Beatmania IIDX 14: Gold

Beatmania IIDX 14: Gold (stylized as beatmania IIDX14: GOLD) is the 14th game in the beatmania IIDX series of music video games. It was released in arcades by Konami Digital Entertainment on February 21, 2007. The game features over 45 new songs, some of which are unlocked over Konami's e-Amusement platform. The game instituted another hardware change for IIDX, now running on more powerful hardware using Windows XP Embedded as its operating system.

Beatmania IIDX 14 Gold
Titlescreen of the CS version
Developer(s)Konami Digital Entertainment
Publisher(s)Konami Digital Entertainment
Seriesbeatmania IIDX & Bemani
Platform(s)Arcade & Sony PlayStation 2
ReleaseArcade
  • JP: February 21, 2007
PlayStation 2
  • JP: May 29, 2008
Genre(s)Music
Mode(s)Single-player & Multiplayer
Arcade systemKonami Bemani PC Type 2

The user interface features a predominantly metallic appearance, with gold and silver accents throughout.

Gameplay

Beatmania IIDX tasks the player with performing songs through a controller consisting of seven key buttons and a scratchable turntable.[1] Hitting the notes with strong timing increases the score and groove gauge bar, allowing the player to finish the stage. Failing to do so depletes the gauge until it is empty, abruptly ending the song.[2]

The core gameplay remains the same in Gold. A new hidden modifier, "REGUL-SPEED", locks the BPM of a song to a constant 150, but scores achieved with it turned on are not recorded. In addition, a new song folder was added, Assist Clear, for songs which were cleared using the 5-Key or Auto Scratch modifiers. Gold also utilizes less strict timing windows than previous arcade releases, utilizing more CS-like timings. Also, the ability for 2 players to play on separate difficulties was added.

e-Amusement

A new e-Amusement feature added to Gold are "GP", points earned during songs which can unlock secret songs such as console exclusives and revival songs from previous styles.

Extra Stages

If the player gets three AA's on any difficulty (without use of the Random or Mirror modifiers) and the levels for all the songs add up to either 20 for Hyper or 30 for Another, the player is awarded a chance to play the extra stage, Vanessa by 朱雀 (Suzaku). The stage is played on Hard mode, which removes the 80% Groove Gauge requirement, but the player will fail if it drops down to 0%. If the stage is cleared, the player gets to play One More Extra Stage, Fascination MAXX, a crossover from the then-recently released Dance Dance Revolution SuperNova.

VIP Room

An additional extra stage-like system added to Gold through e-Amusement is the VIP Room, an extension on the system introduced by Distorted's "Cardinal Gate" system. To access the VIP Room, the player must play 30 songs on one difficulty, then pay 1700 GP. This unlocks the Silver Room, containing GOLD RUSH by DJ Yoshitaka-G feat. Michael a la mode.

Clearing 60 songs on one difficulty, then clearing GOLD RUSH with an A in Hard mode, plus another payment of 1700 GP unlocks the Gold Room, containing CANDY GALY by Risk Junk-G.

Clearing 90 songs, 5 songs from IIDX Records on the same difficulty, clearing CANDY GALY with an A or higher in Hard mode, and another payment of 1700 GP unlocks the Platinum Room, which contains 電人、暁に斃れる。 (Denjin, Dead at Dawn) by L.E.D-G. An additional OMES in the Black Room was Sense 2007 by good-cool.

The VIP Room system was later dropped as all songs were later unlocked for regular play on e-Amusement connected machines. All songs contain different frames for the gameplay UI in their room's color.

Music

New Songs

Genre Song Artist Notes
Hindu Salsa 2hot2eat Osamu Kubota
Flow Pop Air Bell D-crew
Psychedelic Synth Trance ANDROMEDA II Sota Fujimori
Epic Poetry Blind Justice ~Torn Souls, Hurt Faiths~ Zektbach Also in pop'n music 16: Party and DDR Supernova2.
Spanish Cool カミロ・ウナ・メンデス 山根ミチル
Nostalish Requiem CaptivAte~誓い~ A/I
Nostalish Requiem CaptivAte~裁き~ DJ Yoshitaka feat. A/I Also on GF/DM V2
Trance シティ・エンジェル PINK PONG
Techno Rave Come On John Robinson
Dramatic Euro Trance CROSSROAD *1 jun with TAHIRIH
Cyborg Trance Cyber Force Sota Fujimori feat. cyborg Akemi
Scouse House Dreaming Sweetness Auridy
Acid Jazz earth-like planet ELEKTEL
Buchiage Trance FIRE FIRE StripE Also on DDR X2
Rock four-leaf Sis Bond Chit Also on GF/DM V6: Blazing!!!
Disco GHOSTBUSTERS Remixed by DJ Yoshitaka.
Electronica GRID KNIGHT SAW WAVE SQUAD
Progressive HALF MOON Mutsuhiko Izumi
Japanese Alteration 花吹雪 ~ IIDX LIMITED ~ S.S.D.FANTASICA feat.ユッコ Also on pop'n music 17: Movie
Filter House heaven above kors k
High Speed Love Song High School Love DJ Yoshitaka feat. DWP Also on pop'n music 14: Fever!
J-Happy Hardcore HONEY♂PUNCH 小坂りゆ Also in DDR SuperNOVA.
J-Pop 星をこの手に DJ YOSHITAKA feat.星野奏子
Millennium Trance INORI dj TAKA feat.HAL Revived from beatmaniaIIDX 11 IIDXRED CS
Freeform Hardcore KAMAITACHI DJ TECHNORCH fw. GUHROOVY
Industrial Review 鬼言集 あさき
Future Pop クルクル☆ラブ~Opioid Peptide MIX~ イオンチャンネル
Pops Love Again... Tatsh feat Junko Hirata Revived from beatmaniaIIDX 11 IIDXRED CS
Nu Skool Breaks LASER CRUSTER L.E.D.
House Make Me Your Own good-cool ft. Raj Ramayya
Oldskool Hardcore Rave METALLIC MIND DJ TECHNORCH fw. GUHROOVY
Hyper Eurobeat My Only Shining Star NAOKI feat. Becky Lucinda Also on DDR SuperNOVA
Dance Pop never... 星野奏子 with dj TAKA
Piano Concerto op. 31 叙情 akiko
Drum'n Bass PHOTONGENIC L.E.D. fw.堀澤麻衣子 Revived from beatmaniaIIDX 9th Style CS
小倉テクノ (Ogura Techno) Play back hate you AKIRA YAMAOKA
J-Pop Red Rocket Rising BeForU
Hyper J-Pop Zero 零 -ZERO- TЁЯRA Appeared in DDR X
Euro Trance リグレット 星野奏子(with DJ Yoshitaka) Revived from beatmaniaIIDX 11 IIDXRED CS
Eurobeat Roulette Y&Co.
Handz Up Second Heaven Ryu☆ Also on DDR X2
Ele Pop smile miru_maki. gjw
Trance snow storm dj TAKA
歌謡ハウス (Song House) So Real Y&Co. feat.mioco
Hyper J-Pop+ STARS☆☆☆ (Re-tuned by HΛL) -IIDX EDITION- TЁЯRA Cut version on DDR SuperNOVA 2
Schranz the shadow kors k
Pop The Smile of You 猫叉Master feat.JESSY Also on pop'n music 17: Movie
PSG Works TRANOID T&S seq. factory
Hiphop Watch out!! MAD Sequence*
J-House With Your Smile Shoichiro Hirata plus Junko Hirata
Retro Rave X-rated SADA
Digital Rock Yabis Starlight DAJI
Techno ヨシダさん AKIRA YAMAOKA
Deceptive Gabba VANESSA 朱雀 Extra Stage, Appeared in DDR X2.
SuperNOVA Beat Fascination MAXX 100-200-400 One More Extra Stage
Nu-NRG 電人、暁に斃れる。 L.E.D.-G VIP Room (Platinum) Extra Stage
Happy CANDY GALY Risk Junk-G VIP Room (Gold) Extra Stage
Reckless Rave GOLD RUSH DJ Yoshitaka-G feat. Michael a la mode VIP Room (Silver) Extra Stage, Appeared in DDR X2 (2 versions), and pop'n music 18: Sengoku Retsuden.
Rave Sense 2007 good-cool VIP Room (Black) One More Extra Stage

*1 CROSSROAD has 2 different versions in this game.

Notable songs from this version include:

  • GOLD RUSH - a song accessed through the VIP Room system. The song is an extended remix of Gold's opening theme by DJ Yoshitaka, with additional vocals provided by "Michael a la Mode" (actually Yoshitaka's voice placed through various audio filters) and a middle breakdown containing a naming of all the IIDX versions in order of release. The song gained a cult following in IIDX online communities due to Michael's incomprehensible but booming vocals, and the intentional Engrish lines from the song have often become memes. Michael a la Mode as a character has appeared in other roles due to his popularity among fans, such as hosting the Tutorial mode in future versions, and later appearing in a B4U remix.
  • TRANOID - a tribute to video game music. The video for the song contains an opening sequence for a fictitious game of the same name, starring "Tran", an alien character seen frequently in IIDX videos. The actual game consists of her running down a track (which resembles the gameplay area of IIDX but tilted on its side), dodging other red, white, and blue aliens. The "game", is actually Tranoid's notechart on Normal for that portion of the song, and the game area and colors even imitate the standard colors of notes on IIDX. The logo for the game resembles the logo for Gradius, another Konami game.
  • The Smile of You - the theme song from the Konami game Elebits, which coincidentally also includes references to other Bemani games in general.
  • Golden Cross, a techno song by DJ REMO-CON and dj TAKA, and one of the collaborations in the console version of Gold. The song is the toughest out of the new songs on Gold CS, with its Another chart being ranked a 12 and containing a total of 1765 notes. The video features several of the musicians in a show named "Yoshitaka no Shogi" (a parody of Hikaru no Go, another television program based around a Japanese board game).
  • Sense 2007 - a song accessed through the VIP Room system. Sense 2007's Normal difficulty is rated a 9, making it tied in rating with gigadelic as the highest Normal difficulty in IIDX history.

Home version

The home version of Beatmania IIDX 14: Gold for the PlayStation 2 was released on May 29, 2008. The console version includes new songs such as 6 collaborations with IIDX regulars, 6 unlockable songs, revivals of older songs from earlier IIDX versions and from the original 5-key Beatmania series, for a total of 96 songs.

Two songs from the Kaiden course in Class mode, Vanessa and Kamaitachi, feature new Another charts only playable in the course, which are more difficult than their original charts. As with other recent PS2 styles, the game also contains unlockable interface items, such as different menu music, category announcers, additional lane covers for the Sudden+ modifier, and discs for the turntable icon in gameplay.

The original videos of Last Message and Sense 2007 (which are infamous for containing scenes of sexually provocative imagery, were replaced with generic videos on Gold CS due to stricter age certification processes by the CERO and a desire to keep the game A-rated, although Last Message's video was included on the console version of 7th Style (which does not have a CERO rating). On the contrast, 星をこの手に now has a dedicated video, and Metallic Mind now has overlays featuring Hihumi, the mascot of the game.

Some pre-order bundles for the game also included the "Beatnation Summit" DVD, the artwork book "Puzzle - Maya Takamura's Pieces", and L.E.D's album, Denjin K.

North American location test

Gold was the first version of Beatmania IIDX to have a dedicated English build for the North American market. As with other music video games, Japanese IIDX machines have been imported by some arcades, but are still considered rare. This is not the first time a Beatmania IIDX game has been released in North America though, as a Beatmania game based on 9th Style, featuring songs from IIDX, and the original Beatmania games, were released for the PlayStation 2 in 2006. These did not have an arcade counterpart.

The build was first seen at a location test at Brunswick Zone Naperville in Naperville, Illinois. Most of the instructions in the interface were translated into English, though Dan mode was untranslated, and song titles were not translated or romanized (although the LED marquee does show titles in a romanized format on all styles by default).[3] The English build of IIDX Gold was never released.

References

  1. Foster, Neil (April 1, 2013). "Beatmania (page 8)". Hardcore Gaming 101. Kontek. Archived from the original on July 23, 2019. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
  2. "overall on beatmania IIDX". Konami. Konami. 1999. Archived from the original on February 6, 2007. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
  3. "Beatmania IIDX Gold to go on test in an American arcade". Archived from the original on 2007-12-18. Retrieved 2008-04-02.
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