Technic Beat
Encyclopedia
Technicbeat is an arcade
Arcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...

 music video game
Music video game
A music video game, also commonly known as a music game, is a video game where the gameplay is meaningfully and often almost entirely oriented around the player's interactions with a musical score or individual songs...

 developed by Arika
Arika
is a Japanese video game developer. It was formed in 1995 by former Capcom employees. The name of the company itself is the reverse of the name of the company's founder, Akira Nishitani, who created Street Fighter II. Arika's first arcade game was Street Fighter EX...

. It is a sequel to the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...

 game Technictix. The PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...

 version of Technicbeat was published in North America by Mastiff
Mastiff (company)
Mastiff is an American publisher of video games, with offices located in both Tokyo and San Francisco. The executive staff includes Bill Swartz, Mika Hayashi, Danny Hammett and Charles Van.-Game Boy Advance:*Dr...

. It was released in Japan in 2002 and the United States in 2004. In this game, players select a song from a preset list and then “play” their chosen song using their on-screen character.

Gameplay

Most of Technicbeat’s gameplay takes place on a square-shaped area called a “stage”. During gameplay, circle-shaped “markers” appear on the stage. When these markers first appear, a small circle appears in the center of each marker and then expands like a ripple toward the marker’s outer edge. The player’s goal is to “activate” all the markers that appear by placing their on screen character on top of the marker and pressing a button when the marker’s inner circle overlaps its outer edge.

Each marker that appears on the stage corresponds to a note or set of notes in the player’s selected song. If the player successfully activates a marker, it will play its corresponding note(s) and then disappear. If the player does not activate a marker before the marker’s inner circle has expanded past its outer edge, the player is considered to have "missed" the marker, and the marker will disappear.

Every time a player activates a marker, they receive a ranking depending on how well they timed their activation. The ranks in order from best to worst are: perfect, great, good, and bad. A bad ranking is also given when a player misses a marker.

Similar to the groove gauge in Beatmania
Beatmania
is a rhythm video game developed and distributed by Japanese game developer Konami and first released in 1997. It contributed largely to the boom of music games in 1998, and the series expanded not only with arcade sequels, but also moved to home consoles and other portable devices, achieving a...

, Technicbeat has a “tension indicator” to notify a player of how well he or she is performing. This indicator fills when a player activates a marker and empties when the player misses a marker. In order to “pass” a song, the player must fill their tension indicator past a certain point, known as the “clear line”. If the player’s tension indicator is not filled past the clear line at the end of the song, the player will get a game over.

In addition to normal activation, markers can also be activated by using “chains”. If two markers overlap, and one of them is successfully activated, the second marker will become “reserved”. Reserved markers play automatically, without any player action. A reserved marker will also reserve any markers touching it. Thus, by activating one of several overlapped markers, players can form a chain of reserved markers. A player can also create a “chord” by activating two or more non-touching markers at the same time.

At the end of each song, players are rewarded with points based on their accuracy, their timing, and the number of chains and chords formed.

Characters

Technicbeat has six playable characters. Each character has a unique "action" that allows that character to move markers from one place to another. In addition, each character also has their own individual "super action" that may only be used a three times per song. All six characters are listed below:
  • Knitty: Knitty is a small, striped creature with two balloon-like ears. Her normal action allows her to pick up a single marker and carry it to another location. Knitty's super action creates a large marker, called "Marker King", that, when activated, will activate all other markers touching it.

  • Rain: Rain is a little girl wearing a dress that has pigtails
    Pigtails
    In the context of hairstyles, the usage of the term pigtail shows considerable variation. According to most dictionaries, a pigtail is a braid of tightly woven hair. The name is based on the short, thin and kinked tail of a pig, referring to the way a short, tight braid may stand out from the...

    . Her normal action allows her to pick up and move a single marker. Rain can't move as fast when she is carrying a marker, however, the marker will grow bigger while she is carrying it. Her super action makes all the markers on the screen larger.

  • Hassy: Hassy is a platypus
    Platypus
    The platypus is a semi-aquatic mammal endemic to eastern Australia, including Tasmania. Together with the four species of echidna, it is one of the five extant species of monotremes, the only mammals that lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young...

     that wears a snorkel and swinfins
    Swimfin
    Swimfins, swim fins, fins or flippers are worn on the foot or leg and made from finlike rubber or plastic, to aid movement through the water in water sports activities such as swimming, bodyboarding, bodysurfing, kneeboarding, riverboarding, and various types of underwater diving.Scuba divers use...

    . Hassy's normal action makes him slide across the screen, activating any marker that he runs over. When he uses is super action, hassy increases in size and activates any marker he touches.

  • Bot: Bot is a tiny clockwork
    Clockwork
    A clockwork is the inner workings of either a mechanical clock or a device that operates in a similar fashion. Specifically, the term refers to a mechanical device utilizing a complex series of gears....

     robot
    Robot
    A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...

    . His normal action allows him to pick up and move a single marker. Bot moves faster when he is carrying a marker, but the marker also shrinks in size as he carries it. Bot's super move allows him to shoot a laser beam that activates any marker that it touches.

  • Willie: Willie is a large teddy bear that wears a scarf. He is the slowest of all the characters, but his normal action allows him to pick up and move multiple markers. His super action creates a circular wave that activates any marker that it touches.

  • Cart: Cart is a man who wears a suit and carries a keyboard
    Electronic keyboard
    An electronic keyboard is an electronic or digital keyboard instrument.The major components of a typical modern electronic keyboard are:...

     on his back. Cart's normal action allows him to kick a marker, moving it in the direction he is facing. His super action creates a reserved marker that he can kick around the stage to reserve other markers.

Music

Technicbeat contains seventy-three unique songs. The music selection covers a wide range of electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...

, including trance
Trance music
Trance is a genre of electronic dance music that developed in the 1990s.:251 It is generally characterized by a tempo of between 125 and 150 bpm,:252 repeating melodic synthesizer phrases, and a musical form that builds up and breaks down throughout a track...

, techno
Techno
Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...

, and drum 'n bass. The game also contains remixes
RemixeS
RemixeS is a compilation of French singer Mylène Farmer's singles by various famous DJ's, including JXL, Felix Da Housecat and Paul Oakenfold.-Brackground, writing and release:...

 of songs from classic Namco
Namco
is a Japanese corporation best known as a former video game developer and publisher. Following a merger with Bandai in September 2005, the two companies' game production assets were spun off into Namco Bandai Games on March 31, 2006. Namco Ltd. was re-established to continue domestic operation of...

 games, including Mappy
Mappy
is a 1983 arcade game by Namco. In the United States, it was manufactured and distributed by Bally/Midway. Mappy is a side-scrolling platformer that features cartoon-like characters, primarily cats and mice. The game's main character itself is a mouse. Mappy runs on Namco Super Pac-Man hardware,...

, Dig Dug
Dig Dug
is an arcade game developed and published by Namco in Japan in 1982 for Namco Galaga hardware. It was later published outside of Japan by Atari. A popular game based on a simple concept, it was also released as a video game on many consoles.-Objective:...

, Galaxian 3
Galaxian 3
Galaxian 3 is an arcade game released by Namco in 1994. It is a walk-in style arcade game run on a hybrid of laserdisc and traditional arcade hardware and it uses two synchronized laserdisc players to create the pre-rendered backgrounds of the game...

, and Sky Kid
Sky Kid
is a horizontal scrolling shooter arcade game that was released by Namco in 1985. It runs on Namco Pac-Land hardware but with a video system like that used in Dragon Buster. It is also the first game from Namco to allow 2 players to play simultaneously...

.
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