Beatmania IIDX 9th Style

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Beatmania IIDX 9th Style

Titlescreen of the CS version
Developer(s) Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo
Publisher(s) KCET
Distributor(s) KCET
Designer(s) KCET
License Proprietary
Series beatmania IIDX & Bemani
Aspect ratio NTSC-J, horizontal
Platform(s) Arcade & Sony PlayStation 2
Release date Arcade
JP 2003
PlayStation 2
JP March 21, 2005
Genre(s) Music
Mode(s) Single-player & Multiplayer
Rating(s) CERO: A
Media Hard drive (Arcade)

DVD-ROM (PlayStation 2)

Input methods Turntable;
Keyboard (7 keys)
Cabinet Custom
Arcade system Windows XP based
Display Widescreen Television

Beatmania IIDX 9th Style is the 9th game in the beatmania IIDX series of music video games. It was released in arcades by Konami in 2003. The game features over 50 new songs, some of which can be unlocked using Konami's e-Amusement platform - which made its official debut on 9th Style.

The interface used by 9th Style is more modern and crisper looking than previous styles, taking advantage of the better graphics capabilities of the new PC based hardware which 9th Style now utilizes. The new hardware also eliminates the separate DVD player which was used on previous versions for background videos, as all the videos and data are now stored on the hard drive contained within the machine.

Contents

[edit] Gameplay

Core gameplay remained the same on 9th Style. 5-key mode has been removed and replaced by a separate 5-key modifier, which can be used on any song on any difficulty.

[edit] Hardware upgrade

9th Style was the first version of Beatmania IIDX to use a new Windows XP PC-based platform nicknamed the Bemani PC instead of the PlayStation-based Bemani Twinkle hardware which had been used since the beginning of the series. The improved platform had its benefits, such as better graphics capabilities, network support through e-Amusement, larger storage, and background videos being stored on the hard drive along with the game data (dropping the need for a separate DVD player).

The new platform however, became blamed for a multitude of issues with 9th Style, such as longer load times and off-sync timing windows on some songs.[citation needed]

[edit] e-Amusement

9th Style was the first version of IIDX to have support for Konami's new e-Amusement system, which can be used for the saving of stats and records to "entry cards", stylized per-game cards containing themed artwork from that game. Unlike future implementations, 9th Style did not require a network connection for full e-Amusement compatibility, and thus could be used while offline too.

[edit] Extra Stage

An extra stage can be earned for meeting specific criteria on the final stage. If the last stage is played on Another with Hard Mode enabled on any song rated a Flashing 7, and the player gets a A or higher, the player will be forced to play PARANOiA survivor MAX by 290, well known as the boss song of DDR Extreme. If the stage is played on hard mode and an a grade of A or higher is obtained, the player is forced to play One More Extra Stage, this song being Quasar by Outphase.

[edit] Home version

A home version of 9th Style was released in Japan for the PlayStation 2 on March 21, 2005. As with other IIDX home releases, it contains all the new songs from the Arcade version, revivals from older styles, and new songs. The home version also features support for 480p composite output and S/PDIF audio output for higher quality graphics and sound. Of note, the console version of 9th Style does not suffer from the same timing issues as the Arcade version.

The engine and UI of 9th Style (but recolored Purple and Orange) was also used for the the US release of Beatmania.

[edit] Songs

Notable songs from this version include:

  • Rislim ~remix~ - a remix of Rislim from 5th Style. The song is a subject of an inside joke in the IIDX community, involving a player's fondness for the song, and specific times on when to actually play it.
  • PARANOiA survivor MAX - well-known as the hardest song on the then-recently released DDR Extreme. The song is one of several crossovers from Extreme that are present on 9th Style.

[edit] External links

[edit] References