GuitarFreaks and DrumMania
Gitadora is a music video game series produced by Konami. The series consists of two games, GuitarFreaks and DrumMania, where players use game controllers modeled after musical instruments to perform the lead guitar, bass guitar and drums of numerous songs across a wide range of genres by matching scrolling musical notes patterns shown on screen. Players are scored for successfully-hit notes, but may fail a song if they miss too many notes. The series has featured numerous game modes, and supports both single-player and multiplayer modes where up to three players can perform together. Some earlier versions of the game could also be linked with Keyboardmania.
GuitarFreaks is a music video game series produced by Konami. It is a rhythm game where the player uses a controller to simulate the playing of an electric guitar. The game consists of music predominantly from the rock music, rock and roll and J-pop genres. It is considered one of the most influential video games of all time, for having laid the foundations for popular guitar-based rhythm games, such as the Guitar Hero series. Working Designs attempted to bring Guitar Freaks PlayStation 2 games to the U.S., but patent problems with the guitar controller prevented the project from moving forward.
DrumMania is a drumming music video game series produced by Bemani, the musical division of Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. It first released in 1999 as an arcade game, then subsequently ported to the Sony PlayStation 2 in Japan in 2000 as a launch title. Subsequent mixes have been released approximately once a year. In 2010, a series XG was introduced, adding a floor tom, left cymbal and a left pedal to the cabinet setup.
History
System 573 era (1999–2004)
GuitarFreaks was released on February 16, 1999. It included a dozen of songs and uses the Bemani System 573 analog hardware, so called because it uses the analog audio output from a CD drive. DrumMania was released on July 10, 1999, along with GuitarFreaks 2ndMix. These versions included 26 and 33 songs, respectively, and could be linked together to play 14 common songs. Subsequent versions used digital hardware and featured larger song lists, eventually surpassing 120 songs. The GuitarFreaks version number continued having an increment of one compared to the equivalent DrumMania version until GuitarFreaks 11thMix and DrumMania 10thMix on April 22, 2004. GuitarFreaks 2ndMix was the last System 573 analog game, and DrumMania was the first System 573 digital game.Although the series saw 11 main arcade releases for the System 573, only the first four received home ports. Two of these are GuitarFreaks games for the original PlayStation console:
- GuitarFreaks was released on July 29, 1999. It features a total of 18 songs: 12 from its arcade counterpart, 3 previews from 2ndMix and 3 unique songs. It features Key Disc technology to allow play of GuitarFreaks Append 2ndMix.
- GuitarFreaks Append 2ndMix was released on February 24, 2000. It features a total of 45 songs: 17 from its predecessor, 17 from its arcade counterpart and 11 original songs. As an Append Disc, 2ndMix functions like an expansion pack, requiring the first GuitarFreaks to be loaded as a Key Disc before play.
- DrumMania was released on March 4, 2000, as a launch title for the PlayStation 2.
- GuitarFreaks 3rdMix & DrumMania 2ndMix was released on September 13, 2000.
- GuitarFreaks 4thMix & DrumMania 3rdMix was released on September 20, 2001.
''V1'' to ''V3'' (2005–2007)
In 2005, the GuitarFreaks & DrumMania series was upgraded to Bemani Python 2 hardware, which is powered by the PlayStation 2, the same hardware that later became used in the Dance Dance Revolution SuperNova series. This eased the development of home ports, which saw a reduced song list, but functioned nearly identically to their arcade counterparts. Three versions of the guitar and drum games utilized this platform:- GuitarFreaks & DrumMania V was released on February 23, 2005, for arcades and March 16, 2006, for the PlayStation 2. The arcade version features 271 songs: 118 new additions, 125 from the previous version and 28 from older versions. The home version of V is limited to 68 songs, of which 49 are from the arcade version, 16 are revivals from GF5/DM4 to GF11/DM10 and three are V2 previews.
- GuitarFreaks & DrumMania V2 was released on November 24, 2005, for arcades and November 22, 2006 for the PlayStation 2. The arcade version features 363 songs: 93 new additions, 270 from V and 25 from older versions. The home version of V2 is limited to 67 songs, of which 44 are from the arcade version, 18 are revivals, three are V3 previews and another two are unique songs later featured in V4.
- GuitarFreaks & DrumMania V3 was released on September 13, 2006, for arcades and October 4, 2007 for the PlayStation 2. The arcade version features 417 songs: 46 new additions, 357 from V2 and 14 from older versions. The home version of V3 is limited to 80 songs, of which 46 are from the arcade version, 21 are revivals, 12 are console originals and one is from V.
''V4'' to ''V6'' (2007–2009)
GuitarFreaks & DrumMania V4 was released on August 8, 2007, in Japan and received a location test on September 30, 2007, in the United States. This instalment is the first in the series to forego PlayStation-based hardware, replacing it with a Bemani PC running Windows XP Embedded. This is in contrast to Dance Dance Revolution SuperNova 2, which was released on August 22, 2007, in Japan and continued to use the PlayStation 2-based Python 2.V4 is also the first international release in the series, the second location test of GuitarFreaks in the US, and the first location test of DrumMania in the US. The test was short-lived in the United States, concluding in just over a month.
''XG'' to ''XG3'' and ''V7'' to ''V8'' (2010–2012)
The XG series features guitar and drum controllers with extra frets and pads, respectively. V7 and V8 were released concurrently with XG and XG2, respectively.''GITADORA to GITADORA GALAXY WAVE DELTA'' (2013–present)
GITADORA is continuation from the XG Series of GuitarFreaks and DrumMania. The first release of the GITADORA series was February 14, 2013, with lots of modifications to the game-play. The "Matixx" series of GITADORA made a lot of improvements, similar to the following GITADORA series. By December 16, 2020, Konami announced the availability of a PC version of the game called "コナステ GITADORA", for a monthly fee of 1480 yen. From February 1, 2021, to February 28, 2022, Konami held a promo offering a free month of the PC version with redemption codes included with the purchase of a Yamaha DTX 402KS or 452KS drumset. GITADORA GALAXY WAVE DELTA is the latest arcade release.Controller
GuitarFreaks is played using a controller designed to imitate the shape of an electric guitar, most like the Fender Jazzmaster or Fender Mustang. The neck houses three buttons, colored red, green, and blue. During XG series up to recent GITADORA, two buttons were added such as yellow and pink. On the main face of the guitar, a pick lever is used to simulate the picking and strumming of an actual guitar. A small metal knob near the pick is used to alter the sound produced by the game, such as adding Chorus/Delay effects.Gameplay
The interface is similar to other games in the Bemani series. Two note scrolls—one for each player—are displayed at the left and right sides of the screen. Colorful animations for each song are displayed in the center of the screen. Each note scroll consists of four columns: one each for the red, green, and blue buttons, and a fourth column, known as the Wailing Bonus column. Individual notes and chords are represented by small colored bars that scroll upward in the columns. To play the correct note, the player must hold down the buttons corresponding to the colored bars, and move the fret lever when the bars reach the yellow fretting line. When a guitar icon is displayed in the Wailing Bonus column along with an associated note, the player can tilt the guitar upright while playing the note to receive bonus points.The player's accuracy is judged for each note played. The current system uses the names Perfect, Great, Good, OK, and Miss to indicate a player's accuracy. Ratings of Miss will deplete the player's Groove Gauge, while Perfect, Great and Good ratings will replenish it. If the Groove Gauge is emptied completely, the player fails, and the game ends. Players are allowed to play anywhere from one to five songs depending on the game cabinet's configuration, with the ability to earn additional songs in certain versions of the game. Furthermore, if "fast/slow" is enabled, then there will be additional indicator of judge. Just Perfects are called "X-Perfect"s while Fast/Slow Perfects are regular Perfects.
Upon successful completion of a song, players are graded on their performance. When the game ends, the player's total score across all songs played is tabulated.
DrumMania simulates real life drumming. It is played using a controller designed to imitate a drum set. Five pads are arrayed from left to right for the hi-hat, snare drum, high tom, low tom, cymbal and bass drum. On XG series, a left cymbal, left pedal and a floor tom are added. During play, the player presses the pads and steps on the pedal in sync with the notes falling vertically from the top of the screen in time with the music.
DrumMania uses a modified Yamaha DTXPRESS electronic drumkit. This drumkit is used for players for gameplay and navigating through select screens. Navigating can also be done by pressing Select and Start button on the right side of the machine. On home releases, a drum controller made by KONAMI can be used, although rather than separating each buttons on their own pads, home controllers place the pads on a single place, more resembling a palette. PlayStation 2 DUALSHOCK Controllers may also be used.