Pop ‘n Music And The Magic Music Slap

Konami had a build of Pop ‘n Music for me to check out. I played it and fans should know it’s North American debut is very different from the arcade game.

This version of Pop ‘n Music wasn’t designed with a Pop ‘n controller in mind. The Wii remote and nunchuck control Pop’s hands.Well, from a mirror. If you want to hit a button you move the remote down as if you were Pop slapping the button. I pasted text over the screenshot to give you a better idea of the motions.

The strange thing about the controls is they don’t feel accurate. When I played “Virtual Insanity” I noticed I unintentionally hit multiple buttons while sliding the remote down/right or down/left to hit the green buttons. Then I discovered the “magic swipe” motion, which made Pop quickly smack the green, blue, and red buttons.

I’m not a Pop ‘n Music pro, but from my experience with the arcade version Pop ‘n Music is the kind of game that needs precise control. I suggested that the game would work better if Konami refined the motions and added a classic control scheme with buttons. Since Pop ‘n Music comes out on August 6 in Japan it’s probably too late to add either of these.

Speaking of the Japanese version, Konami did a fair job keeping Bemani music in the North American release. They localized the song list, which was expected, but there are a few Pop ‘n favorites in the build I played.

Please note that this song list is not final and Konami plans to sell additional songs over Nintendo Wi-Fi. Pop ‘n Music with “Love Shack” will shake into North American stores this fall.

Licensed Songs

Celebration
Space Dog
ABC
Love Shack
Virtual Insanity
Waiting For Tonight

Bemani Songs

Magical Voice Shower
Mei Kyu Shi Sui
Pulse
Ska Ska No. 4
Together 4ever
Echoes
777
Moon
Shamshir Dance