Game opinion: pop'n music portable 1~2

After the released the last PlayStation 2 for pop'n music in 2007, Konami continued making consoles version of the pop'n music thru PSP (PlayStation Portable). The first pop'n music portable was released in 2009. In-house BEMANI artist promoted and demonstrated the game during its campaign period. The interface and song list is based on pop'n music 15 ADVENTURE and one CS original. Two players can play thru 3 button or thru PSP's multiplayer. Game retail is 4,800JPY at the time of release.

Physical copies / box art of pop'n music 1~2

In 2011, pop'n music portable 2 was released. The interface and song list is based on pop'n music 16 PARTY!. There are features that the first pop'n music portable don't have such as; purchasing Downloadable songs and games thru Sony's PlayStation Network (for Japanese PSN accounts only). The only pop'n music portable game has the "PSP Best Hits" discount variant. Total song list including DLC is 146 songs, largest of all pop'n music (CS) games to date.

Available DLC for pop'n music portable 2 for PSN (Japan)

pop'n music is a good game but porting it to a handheld console is inappropriate for its gameplay. Using PSP's buttons doesn't have the real gameplay feeling and it may cause the PSP to fell if someone is playing 9-buttons in EX difficulty. They had the same outcome when they released it to Nintendo Wii, using the Wii mote and nunchuck as controller. The Wii version of pop'n music is targeted for kids not for arcade players. Konami should have continued releasing the game for PlayStation 2, knowing that some BEMANI games such as DDR and IIDX released their CS games until 2009 killing the pop'n music CS counterpart for that console early. Succeeding it to PlayStation 3 console would also a good suggestion, although, Konami will have to create a new pop'n music controller either in thru USB or wireless to port it to PS3. Konami also tried making a music game to Nintendo DS under the BEMANI moniker. I had an entry in 2017 about the game.

pop'n music portable 2 as a digital download in my PS Vita

Konami might have a valid reason on why they port it to handhelds, or somewhat made a bad decision and buried it after pop'n portable 2. Only the game Director and top management knows the answer. Moving forward, Konami is in its new path by bringing their Consumer Software thru powerful personal computers (PC) and adding more games for mobile devices portfolio such as iOS. If you are into retro game and music game collector, bragging rights is the only consolation you can get.


Here are the demonstration video links hosted by In-house BEMANI Artist;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ne7Dh1TMULk&t=4s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lDFsnk3TMI