Maimai
Maimai (JP: マイマイ, CN: 舞萌) (styled as maimai), is an arcade rhythm game developed and published by Sega. It is well known for its distinct circular screens with large outer buttons.
Gameplay
Maimai's gameplay consists of a big circular touchscreen, where circular notes appear at the center and move towards the edge of the screen. These notes have to be hit by either hitting the corresponding button on the edge of the screen, or by tapping on the screen. If the notes are yellow instead of pink, it indicates that another note on screen needs to be hit at the exact same time, as a handy visual indicator. These notes can also be long hold notes, which need to be held down. If the notes are red instead of yellow or pink, the note will give a big boost to your score and accuracy. Missing these notes is ill advised for getting great accuracy scores. Another type of note is the star slide, which needs to be hit first and followed over the touch screen second.
Starting with Maimai DX (マイマイでらっくす, CN:舞萌DX), extra notes were added to the game. This includes a square note in the middle of the screen which needs to be hit when the arrows close around its corners. This note also has a hold note variant. Finally there is the new EX note, which glow brightly compared to other notes. These notes will always reward you with a Critical Perfect, meaning they do not give less accuracy if hit late or early.
Gameplay Video
Gameplay showing maimai DX UNiVERSE.
Releases
Maimai's release schedule follows a pattern where after a new main version change, the next version is an "upgraded" edition labeled with "PLUS" at the end. Maimai's first generation came to an end when Sega introduced a new model of cabinets after FiNALE, which is the model currently used.
Generation 1
| Date | Title | Platform |
|---|---|---|
| July 11, 2012 | maimai | Arcade |
| December 13, 2012 | maimai PLUS | Arcade |
| July 11, 2013 | maimai GreeN | Arcade |
| February 26, 2014 | maimai GreeN PLUS | Arcade |
| September 18, 2014 | maimai ORANGE | Arcade |
| March 19, 2015 | maimai ORANGE PLUS | Arcade |
| December 9, 2015 | maimai PiNK | Arcade |
| July 30, 2016 | maimai PiNK PLUS | Arcade |
| December 15, 2016 | maimai MURASAKi | Arcade |
| June 22, 2017 | maimai MURASAKi PLUS | Arcade |
| December 14, 2017 | maimai MiLK | Arcade |
| June 21, 2018 | maimai MiLK PLUS | Arcade |
| December 13, 2018 | maimai FiNALE | Arcade |
Generation 2
| Date | Title | Platform |
|---|---|---|
| July 11, 2019 | maimai DX | Arcade |
| January 23, 2020 | maimai DX PLUS | Arcade |
| September 17, 2020 | maimai DX Splash | Arcade |
| March 18, 2021 | maimai DX Splash PLUS | Arcade |
| September 16, 2021 | maimai DX UNiVERSE | Arcade |
| March 24, 2022 | maimai DX UNiVERSE PLUS | Arcade |
| September 15, 2022 | maimai DX FESTiVAL | Arcade |
| March 23, 2023 | maimai DX FESTiVAL PLUS | Arcade |
| September 14, 2023 | maimai DX BUDDiES | Arcade |
| March 21, 2024 | maimai DX BUDDiES PLUS | Arcade |
| September 12, 2024 | maimai DX PRiSM | Arcade |
| March 13, 2025 | maimai DX PRiSM PLUS | Arcade |
Trivia
- A nurse character in the game 7th Dragon III: code VFD is named after Maimai, being developed by Sega as well.
- A weapon in the game Etrian Odyssey Nexus by Atlus is called the Maimai Bat.