The Other Gamemodes Overview of osu!

Game screen offering to choose one of the four game modes of osu!

Another element of this game that makes it so special is that there are three game modes in addition to osu!. Each of these game modes share the same objective: to pass the song you are playing, and avoid failing it. Here they are:

• Taiko-This game mode represents playing a drum. There are four keys on the keyboard used to play this game mode. Two keys are used to play the middle of the drum (red notes, keys x and c), and the other two keys to hit the outer rim of the drum (blue notes, keys z and v). Finally, there are yellow sliders, which represent drumrolls. With these, the player is supposed to drumroll (well, obviously), or in other words, constantly press two keys of either both red or both blue. However, the drumroll needs to be synchronized with the BPM (beats per minute), or else the drumroll won't count.

Taiko game mode

• Catch the Beat (CTB)-This game mode's name, like most of the others, tells what to do. You control a character with the left and right keys (hold shift to sprint), to catch beats. Beats fall from the top of the screen to the bottom, and your objective is to catch those beats as they reach the bottom. As easy as this gamemode looks, it gets very challenging in the harder difficulties. To be masterful in this gamemode, one must require precise timing (to finely catch the beats without breaking the combo) and have steady fingering, as a slight miscalculation in holding a key will bring you to your doom in fast-paced songs

Catch the Beat (CTB) game mode

• Mania-In this game mode you play what looks much like a musical keyboard. This is the game mode that most closely represents Guitar Hero. How? It's kinda obvious. There are notes similar to normal osu!'s circles and sliders. You hold the corresponding keys for some while simply pressing the key for others. The controls are somewhat complicated. You use keys on the keyboard to play notes, and those keys can be different keys depending on what difficulty you're playing on. But, as the newest game mode in osu! as well as being the game mode that can become faster and faster paced than the other game modes, missing just one note can be an automatic loss in some cases. Without a doubt, osu!mania can definitely be one of the more challenging game modes. If you would like to find out more about this game mode, go here!

osu!mania game mode

One of the Hardest Games Ever?

Rrtyui, one of the most well-performing players on Osu!, while playing Freedom Dive, one of the hardest songs to play.

Often times, osu! can be described as a very difficult game to master. However, what games are easy to master? It mainly depends on your level of skill in that game, and your level of knowledge and analysis of how the game works and the music in it.

Now, why is osu! such a hard game? It's not that this game is completely impossible to do well in, it's that many newcomers who begin to play this game think it is. The game osu! can be played different ways, other than the initial way that most new players come in playing and not doing as well as they want to do.

• The first way everyone plays is the way that most people would expect to play. With a mouse. Move the mouse around the screen, and use the mouse to click, as well.
• The secondary way, which is how most of the players on osu! play is with a mouse and keyboard. Mouse to move, keyboard keys (x and z), or whatever key bindings (custom control assignments) you would want to give to tap instead of clicking to play the game.
• The third way, which a lot of players use, as well, and also where most of the really well-performing players use is with the tablet and keyboard. Tablet (as in a drawing tablet), and keys to tap.
• There are a few other ways that people play, but they aren't that effective and very few people use them. One is with two mice, or a tablet with a mouse. Basically a bunch of different combinations.

Will it be harder to play if I'm left-handed? Not exactly. I have a friend, who is left handed and does as well in the game as I do.

Are even the easiest levels of osu! really hard? Not the slightest bit. As mentioned in the previous post, osu! is organized into several levels of difficulty these levels of difficulty are organized into a star rating. The star rating represents how hard or easy the song is. The more stars, the harder. The less, the easier. *Note the below are rough estimate on number of stars per difficulty, also according to my past experiences.* These are often the difficulties: 

• Beginner is not regularly seen, but if it is, it signifies a song with an easy or easier level, around 0.5 stars to 1.5 stars. Easy peasy!
• Easy is also around 0.5 stars to 1.5 stars. It's easy!
• Normal is around 1.6 stars to 2.5 stars. Meh, it's regular.
• Hard is around 2.6 stars to 3.7 stars. Pretty hard here!
• Insane is around 3.8 stars to 4.7 stars. Are you crazy?
• Extra is also not regularly seen, but if it is, it signifies a song with a very difficult level with a required amount of skill to complete. Ah!!!
• Marathons are songs that have a drain time over 5 minutes. A drain time is the amount of time (in minutes and seconds) for how long the playing time of the song is. One of the longest songs on the game is this one... 45 minutes long!!

Once again, if any of you have any questions that you would like answered, ask! The curious minds are the minds that will be the smartest in the future. 

What is osu!?

The logo of Osu!

So, what is "osu!"?? Well, first of all, it's not pronounced "oh-su," it's pronounced "os." Why? Because it's a Japanese game, obviously! Except it wasn't developed by a Japanese person. In fact, it wasn't developed by an Asian, either! Dean Herbert was who started this infuriatingly fun rhythm game. And yes, the exclamation point in it's name is a part of its title. It is currently (and probably always will be, thankfully) a free PC game.

But what is a rhythm game? Ever heard of Guitar Hero? The style of that game is where the objective is to pass a certain song by "playing" it. By "playing" it, you're essentially doing something specific that can generate the success of passing a song. osu! is nearly the same thing, but not.

What's different from osu! and Guitar Hero?
There's a huge difference, which is why osu! has become so overwhelmingly popular from people around the world.

• Gameplay: The gameplay of osu! is organized into several difficulties and gamemodes. The difficulties are often E (Easy), N (Normal), H (Hard), I (Insane), and X (Extra/Extreme). The objective, much like Guitar Hero, is that you can either pass a song, or you can fail it. How do you fail it? By not doing what you're supposed to do, or by lacking the required amount of skill. To acquire the required skill in rhythm games, the key is to practice. Essentially, the targets of the game are to correctly complete three things: hit circles, sliders, and spinners. With hit circles, you literally hit  them. With sliders, you drag them. Finally, with spinners, you guessed it: you spin 'em. The other gamemodes are Mania, Catch the Beat (CTB), and Taiko. Now, I won't get into the details on the gameplay just yet; I'll leave that to another post.
• Complication: osu! is complicated to the point where one may think they cannot understand everything about it, which is why there's this blog. Just as an example, there is precise accuracy in the game, so your accuracy, depending on how good you are, can range from 1-100%, but are often seen in the 90 percentages. 
• Multiplayer: osu! can be played with your friends and/or the worldwide community! Yay! It's a online PC game!!

Although that's not all there is to it, I think I wrapped up everything basic about the game in this post. Feel free to ask me questions! I'll be glad to answer. :) 

If you would like to check out the website for yourself, click here.