I am a big fan of the rhythm game genre. I played the shit out of DDR and since coming to Japan I've become a big fan of games like Jubeat and IIDX. However, there is one game that really took me by surprise and that's Pop n' Music.
For those unfamiliar Pop n' Music is a tremendously cutesy rhythm game with a 9 button panel when its played in an arcade. You can check out youtube to see what I mean when I say a cutesy design so when you play it you're not really expecting anything hard. Although after I got going with it I couldn't have been more wrong.
Pop n' Music, next to IIDX is one of the most ball bustingly hard rhythm games I have ever played. The faster charts come down so quick and dense with notes and the and keys are so spread out that I just find it impossible to keep track of everything. Although little by little I'm getting better and better.
That said, I decided to pick up a copy of Pop n' Music Portable on PSP. Now I don't want to sound cocky but I got damn good at DJ Max Portable. So I jumped into Pop n' Music Portable thinking that I'd just stomp all over the hardest modes although once again, I was very VERY wrong. The game has a 5, 7 and 9 button mode and I'm struggling with the goddamn 7 button. Maybe its just because I'm not used to the button layout but these games seriously kick my ass.
I think what Pop n' Music represents, is the key difference between the Japanese and Western markets when it comes to Rhythm games. Games like Guitar Hero, Rock Band and DJ Hero are fun as hell to play in a group, but they pose very little in the way of challenge. I was playing expert songs in DJ Hero and getting max grade for them within a week of taking it out of the box. Of course this doesn't mean these games don't have hard songs, but the hardest songs of Guitar Hero and DJ Hero are on about the same level difficulty as some of the medium level songs of things like IIDX.
Like I said before though, these games are fun as hell to play in a group. You break out the Guitar Hero at a party, everyone in that room will be able to pick it up and clear a song 2 even if they don't play games too often. If you broke out your imported IIDX at a party, chances are people would not be too happy when their constantly failing the easiest songs because the controllers aren't exactly newbie friendly.
So I suppose my final point is that you shouldn't really judge a game by its design. For all the hardcore rock star stuff Guitar Hero throws at you, it still doesn't hold a candle in skill compared to Pop n' Music's cutsie J-Pop. But as far as I'm concerned, both games are damn good.
