Pop'n music Animelo

pop'n music Animelo pop'n music Animelo is the first of two anime-focused releases of the rhythm game franchise.

Unused Graphics#

The game's program data contains early versions for three files, dated around two weeks earlier than their final counterparts.

howto_01.gcz#

An early version of howto_1.gcz/howto_1.xcz, which is displayed in the How To Play screen.

Early	Final

• The standalone button graphics are slightly smaller in the early graphic.
• The receptor area in the gameplay HUD graphic is orange in the early graphic, while the final is colored purple.

title_r1.gcz/title.r2.gcz#

Early versions of title_1.gcz and title_2.gcz, respectively, which are displayed in the song selection menu.

Early	Final

• The outlines in the Tiger Mask logo were slightly tweaked.
• The early graphic does not feature sprites for SAKI and the Setagaya Jidou Gasshoudan, who were credited as vocalists for several of the game's songs.

Early	Final

• The logo for Himitsu no Akko-chan is positioned slightly differently.
• The outlines for the song title names are much bolder in the final graphic.
• The title sprites for the songs Getter robo! and Makafushigi adventure! lack their exclamation marks in the early graphic.

Hi-Tekno#

The very first song slot in the game's DVD image is reserved for the game's sound effects, and, normally, only its keysound data (0x2280000) is loaded. However, the music (0x2AC0000) and chart (0x2A80000) regions are also filled.

The music region consists of the keysound data for the song Hi-Tekno, from the very first pop'n music game, and can be listened through the game's operator menu (TRACK CHECK -> TRACK NO.0), though it plays twice as fast due to the wrong channel settings being used (stereo instead of mono). Below is an audio file of those keysounds, now playing as intended.

The chart data consists of Hi-Tekno's Normal chart, converted to pop'n music Animelo‍ '​s new chart format.

Development Text#

Security Strings#

The game's security strings, present at 0x5123C of a decompressed FIREBEAT.EXE, all consist of lyrics for several playable songs:

Burn Date#

A burn date can be found as the title of the program disc image:

000222_0032

License Over Mode#

pop'n music Animelo has a rather unique licensing arrangement with, presumably, Toei Animation; five years after the listed starting date (February 28th, 2000), the startup screen will show a teal LICENSED PERIOD IS OVER notice. Although this doesn't affect gameplay at all, this mode will completely remove any graphics relating to the anime that the songs in the game come from. This mode would later return in the second game.

As the game released at the beginning of March of 2000, these graphics would only have been visible until (approximately) March of 2005.

Title Screen#

License	No License

The title screen removes the Toei Animation logo, as well as the series logos tiled in the background.

The attract mode was also completely removed, removing the little slideshow of the featured series and their characters.

Song Selection#

License	No License

The song selection screen removes the copyright text and the big ol' series logo, replacing it with stylized text. Additionally, this change carries over to the song start screen after selection.

Song Artwork#

License	No License

The artwork that appears after clearing a stage is removed, and replaced by the pop'n character assigned to that song along with the song name. The series title in the background is also removed.

CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA	Mazinger Z

Curiously though, the graphics in-game do not change. Specifically, the specialized borders for each song are not removed, meaning stuff like the extremely obvious Mazinger Z chest on Mazinger Z are still very much visible.

Scoring Screens#

License	No License

The logos have been excised from the score summary.

References#