What is REFLEC BEAT

REFLEC BEAT Series

REFLEC BEAT Arcade

Gameplay

REFLEC BEAT is a touch-screen, duel-type music game.
The game board is rectangular in shape with a base judgement line each on both sides, one red and one blue.
Players are required to touch their own color notes when it reaches the judgement line / judgement point.
When a note is touched, a sound will be played.
Somehow, it is similar to an air hockey game.

Notes

All notes are called オブジェクト in Japanese ("Object" in English). There are several types of notes:

• 通常オブジェクト (BLACK) [Black Normal Object]
  • They are red or blue color notes with a black edge.
  • All notes move straight in a random path (may bounce off the side wall) from the rival's side to the player's own side.

• 通常オブジェクト (GOLD) [Gold Normal Object]
  • Same as a Black Normal Object, but with a gold edge.
  • Difference: It will be reflected or spawn more notes of the rival color when touched.
  • They are the only notes that do not disappear after being touched.
  • These are the only notes that can be used for a "JUST REFLEC". (See below)

• ロングオブジェクト [Long Object]
  • Same as a normal Object, but is longer / has a tail.
  • Long Objects must be touched and held down until the note ends when it reaches the base judgement line.
  • Only the initial press of the Long Object will be judged for timing, not the release. As such you may continue to hold down on the screen after the note ends without penalty.

• TOPオブジェクト [Top Object]
  • Similar to a normal Object, but is green with a red or blue arrow.
  • Unlike normal Objects, players are required to touch these notes when it reaches the top judgement point (above the judgement line).
  • Notes travel straight to the judgement point.

• TOPロングオブジェクト [Top Long Object] (introduced in REFLEC BEAT limelight)
  • A green Long Object with a red or blue arrow.
  • A combination of "Top Object" and "Long Object".
  • Top Long Objects must be touched and held down until the note ends when it reaches the top judgement point (above the judgement line).
  • Notes travel straight towards the top judgement point.

• チェインオブジェクト [Chain Object]
  • A series of objects (can be "Normal Objects" or "Top Objects", but not a mixture of both) connected by a line.
  • The touch point and time spacing of each note is the same for each object in the chain.
  • The last object may be a "Long Object".

• バーティカルオブジェクト [Vertical Object] (introduced in REFLEC BEAT groovin'!!)
  • Objects that don't bounce on the sides; instead, they go straight.
  • Black or Gold colored. Gold Vertical Objects can be used for JUST REFLEC. Can be either Normal, Long or Chain notes.

• スライドオブジェクト [Slide Object] (introduced in REFLEC BEAT VOLZZA)
  • A zigzag-shaped Long Object which, once touched and held down, must be followed by your finger(s) on the judgement line.
    • These notes were removed in the following version.

• ビッグバンオブジェクト [Big Bang Object] (introduced in REFLEC BEAT 悠久のリフレシア)
  • A large, horizontal object that spans several objects wide. Can be touched on any point of the note.

• スイッチロングオブジェクト [Switch Long Object] (introduced in REFLEC BEAT 悠久のリフレシア)
  • A vertical Long Object that has an "ON" yellow bar that must be held down and an "OFF" purple bar that the player must avoid contact with. Both can repeat one after another until the end of the whole object.

• Concurrent touches
  • It is possible for 2 or more Objects to reach the judgement points and/or line at the same time. (Current record is 7 concurrent Objects: INSOMNIA on all difficulties)
    • In REFLEC BEAT plus' Double mode, it is sometimes impossible for both players to hit all concurrent notes perfectly. (The concurrent touch limit on standard iPad models is 11, and it is 17 on the 12.9inch iPad Pro.)
      • To prepare for the SPECIAL charts with 6 concurrent touches, the 4.5.1 update addressed this problem by removing one Object from the 6 concurrent Objects on iPhone / iPod Touch and in Double mode on iPad.
  • Such Objects will have an extra gold aura. (For long notes, only the start point has it.)
  • From REFLEC BEAT groovin'!! Upper, gold aura has been changed into gold or green borders.
    • If the combination is a mixture of Normal/Vertical and Top Objects, the borders are green. Otherwise, they are gold.

Difficulty

There are four difficulties: BASIC, MEDIUM, HARD, and SPECIAL/WHITE HARD.

• BASIC
  • Easy charts. Before REFLEC BEAT limelight, BASIC charts did not have TOP judgement points.
• MEDIUM
  • Medium difficulty charts, with the base judgement line and two TOP judgement points on the top left and right.
• HARD
  • Same as MEDIUM, but more difficult. As of REFLEC BEAT limelight, HARD charts have 3 TOP judgement points, with one more in the center.
• SPECIAL (introduced in REFLEC BEAT groovin'!!)
  • An alternative difficulty, near the same difficulty level as HARD. Some songs have alternate versions playable only on SPECIAL. Since REFLEC BEAT VOLZZA 2, all new songs have SPECIAL charts.
• WHITE HARD (replacing SPECIAL as of REFLEC BEAT 悠久のリフレシア)
  • WHITE HARD charts are the only ones to contain Switch Long Objects.

Score

The player with the higher Score will be the winner.
However, the Score system has its own counting method that is not based on the percentage Clear rate.
It is possible to have a higher Score but a lower Clear rate than the rival.
Also, the Score can be deducted (until it reaches zero).

Judgement

Four types of judgement (from best to worst):

• JUST → +3
• GREAT → +2
• GOOD → +1
• MISS → -3

There are no POORs when you touch an empty space, unlike in beatmania IIDX, etc.

In REFLEC BEAT 悠久のリフレシア and onwards, the KEEP judgement adds +1 point to your score, and the non-MISS judgements' values are doubled to become:

• JUST → +6
• GREAT → +4
• GOOD → +2

JUST REFLEC

-- One of the key-points in winning a match. Remember that only gold normal Objects (even within chain Objects) can be reflected.
To perform a JUST REFLEC, players need to charge up the JUST REFLEC GAUGE first.
Touch and slide (or flick) a "Gold Normal Object" to perform a JUST REFLEC. (The judgement of that note must be "JUST".)
Each JUST REFLEC uses up one section of the gauge.

• Features:
  • It can be reflected as any note. (For chain objects, only the first Object in the chain will have the JUST REFLEC status.)
  • The notes will move faster (and may bounce off the side walls more: up to 2 times for Normal Objects, and once for Top Objects), making them more difficult to catch.
  • Performing a JUST REFLEC will give you an extra 10 points. (Including the JUST judgement, that note will give you 13 points.)
  • However, 10 extra points will be deducted for missing a JUST REFLEC Object (for a total of -13). In REFLEC BEAT colette, this was known as JUST REFLEC DAMAGE.
  • The gauge has three slots to store JUST REFLECs in REFLEC BEAT and REFLEC BEAT limelight.
    • Two more slots were added in REFLEC BEAT colette.
  • Starting in REFLEC BEAT colette, you can perform a JUST REFLEC by flicking backwards. This will make the reflected object bounce back from your wall, and travel even faster than a normal JUST REFLEC.

FULL COMBO

-- Another key-point for winning in this game.
Extra points will be given for getting a FULL COMBO or (in limelight) getting only 1 or 2 misses.

• REFLEC BEAT
  • Full Combo (No miss) → +100
• REFLEC BEAT limelight
  • Full Combo (No miss) → +50
  • 1 miss → +25
  • 2 misses → +10

Achievement Rate (AR) & Rating

Let J = JUST count
Let G = GREAT count
Let g = GOOD count
Let N = Note count

AR=(3J+2G+g)/(3N)*100% (Rounded to 1 decimal place)

Rank	AR
AAA+	95.0%+
AAA	90.0% - 94.9%
AA	80.0% - 80.9%
A	70.0% - 79.9%
B	60.0% - 69.9%
C	0.0% - 59.9%

Differences on the different color sides

Since there are two colors of player, red and blue, they have different note patterns.

• Note Pattern

The note patterns are not the same for both players.
Sometimes, only one side has notes.
When this happens, only that player is required to touch the notes.
Even if the note patterns are different, the total number of notes for both players are the same.

• Last Note of JUST REFLEC

-- The only unfair part in this game.--
Due to differences in note patterns, the last gold normal Object can appear at different times for both players.
For example, if the last gold normal Object for Red is the 2nd-to-last note, and the 7th-to-last for Blue, Red would have more chances to fill up their JUST REFLEC GAUGE and perform a JUST REFLEC at the last moment.
It implies that Red may have a higher score than Blue.

Number of Stages

The game will not suspend you until the song is finished. The maximum number of stages depends on the setting of the arcade cabinet, plus the possibility of an EXTRA ROUND. The number will be displayed when selecting online mode or local mode.
If you cannot meet the requirement(s) of the stage, the game will be over even if you haven't reached the final stage.

REFLEC BEAT

• You must obtain a higher score than your rival to win and proceed to the next stage (or end the game if it is the final stage).
• If you lose, you will be saved if you rank A (70% clear rate) or above on this stage. Otherwise, you will fail and your game will immediately end.

REFLEC BEAT limelight onwards

• You must obtain a clear rate of 70% or above. Winning or losing doesn't matter.

REFLEC BEAT colette onwards (if using any HARD Gauges)

• The gauge must not reach 0% at any point, in addition to obtaining at least a 70% clear rate.

Secrets

REFLEC BEAT limelight

Object Size

• You can change the object size if you touch and hold on the jacket of the song at top left. (It does not depend on which song you selected.) There will be a wording on the top right showing what object size you selected. (Default → Small → Small+ → Small++ → Large → Default)

Remarks:

• Even though the object size is changed, the game board is unchanged.
• The Small++ size is similar to the default size of the objects on the iPad version of REFLEC BEAT plus and REFLEC BEAT +.
  • This has become the medium selectable size on REFLEC BEAT plus after its update to version 3.0, introducing its own set of 3 custom sizes.
• This status will be saved on the e-AMUSEMENT PASS even after the game has ended. So do remember to check before selecting a song on your next game.

Random 3-TOP

• By sorting the songs by level and then pressing 5-7-3 in that order, you can activate Random mode. This mode causes the 3-TOP Objects (Green Objects) to fall on a random 3 Top Receptacle (because unlike Normal and Gold Objects, 3-TOP Objects do not fall randomly). The Random status will be shown below the Object size status.

Remarks:

• Pressing 5-7-3 twice activates S-Ran which causes 3-TOP objects to behave like Normal objects when being Just Reflec-ed (move faster, bounce around etc.). Pressing 5-7-3 three times activates S-Ran+ which causes all 3-TOP Chain Objects to split into solitary Objects which will fall into different Receptacles.
  • Activating S-Ran or S-Ran+ will cause all charts to be played with 3 TOP Receptacles, even on Basic and Medium.

Frequently Asked Questions / Miscellany

Trivia

Current [insert job title(s)] in the arcade?

• Sound directors:
  • DJ YOSHITAKA, REFLEC BEAT→REFLEC BEAT limelight
  • Qrispy Joybox, REFLEC BEAT limelight→REFLEC BEAT groovin'!!
  • DJ TOTTO, REFLEC BEAT colette -Spring-→Present
  • Des-ROW, REFLEC BEAT groovin'!! Upper→Present
• Producer:
  • DJ YOSHITAKA, REFLEC BEAT→REFLEC BEAT groovin'!!
  • Des-ROW, REFLEC BEAT groovin'!! Upper→Present

Firsts

What was the first song rated Level 10+ (11)?

Broken, from the original REFLEC BEAT release, was re-rated to 10+ in REFLEC BEAT limelight.

What was the first song rated Level 12?

HAERETICUS, introduced in REFLEC BEAT limelight, was the earliest-released of the 10+ songs re-rated to 12 in REFLEC BEAT VOLZZA. If not counting returning songs in REFLEC BEAT VOLZZA, then SERVI would be the first Level 12 song.

What was the first song rated Level 13?

Rebellio, introduced in REFLEC BEAT VOLZZA.

What was the first song rated Level 15?

Eira was the first song to appear with a Level 15 rating following the new difficulty scale introduced in REFLEC BEAT 悠久のリフレシア. However, almost all songs were removed at release. Currently the earliest appearing song in the REFLEC BEAT series pre-悠久のリフレシア to reappear and be given a Level 15 rating is 海神, from REFLEC BEAT colette -Summer-.