Drummania W/ DrumSet

I'm sure you are all familiar with the Bemani series of games by now. A series of music based games released primarily for the arcades and then eventually receiving console ports. Due to the nature of these games, they often get released with large, at times poorly made, game specific controllers that often cost upwards of $100. Bemani purists usually insist that these controllers are needed to get the most out of a game, if you must play it at home. After all, what's the point in pretending to play the drums if you are doing so on your dual shock? Well, the high price tags of these special controllers, and everyone clamoring that they are needed to enjoy the games, often scares away many potential buyers. As for me, I used to just buy the games and play them on a standard controller. I couldn't see spending $100 on a controller that I'd use for one or two games. I always scoffed when people said you needed the special controllers, here I was having fun with the standard controller. Well, one day I decided to take the plunge and see what all the fuss was about with these peripherals. While it's not as necessary as everyone makes it out to be, I must say, they do make the game a whole different experience.

Which brings us to Drummania. This game comes packaged with a big fake drumset in a large suitcase style cardboard box, complete with handle. Let's talk about this drumset before moving onto the actual game. In the arcade there was a pedal for the bass drum. In the home version you get a small little pad. This thing is such a cheap piece of junk. Not only is it somewhat unresponsive, the thing slides all around. It's basically a small piece of foam with a little plastic pad(think of the cheap DDR mats) on top with a little wire coming out of the back that hooks into the drum set. As much as I hate to, this crappy thing forces me to use the auto bass drum option if I hope to succeed on any of the difficult songs. I can't even count the number of times I pressed my foot down on that pad only to have nothing happen and then seconds later I lightly tap it and the thing go nuts. I realize a metal pedal would've been a bit expensive to include, but they could've thought of something better than this setup.

There are two ways of setting the drums up. You can either build the included stand, or set the drums on a table. Choose whatever compliments your gaming set up. The included stand is easy to set up and is quite sturdy. Packed with the set are two plastic drum sticks. The base drum unit includes a start and select button and five "drums." It's shape can best be described as a flat slab. It doesn't really resemble the arcade cabinet and has an air of cheapness to it. Hitting the drums with the sticks garners no response, apart from an annoying lifeless thud. Unless your TV is loud, this thudding drowns out the actual music. If you had hoped to play these virtual drums without annoying others around you, you are in for a disappointment. Constantly when I would be playing I could hear variations of the following sentence coming from the other room. "What is that annoying tapping?" they'd say. I'm just nitpicking I suppose. Overall, I am very disappointed in this controller. Apart from the bass pedal, it does get the job done and it's certainly better than playing with a dual shock so I guess I can't completely condemn it. Besides, the game was never released as a standalone product so you are stuck with it whether you want it or not.

In Beatmania you were a DJ, in Guitar Freaks you were a Guitar player and in DDR you were a dancer. It's not hard to guess that you are a virtual Drummer in Drummania. The game retains the same style of play as Beatmania and other "falling notes" rhythm games. All you have to do is bang on the appropriate drums as the descending notes reach a line at the bottom of the screen. Like most games in the genre, it is very straight forward and while the core gameplay is simple, it gets very difficult on the later songs. This game gets quite fast with many difficult drumming patterns. At times it feels like you need eight arms to do any good. This is one of the hardest Bemani games I've played. As with the other Bemani games, with enough time, what once seemed impossible will be very easy. It just takes practice, timing, a little rhythm and some good hand-eye coordination.

There are upwards of 20 songs in this game with genres ranging from Brit pop to J-Punk to Techno. Certainly a nice variety. The soundtrack is, overall, rather mediocre. While some songs are good, there are quite a few that don't really fit the theme of the game. On the better songs it feels like you are playing drums, while others it feels as though you are merely banging on a piece of plastic. Also included are songs from Guitar Freaks 2nd Mix. It's at this point I should mention that Guitar Freaks 2nd Mix is "partially" included on this disc. You can have sessions with the drums and up to two others on guitar. You can use either the guitar controllers which are amazingly hard to find and expensive, or a standard dual shock. What I mean by partially included is that you cannot just select Guitar Freaks and play it as a standalone game. You are only able to play a session with some of the 2nd mix songs with drums and a guitar or two. Disappointingly, while you can set the guitars to auto play, you can't do the same for the drums. So, if you want to try out the guitar, you'll have to have someone else play the drums or you will fail the song due to the annoying "forced game over."

Which brings me to my one complaint of the game. I cannot stand "forced game over." Forced Game Over means that your status bar acts as a health bar. Similar to other games in this genre, when you do good your status bar fills up. When you mess up it drains. To pass the song, you have to raise it to a certain point. Well, forced game over ends your game if you drain your status bar all the way, rather than giving you until the end of the song to recover your bar. This is reminiscent to the Survival mode of other games. This is more of a personal problem with the game, and I realize that some actually like Forced Game Over. It is good if you want to perfect the song, but if you're just playing to have fun it can be annoying. I mentioned it for those out there who feel the same way as me. On the plus side, you can turn forced game over off in the non-arcade modes such as Free.

To tell you the truth, I'd recommend passing on this game. There are much better things out there that you could buy with the money. Such as one of the Beatmania games with controller. The only thing this game has going for it is the novelty of "playing the drums." Once that novelty wears off you will get sick of lugging the drumset in front of your TV. I did have some fun with it, but combining the cheaply made drumset with forced game over and the so-so soundtrack, it just became a chore to play. I'm sure some of you will laugh at me and have great fun with this game, and for those of you I tip my hat. It's just not for me and I cannot bring myself to recommend such a large purchase to an unsuspecting buyer. Save your cash for a more worthwhile Bemani game.

©2002 Ed Finnegan

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