NCS
Game Notes
» After the intro to the game, a language prompt
pops up where you may select KOREAN, ENGLISH, or
JAPANESE.
» Next, enter your name in the language of your
choice. We chose DJ. NCSX.
» Afterwards, the game will ask, "Have you ever
played [DJ Max Portable]?" We selected "Yes"
but we're not sure what happens if you choose "No."
Maybe you'll be reprimanded for missing one of the
best PSP games from 2006.
» Once your profile is saved, the title screen pops
up with red lights, camera flashes in the
background, and a charging beat fills the room. The
selectable options are as follows:
GAME MODES
- PORTABLE 2 - A bevy of game modes are
available as follows:
4B - Beginner Mode which only uses 4 buttons
to hit the cues
5B - Intermediate Mode which uses 5 buttons
to hit the cues
6B - Advanced Mode which uses 6 buttons to
hit the cues
Free Style - Freely select songs to play in
this mode
Mission Mode - Engage your hand-eye
coordination in various mission-based rhythm
exercises
Option - Set video display options, audio
options, difficulty, and key settings
- NETWORK BATTLE - Two options: CREATE STAGE
and JOIN BATTLE. Select CREATE STAGE and you may
participate in a MIXING BATTLE against a second
player
- COLLECTION - View your unlocks for ALBUM,
DISC, IMAGE, and MEDIA. Also view your ranking,
items, and percentage completed.
- LINK DISC - Link to the original DJ Max
Portable game disc [must have the actual game].
- MV EDITION - Watch the videos for the
various songs
as the music plays in the background. It's like MTV on
your PSP. A total of 45 videos are available at the
outset of the game which include English
descriptions for the work along with the title,
composer , and visual artist.
- OST - Listen to the songs in the game in
jukebox mode - possible to set to random play, loop,
and direct by tapping the TRIANGLE button. At the
outset of the game, 45 songs are available but many
other songs are eventually unlocked.
The 21 songs in the OST L-SIDE are:
ARTIST / SONG / LENGTH
Ruby Tuesday / Your Own Miracle (3:06)
3rd Coast / sO mUCH iN LUV (2:04)
Electronic Boutique / DIVINE SERVICE
(2:01)
ESTi / Ladymade Star (2:05)
Croove / BRAIN STORM (1:43)
Makou / Right Now (2:09)
ND Lee / Seoleim (2:04)
ND Lee / GET OUT (2:01)
Planetboom / Brandnew Days (2:20)
Ruby Tuesday / Showtime (2:03)
bermei.inazawa / lost n' found (2:12)
makou / A Lie (2:15)
Nauts / Mess it up (2:07)
makou / Dream Of You (2:14)
Dayz / NANO RISK (2:15)
Ruby Tuesday / Good Bye (2:09)
NieN / Rolling On the Duck (2:22)
makou / For Seasons (2:10)
NieN / MidNight Blood (2:17)
makou / Rocka-a-doodle-doo (2:16)
xxdbxx / Tekwonburi (2:00)
The 24 songs in the OST R-SIDE are
ARTIST / SONG / LENGTH
Ruby Tuesday / Stay with me (2:00)
ND Lee / STALKER (2:16)
3rd Coast / Bye Bye Love (2:01)
Tsukasa / Chains of Gravity (2:13)
Supbaby / higher (1:54)
makou / Smoky Quartz (2:20)
Electronic Boutique / miles (2:09)
NieN / Hello Pinky (2:10)
Oriental ST8 / SQUEEZE (2:17)
Nauts / Sunset Rider (2:10)
M2U / Memoirs (2:19)
DJ Mocha / Fallen Angel (2:00)
Planetboom / Starfish (2:12)
Forte Escape / Yellowberry (AJ Mix) (2:16)
Dayz / My Alias (2:08)
M2U / Seeker (2:17)
NieN / IKARUS (2:10)
Planetboom / Get On Top (2:12)
makou / Yo Creo Que Si (2:18)
Electronic Boutique / Negative Nature
(2:07)
M2U / Phantom of Sky (2:13)
Bexter / Brave it out (1:54)
xxdbxx / Cherokee (2:05)
M2U / BLYTHE (2:13)
Playing the Game (Basics)
» If you select the Beginner Mode to get your
bearings, you'll only have six songs to select from
as follows:
miles
Rocka-a-doodle-doo
Smoky Quartz
For Seasons
Ladymade Star
Right Now
In the Beginner Mode, the four buttons used are as
follows to hit the cues from the left to the right:
LEFT on D-Pad
UP on D-Pad
TRIANGLE
CIRCLE
» The gist of the game is simple although your
execution may vary depending on your skill level. On
the bottom of the screen is a red line, lineation,
or rubicon. Cues fall from the top of the screen
spaced on four to eight columns. As each cue hits
the red line, tap on the corresponding button to
match its descent. In addition to single cue wafers,
elongated cues also drop which require that you
press and hold the corresponding button for a
sustained move.
» Train the fingers on your left and right hand to
tap in time to the falling cues and you'll be
sailing smoothly. Try using the process of
compartmentalization to set quadrants in the mind's
eye to accommodate the falling cues. The difficulty
scales up when playing the Advanced Mode where your
brain and fingers coordinate with each other to keep
track of six buttons and their attendant cues.
» When you hit a cue perfectly, you'll earn a MAX
100% but falter a bit off base and the percentage
may drop to 80% or 50% or lower. The game keeps
track of combos as you string them along. Miss a cue
and "BREAK" appears which indicates the breaking of
the combo meter.
» A FEVER meter fills up slowly in the center of the
screen as you hit cues and make combos. When the
FEVER meter is entirely red, the FEVER is available
which is activated by pressing the X button.
"FEVER" mode toggles on a x2, x3, x4, and x5 score
multiplier and is your key to racking up massive
scores.
» After each stage, the game tallies your combos,
breaks, golds, and ranks your performance. After
completing a song in Beginner Level, Stage 2
features seven new songs as follows
GET OUT
Stay with me
A Lie
Sunset Rider
Taekwonburi
Yellowberry AJ Mix
Bye Bye Love
» Complete the second stage and the third stage
features nine new songs as follows:
Seoleim
Fallen Angel
Good Bye
Hello Pinky
sO mUCH iN LUV
DIVINE SERVICE
My Alias
MidNight Blood
Yo Creo Que Si
» We finished "Good Bye" and unlocked a feature in
FREESTYLE MODE by garnering a B ranking. Stage four
features nine new songs and so on and so forth. The
4B game ends after you complete Stage Four so move
on to a higher level of difficulty to explore DJ Max
further.
» As you continue playing, you'll unlock "New Gear,"
"New Notes," and other specials to further bolster
your gaming enjoyment.
» In 5 Button Mode, its the same button assignments
except a fifth cue is added to the center of the
screen which is triggered by hitting the "SQUARE"
face button or pushing "RIGHT" on the D-pad.
» Six Button Mode uses the LEFT, TOP, RIGHT, SQUARE,
TRIANGLE, and CIRCLE buttons to govern the six cues
that rain down from the screen. It was during
experimentation with six button mode that we figured
out that button mashing is a viable alternative to
precision... To maintain a combo chain, smack the
corresponding cues in a desperate mishmash and
you'll get to keep the chain going.
» Eight Button Mode aka Professional Mode may be
unlocked which adds the L and R trigger buttons to
the cue tapping action.
» FREESTYLE MODE can be played in 4B, 5B, and 6B
mode. When you unlock Professional Mode, 8B
Freestyle mode becomes available.
» After playing a few 6B rounds and then going back
to 4B, 4B is a breeze. Respect to all who have the
dextrous skill necessary to dominate the 6P
playfields.
» In MISSION MODE, various songs feature different
challenges as follows
Song / Challenge
Lovextreme / Exceed 800 Combos
Flyaway / Use "Fever" 2 times in a row on
every stage
The Robots / Don't "Break" (miss a cue) more
than 35 times
SweetCute / Exceed 500,000 score
Starting Line / Exceed 250,000 score
First Step / Maintain the accuracy over 88%
Day Dream / Exceed 480,000 score
» Songs we're enjoying this morning:
Nien - Hello Pinky
Oriental ST8 - SQUEEZE
Dayz - My Alias
xxdbxx - Cherokee
makou - Right Now
Effectors
» Only the Speed Effector is available when playing
Beginner's Mode but the other three Effectors appear
in 5B and 6B mode. The Effectors are as follows:
1) SPEED: Set the drop speed of the cues from
0.5, x1.5, x2, x2.5, x3, x3.5, x4, x4.5, x5
2) FADER: Change the appearance of the cues
as follows:
- Fade Cues Up so that they're only seen starting at
the midpoint of the screen
- Fade Cues Down so they disappear as they drop near
the rubicon
- Blink Cues so they disappear momentarily while
dropping
- Dark Swirls block the view of the rubicon so use
judicious judgment to gauge cues
- Invisible cues (You read that right).
3) KEY: Toggle MAX RANDOM, RANDOM, and
MIRROR.
4) CHAOS: Change the nature of the cues as
follows:
- W - Adjustable speed cues that speed up and slow
down
- SLIDE UP - While cues are dropping, they'll
occasionally slow down a tad
- SLIDE DOWN - Cues occasionally hop up and then
speed up
Assorted Tidbits
» As you continue playing, you'll eventually unlock
a third disc in the OST mode which is labeled EX
Extend. The first song on there is Seoleim (Extended
Version) by ND Lee at 2:28 minutes. Other songs are
added to the third disc as you complete stages and
meet challenges.
» The elongated cues add to the combo meter for the
duration of the cue. A particularly elongated cue
may add 30+ hits to your combo count.
» Songs have different levels (Normal, Hard, and
MAX) which are selectable by pushing the D-pad left
and right when a song is highlighted. Max difficulty
is not available on songs unless unlocked.
» Four examples of the MV MODE videos and the
descriptions contained under each title header
MidNight Blood [Oriental Trance] Composed by NieN;
Visualized by Tako ashin
On the music video, there is a beautiful love
story and action. A fantastic fighting scene with
Nien's rock music is very enjoyable.
Yo Creo Que Si [Calypso House] Composed by makou;
Visualized by ECO
There is a big party in a small island and
animals enjoy playing instruments for the party.
A Lie [NU R&B] Composed by makou; Visualized by
Ache
A Genius composer makou wrote the best R&B
music. Let's listen to the symbolic lyrics, the
beautiful minor scale melody and the unique voice.
[NCS: The accolades for the video "A Lie" in the
description are over the top and perhaps ironic but
we did enjoy the video somewhat.]
Every Morning [80s 8bit] Composed by ND Lee;
Visualized by D-myo
ND Lee's pop tune, a "Morning person", reminds
of someone who just woke up freshly in the morning
and getting ready to start a day.
[NCS: A funny cat girl wakes up, brushes her teeth,
and drinks a bottle of milk before marching off
somewhere. We see her energetically walking but we
never get to see her destination.]
» The other videos and descriptions are good and an
enjoyable read... but we can't list them all here.
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