Beatmania IIDX 13: Distorted
Beatmania IIDX 13: Distorted (stylized as beatmania IIDX13: DistorteD) is the 13th game in the beatmania IIDX series of music video games. It was released in arcades by Konami on October 19, 2005. It was Last Series before Konami Digital Entertainment. The game features a total of 55 new songs, some of which are unlocked over Konami's e-Amusement platform. Distorted's interface is a refresh of Happy Sky's interface, but using a monotone color scheme with orange wireframe patterns in menu backgrounds.
| Beatmania IIDX 13 Distorted | |
|---|---|
 Titlescreen of the CS version | |
| Developer(s) | Konami (Arcade), Konami Digital Entertainment (PlayStation 2) |
| Publisher(s) | Konami (Arcade), Konami Digital Entertainment (PlayStation 2) |
| Series | beatmania IIDX & Bemani |
| Platform(s) | Arcade & Sony PlayStation 2 |
| Release | Arcade
|
| Genre(s) | Music |
| Mode(s) | Single-player & Multiplayer |
| Cabinet | Custom |
| Arcade system | Konami Bemani PC Type 1 |
| CPU | Pentium 4 @ 2.4GHz |
| Sound | Realtek AC'97 |
| Display | 36" CRT, (Raster) 640x480 resolution, 16:9 aspect ratio |
Of note, Distorted was the first arcade version of IIDX to be officially exhibited in North America, making an appearance at E3 2006 alongside GuitarFreaks V2 in response to low sales of the US PS2 version and the debut of a sequel to a game which overshadowed its release, Guitar Hero II. An English build of the next version was ultimately beta tested but not officially released.
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 Distorted, but with several minor additions, such as the ability to change the High Speed setting used in-song by holding down the start button. Double and 2-player notecharts can now be flipped (so that the 1P side would be on the 2P side instead and vice versa). In addition, High Speed 4.5 and 5.0 options have been added.
Also, in Class mode, this version introduces a new grade called "Kaiden", designed for the most skilled, most consistent players in the world. It consists of four out of the most difficult songs available in the version.
e-Amusement
Distorted switched the e-Amusement system to the new standardized e-Amusement Pass system. e-Amusement was also required to save progress in the new extra stage system, the Cardinal Gate.
Cardinal Gate
Unlike previous versions of IIDX, Distorted features 4 different extra stages in a setup known as the Cardinal Gate. The system is based on the Four Symbols in Chinese mythology. The 4 main songs are identified by their artists in the menu, and are done under aliases of the main IIDX artists. The 4 songs are Contract by 朱雀 (Suzaku), Ganymede by 玄武 (Genbu), waxing and wanding by 青龍 (Seiryuu), and 華蝶風雪 (Kachoufuusetsu) by 白虎 (Byakko). The One More Extra Stage for Distorted is 嘆きの樹 (Nageki no Ki) by 金獅子 (Kinjishi). The OMES is accessed by A'ing all the other songs on Another with Hard Mode enabled.
To access it, one must get a B or higher on the first stage, and get another B or higher on the second stage (with the second song being of equal or higher difficulty than the first). On the last stage, the player must either full combo a 5 or 6-leveled song, finish a level 7 song with a full Groove Gauge, or pass any song with an 8 or higher.
The system is not used on machines in "beat#2" mode (which unlocks all songs). All of the Cardinal Gate song feature different frames for the gameplay interface. When a Cardinal Gate song was beaten, its corresponding frame would be unlocked to use in regular play using Konami's IIDX mobile site.
Music
| Genre | Song | Artist |
|---|---|---|
| Regular songs | ||
| Hyper J-Pop Seven | "ALRFARSHEAR ~双神威に廻る夢~" | TЁЯRA |
| Oratorio | "Apocalypse ~dirge of swans~" | Zektbach |
| Celtic Reel | "BALLAD THE FEATHERS" | S.S.D. FANTASICA feat. Naomi Koizumi |
| Hard Renaissance | "Bloody Tears (IIDX EDITION)" | DJ YOSHITAKA |
| Latin Horns Groove | "bluemoon" | 小野秀幸 |
| Eurobeat | "BOOM BOOM DISCO NIGHT" | Y&Co. |
| Lounge House | "BREAK OUT" | Remixed by Orange Lounge |
| Trance | "Broadbanded" | SADA |
| Mixture | "CRAZY K.I.N.O." | Shoichiro Hirata |
| Super Rave Beat | "DEEP ROAR" | NAOKI & Tatsh |
| J-Pop | "Double♥♥Loving Heart" | Tatsh feat. Junko Hirata & Sayaka Minami |
| Techno | "D.C. fish" | DJ MURASAME |
| Electronica | "Enjoy your life" | Mr. T plus H |
| 80's Techno | "EURO-ROMANCE" | K-MASERA |
| Progressive House | "Harmony and Lovely" | Ryu☆ |
| Trance | "Heavenly Sun (IIDX VERSION)" | AKIRA YAMAOKA |
| Futurelist Type | "iFUTURELIST" | AKIRA YAMAOKA |
| Brazilian House | "INFERNO" | Caldeira feat. 星野奏子 |
| Symphonic Euro | "Leaving..." | SEIYA MURAI meets "eimy" |
| Trance | "Look To The Sky (cyber True Color)" | Sota Fujimori |
| New Acoustic | "Melody Life" | Noria |
| Electronica | "MINT" | SLAKE |
| Hyper J-Core | "Parasite World" | TЁЯRA underground |
| 2 Step | "Power of Love" | kors k feat. PSY |
| Dance Pop | "Pretty Punisher" | baby weapon feat. asuka.m |
| Samba | "SAMBA DE JANEIRO" | Remixed by Lion MUSASHI |
| Buchiage Trance | "So Fabulous!!" | HHH |
| Trance | "SPRING RAIN (LLUVIA DE PRIMAVERA)" | Remixed by DJ YOSHITAKA |
| Happy Pop | "Sun Field" | mh sequence |
| Sadistic Hardcore | "The Dirty of Loudness" | Tatsh Assault X |
| Core Pop | "This is Love" | D-Crew feat. MAKOTO |
| Noise Pop | "tiger yamato" | tiger YAMATO |
| Freeform | "tripping contact" | kors k vs teranoid |
| Electrock | "Tonight?" | dj REMO-CON |
| Psychedelic Trance | "TYPE MARS (G-Style Mix)" | L.E.D. |
| Electro Lounge | "Ubiquitous Fantastic Ride" | ELEKTEL |
| Lovers Eurobeat | "Why did you go away" | jun with TAHIRIH |
| Nu Bigbeat Breaks | "Winning Eleven9 Theme (IIDX EDITION)" | Sota Fujimori |
| Cute Pops | "wish" | DJ YOSHITAKA feat. 杉村ことみ |
| Cyber Opus | "Zenius -I- vanisher" | Tatsh |
| Drum'n'Rock | "罠" (Wana) |
good-cool |
| Hidden songs | ||
| Nustyle Gabba | "ay carumba!!!!" | teranoid & MC Natsack |
| Techno | "DUE TOMORROW" | Mr. T |
| Funk'n Jazz House | "with you..." | Sota Fujimori |
| beat#2 unlocks | ||
| Progressive | "Concertino in Blue" | 佐々木博史 |
| 哀愁ユーロ | "MOON" | dj TAKA feat. Erika Mochizuki |
| 和式電子音楽 | "カゴノトリ～弐式～ (Kagonotori ~IIDX version~) |
橙色特別室 |
| Lovely Trans Pop | "虹色" (Nijiiro) |
DJ YOSHITAKA feat. G.S.C. license |
| Hidden songs (beat#2) | ||
| Gabba | "tripping contact (teranoid & MC Natsack Remix)" | kors k vs teranoid |
| Eurobeat | "WISH (EUROBEAT MIX)" | DJ YOSHITAKA feat. 杉村ことみ |
| Poprock | "タシカナモノ" (Tashikanamono) |
星野奏子 with the BAND |
| Cardinal Gate (Extra Stage) | ||
| Sublime Techno | "CONTRACT" | 朱雀 |
| Dance Speed | "waxing and wanding" | 青龍 |
| Esoteric Slowcore | "Ganymede" | 玄武 |
| Asian Mixture | "華蝶風雪" (Kachofusetsu) |
白虎 |
| Cardinal Gate (One More Extra Stage) | ||
| Contemporary | "嘆きの樹" (Nageki no Ki) |
金獅子 |
Notable songs from this version include:
- Zenius -I- vanisher - a Cyber Opus song by Tatsh. The song's name is shared with a recently established Bemani fansite, and the end of the video hinted at a possible sequel to the song on a later mix.
- iFUTURELIST - a song by Akira Yamaoka, the lead single and title track of his newest album.
- Go Beyond!! - one of the several exclusive songs found in the Console version of DistorteD, by Ryu☆ and Sōta Fujimori. The song is a Level 12 song on Another, which is known to have a complicated middle section.
- 嘆きの樹 (Nageki no ki) - The OMES of DistorteD, this song is the 2nd in IIDX history to have exactly 2000 notes, with the 1st being 冥 (Mei) in Happy Sky.
Home version
The PlayStation 2 version of Distorted was released in Japan on August 30, 2007. It contains all the new songs from Distorted (except one, SAMBA DE JANEIRO[3]), 12 new songs, a selection of revived tracks, a preview song from Gold, and in honor of the 10th anniversary of Beatmania, 6 songs from the original 5-key beatmania series. The training mode on Distorted CS also features the Regul-Speed modifier option.
External links
- Official home page (in Japanese)
- IIDX Gateway (in Japanese)
References
- Foster, Neil (April 1, 2013). "Beatmania (page 8)". Hardcore Gaming 101. Kontek. Archived from the original on July 23, 2019. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
- "overall on beatmania IIDX". Konami. Konami. 1999. Archived from the original on February 6, 2007. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
- beatmania IIDX13 DistorteD CS Feature List