GUEST BLOG: Guitar Freaks/Drummania Vs. Rock Band/Guitar Hero
Guitar Freaks: A guitar game with a Guitar Hero like controller (really, the Guitar Hero controller is Guitar Freaks like, but we’ll get to that), except that it only had 3 buttons.
Drummania: A drum game styled like an authentic electronic drum set, complete with hi-hat (but no hi-hat pedal), bass drum, snare drum, two toms, and a cymbol.
Clark Kent says: Sound and look familiar? You be the judge. Read more after the jump.
Guitar Freaks and Drummania (GFDM) were first released in Japanese arcades (and later ported to consoles) in 1998 and 1999, respectively. So, long before Guitar Hero (2005) or Rock Band (2007) existed, Guitar Freaks and Drummania were allowing Japanese arcade goers to play virtual guitar and drums. What’s more, they linked together so that two people could be playing guitar while one plays drums… and one more plays keyboard through Keyboardmania, which also linked to both Guitar Freaks and Drummania. So, not only did Guitar Freaks and Drummania do what Rock Band does now much earlier, but it did more than Guitar Hero or Rock Band. The only advantage that Rock Band has is the singing aspect, which was done by Konami and Harmonix (who also started Guitar Hero and does Rock Band now) with Karaoke Revolution starting in 2003 in the US. So, in short, it’s complicated, but Konami did it first, so that’s a lot of points in favor of GFDM.
But, did GFDM do it better? Well, hands down, Drummania did drums better. It actually emulated a full (well, very nearly full… add a hi-hat pedal and you would have it) electronic drum set. Based on the controller, Guitar Freaks did not do Guitar better than Rock Band. But, as for the gameplay, was it more fun?
Here are the main two differences between Rock Band and GFDM in terms of raw gameplay, as well as a couple other differences related to each of the games:
First, combos versus accuracy. For Rock Band, how close you were to hitting the note perfectly doesn’t matter. It only matters that you hit the note within a certain range. You either hit a note, or you don’t. You improve your score through hitting multiple notes back to back, creating a combo, and creating a multiplier. For GFDM, you get rated on how close you were to the exact moment of the note, and you increase your score by hitting the notes more accurately. There is also a combo part in Guitar Freaks, though. Every once in a while, a symbol will scroll alongside the notes indicating that you can lift the guitar for a bonus (yes, just like star power, except you don’t enter a temporary state, you just get bonus points right there), and that bonus is based on your current combo. This is pretty much just up to personal taste.
Difficulty, easy versus hard. This will probably upset a few fans of Guitar Hero and Rock Band, but if you compare the hardest songs from GFDM to the hardest songs in either of the US released games, GFDM is much harder and takes much more practice and skill to beat. For those that like a good challenge that will last them a very long time, this is a good thing. For those who simply want to enjoy playing a little music in a video game, this might be a bad thing. There are, of course, much easier songs on both games, though. And, yes, Guitar Freaks with 3 buttons IS harder than Guitar Hero with 5 buttons.
Sounds, hit or miss versus play a note when you hit it. Yeah, that sounds awkward, but it’s what it is. In Guitar Hero and Rock Band, if you miss a note, it makes a “miss” noise. If you hit a note, it plays that particular note in perfect time whether you actually hit it in perfect time or not. In GFDM, that is not the case. If you hit the wrong note, it simply plays the wrong note, and the song will sound wrong. And, when you hit a note, it plays that note exactly when you hit it. So, if your timing is a little off, you will hear it, and you will be able to adjust it. For some, this is clearly points in favor of GFDM, but not for all.
Other differences, song selection. GFDM uses a lot of “Konami Original Songs”, meaning that they write music for the game themselves. There is a wide variety of music there, and not just lots of rock. Of course, when I phrase it that way, it sounds like a good thing, but maybe it isn’t. Most of the USA absolutely loves rock, and Guitar Hero and Rock Band are tailored to the average American’s taste. That being said, how many original never-been-heard songs are in Guitar Hero or Rock Band? Not licensed songs, not covers, not remixes, but completely original and new songs? Well, the answer is none. So, while your tastes might need to defer a little from the average American’s tastes to enjoy the soundtrack of GFDM, you will be hearing and playing songs you can’t get anywhere else, as well as a few licensed songs from all over the world. The downside is that chances are that GFDM will probably never have your favorite American rock song in its song list, and that may be a deal breaker for some.
Last difference, domestic versus import. Since Guitar Hero and Rock Band are domestic games, you don’t have to pay a premium to have access to them. They work on your home console without any special modifications. GFDM games, on the other hand, are import video games that need to be played either on a modified American console or on an imported Japanese console, at least in most cases. Furthermore, you’ll have to pay a little more for the game itself because games cost more in Japan, and you’ll have to pay the extra shipping costs, making it rather unattractive financially.
Which is better? It is mostly up to personal tastes. From a technical perspective, GFDM is better because it emulates playing an instrument (not necessarily guitar or drums specifically, just an instrument) more closely and allows for more skill development, but that doesn’t necessarily make the game more fun. However, for some, it does make the game more fun, albeit less accessible. Whichever you prefer, though, be sure to give some credit to the ones that did it first, Konami with GFDM.
Also, a note, the latest version of Guitar Freaks will be using 5 buttons instead of 3, so while Guitar Hero and Rock Band copied GFDM, now GFDM is copying them back. Also, Konami does a lot more games than just Guitar Freaks and Drummania. Here is a nice selection of the games that Konami produces under it’s music department, called Bemani:
Clark Kent says: Today’s guest blogpost is courtesy of Kuro Matsuri Games. He really knows his imports!!! I wonder who throws the better party – Guitar Hero or Guitar Freaks? What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
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Recent Comments
I wholeheartedly agree. Konami's BEMANI simply is on a league of it's own. All GH/RB is, is cheap pop music that only resonates to the generic American. GFDM does something for EVERYBODY. You have US/UK rock pop hits, JP rock hits, music from all over the world, and this wonderful thing called KONAMI ORIGINAL. It's also challenging as it is fun for casual play. The people who play GFDM tend to be more of the sophisticated sorts who enjoys hardcore music gaming. GH/RB is made for the lowest common denominator. Honestly the choice is clear, GH/RB is only doing what GFDM has done for, OVER A DECADE.