Take it to the MAX

So, lately I've been playing A LOT of this PSP game that was released a year ago. I remember reading about it last year but since i didn't have a PSP at the time, i didn't care much about the game, plus i'm not big on rhythm based games except for the Guitar Hero games, Parappa 1 and Gitaroo-man. Though I own quite a few rhythm based games (cuz ppl say they're good), i mainly played these 4 when they came out, with the exception of the Guitar Hero games which I still play w/ friends every so often due to it's "non-japaneseness" and GH2 is still fairly recent. My friend has had it for a while and I asked him to borrow it since the sequel is coming out this month and i wanted to know how good it was. So, without further ado, this PSP game is none other than DJ Max Portable.

DJMP is a Korean PSP game by Pentavision. It's basically a blatant ripoff of Konami's rhythm games, namely Beatmania, as not only is the gameplay the exact same (no controller though since it's on PSP but just think of playing w/ da pad) but the interface as well (ie. music video on the right hand side). This game is available for the PC/internet in it's native Korean language, as well as Chinese and Japanese. So what makes this game so great seeing that it's a ripoff konami's game? Well, there isn't many good rhythm based games on PSP and most importantly Beatmania isn't available on PSP. Though the gameplay doesn't offer anything particularly new, it's fun, addictive and really challenging, as you have the option of picking between 4, 6 or 8 buttons. You really have to have some amazing hand & finger dexterity to master 8 buttons, though i personally don't recommend on it for health issues ;). The music videos are all done in a cartoonish/korean 'anime' style. don't expect a full blown animated music video as it's mostly nice artwork w/ simple animations that have only a couple of frames. All music videos have varied artwork that go according to the music and track. Some are funny, some are cool, some have hot cartoon chicks and some are fucked up. It's great all around. Speaking of animation, the game boasts an anime-style intro that is quite boobalicious. Now what about the music? Of course, one can't play a rhythm based game w/out great music and this it where DJMP delivers in spades. There's a huge variety of songs and styles that will hook almost anyone. Most vocals are in either Korean or English (korean style :P). There's over 50 songs for ppl to enjoy and i'm sure you will find several tracks that you like. And even if you don't like some of the other songs, you'll still enjoy listening/playing them in the game. I downloaded the OST immediately and have been listening to Every Morning, Oblivion, Jupiter Driving, Ray of Illuminati, Piano Concerto No.1, Ask a Favour of a Wind constantly. So if you got a PSP and dig Konami rhythm games, you should definitely check this game out. Though the game is Korean, it's almost entirely in English. Buy it download it, whatever. If you do buy it, just make sure you get the Korean version and not the International version. Why? Cuz the international version is censored (ie.lyrics) and some of the tracks are missing...seriously WTF? Even though it has one new track, missing tracks and censored existing tracks is not a fair trade off. SO DON'T BUY THE INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Thus, finding a Korean version is sorta hard and that is why u you should download the Korean ISO as it's easily available. My friend has the Korean version as he got it very early when the game came out and thus, i've resorted to ISO version. So if you can homebrew, u know what to do ^^. DJ MAX Portable 2 has been up for preorder for a couple of weeks now, so don't miss out on it this month. I'll probably wait till it goes slightly cheaper (though i may not cuz i'm afraid of a DJMP2 Int. version) or the release of an LE. If worse comes to worse...i always got ISO :D.
If you're still interested, check out the official site or youtube for various vids. U can find almost all the music videos to sample how good the music is, as well as the videos themselves. Here's a crazy mofo, while awesome, is gonna get arthritis :P:

The latest Famitsu Scores once again:
Famitsu

Layton Kyouju no Fushigi na Machi (NDS, Level 5): 8 / 8 / 8 / 9 - (33/40) - another brain age style game that does well...ho hum
Bleach DS 2nd: Kokui Hirameku Requiem (NDS, Sega): 8 / 7 / 8 / 7 - (30/40) - disappointed by this score, will still be awesome to fans regardless
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 (PSP, EA): 7 / 7 / 7 / 8 - (27/40)
Lumines II (PSP, Q Entertainment): 8 / 8 / 8 / 7 - (31/40)
Soul Cradle: Sekai o Kurau Mono (PS2, Nippon Ichi): 8 / 8 / 7 / 7 / - (30/40)
Appleseed EX (PS2, Sega): 3 / 4 / 4 / 3 - (14/40) - very disappointed by this score, will still get for the awesome looking CG FMVs
Zero no Tsukaima (PS2, Marvelous): 6 / 7 / 6 / 5 - (24/40)

Dengeki PS

Virtua Fighter 5 (PS3, Sega): 90 / 90 / 85 / 85
Lumines II (PSP, Q Entertainment): 80 / 90 / 95 / 90
Soul Cradle: Sekai o Kurau Mono (PS2, Nippon Ichi): 80 / 85 / 80 / 75
Aoi Sora no Neosphere: Nanoka Franka no Hatsumei Koubouki 2 (PS2, Nippon Ichi): 90 / 90 / 75 / 80
Soukou Kihei Armodyne (PS2, Sony): 80 / 85 / 75 / 65

On a end note, Play-Asia has discounted a lot of their games/items today for Chinese New Year (booyeah for CNY), thus, I made some more purchases from them on some games (that i've been wanting for a while) today. Not only that, a few PS2 and a PSP game arrived today from PA that i made a couple of weeks ago. I may or may not post them later on in the month since they're JPN games, which I've traditionally not posted, unless it's HiME/ZHiME based :). They're not really rare games either.