While the gaming division of Konami didn’t have a presence at this year’s Comic Con, they fortunately hosted an off-site event where gaming media could get their hands on some titles that they may have missed at E3 as well as a couple new titles, including the upcoming Wii take on the Pop’n Music series. It’s the first time the series is making its way to the US, and if you’ve seen the countless versions on arcades and PlayStation consoles in Japan you’re likely pretty excited about this new development.
Well, let me tell you right out that the game has a long way to go. It looks great, retaining the series’ vibrant visuals, but the controls are somewhat lacking in accuracy, precision, and, well, number at the moment. Basically, you use the remote and nunchuk and either flick your wrist outwards, swing up and down, or flick them inwards to hit the 5 possible notes, but it’s just not all that responsive, which is quite frustrating to say the least. If they can figure out how to manage the controls on the Wii and up the difficulty (I was already blowing through the more challenging stages despite the controls), this could definitely turn into an awesome rhythm title for the Wii. They intend to feature both English and Japanese-language tracks in the game (awesome), with one being Jamoriquai’s “Virtual Insanity,” a personal favorite of mine.
Are you a fan of the Pop’n Music series? Have any requests from either the East or West that you’d like to see included in the game?
