AC General Info

This information should be generally correct for styles back to IIDX RED. There is currently a lack of detail for newer games, especially tricoro and later.

The Basics

The beatmania IIDX arcade experience is relatively similar to playing at home, in most respects. There are a few key differences, however, that you will likely notice:

1. The presence of a number of sliders on a control panel below the screen.
2. The presence of "EFFECT ON/OFF" (subsequently referred to as EFFECT) and "VEFX CHANGE" (subsequently referred to as VEFX) buttons to the left of the sliders.
3. A bass-shaker platform for you to stand on.
4. e-amusement pass readers and numeric keypads, one set for each player. These aren't present on machines running 8th style or older, and are optional on machines that run offline.
5. Two built-in cameras for hand-shooting, one on the metal cage in front of the neon lights pointing at the controls, and other to the left of the screen pointing at the player(s). These are present on machines running CANNON BALLERS or later, and are optional on older machines.

Other minor differences such as a widescreen display and a nine-speaker setup are present, too, but aren't as important to this guide.

Getting Started

To start a game, you'll obviously want to insert some coins. Typically, singles play takes one credit, doubles play takes two credits (until tricoro, where double play was changed to only needing one credit), and two-player play takes one credit per player.

From 10th style to DistorteD, once you have inserted your coins, you can press the VEFX button to bring up the Options menu. If you want to play Battle or Double in these styles, you need to select it at this time, before you press the Start button to begin the game. Additionally, you can set the other game options here as well (high speed, random, autoscratch, etc.) to save yourself some time when picking your first song, but it's not necessary.

Styles after HAPPY SKY do not allow you to access the options menu from the title screen. Instead, you were able to select Single or Double mode at a separate screen after the player entry screen. Since HEROIC VERSE, the aforementioned screen no longer exists, and players can choose between Single or Double during the SELECT GAME MODE screen instead.

Beginning in Resort Anthem, you can insert your e-amusement pass and log in before you insert your coins. You can also pay for your game using PASELI instead of coins. The actual deduction of credits or PASELI does not take effect until you choose a game mode.

Selecting a Mode

Rather self-explanatory. Once you pick your desired play type (single, double, battle, or 2P non-battle), you are presented with the Mode Select screen. You can pick from a variety of modes. As of CastHour, there are eight modes available:

• STEP UP Mode (introduced in Lincle)
  • Game mode aimed for players of all levels.
  • Three stages guaranteed.
  • Players select a songlist containing songs based on the number of clears and fails and on Class ranks, with a class rank and number of clears or fails proportional to the difficulty of charts available.
    • In Lincle, players start with a single month folder, with a pool of songs from a specific difficulty range.
    • Prior to SPADA, players choose from one of five different difficulty tiers, each corresponding to a particular dan rank range. If the player has no dan rank, the player starts at Level 1.
    • Played songs in all modes are added to Review LEVEL tiers. Review LEVEL folders appear up to the lowest level available in the TASKS folder.
      • On Japanese machines, Level 11 and 12 Review folders are only available on Premium Start.
  • Q-Pro parts may be obtained by fulfilling certain tasks.
  • Played Class courses are added to Practice Exam folders from Rootage onwards.
  • From SINOBUZ onwards, all Review LEVEL folders are available on certain days, regardless of the contents of the TASKS folder, and regardless of Standard/Premium Start.

• STANDARD Mode
  • As the name implies, this is the standard gameplay mode in which you pick songs and play them. Most machines are set to three stages, plus Extra Stage if the player qualifies.
  • To open up the modifier menus, hold your START button.
  • To switch difficulties, hit the VEFX button. Beginning in SPADA, you may also press [1] on the numeric keypad to change difficulties.
  • In SPADA onwards, you may switch between Single Play and Double Play during the song select screen by pressing 3 on the numeric keypad.
  • Unlike prior games, you can pick any song; however, chart availability for the first two stages are limited dependent on the Class rank and how many plays achieved:

Class rank	Number of Plays	Single Play/Double Play (Rootage and later)		Double Play (CANNON BALLERS and earlier)
		First stage maximum	Second stage maximum	First stage maximum	Second stage maximum
5th dan or lower	N/A	8	10	9	11
6th dan	N/A	9	10	9	11
7th dan or higher	Less than 100	10			11
8th dan or higher	100-999	11
10th dan or higher	1000 or more	No level restrictions
Kaiden (Kiwami)	800 or more

• • • Japanese versions of Lincle onwards: You can purchase a DJ VIP Pass for your game using PASELI.

DJ VIP PASS	Cost	Fail a song without game over	Level restrictions	Other Information
GOLD	PASELI	Yes	Yes	-
PLATINUM	PASELI	Yes	No	-
BLACK	100 V-Discs	Yes	No	Songs can be repeated. LEGGENDARIA charts can be played without V-Discs. Can also be obtained through daily bonuses.

• • If EXTRA STAGE is enabled, you may earn an EXTRA STAGE on your FINAL STAGE by fulfilling one of the following requirements:
    • Single Play:
      • Achieve a PERFECT COMBO (all Greats or Perfect Greats) on a Level 4 chart or lower. BEGINNER charts also count.
      • Achieve a FULL COMBO on a Level 5 or 6 chart
      • Finish with 100% Groove Gauge on a Level 7 chart (even if using HARD or EX-HARD)
      • Clear the song on a Level 8 chart or higher
    • Double Play:
      • Achieve a PERFECT COMBO (all Greats or Perfect Greats) on a Level 4 chart or lower
      • Achieve a FULL COMBO on a Level 5 chart
      • Finish with 100% Groove Gauge on a Level 6 chart
      • Clear the song on a Level 7 chart or higher
  • On Japanese releases of SPADA onwards, you must be using PASELI (premium start for copula and onwards). If you do not meet the above requirements, you can still access the Extra Stage simply by using 7 V-Discs (or 1 in certain days).
  • Note that you can't choose the same song more than once per game (except if using a DJ VIP PASS BLACK).

• CLASS Mode (introduced in 7th style)
  • Play preset four-song courses (with an Expert gauge) to determine the player's skill level.
    • Double Play courses prior to copula had three songs.
  • Courses are organized by difficulty, from 7 Kyu (the easiest) through Kaiden (the hardest).
    • Prior to DistorteD, 10th Dan was the highest level.
    • Prior to copula, 5 Kyu was the lowest rank.
    • Another level, Chuuden, is added on copula, placing between 10-dan and Kaiden.
  • No options are selectable except for HI-SPEED, ADVANCED OPTIONS and Note Chart Display Area settings. MIRROR and EX GAUGE are available from copula onward.
    • In PENDUAL, playing CLASS Mode in FUTURE Phase will trigger the MIRROR modifier.
    • From Lincle to PENDUAL, playing PASELI will trigger the EX GAUGE modifier.

• FREE Mode
  • Similar to STANDARD Mode, but whereas two stages are guaranteed without difficulty restriction and can replay any songs more than once. EXTRA Stage is not accessible.

• FREE PLUS Mode (introduced in Lincle)
  • Available when two players are present.
  • Similar to FREE Mode, but with three stages instead of two.

• HAZARD Mode (introduced in EMPRESS)
  • A hidden mode which can be accessed when FREE mode is highlighted, which would change to HAZARD and a sound effect can be heard.
  • Similar to FREE Mode, but with differences:
    • A special gauge is used whereas a single combo break will trigger instant stage failure.
    • Players are guaranteed four stages.
    • In styles prior to SINOBUZ, the CLEAR RATE window will instead show FULL COMBO RATE.

• PREMIUM FREE Mode (introduced in Resort Anthem, PASELI only for Japan)
  • Just like FREE mode, only it runs on a timer instead of giving you two stages.
  • Players can choose a play session of either 6, 8 or 10 minutes. All stages are named EXTRA stage.
    • These play times can be adjusted in the operator menu up to a maximum of a 30 minute session.
  • You can quit a song by pushing the EFFECT and VEFX buttons, although it will count as a STAGE FAILED. Since SINOBUZ, holding both buttons can now immediately retry the stage bypassing the results screen.
  • If the countdown timer reaches 0:00 while in the Select Music screen, a 15 second timer will begin countdown for your final song selection or to end the session.

• ARENA Mode (introduced in CANNON BALLERS, post-launch update)
  • An online matching mode where four players compete against each other on a four-song set.
    • Only Local Match is selected outside Online periods.
  • Players are awarded points similar to the KONAMI Arcade Championship, with points awarded each round based on what place they came in (2 for 1st place, 1 for 2nd place; ties award the same points), calculated by EX Score. The player with the most points at the end of the fourth round wins.
  • Players may change options in-between songs. Anyone playing with RANDOM or similar options on will have the same randomization pattern used by the other players.
    • Players playing the 2P side will have their randomization pattern mirrored.
    • Options that invalidate scores are disabled.
  • Level restrictions apply in ARENA mode, though that the songs are tied to the player's choice only.

Arena class	Level Restrictions
	Regular charts	Leggendaria charts
A1~A5	No limit	No limit
B1~B2		11
B3~B5	11
C1~C5	10	10
D1~D2	9	unavailable
D3~D4	8
D5	7

• BPL BATTLE Mode (introduced in BISTROVER, post-launch update)
  • Just like ARENA Mode, but two players compete head-to-head.
    • Local matching only, but also include a 8-digit matching code to compete online. LIGHTNING MODEL exclusive.
  • Follows format similar to BEMANI PRO LEAGUE (BPL), with wins based on which player having more EX score.
  • Hosting player may also set any match rules:
    • A Level restriction (filtering songs to Levels 8-10, Level 10-11, Level 12, or no level restrictions).
    • A NOTES RADAR aspect (NOTES, PEAK, SCRATCH, CHORD, CHARGE, SOF-LAN, or all aspects) restriction.
    • Number of stages played (two songs, three songs with a third song chosen at random, or four songs with two songs chosen by players).
    • A random option is also available, allowing either a level restriction or NOTE RADAR aspect or both, to be selected randomly.

Beginning with the introduction of daily bonuses in SINOBUZ, there are also modes that can only be played on certain days. For more info on what modes are available on what days, check the corresponding style's page.

• TIME FREE Mode (introduced in SINOBUZ)
  • Functions identically to PREMIUM FREE.
  • Sessions last five minutes (or seven, if two players are present). You can play 3 songs fully if you don't take too long selecting songs to play.
  • TIME FREE can also be chosen if online or local ARENA MODE, or BPL BATTLE only detects CPU players.

• TIME HAZARD Mode (introduced in SINOBUZ, hidden mode)
  • Just like HAZARD mode, only it runs on a timer instead of giving you four stages.
  • Sessions last eight minutes.

• TIME HELL Mode (introduced in CANNON BALLERS, hidden mode)
  • Like TIME FREE, except that you play on either HARD or EX-HARD gauge that cannot be recovered during gameplay.
  • Sessions last eight minutes.

Some versions have certain modes available but not all of them are available. For more info on which modes are available, check the corresponding style's page.

• TUTORIAL Mode (removed in SIRIUS)
  • This mode teaches you how to play the game through a series of tutorials.
  • From SIRIUS onwards, the tutorial is accessed via a pop-up after choosing the play mode. Only available for players without an e-amusement pass and first time e-amusement players.

• BEGINNER Mode (introduced in 9th style)
  • Three songs maximum.
  • The groove gauge never falls when you perform poorly.
  • An easier note chart, BEGINNER, is available.

• 4KEYS Mode (introduced in 1st style, removed in 3rd style)
  • Mode aimed towards beginner players where only the white keys are used. Charts are identical to their 7KEYS version, minus the black keys.
  • Replaced by LIGHT7 mode.

• 5KEYS Mode (introduced in 1st style, removed in 7th style)
  • Mode where keys 6 and 7 are played automatically. Aimed at beginners and people transitioning from the 5-key beatmania games.
  • Available as a modifier from 7th style to CANNON BALLERS.

• LIGHT7/LIGHT14 Mode (introduced in 3rd style)
  • LIGHT7/LIGHT14 charts are shown by default.
  • Guarantees at least two stages out of three stages, if one fails at the first song.
  • Prior to 9th style, the players can access EXTRA STAGE.
  • You can play 7KEYS/14KEYS note charts by holding down the VEFX button when you select the song.

• 7KEYS/14KEYS Mode (introduced in 1st style)
  • Normal gameplay mode.
  • You can play LIGHT7/LIGHT14 note charts by holding down the EFFECT button when you select the song.
  • You can play ANOTHER(7)/ANOTHER(14) note charts by holding down the VEFX button when you select the song (not all of the songs had Another charts).

• EXPERT Mode (available in most games)
  • Pick from a selection of courses. Course consists of five (Lincle and earlier) or four stages (PENDUAL or later). The player also select a difficulty of their choice and any modifiers including Assist.
    • If ANOTHER is chosen, and a song in the course does not have ANOTHER charts, the HYPER charts will be used instead.
  • Prior to IIDX RED, pressing the following buttons while selecting a course perform the following actions:
    • If "EFFECT" is pressed, all the songs will use LIGHT charts.
    • If "VEFX" is pressed, choosing the INTERNET RANKING course will play any corresponding "backside" courses, while other courses will use ANOTHER charts.
    • If both buttons are pressed, choosing the INTERNET RANKING course will play any corresponding "backside" courses one difficulty lower, while other courses will use LIGHT charts.
  • Most modifiers may be used.
  • Uses a special HARD groove gauge that starts at 100%. When the gauge hits 0% at any point, it is a game over.
    • The Expert groove gauge has a slower drop compared to the regular one.
  • From PENDUAL to CANNON BALLERS, EXPERT mode was not available at launch, but added later as an update.
    • Players can also choose their courses to be generated randomly (RANDOM), or pre-customized (ORIGINAL).
    • Players can even unlock any hidden songs after playing the course a certain number of times under the SECRET folder (introduced in PENDUAL)
    • Players can also play past Dan/Class courses in CLASSIC CLASS folder (introduced in SINOBUZ).

Selecting a Song

Just like playing at home, with a few differences:

1. You cannot freely toggle between difficulties before IIDX RED, or play styles (Single, Double) before SPADA.
2. In HAPPY SKY and later, you can press the VEFX button to switch difficulty. Pressing VEFX switches to a harder difficulty, and then wraps back around to the easiest available difficulty.
   • In IIDX RED and earlier, you must do the following to change difficulties:
   1. To play a song at a harder level than you currently have selected (that is, to play 7KEYS/14KEYS songs during LIGHT7/LIGHT14 mode or to play ANOTHER(7)/ANOTHER(14) songs during 7KEYS/14KEYS mode), hold the VEFX button down as you select the song.
   2. To play a song at an easier level than you currently have selected (that is, to play LIGHT7/LIGHT14 songs during 7KEYS/14KEYS mode), hold down the EFFECT button as you select your song.
3. To change difficulty only on your side in a 2-player BATTLE game (GOLD and onwards only), hold VEFX and press your corresponding START button, or simply press [1] on your corresponding keypad.
4. To switch between SINGLE and DOUBLE, press [3] on the keypad. This feature is only available in SPADA onwards.
5. Just like Arcade mode at home, not all songs are available during each stage. Only easy songs are available at first, then the harder songs begin to become available during subsequent stages.
6. To choose gameplay options, hold down your START button (1P Start for left side, 2P Start for right side). The options menu will stay up as long as you keep the button held down.
   • Since tricoro, it is possible to keep the window up by just pressing START.
7. If you're browsing a sorting category (style, alphabet, etc.), you can close the current category and return to the master list by pressing the VEFX and EFFECT buttons simultaneously, or simply press [2] on your corresponding keypad.

Effector Usage

9th style does not include effector support.

To use the effector in the arcade, there are a few different things that you have to understand.

• The EFFECT button
  • Press the EFFECT button to turn ON/OFF the effector system (by default: EFFECTOR OFF).
• The VEFX button
  • Press the VEFX button to switch between the effector modes and "EQ ONLY" mode.

In classic cabinets:

• The VEFX slider
  • Move the VEFX slider up and down to select your desired effector. In IIDX RED through DistorteD, the effector options are (from top to bottom on the slider):
    • ECHO 5
    • ECHO 4
    • ECHO 3
    • ECHO 2
    • ECHO 1
    • REVERB 1
    • REVERB 2
    • REVERB 3
  • CANNON BALLERS adds several more effector options to the VEFX button:
    • COMPRESSOR
    • CHORUS
    • GARGLE
    • REVERB EX
    • FLANGER
    • DISTORTION
• The EQ sliders
  • Just like on a stereo, you can adjust the relative volumes of low- and high-frequency sounds by moving the low-EQ and hi-EQ sliders (in LIGHTNING MODEL cabinets, Lower-Mid EQ and Hi-Mid EQ sliders are added).
• The Filter slider
  • According to KONAMI, the Filter slider functions as an adjustable lowpass filter. Moving the slider down will cut out some of the low-frequency sounds, while putting the slider at max ensures that you hear everything the machine's sound system can throw at you.
  • Prior to versions on released on PC hardware, this slider was labelled "Track Volume"
• The Play Volume slider
  • Self-explanatory. Adjusts the overall sound volume.

In LIGHTNING MODEL cabinets, the effect sliders, LCD marquee and keypads have been replaced with a touchscreen called the Premium Area, located under the screen where the sliders used to be. There are three option menus available: Sound, Settings and News (the latter added in January 23rd, 2020).

• Sound effectively emulates the effect sliders. Headphone volume and effectors can be adjusted here as well.
• Settings lets you adjust the turntable resistance, as well as the cabinet lighting.
• The News menu is divided into two sections, Breaking News (introduced in HEROIC VERSE) and Tsujigiri Battle (introduced in Rootage).
  • The Breaking News tab serves as an archive of the news ticker on the song selection screen, and includes a button that jumps the cursor to the relevant song.
  • The Tsujigiri Battle tab shows the number of players defeated using the feature, with separate totals for Single and Double play.
• A button to bring up the keypad menu is also available from any screen (besides ENTRY and GAME OVER screens), as the physical keypads have been removed.
• A toggle switch, named CONCENTRATION MODE, was added in the February 18th, 2020 update that turns the screen off during gameplay to avoid distraction. Touching the screen will turn it back on.

Further options were added to the Premium Area in BISTROVER:

• Play Analyzer now shows detailed score data from the results screen from your recently played songs.
• The ability to search songs, jumping the cursor to the relevant song.
  • You can add up to 30 songs from your search results to the "Song Selection Memo" for quick access using the jump icon.
• The ability to record a full run of a song, except for certain songs that disable the feature (Japanese cabinets exclusive).

Additional options were included in CastHour:

• A Random lane gacha (ランダムレーンガチャ) feature which allows to obtain specific pre-set RANDOM patterns via PASELI or a free ticket per every 10 purchases (Japanese cabinets exclusive).
• A hit chart can now be viewed from Premium Area, displaying the most popular songs.

Gameplay

Things are more or less the same as at home. The main differences are that to change your current effector, simply move the VEFX slider, and that if you receive more than 50 Poors in a row without pressing any keys, you get an automatic STAGE FAILED. In later styles, a "RETIRE?" notice will be displayed on the screen shortly before this happens to give you a chance to press keys again. From SPADA's April 23rd, 2014 update, you can use 6 V-Discs to keep playing after failing a session. Since CANNON BALLERS, on certain days this cost is lowered to only 1 V-Disc.

Don't give up, even if it looks impossible!

Secrets

Daily Bonus

From SINOBUZ onwards, every day of a week comes with a daily bonus. As of CANNON BALLERS:

• Sunday - One free DJ VIP PASS BLACK.
• Monday - One extra minute in PREMIUM FREE mode (for PASELI enabled locations only).
• Tuesday - HAZARD is replaced by TIME HAZARD.
• Wednesday - FREE is replaced by TIME FREE.
• Thursday - HAZARD is replaced by TIME HELL.
• Friday - V-Disc bonus and V-Disc cost reduction (EXTRA STAGE remains inaccessible in STANDARD MODE on Japanese machines, however).
• Saturday - No level restrictions in STEP UP mode.

EXTRA STAGE

For information on how to obtain each style's special EXTRA STAGE song, consult the corresponding arcade style's wiki page.

Additional options

NOTE: Since tricoro, most of these options are available in the advanced options menu.

Force EXTRA STAGE

From 10th style to DistorteD, you can force-enable the special EXTRA STAGE BGM and theme for that game. You still need to meet the regular EXTRA STAGE requirements, and the code can't be used if the machine is on IR beat#1 (and beat#2 for DistorteD).

• 10th style: On the title screen, hold the EFFECT button and press 3, 1, 7, 3, 9, 1, 1, 2 in that order.
• IIDX RED: Hold both players Start buttons while advancing to the EXTRA STAGE.
• HAPPY SKY: Hold VEFX and EFFECT while advancing to the EXTRA STAGE.
• DistorteD: Hold 4 and 11 while advancing to the EXTRA STAGE. You must be playing with an e-amusement pass for the code to work.

Judge Mode

In 10th style and later, you can bring up a small display that shows a running total of all of your note counts (PGREAT, GREAT, GOOD, BAD, POOR, and as of Lincle, COMBO BREAK) at the bottom of the video display. To do so, at the title screen (before you press Start), hold the EFFECT button and press the following button sequence:

• 7, 6, 9, 8

In more recent releases (up to Lincle):

• 1P: 7-6-2-1
• 2P: 14-13-9-8

RANDOM+

In IIDX RED, to enable the RANDOM+ option, hold the EFFECT button and perform the following button sequence at the title screen:

• 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

Expert View

In IIDX RED, to view the first three songs in an Expert course, go to the Expert course selection screen, hold the Start button, and press the following button sequence:

• 2, 2, 1, 1, 3, 5, 3, 5, 7, 6 (for 1P side)
• 9, 9, 8, 8, 10, 12, 10, 12, 14, 13 (for 2P side)

In later styles, this has been simplified to 2-2-1-1 on the left side, or 9-9-8-8 on the 2P side.

When you do this, however, since you're holding down the Start button, your play options will be changed! Be sure to verify that you're using the options that you want to before you select a course!

REGUL-SPEED

Introduced in GOLD; this will cause songs to run at a regulated BPM of 150, and will avoid all BPM changes in the song. However, doing this will cause all scores to become invalid, as if you were using 5-keys or Auto-Scratch, so keep that in mind.

But if you still wish to apply REGUL-SPEED, hold the Start button at the title screen, and input the code below.

• 2, 3, 5, 7, 4, 6 (for 1P side)
• 9, 10, 12, 14, 11, 13 (for 2P side)

H-RANDOM (Samurai S-Random)

Introduced in GOLD, this is a S-random where the notes will be scattered around the chart but will be less likely to be clustered on an individual key. All scores played in this mode will be invalid.

To access this mode (as of EMPRESS):

• During mode select, using the e-amusement keypad on the side of the machine, type in 7, 0, 4, 6, 9, □.
• In later games, simply press [8] on the keypad while in the Game Options screen.

ALL-SCRATCH

Introduced in DJ TROOPERS, this causes most of the notes of the song to be mapped to the turntable column. Chords will have their extra notes mapped to their regular column. All scores in this mode are invalid.

To access this mode (as of EMPRESS):

• During mode select, using the e-amusement keypad on the side of the machine, type in 8, 0, 8, □, 2.

GAMBOL HYPER & ANOTHER Timing

• Introduced in IIDX RED CS and expanded on DJ TROOPERS CS, this allows for songs to be played to the (infamous) timing windows of GAMBOL hyper and another.

To access GAMBOL HYPER timing mode (as of EMPRESS):

• During mode select, using the e-amusement keypad on the side of the machine, type in 9, 7, 0, □, 3, 2.

To access GAMBOL ANOTHER timing mode (as of EMPRESS):

• During mode select, using the e-amusement keypad on the side of the machine, type in 7, 9, □, 0, 1, 2.

Window Hold

• When Window Hold is enabled, when you press the Start button in-game to open up your Hi-Speed setting popup, it stays open!! This way, with every key you press/every scratch you do, your HS settings and Sudden+ settings change!

To access Window Hold within Resort Anthem, using either the keyboard or the e-amusement keypad, type in 1-2-3-4-5.