GuitarFreaks
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GuitarFreaks (alternately GUITARFREAKS, abbreviated GF) is a 1998 arcade game created by Konami that is part of the Bemani series. The player uses a simulated guitar controller to play the notes of a chosen song's guitar part as they are displayed on the screen. The game's music consists largely of rock and roll and J-Pop, though other types are used occasionally as well.
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Controller
GuitarFreaks, as the name suggests, is played using a fairly large controller designed to imitate a guitar. The basic shape is that of a small electric guitar, composed largely of plastic and metal. The neck houses three buttons, labeled Red, Green, and Blue. On the main face of the guitar is a plastic pick lever about 3 inches wide. This lever can be moved up or down. Below the pick lever is a small metal knob used to select different effectors which alter the guitar sounds created by the player. For example, effector #1 is usually some sort of echo.
Gameplay
The setup is very similar to other games in the Bemani series. Two vertical 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 4 columns: one each for the Red, Green, and Blue buttons, and another 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 button (or buttons in the case of chords) and move the pick lever when the note bars reach the yellow picking 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, and while the individual note judgments have changed throughout the series, the current system uses Perfect, Great, Good, Poor, and Miss to evaluate performance of each note. Ratings of Poor or Miss will deplete the player's Groove Gauge, while correct play will replenish it. If the Groove Gauge is emptied completely, the game ends. Players will be able to play anywhere from one to five songs depending on the game's configuration, with the potential to earn one or two additional stages in certain versions of the game if performance is good enough.
At the completion of a song, players are given a letter rank for their performance which can range anywhere from E to A, as well as S and SS depending on how well the song was played, and how the particular release of the game being played computes ranks.
Session linking
One of the major selling points of GuitarFreaks is its ability to be linked to another of Konami's Bemani games, DrumMania. This allows up to 3 players to get together for a virtual jam session. When set up correctly, the music will play simultaneously from both games, and the players' guitar and drum sounds will be relayed between the two games as well. This is known for being quite loud and extravagant at times.
Because GuitarFreaks was released first out of the two games, it has always been one "mix" number higher than the DrumMania version it links up to. For example, GUITARFREAKS 6thMIX is designed to be linked with drummania 5thMIX. The games were finally "synchronized" with the release of GuitarFreaksV & DrumManiaV, which eschew the long-standing number system (they would be 12th and 11th mix, respectively).
Super Session
Seen only in two releases each of GuitarFreaks and DrumMania, Super Session allowed the games to be linked up with Keyboardmania 3rd Mix as well. In addition to having three players controller the guitars and drums, two more could be added playing along on keyboards. However, when linked with Keyboardmania, only about a dozen songs are available to play. Keyboardmania 3rd Mix can be linked with GuitarFreaks 5th Mix and DrumMania 4th Mix, or GuitarFreaks 6th Mix and DrumMania 5th Mix.
Availability
GuitarFreaks is currently only developed and released in dedicated arcade cabinets. Some versions of the game have also been localized and released for Korea and other Asian countries. Additionally, the first version of the game, featuring 14 songs, was released to the US as well. The failed US release was essentially doomed by the extremely small song list from 1st Mix, and rather limited marketing and brand recognition. While primarily a Japanese game now, GuitarFreaks is often imported (technically illegally) to the US and many other countries. Four home versions were released for the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 game consoles from Sony, though the home line was ended at 4th Mix because of unimpressive sales. Some believe this is because of the difficulty in finding good controllers to play the game effectively.
In 2005, a clone of Guitar Freaks was announced by RedOctane. Song list include those from Sum41.
External links
- GFdm Gateway (http://www.konami.co.jp/am/gfdm/index.html), Konami's official arcade website for GuitarFreaks and DrumMania (in Japanese)
- GuitarFreaks entry (http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=&game_id=8026) on Killer List of Videogames, with arcade cabinet details
- GDAmania (http://www.homei.cc/gdamania/), a popular GF/DM community website with simfiles, songlists, lyrics and worldwide locations.ja:GUITARFREAKS