For years, Bemani fans have jumped around on arrows, sang off key, and effectively committed social hari-kiri in front of friends. Yes, it's been a real Revolution for the longest. But in Japan, there's always been a third music game that Konami has released that has been a huge hit. For many years, American gamers have had to seek out and import beatmania in order to play it at home. Not for long. Music game fiends can now thank Konami for saving them countless dollars in import costs, shipping, and (ahem) making their systems able to play Japanese games. That's right. beatmania is finally coming to the States, and GameSpy got some time to try it out at Konami Gamer's Day.

For those unfamiliar with the series, beatmania utilizes a special keyboard/turntable controller for play. It's not as DJ-based as some would lead you to believe it is (the day Konami releases a game that forces players to beatmatch, keep keys in tune, and slide a crossfader for a successful mix is the day that complete insanity ensues), but it's definitely got those elements in there. Instead, in slightly reversed DDR fashion, indicators slide down the screen. Using four white buttons and three blue buttons, players must hit the keys as they come down and occasionally scratch notes using the turntable apparatus. With Guitar Hero's sleeper success of the past few months, it shouldn't be too hard of a transition for most people; imagine a similar style and a turntable instead of a Whammy Bar and you're halfway there.

For the unexperienced, however, it's going to be tough as nails. In spite of their namesake, rhythm games aren't so much about rhythm as they are timing. Natural reliance on beats won't help you here. Then again, did it ever help in DDR past the easiest stages? There is a practice mode, however, and it's highly recommended for novices to music games.

The roster of licensed music includes artists such as Moby and Timo Maas and remixes of pop tunes such as "Toxic," as well as original productions from beatmania mastermind DJ TAKA. One welcome surprise was the inclusion of Lipps Inc.'s "Funkytown" in the game.

beatmania looks to be a welcome addition to a genre that's been rising from niche to progressively mainstream over the past few years. Between the runaway success of the Revolution series of games and the cult following that Guitar Hero has garnered, this game's looking like it's already on its way to being a big hit when it releases in Spring. Now if only Konami would release a game with two turntables and a mixer…