Holy crap I just got back from playing technika. It's... fun. Amazingly fun. Perhaps the best thing to come out of the whole Metro Project- nay, a culmination, I guess you could say. But it's not without a scathing grading system, strict timing, and a VERY fragile life bar.
A few impressions:
The top attract screen is significantly smaller than the 47" IIDX screen. However, what it lacks in quantity it more than makes up for in quality: the graphics are gorgeous, with an interface that's incredibly polished and a nice touch-up on old Portable and Portable2 MVs that were beginning to show their age. The touch screen is slightly less detailed, but when the sweep lines are rushing in, you don't really have time to notice.
Lite mixing has a few exclusives: To You was one. I... can't remember the other. XD The life bar is much more lenient- complete with expressions. Yes, like such:
(T_T)(;_
(._.)(>_>)(^_^)(
) - something to that effect.
Pop Mixing, the game's normal mode, is where most of your time will be spent playing. Difficulties span the gambit, with STOP being a brutal 5 while The Clear Blue Sky is a sorry excuse of a 7. So far, I haven't seen anything past 7- even during the final stage.
Grading is ridiculous. 3 Breaks will send you into C territory, while you can still F and song and clear it. One break can destroy almost an eighth of your life bar. Complete measures (without breaks in your combo) will add bonus health to your life bar.
At the Break location, there is no network, and thus Platinum Mixing is not available for selection. You can still accumulate Max points, however. And as a note: Only scores saved under Platinum Crew cards will be carried over to the next day. All non-member high scores are erased and reset. (As noted by one of the guys at the location test)
DO NOT BE FOOLED; THIS IS NOT AN EASY GAME. In fact, I was lured into the trap on how easy it was (Ladymade Star boosted my ego quite a bit), only to eat dirt on Final Stage (Lover). Many were failing on first stage. I must have put $5 in the machine alone just to try and pass Your Own Miracle. And when you think you're in the clear, the game will throw you for a loop (see: STOP, I Want You TM, To You TM, Blythe). Even if you know most of the songs, you'll be shaking your head, admitting you've been bested again by Penta.
Technical Mixing is IIDX Expert class for... the more adventurous types. Given select genres, you're allowed to select three songs from said genre to play. The fourth stage is a mystery "Boss Song". While your life bar doesn't get hit as hard in PM, you're faced with a new challenge: in the first stage, you must pass with more than 75% of your life bar remaining. The second, 50%. The third, 25%. And the boss song, all your health bar is given to you. Dipping below said levels fails you early. Recovery is practically non-existent; no health is returned to you upon completing a song.
There is a headphone jack. I didn't use it. The music was crystal clear and twice as loud as the IIDX machine a mere ten feet away.
Everyone there said the game was tough, but also very fun. There was about six of us playing off and on; we all had our share of first stage fail-outs, but no one really seemed to mind. Hopefully this will mark the beginning of seeing Technika as a standard in popular arcades... whatever's left of them.