Gameplay
Shiny Festa is a series of three rhythm games that feature various characters and songs from The Idolmaster video game franchise. At the beginning of each game, a twenty-three-minute anime episode is played to introduce the games' story: 765 Production (765 Pro), the talent agency where the protagonist works as a producer, is invited to participate in a music festival; however, only a few of its members may attend.[1][2] The characters who attend the music festival, as well as the songs and episode that correspond to the characters, are dependent on the version of the game.[1][2] In Harmonic Score and Honey Sound, the selected members are Haruka Amami, Chihaya Kisaragi, and Azusa Miura, and they are joined by Ritsuko Akizuki, who also performs in the festival, as their producer; in Rhythmic Record and Funky Note, Yayoi Takatsuki, Iori Minase, Hibiki Ganaha, and Ami and Mami Futami are chosen to attend the festival with the protagonist Producer; lastly Miki Hoshii, Yukiho Hagiwara, Makoto Kikuchi, and Takane Shijō make up the group of idols chosen to attend in Melodic Disc and Groovy Tune.[1][3]
Like other games in the genre, the player plays the main portion of Shiny Festa gameplay, Stage mode, as he or she listens to a selected song. Each song's performance is limited to a predetermined idol or group of idols,[4] unlike the franchise's previous games. During a song, a predetermined sequence of note icons scroll along several lines, called Melody Lines, toward a central target icon.[1] To complete a song, the player must press buttons that correspond to the direction from which the notes originate from—the buttons on the console's left and right halves for the PlayStation Portable version, and the left and right halves of the screen for the iOS version—as they pass over the target icon.[1][5] The player is scored by these presses' accuracy in timing and direction, for which he or she is given one of four ratings: Perfect, Good, Normal, and Bad. The player's performance is also represented by the Sparkle Meter, which increases or decreases as the player successfully or fails to hit a note. Throughout the song, new target icons and lines may spawn at predetermined times in different locations of the screen to supersede or accompany old ones. The note sequences may also include Long Icons, which are streaks of notes that need to be continuously held down; Simultaneous Icons, which are pairs of icons that pass over the target icon simultaneously;[1]
At the end of each song, a result screen is displayed to player, and his or her performance is rated with a letter grade, a numerical score, and a percentage that represents his or her accuracy. The player is awarded a number of fans and in-game money for his or her performance.[2] The number of fans determine the idols' ranking, and as the player's idols increase in ranking, more items become available for purchase.[2] These items can then be used to customize the game's appearance or adjust gameplay elements,[2] such as straightening the Melody Lines' shapes or causing the player to gain fans quicker. Finishing a song also earns the player Memories with the idols who perform the song, which can be used in the Star of Festa game mode.[2]
Star of Festa is a gameplay mode in which the player's idol unit participates in a five-day music festival. On each of the five in-game days, the player is required to consecutively play three songs, and for each song, he or she is given a score that represents votes given by the in-game audience.[7] For the third song every day, the player may choose to compete against a computer-controlled opponent, represented as idols from 876 Production, 961 Production's Jupiter, and characters from The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls and other Shiny Festa games.[7] By defeating his or her opponent, the player gains additional votes[7] and earns the opponent's Name Card, which are shared across the three Shiny Festa games[4] and passively grants additional votes. In addition to Name Cards, the player can also earn additional votes by using the Memories an idol has earned toward Memory Boosters. The player may choose to use the Memories of any of the idols who sings in the song, and if it is activated, Memory Booster icons appear throughout the song once the player has received a Shining Burst.[7] To successfully complete Star of Festa, the player must accumulate 100,000 votes by the end of the last day.
