwards (they seem to be talking about velocity and
mostly say numbers). Double Orbit is also a cover of 'Prologue' from
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (or at least is near identical).
GG: Uses the basic DM1 Type-B kick pattern. In fact, this song is very
similar to both Mr.Machine/Expert Real and Road For Thunder/Expert Real.
If you can do one of them, you can do this. The regular drums move from
left to right very fast in this - and in pairs, so it's rather hard to
read. I wouldn't think you could do it if you can't do the above two
songs (one of them anyway). Possibly. Very little else is worth
mentioning... RATING: 78%
FIRE (LONG ver.)
Actual Difficulty: 86 Overall Difficulty: ??%
Animations: Same as FIRE (Rock concert themed), but with flaming
tigers running and closeups of normal tigers.
Other Notes: Normal version of FIRE is a Guitar Freaks only song.
GG: Rather easy, just painful. The bass pedal throughout this song consists
of kicks on almost every beat. So long as you keep your timing right you
will have no problems with the kicks and you can concentrate on the
patterns. The patterns are very right handed and I, being left handed,
found it trickiest when the half-beat cymbal taps came in - although it
was still easy (but exhausting). You should have no problems with this
and you shouldn't have to wait to try it. Very painful! There ARE
complex bits in this, but not terribly complex, plus they repeat a lot
and are short. I recommend this for practice! That, and pain! If you
are some kind of pain loving freak, welcome to heaven! RATING: 64%
FIRE IN THE DARK
Actual Difficulty: 91 Overall Difficulty: ??%
Animations: Best described as gothic tarot cards (Fool, Death, Empress
etc). Goth as in wearing lots of black leather, skinny and with very
pale white faces.
GG: The drums in this are evil. This song has a 3 beats to a bar, and that
is how the drum goes primarily. It's essentially the same as Right On
Time, except you roll slower and you move out WAY more. At the start,
do it exactly the same way as Right On Time, and after the first
random set of other drums, unless you're very proficient at the
technique, I suggest you just use your left hand for the hi-hat rolls
by bouncing the drumstick repeatedly. This song requires a LOT of
technique, but if you survive to the chorus, you should survive to the
end. It is one of the few songs I suggest you use auto-bass on because
it is hard enough with it! RATING: 94%
GIANT SLUG
Actual Difficulty: *******... Overall Difficulty: 65%
New Difficulty: 65
Animations: Fat bright pink guy in referree shirt with glasses features
a lot, often getting hit with pies being hurled by fat people, morphed
into a blob, etc. - also features a guy with a hinged mouth eating
sausages a lot, as well as nonsensical garbled stuff which might be
newspaper clippings.
Other Notes: Vocalist is Aaron G (of B4U vocalist fame)
GG: Very similar to Advanced and it might be a very simple next step up for
you, and I thought it was myself, but when I got EBE@RTF to try it, he
seemed to have difficulty with the main patterns with the cymbals, kicks
and snares. Perhaps it's because I did Stop Spinning Me... more on Real,
but the point is the kicks appear to be difficult here. He passed, and
quite safely, but not really satisfyingly at all. He can do it fine now,
so it doesn't take long to get used to the pattern. If you can do Stop
Spinning Me In Circles/Real, you should be able to do this. The other
song I would recommend even more is Hypnotica on Expert Real or Advanced
in 4th MIX, as it teaches one of the most useful patterns of all and it
is needed for this song. Hypnotica is essential, I would say. Stop
Spinning Me...is recommended but not needed. RATING: 65%
-
EBE: This is a good step up into Expert level (ie playing with a lot
happening at once - Constant hi-hat and kick with snares and toms in
there). Some of the early parts can be confusing, but shouldn't be too
much trouble with a little practice. The kick pattern repeat enough and
are easy enough that you may miss one kick the first time, but you'll
nail the pattern on the second try. RATING: 65%
HAPPY MAN
Actual Difficulty: ********** Overall Difficulty: ??%
New Difficulty: 89
Animations: Varies. All versions feature ransom note style paper
clippings making up the main screen, plus a strange face pulling scene,
as well as 3 punks who come on screen and yell whenever a yell is
featured in the music. There is also a ransom style dog and a man who
has black censor boxes over his eyes for some reason (?). A head thing
in a garbage can replaces the well animated punk from Guitar Freaks
(all images of guitars were removed)
New Animations: The animated guitarist/man in rubbish can is replaced
with a large animated version of his head. This is present in both GF
and DM now.
Other Notes:
GG: It starts off simplere than on Real, and the next pattern is the
generic Expert Real one (hi-hat, snare, kick variations) and it's
rather simple. It shimmys to the right a bit like the Classic Parties
but that's not hard to do. There's also a low tom/kick/snare pattern
like Wanna Be Your Boy/Real, which you also should have done now.
This whole song is like the two songs I previously mentioned, and
the only really bad bit is the section with the out-of-beat kicks.
This is a trick you'll have to learn, but I fail to see why this is
rated harder than Midnight Special, which I could swear speeds up
in the hard bits...I honestly had more trouble with the Real version,
and I don't think the two are much different. RATING: 86%
HEAVEN IS A '57 METALLIC GRAY
Actual Difficulty: *******... Overall Difficulty: ??%
New Difficulty: 74
Animations: Elvis clone. Closeups of Car Engine. Neon signs. That's it.
Other Notes:
GG: Hard at first, but quite simple apart from the rapid kicks that come
in once in a while. With the hi-hat/snare/kick swing beat near the
start, I recommend using one stick on the hi-hat and the other on snare,
and do not do a 'bounce roll' on the hi-hat. It isn't nessecary and it's
confusing. The song is sufficiently slow to make sure you won't screw
up here, and with sufficient practice you should be able to keep a big
combo through here. After this, you have a Used Cars style bit - snare
pairs, I guess you'd call them. DO use the bounce roll here, but beware
of the kicks - they're every second beat, which can be kind of confusing
at times. If you find it confusing, do kicks every beat instead. When
you get to the drum solo bits, pay careful attention to the kicks. After
that, you only have the same old patterns as before - once again, I
recommend not raising your right stick as high as the left one so you
can hit the cymbal hits a little earlier than the kicks and snares, and
with the cymbal hits at the end (isn't it nuts how cymbals suddenly
become hi-hats and hi-hats suddenly become cymbals in this game?), make
sure you get the kicks once again. RATING: 76%
HYPNOTICA
Actual Difficulty: *******... Overall Difficulty: ??%
New Difficulty: 57
Animations: Robotic looking face, the word 'HYPNOTICA' displayed on
TV screens, CD's that change color. Target locks onto the eye of the
robot's face at one point.
Other Notes: In Drummania 4th MIX, this was downgraded to Advanced mode.
Hypnotica is heavily remixed in DDR 4th MIX, retitled 'Hypnotic Crisis'.
GG: Not too easy, not too hard. Like Spring, Sunny Day Sunday, etc. it
involves kick/snare/hi-hat patterns, and this is a little more complex
yet somehow easier and more fun. This introduces you to a manouver I
call 'weaving' - where the hi-hat and snare alternate for 3 half beats
or more, and where there is a kick on at least one of the hi-hat beats.
Here it is straightford enough - it ends on these patterns, although it
is fast. It is therefore a good way to learn. This pattern becomes
gradually more complex in the game (not the song!) until it becomes
Across The Nightmare/Expert Real! Anyway, that's all there is to this
song really. Nothing else is new. I usually recommend this to people
who I think are ready for Expert Real. RATING: 65%
I'LL REMEMBER YOU
Actual Difficulty: ****...... Overall Difficulty: 65%
New Difficulty: 42
Animations: Mostly black with white outlines of some woman and 2 oldish
guys in suits. Easily recognisable by the 'Engrish' text, "WHAT'S
HAPPEN?" amongst other classic nonsensical out-of-context phrases like
'TRY TO GET ALONG', 'STOUT', 'BOTTOMS UP!!', 'DESIRE', 'CHERRY BLOSSOM
VIEWING PICNIC', 'I'M HOME.', and a few others.
Other Notes:
GG: Pretty tricky. It can seem random in bits, so I suggest you listen to
the song first. Definately underrated! Fun to play, though. Still, it
is pretty easy apart from the randomness. Listen to the song, play it
on Normal, anything to avoid getting yourself laughed at by failing a
4 star song which is pretty hard...it requires little technique so if
you know the song, it IS easy as they say it is. RATING: 67%
-
EBE: A song I played a *lot* in normal mode, because this music is so much
fun. If you know Normal mode well, by the time you've gone through most
Real songs, this will be a push-over. RATING: 63%
JET WORLD
Actual Difficulty: ********** Overall Difficulty: ??%
New Difficulty: 87
Animations: Circus themed. Something is always lip-synced to the words
(the clown, the rolling balls, the divas) and the words appear down the
bottom (except for the grunting sounds). Easily the most skillfully
animated scenes in the whole game!
New Animations: Clown appears to be more pogo-stick shaped and wearing
a peach colored costume, balls are not lip-synced and zoom in/out (with
the elephants), the divas close their mouths early and no pigs fall down
and the sheep are gone, as are the spinning hair lady things. The clown
replaces them, as do stupid balls with his face on them. This marvellous
animation was slaughtered!
Other Notes: Suprisingly, Thomas Howard does the non-"Wow!" lyrics!
GG: A simple test to see if you're ready for this or not: Do the Real
version, and if it's too easy, do this. It has more kicks, and odd
kicks, but the patterns are the same/less varied and if you do really
well on the Real version, you'll almost certainly do almost as well on
this version. Looks harder than it is - but it's still hard. RATING: 87%
LOOK AT ME
See Real/Advanced.
LOUD!
Actual Difficulty: ********.. Overall Difficulty: ??%
New Difficulty: 79
Animations: Wierd people chopping planks of wood with hands/holding
window cleaners/etc yelling "HI!" "HEY!" a lot. Wierd people coming out
of a womans head. Wierd guy who is lifting barbells. Little girl kissing
mother a lot. Most 'wierd' people in this have bad moustaches (except
the woman, girl and the old guy karate chopping the plank of wood).
Other Notes: The lyrics, other than "LOUD!" include "Can you feel the
groove?", "I feel so good!", "Open up your heart!" "Dance to the rhythm"
and "I'll show you how it's done".
GG: Looks a lot harder than it is. Auto bass won't help here if you are
playing on DM 4th MIX or later. Being able to do decent bass helps,
but the main thing is being VERY good at basic hi-hat/snare/kick pattern
stuff, because you need to keep your energy up because the tom patterns
are almost downright impossible. They go hi-lo-lo REALLY fast and almost
always out of another pattern, so I recommend using just the one stick
and just bouncing it if you can. If you can't, do your best to maintain
your strength. Stop Spinning Me In Circles/Expert Real helps here, but
not too much. It looks hard, but it's not too easy to fail if you know
what you're doing more or less. Of course, if you can't do left-to-right
stuff fast on the day you're playing, avoid this like the plague because
it's damn hard in that case! RATING: 84%
MAGICAL JET TOUR
Actual Difficulty: 8? Overall Difficulty: ??%
Animations: Similar to Jet World, except featuring zooming in on the
Divas' mouth in a hall-of-mirrors effect, fire breathers (why do fire
breathers in games always wear red pants and have curly moustahces? I
fully blame Karnov for this!), dancing girls and a magician who pulls
rabbits out of his hat, as well as characters from other songs (A green
flower headed guy from Ride On The Light(KeyboardMania 2nd MIX), Dancing
Gorbachev, the bull from Classic Party 2, the barbell guy from Loud!,
the gimp from Classic Party 1, fake Elvis from Heaven Is A '57 Metallic
Gray, some teeth from Stop Spinning Me In Circles, a programmer).
Refreshingly different and self-mocking! Also note another programmer
swings on the trapeze with the clown at the start before he swings back
across with another clown (nobody ever sees this in time)
Other Notes: Fully intended to be 'Jet World 2' (I believe Konami even
refer to it as this in Musician's Corner on their site). The "HEY!"
yells every so often are by the AM Sound team, whilst the rest of the
vocals are by Taeko.
GG: Nasty. Like Jet World/Extreme, don't attempt it until you have kicks
pretty much mastered - and then don't do it until you've done something
like The Least 100 Sec/Basic or Carnival Day/Advanced, because you need
to be good at the hi-hat rolls once again. The pattern is pretty
basic for most of the time, there's only two odd bits: one is what I
just mentioned - the nasty hi-hat bit from the Advanced version of this
is reinforced with kicks every (true) beat now (by true, I mean the song
isn't really 260bpm or whatever Konami says). Sounds simple, but it's
hard to concentrate on two things at once. Something will give and
someone will fail if it does. The other problem is the previously
Loud!esque low tom/kick/snare patterns. Look at each one first. Some
have simultaneous low toms/kicks, some have the low tom then the kick
then the snare. Some later on even have the hi-tom as well. Do it on
real, do one of the other two songs I mentioned to do and you have a
chance. Make sure you can do kicks as well. Jet World/Extreme is vaguely
similar. Vaguely. RATING: 89%
MAGICAL JET TOUR (LONG ver.)
Actual Difficulty: ?? Overall Difficulty: ??%
Animations: Same as the normal version.
Other Notes: Fully intended to be 'Jet World 2' (I believe Konami even
refer to it as this in Musician's Corner on their site). The "HEY!"
yells every so often are by the AM Sound team, whilst the rest of the
vocals are by Taeko.
GG: Has the same patterns, although it uses different drums in some points
with otherwise identical patterns. Do the regular version of this on
Extreme first, because there is absolutely nothing new here. This is
one of the few long versions of songs which is sort of harder than the
regular version, because it doesn't relent - and you can't choose it as
the last song to be safe, so keep that in mind! RATING: 90%
MARIONETE
Actual Difficulty: 84 Overall Difficulty: ??%
Animations:
Other Notes: Licensed song (Japanese).
GG: Very easy. It's still hard because of the kick patterns, but for an
Extreme song, it's easy. Once you've learnt the basic hi-hat/snare/kick
patterns, do this for practice - all it's really good for is practice
or trying to get a high score (it's so easy to max combo this song!).
No suprises here at all! RATING: 56%
MIDNIGHT SPECIAL
Actual Difficulty: ********?. Overall Difficulty: ??%
Animations: A cat with his butt on fire who sometimes meets aliens and
things. Some of the aliens look like some of the creatures in Furi Furi
'60...
Other Notes: Sung by Thomas Howard.
GG: Damn hard! Aaaargh! The start of this is hell enough. No tips here,
except look at the notes on a site if you can find one first. Knowing
them is helpful - use the right stick for the low toms, of course, and
don't forget the kicks. The Ska Ska No 1 style beat (generic Ska beat
I guess) is fairly simple, and the generic Expert Real beat is rather
simple too. No tips until after the chorus - the kicks are off beat.
Since there is a kick before the drums, it helps you align your kicks
a bit. Treat it as if it was on the hihat and snares instead. Although
there isn't much tips I can give, this song is very nasty due to its
speed and complexity. Do Happy Man first - it's very similar, but
not as hard (despite being given a higher rating by Konami, for reasons
which completely escape me!). RATING: 92%
MONKEY MAGIC
Actual Difficulty: 55 Overall Difficulty: ??%
Animations: Actually does portray Monkey very well! Monkey even rides
on clouds and stuff! But the show _was_ Japanese, so it was to be
expected that the animations would be accurate.
Other Notes: The theme from Monkey, the 80s TV show (obviously)
GG: Fairly tricky, I guess - but only compared to Advanced. It's one of the
easiest Extreme songs. Kicks are more frequent and there are often off-</pre><pre id="faqspan-4">
beat snares leading into them. Also, there are hi-hat/snare/kick
patterns constantly, which if you're not good at, you will get your
energy sapped. This is especially true because a lot of the kicks are
off beat. It helps if you relax on these and just only half-press the
kicks and drums on those bits - you'll probably get goods, but nothing
less. Try to keep to the beat with the cymbal patterns and concentrate
on the kicks and snares to avoid breaking up your combo - once again,
relax a little. RATING: 57%
MR.MACHINE
Actual Difficulty: ********.. Overall Difficulty: 78%
New Difficulty: 80
Animations: IN GF: Shots of Guitarist with very tall hairdo. IN DM:
Shots of some kind of head thing with headphones and dancing people
scrolling up and down. IN BOTH: Shots of guy on some kind of bike going
through a green tunnel. The words 'MR. MACHINE' zooming up and in to the
screen.
New Animations: 'MR. MACHINE' zooms in, but not up.
Other Notes: In the GF animations, very small words sometimes scroll
up the screen. Although these are at too low a resolution to be read
properly, they are a list of the things the Guitar Freaks announcer used
to say in the older versions of the game (not 5th MIX though). Clearly
visible is "Are you ready?" and just below that is "You set a new
record!" and "That was the best play so far!". These are also shown a
bit in DM 4th MIX.
GG: Looks hard as hell, simply because of all the kicks, but the fact is
this and Body Operation are the best ways to learn the more complex
kick patterns you'll find in songs because there's less other stuff
going on - the kicks are very well placed so they're both hard, and
easy...do it on Real first, make sure you're ready for Expert Real of
course, and when you want to learn how to learn more tricky kick
patterns, do this song. If not sooner. Looks hard, sure, but it's
pretty hard to fail. RATING: 78%
-
EBE: I still haven't passed this. The kick patterns, etc aren't all that
hard, it's just the speed. It's easy to panic on this song. RATING: 78%
NOW I'M SURE
Actual Difficulty: ****?..... Overall Difficulty: ??%
New Difficulty: 4?
Animations:
Other Notes:
GG: Very simple and repeditive. The main most pattern of this song involves
the two toms with simple double hits and then a faster double strike on
the low tom, followed by a hi-hat hit. That's it. There's kicks as well
but they're simple. Similar to When I Dream Of You/Normal in that it
uses tricky patterns, but it's so slow that it's not that hard. You
can probably pass this if you're up to the suggested difficulty level
for it. RATING: 47%
P.P.R.
Actual Difficulty: *******... Overall Difficulty: ??%
New Difficulty: 78
Animations: Looks like Butthead in a bunny suit (seriously).
New Animations: None, but the animations differ slightly in colors and
movement of sprites.
Other Notes: Also a long version in DM 3rd MIX and later.
GG: Not much different to the Real one. Hi-Hat/Snare/Kick patterns are
more frequent but identical, sometimes there's odd double-strikes on
snares, and wierd rolls, but overall it's not much harder. If you're up
to Expert Real and have passed this on Real, you can do it here. No
advice nessecary. RATING: 75%
PRIMAL SOUL
Actual Difficulty: ********.. Overall Difficulty: ??%
New Difficulty: 85
Animations: South American/Aztec themed. Sometimes has athletic looking
people on a trippy background.
Other Notes:
GG: Rolls rolls rolls! This is damn hard, make no mistake. Make sure you
can pass it on Real first. This song features near constant rolls, so
make sure you're good at them - the hardest part is keeping your speed.
The only other hard part is the bongoesque tom patterns again - but
they've changed, they now mostly involve the hi-tom and the snare,
with a few kicks and lo-toms for good measure. My strategy is to
concentrate on the snares and watch for which beats are NOT snares -
this means focusing between the two toms, and assuming everything
else is a snare. This is very hard, but there is little strategy to it.
If you can do this and the rolls, you might just scrape by. RATING: 88%
ROAD FOR THUNDER
Actual Difficulty: *********. Overall Difficulty: ??%
New Difficulty: 85
Animations: Guy on a motorcycle. Vaguely like L.A. Rider (Guitar Freaks)
Other Notes:
GG: Sort of like a cross between Double Orbit/Expert Real and the Real
version of this. This uses the generic DM1stMIX Expert Real B-Type
Pattern heavily. It's also mixed in with cymbal hits. Very similar to
Double Orbit/Expert Real, really. Looks hard but if you can do the
kicks, it's simple. RATING: 77%
SEA ANEMONES
Actual Difficulty: ********.. Overall Difficulty: ??%
New Difficulty: 76
Animations: A dancing monkey and a dancing rabbit in top hats and suits
with canes that do everything from the 20's but the charleston. Also
displays the title of the song in neon lights at the beginning and end.
Other Notes: Anemone is pronounced 'A-ne-mo-nee', not 'A-ne-moan'.
GG: If you're up to this difficulty, this song should be possible but it
will be a challenge. Essentially the song revolves around the cymbal -
snares and kicks come up intermittantly. What you should do is spot the
snares and kicks, remember where they are then look at the cymbals - the
cymbal starts out simple enough, but soon deviates from the rhythm a bit
and becomes a lot harder. If you just hit it regularly, you'll fail for
sure. Watch the cymbals! RATING: 79%
SPRING
Actual Difficulty: *******... Overall Difficulty: ??%
New Difficulty: 65
Animations: Tells a story of a panda watering his/her flower garden,
falling on a flower and crushing it, then he/she bawls their eyes out
and the tears bloom more flowers. Then it is time to DANCE! Hehe...
Other Notes: Did not appear in Guitar Freaks until PS2 version of GF3
and GF5 in arcade, therefore session play is not available in older
versions.
GG: Similar to Wanna Be Your Boy/Real, really. Starts with the (in)famous
pattern - Lo Toms must be constantly beat with the right stick. Apart
from that, the strategy to use is that kicks are every 2 beats, the
snare beat is between them every 4 beats and hit the Hi Tom roughly
when the nearby kick is hit. It should be easy to hit out into the other
drums when the pattern breaks up. Also here you might be introduced to
what could be two new patterns to you involving double kicks with the
hi hat. This is used a lot in Expert Real/Extreme, sometimes with or
without snares, sometimes at different speeds. This is one of the
easiest places to learn it. Once the chorus of the song starts, remember
to loosen up your grip on the drumsticks for the rolls and try not to
force the bass pedal all the way down for kicks - only tap it. This
pretty much covers the whole song...not easy, but it gets harder I'm
afraid! RATING: 67%
STAY AWAY
Actual Difficulty: 78 Overall Difficulty: ??%
Animations:
Other Notes:
GG: Quite hard. Uses the basic Expert Real type hi-hat/kick/snare patterns,
but the song is fast - so kick lightly. Used Cars is good practice for
the start bit (any difficulty). Towards the ends it has very nasty
patterns with toms and kicks and stuff. If you've done stuff like
Wanna Be Your Boy/Real on your way up to here, you shouldn't have too
many problems, it's just the speed that's the problem. The final bit
is pretty hard, because it's almost like two patterns, one half a beat
off. However, Crunchy Nuts is more or less identical - do that first if
you can. The same technique applies here - concentrate on the left, hit
the cymbal every beat, but half-beat off time. Doing this, you should
get through both the last two patterns (the second one is the same, but
with double kicks - like I said, Wanna Be Your Boy/Real should have
helped you!) and you'll be laughing. If you can't or haven't done
Crunchy Nuts, then you are doomed... RATING: 77%
STOP SPINNING ME IN CIRCLES
Actual Difficulty: *********. Overall Difficulty: ??%
New Difficulty: 83
Animations: Teeth themed. Teeth driving cars, teeth eating bagels,
teeth in spray cans, teeth in slurpees. The text 'WHAT YOU WANT?' is
seen from when the lyrics say "You've gotta tell me what you want". At
least that answers the golden question, "did the animators listen to
the music before they made that random nonsense stuff?"
New Animations: 'WHAT YOU WANT?' has been removed entirely.
Other Notes: A 'new version' of the song was made which is on the
Soundtrack CD (I think). It's an extended version, except it sounds a
bit err, retro...also the 'WHAT YOU WANT?' appears to be in 'Impact'
font, a standard font in Windows 95, 98, ME, 2000, XP etc.
GG: Two main problems here: The kicks can be wierd is the first one. At the
start, if you have problems with the kicks, try using your heel for a
while, as it requires less movement to do so. When you get to the first
chorus, don't think about the cymbal hits, just do them gently by
reflex. With the rest of the kicks, practice Mr.Machine/Expert Real and
similar songs and it simplifies this. A lot. The relaxed cymbal hits are
almost essential for the second chorus. And that's the second problem,
the second chorus, basically. The snares and kicks are identical to the
real version, but the cymbal is every beat now instead. It's quite
hard. The whole song becomes rather easy once you get good at off-beat
kicks. This song is reasonably hard. RATING: 87%
STONE COLD BUSH
Actual Difficulty: 73 Overall Difficulty: ??%
Animations: Wrestling themed (wrestler getting thrown in the air,
a wrestler who looks like he's from the original WWF Wrestlemania NES
game bouncing around a ring with 'STONE COLD BUSH' written in it). A
guy with a bad moustache punches at the screen a lot (you can tell it
apart from Loud! because he's much bigger than the sprites in that).
Other Notes: Original song by Red Hot Chilli Peppers and, as far as I
know, has nothing to do with wrestling. I guess Konami's animators just
didn't know what Stone Cold meant, but had seen the WWF!
GG: First of all, do the Advanced version first. The kick pattern is pretty
odd, and it's pretty good practice. This is more or less the same, but
with heaps more hi-hats. Since they join everything up and are still
on time, it makes it a little bit easier and a little bit harder.
The crazy bit from Advanced becomes a lot like Stop Spinning Me In
Circles/Expert Real, but odds are you haven't tried that so I guess
it's also similar to it on Real, which you -should- have tried.
Concentrate on the snares and kicks and toms, and it's easier. I use
my left stick for all of these. Ultimately, it IS hard, but it's also
pretty hard on Advanced mode. RATING: 71%
SUNNY DAY SUNDAY
Actual Difficulty: ******.... Overall Difficulty: ??%
New Difficulty: 63
Animations: Baseball themed, with the emphasis that one team sucks
(fielder dives for the ball and misses it, the score board having lots
of 0's on the away team's side and someone accidentally writes up a 1
then crosses it out and puts in 0 again, and someone crying cos' they
lost).
Other Notes: For some reason, this song is also in Beatmania GB
Gattchamix 2! It has to be unlocked using the password GREAT (or use
MAXIMUM to unlock everything). It's identical, but hardish!
GG: More or less identical except it has a big pile of kicks, plus it has
a few more paired tom beats like the snares in the Real version. If
you've done stuff like Heaven is a '57 Metallic Gray/Real, you should
not have problems here...quite fun, though! RATING: 57%
ULTIMATE POWER
Actual Difficulty: ********.. Overall Difficulty: ??%
New Difficulty: 75
Animations: Potted cacti. Bonsai plant. Old guy and lady. Guy in
business suit with tulip in pot. Guy on ground with fish and chips (or
something). Guy looking over waterfront at sunset. Guy spazzing on the
floor. Guy looking up in air like a bird will poop on his face. Guy
spazzing up into the air. Shots of poorly drawn Earth. Overall, very
epileptic. I am told that the animation actually matches the lyrics,
which is suprising considering the randomness of them!
Other Notes:
GG: Overrated - For the first part, there is pretty much nonstop hi-hat/
snare/kick patterns, all fairly fast. You should be good at these by
now so these shouldn't be too hard. You should be fine until you get
to the 4 drum rolls. Your main priority is loosening up your grip,
which will be very tense at the moment. Don't loosen up completely or
you'll lose the drumsticks, though! By main priority, I mean if you can
not do this AND the bass pedal, ignore the kicks. After the 4 rolls is
a simple pattern (similar to Spring's), and another Lo Tom pattern (also
similar to Spring's without the bass pedal and with faster movement from
snare to Hi Toms). And that's pretty much everything. Fast. Furious.
Sort of fun, I guess. RATING: 70%
USED CARS
Actual Difficulty: *******... Overall Difficulty: ??%
New Difficulty: 70
Animations: Used cars (obviously). The lines "YOU CAN DRIVE MY CAR.",
"YOU TAKE A DRIVE TO DREAM WORLD." and "NO. 1 PRETTY CAR!" are shown in
parts. "USED CARS" shown at the end.
Other Notes:
GG: Identical to the Real version of the song, only near constant kicks.
This isn't harder because every single one is on beat, but if you lose
your timing, you're history! Ok, it's not identical. But like I said -
beware of the timing. You'll either get a massive combo or a lousy one
here. If you mess up constantly, pause and pick up from scratch (without
failing, of course). RATING: 66%
VITALIZE
Actual Difficulty: ?? Overall Difficulty: ??%
Animations: Cartoonish. Revolves mostly around a blonde/bubble haired
guy in a red jacket who reminds most people of Johnny Bravo/The Fonz/
Duke Nukem or someone like that. Sometimes shows cartoon panels, sort of
like Cutie Pie. Also note the guy sometimes has an earring in his left
ear and at other times he does not, and that it is drawn in newspaper
style (dithered dots of color to save ink but to still give the same
effect), except Konami used black dots on solid colors instead, thus
defeating the purpose. Duuuuuh. :P
Other Notes: Originally a Keyboardmania 2nd MIX song.
GG: This song's main problem is it's very left handed. The start is the one
place that isn't. Basically, when there's a break, the cymbal hits will
resume with two fast hits. Once the main tune starts, THAT is when the
left handed trickiness sets in. When you have to do a pattern that
suddenly strikes from something like a hi-hat/snare/kick pattern or
a type of roll to a cymbal, beware! The left drumstick has to move over
to something as well! This isn't terribly dangerous, just stressful.
The chorus pattern is similar to Depend On Me (CD Ver). With the tom
and snare rolls at the end, concentrate on the toms so you don't fail
here - which would be a shame. Most rolls should be started with the
left hand, so beware. RATING: 66%
WANNA BE YOUR BOY
Actual Difficulty: ********** Overall Difficulty: ??%
New Difficulty: 81
Animations: Commonly referred to as 'The Gorbachev Song' because the
animations feature a guy that looks a bit like him in 'em. No birthmark
though...
New Animations: Gorby floats around a lot instead of doing the zoom in
zoom out trick with the picture he's carrying of himself that it used
to do.
Other Notes: Written/Arranged by Mutsuhiko Izumi.
GG: No doubt you've heard people saying this song is way overrated. Well,
I looked at it and thought 'no way!', but the first time I played it, I
almost had a full bar at the end and my energy never went near halfway.
First, do it on Real. Do similar songs like Happy Man/Real if you can.
Road For Thunder is also good. Then do this. The patterns are so
backwards compared to the Real version, so no doubt that will throw you
off - they move more left to right to left to right than ever before!
There's also way more kicks, but they're very easy to get despite them
being positioned in the midst of the action. You see, you tend to kick
the same time you're hitting the drums, and that is _exactly_ what you
should do. The sheer number of hits you _will_ get mean your energy
will hardly go down, no matter what setting the machine is set to.
If you're ready for Expert Real - maybe even if you're not! - then you
should have a chance at this. If you want to be sure, though, wait a bit
first. It honestly isn't hard! It's one of those songs that doesn't
progress well from Real to Expert Real, like Used Cars...RATING: 79%
WAZA
Actual Difficulty: ********** Overall Difficulty: ??%
New Difficulty: 93
Animations: Chess themed?
Other Notes: The hardest rated song in the original Drummania. Waza
means 'feat' or 'trick' in Japanese.
GG: Also overrated. Not many kicks and most of the beats go well with the
music. They all look a bit off beat, but ignore that. If you know where
the drums are - and you should by now - this song is rather easy. It
doesn't have anything which I would say makes it as hard as Konami makes
it out to be. Rated the 4th hardest song as of Drummania 4th MIX, but it
definately isn't. RATING: 75%
WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE
Actual Difficulty: 59 Overall Difficulty: ??%
Animations: Peewee herman clone holding up a board with the song title
on it. A face. and that's about it. It's still more detailed than
Virtual Insanity!
Other Notes:
GG: The speed changes slightly. At the start, open with a hi-hat roll and
do the kicks when they come up. The bulk of the song uses the generic
Expert Real pattern, but it's slow and easy to do. In fact, the whole
song is - it's a good test for you to try out Extreme on, because it's
similar to songs like Sunny Day Sunday/Expert Real. Plus, everyone
knows the song and it's popular in session. Why not try it? It's almost
too easy. RATING: 57%
6 . 0 G a m e M y t h s , L e g e n d s a n d T r i v i a
___________________________________________________________________
* A Normal version of Depend On Me existed in the test version which was
similar, but the verse pattern went kick, hi-hat+snare, repeat instead,
as well as the verse tom rolls being much simpler. There were no kicks in
the chorus.
* An Advanced (Real) version of Centaur was in early Drummania 4th MIX test
versions but was removed from the final version.
* Long versions of Newspaper, Don't Hide Your Mind, Jet World, Heaven Is A
'57 Metallic Gray, Stop Spinning Me In Circles and Welcome To The Jungle
_may_ have been in Drummania test versions at several points.
* Jimmy Weckl is credited for the 'shout's in Na-Na-Na!
* In Break Out, before the first "Break the boundaries, my philosophy" line,
a distorted speech sample is played alongside the guitar. When isolated
from the guitars and drums, the voice says clearly "You are all under my
command" (it sounds a bit like 'on', but it definately says under). To me,
this sample sounds like it is from an 80s computer, probably something with
a Yamaha SPU in it. It could be MSX, Arcade or even X6800 - it's a mystery!
As one composer of the song, Toshio Sakurai (not Thomas Howard - he just
sings it) as far as anyone in the world knows outside of Konami itself
never composed any music for older games, and the other person who is
probably responsible - Kazuhiro Senoo/Seno - has almost no mention anywhere
on the internet or in places that usually record 'members' of the Konami
Kukeiha Club. The only person who made music for Konami on MSX was
Mutsuhiko Izumi (and even then it was limited to Hideo Kojima's own
projects - Snatcher, SD Snatcher and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake). Indeed,
Konami supported the MSX very strongly and even made a custom soundchip for
it - the SCC. Any information on this would be appreciated!
* Riff Riff Paradise is made up of so many songs, it has to be listed here
instead! Here's the list (in order with the time the riff begins):
- The Adventures (00:00)
- The Adventures/Go Go Again (00:17)
- Happy Man (00:29)
- Happy Man/Wanna Be Your Boy (00:41) (bassline merges into Wanna Be Your
Boy)
- Wanna Be Your Boy (00:49)
- Lucky?Staff (00:58) (changes pitch halfway and this makes it sounds a
little like The Adventures. Also, the bassline is
nothing like the original - much simpler!)
- Note that these last 3 songs put together make up 'Happy Lucky Boy'.
- Fire (01:15)
- Magic Music Magic (01:33) (bassline and guitar volume changed)
- L.A.Rider (01:54) (at a higher pitch; sounds like Silly Girl)
- Shake It Up (02:11)
- Mr.Machine (02:29)
- Escape (02:46) (slightly remixed; the bassline is constant, unlike in the
original version - plus the tom rolls are in different
places)
- Double Orbit (03:04) (Double Orbit is a remix of 'Prelude' from the game
'Castlevania: Symphony of the Night'. The bassline
once again is from the wrong part of the song)
- Cool Joe/King G (03:20) (pitch matches Cool Joe, and the notes are near
identical)
- King G (03:32) (drums weren't in this section originally)
Songs that are completely absent from Riff Riff Paradise include Jet World,
Primal Soul and The Endless Summer. Eclipse isn't in it either, but it's
not made by Mutsuhiko Izumi (all the above songs are). Also, most of the
songs are played a higher than original pitch. A few of the riffs loop
where they originally did not. Songs with vocals (Wanna Be Your Boy, Happy
Man, Shake It Up, King G) have no vocals in this medley.
Also Go Go Again, Lucky?Staff, Magic Music Magic, Escape, Cool Joe and
King G are Guitar Freaks only songs. Double Orbit is a Drummania only song.
7 . 0 C o d e s a n d C h e a t s
_______________________________________
KEY
H - Hi-Hat
S - Snare
K - Bass Pedal (Kick)
T - Hi Tom
L - Lo Tom
R - Ride Cymbal
Drummania/Percussion Freaks (Arc,PS2):
Regular Codes:
On the Mode Select screen:
Speed Up: H S H H S H K (speeds up the scroll speed to 2.0x)
Hidden: T L T L T K (lines disappear from 1/3 up the screen)
Mirror: S S T L T K (reverses hi-hat and cymbal?)
Expert Real: H H S S T L T L K K (selects hardest difficulty.
Note this code is a variation of the famous 'Konami code',
which is U U D D L R L R (B A) (also used in Make A Jam! in
Dance Dance Revolution). Move right of Real to select this)
Drummania 2nd MIX/Percussion Freaks 2nd MIX (Arc):
Regular Codes:
On the Title screen (after inserting money, before pushing start)
(note all of these are disabled when the machine's power is turned
off):
Enable Hidden/Sudden: T L T L T K (enables these options in the
menu - lines disappear/appear from 1/3 up the screen
respectively)
Enable Tight: (hold K) H S T L (release K) H S T L (K and S
simulataneously) (adds Tight mode to the options menu, which
penalises you for hitting the drum when you are not supposed to
a-la Guitar Freaks)
Enable Small/Silent: (T+L) S S (H+T) S S (H+L) (adds Small and
Silent modes to the options menu, which makes the background
music quiet or mute respectively. The drums may still be heard)
Options Menu: Hold left+right selection buttons and push Start
(allows you to access the above options, plus change game speed,
'background type' which changes the background look during a
song, and where the combo is displayed on the screen (left is
default - right is preferable as it does not block your view)
On the Mode Select screen:
Expert Real: (highlight Real) L L L L L (selects hardest
difficulty setting)
On the Song Select screen:
Change Speed: K K (increases the scroll speed 0.5x, from 1.0x to
7.0x maximum. Will loop around if done past 7.0x. Must be done
in about 1 second or the game ignores the command)
Change Difficulty (SESSION ONLY): H H (changes the game to and
from Session/Extreme Session mode)
In the game:
Change Speed: Start+Selection Arrow (slows down or speeds up the
scroll speed 0.5x like the code above)
Guitar Freaks 3rd MIX & DrumMania 2nd MIX (PS2)
* Note these are DrumMania codes only - see my GF FAQ for the Guitar Freaks
codes!
Regular Codes:
On the Mode Select screen:
Hidden: T L T L T K (lines disappear from 1/3 up the screen)
Sudden: L T L T L K (lines appear from 1/3 up the screen)
On the Mode Select screen:
Expert Real: (highlight Real) L L L L L (selects hardest
difficulty setting)
On the Song Select screen:
Change Speed: K K (increases the scroll speed 0.5x, from 1.0x to
7.0x maximum. Will loop around if done past 7.0x. Must be done
in about 1 second or the game ignores the command)
Change Difficulty (SESSION ONLY): H H (changes the game to and
from Session/Extreme Session mode)
Endless Mode:
Endless Mode: Complete every song in Solo and Session mode?
(enables 'Endless' mode?)
Drummania 4th MIX (Arc):
Regular Codes:
On the Title screen (after inserting money, before pushing start):
Options Menu: Hold left+right selection buttons and push Start
(allows you to change game speed, enable hidden or sudden mode,
enable tight mode, enable small or silent mode and where the
combo is displayed on the screen (left is default - right is
preferable as it does not block your view)
On the Song Select screen:
Change Speed: K K (increases the scroll speed 0.5x, from 1.0x to
7.0x maximum. Will loop around if done past 7.0x. Must be done
in about 1 second or the game ignores the command)
Change Difficulty: H H (difficulty increases to the next level
up. Will wrap around if done past the highest available)
Auto Bass Mode: T H T T (Bass pedal (kick) is automatically done,
thus you do not need to press it during the song)
In the game:
Change Speed: Start+Selection Arrow (slows down or speeds up the
scroll speed 0.5x like the code above)
8 . 0 O u t r o d u c t i o n
_______________________________
8.2 Credits
-----------
No Contributions yet...
8.3 Disclaimer
--------------
This FAQ is copyright 2001 by Ranking Task Force. Nor this document or any
part of it may be printed in magazines or sold for profit either by
itself or on a form of media bundled with other things (ie CD-ROMs) without
my written permission. You may, however, put this FAQ on websites, give it to
friends, or use it for your own personal use. This FAQ may only be
distributed if it is un-edited - nothing may be replaced or removed. And you
don't need my permission to put this on websites. And feel free to print it
out if you don't mind carrying several hundred pages to the arcade with you.
I suggest you edit out the bits you don't want. Anyway, SPREAD THIS FAQ! But
not for commercial purposes - you may not sell this FAQ, give it free with
something you sell, or otherwise trade it for goods or services! This FAQ is
free. If someone is breaching this rule, tell us! We also cannot inform FAQ
site operators of new versions, so we apologise.
DrumMania/Percussion Freaks is a trademark of Konami Computer Entertainment
Japan inc. Konami is a registered trademark of Konami of some country.
At this stage we cannot help with specific problems and songs, however in the
future this is likely to change...
8.4 Future Versions
-------------------
Coming soon:
* Expanded song info
* New song info
* New techniques
* Drummania 5th MIX info
* Play strategies
8.5 Requests
------------
Nothing for now! I guess that wraps it up! Thanks for reading the FAQ!
