O2Jam

O2Jam is a rhythm and music game similar to IIDX, but with some fair amount
of differences. The basic premise of these games is, notes fall down across
the screen. You must hit these notes, and you will be judged by accuracy.
Hitting keys will activate sounds which are part of the music playing. Unlike
IIDX, or Pop’N Music which use their own unique and often expensive
controller. This game is more easily accessible by being designed for the
keyboard. It also has freeze holds, which is in neither of those games. The
freeze holds are also implemented differently than the ones you would see in
DDR, or Pump it Up. Instead of a freeze hold counting as one step or several,
they only count as two. How this works is, you hit freeze note as it starts.
Then when the note is about to end you let go. Failing to let go will count as
a miss.

When playing, players have a choice of different rooms. Such as Single where
they play alone and Versus where people play against each other or on teams.
Another one is Album, which is similar to Versus, except that you will be
playing a collection of songs back to back. Both Versus and Album can hold up
to 8 people. Then there is Couple, where two people can play O2Jam on a single
computer.

By passing songs, players gain experience and gems. How much they earn from
each song depends on how accurate they hit the notes. Although after a certain
level they must participate in multiplayer in order to gain money and
experience. With gems players can customize their avatar, or even buy
additional songs to play. Only a few songs can be bought with gems, and not
many of the stand out items as an avatar. The way to buy the better avatar
items and songs is through e-points. E-points is a new online currency for
this game and a few others. You can pay $3 US for 100 points, or $27 US for
1000. Keep in mind though, in this game the avatar items do not change your
performance. They only change your character’s appearance on the screen. With
one exception for the rings. Those can only be paid for through e-points. They
can add modes to songs such as Vanish or Sudden, but they break after a
certain amount of uses.

As players gain levels, they occasionally have to do missions in order to move
on to the next. This happens when you try to gain a level divisible by 4. For
example, I’m on level 27. In order to get to level 28, I have to get less than
10 misses on a level 12 song. Only when the mission is passed, I can gain the
next level. By doing this, it encourages people to get better. Instead of
people only playing easy songs and not improving. Another good thing is, you
still collect gems during this mode. You also have unlimited tries to pass the
mission.