DJ Hero Mobile

DJ Hero Mobile is a mobile version of DJ Hero developed and published by Glu Mobile. It was released for BlackBerry, BREW, and J2ME mobile devices on September 2, 2010^[1] and an Android port was released on July 12, 2011.^[2] The game is currently no longer available for purchase and was delisted from the Android Market/Google Play Store or BlackBerry App World.

Gameplay[]

The gameplay style is similar to the original game except the player taps on a touchscreen-supported mobile device instead of using a DJ Turntable.

The objective of the game is catch the round tap icons as they reach the hit zone from the three-lane angled highway. There are Green, Red, and Blue tap icons. Tap the screen (for phones with a touchscreen) or press 4, 5, or 6 (for phones with keypads) at the corresponding hit zone at the bottom of the screen when these tap icons pass them to hit them, which adds to your score and score multiplier. Every 10 notes successfully hit successfully increases the score multiplier up to a 4x multiplier after a 40 hit streak.

Stretched tap icons (or boxes with dots in the LQ versions) are scratch icons. Rapidly tap the corresponding hit zone until the end of the scratch to complete it. Score increases each time you tap in the scratch zone while hit streak will steadily increase over time regardless on many times you tap the scratches. If you stop tapping scratch icons before reaching the end of the line, the combo will break, but you can still tap the same scratch zone to restart your combo.

On Medium or Expert difficulty, when a horizontal line appears on either the green or blue stream, tap the crossfader (the switch) on the bottom-left of the screen accordingly when it reaches the hit zone. Touching the crossfader at the bottom-left corner or pressing 8 or Down on a keypad will automatically set the crossfader to the correct position. Tap icons and scratch icons in a crossfaded stream/lane can only be tapped after you crossfade to that stream/lane, which can still be done after missing a crossfading horizontal line, otherwise tapping the crossfader does nothing while all streams are aligned.

Collect Euphoria by completing Perfect Regions without breaking your combo. Euphoria can be activated by touching your DJ on the top-left of the screen or by pressing 2 or Up on the keypad. This temporarily doubles the score multiplier and crossfading lines happens automatically without needing to tap the crossfader switch on horizontal lines. The score multiplier normally maxes at 4x but while Euphoria is active, it doubles to the maximum 8x. The score multiplier will increase as you consecutively hit notes successfully without breaking a combo. Tapping the screen at the wrong time or missing notes will reset the score multiplier to 1x (2x while in Euphoria). The higher your score by the end of the song, the higher your final star rating will be up to 5 stars.

The game can be paused by pressing the Pause icon at the top of the screen or by tapping the Right Soft Key on a keypad. When paused, mixes cannot be unpaused and would have to be restarted or the player can exit the mix to settings, instructions, or set list.

Each song can be played on Easy, Medium (excluding LQ versions), and Expert difficulty with Expert having the most notes, scratches, and horizontal lines while Easy difficulty has less notes, less scratches, and no horizontal lines as the crossfader switch doesn't appear on Easy difficulty.

Version differences[]

Graphically, the game's appearance varies depending on the mobile port at various sizes. For J2ME releases, there are low-quality versions and high-quality versions. The Android, BlackBerry, and J2ME/BREW ports for newer cellphones with higher specs have high-quality graphics, character and venue customization, achievements, 13 full-length mixes (5 in demo versions), three difficulty levels including Medium, and can be played on either keypad or touchscreen depending on device.

DJ Hero Mobile gameplay (128x160 LQ) — *DJ Hero Mobile*'s gameplay in the low-quality J2ME version.

Low-quality J2ME versions for older cellphones with lower specs feature a more simpler layout and design using lines and low-quality note icons (crossfader graphic not shown but, no touch controls (these cellphones wouldn't have touchscreen), have 3 less songs (10 of the 13 songs) and are ordered differently that play 1-minute until the song cuts off and ends, no Medium difficulty (only Easy and Expert), and no characters, venues, or achievements.

Soundtrack[]

Main article: List of songs in DJ Hero Mobile

Depending on the version, DJ Hero Mobile features 5 full-length mixes in the high-quality demo versions, 10 1-minute mixes in the full low-quality versions, or 13 full-length mixes in the full high-quality versions^[1]^[2] from the first game covered in MIDI format. The setlist order differs for each type of game.

The first five mixes in the full high-quality and low-quality versions are available from the start and the other eight and five mixes respectively are unlocked by earning 5 stars for each song unlock. In the high-quality demo versions, the first two mixes are available from the start and the other three are unlocked by earning 2 stars for each song unlock (a 5-star performance on one mix unlocks two mixes).

Customization[]

The high-quality versions of DJ Hero Mobile include two playable DJ characters seen on stage including Jugglernort and Kitty Smash in Customization. There are also three venues that can selected in Customization that will be used as the stage: Day of the Dead, Times Square, and Wrecking Ball. There is no Customization feature in the low-quality versions of the game.

Achievements[]

High-quality versions of DJ Hero Mobile features 22 in-game achievements^[1]^[2] (21 achievements in some demo versions and no achievements on low-quality versions) that can be unlocked by completing certain tasks. Some achievements including "Super Scratchin'", "Here Comes the Hot Starter", and "Harsh Fader" keeps track on the player's progress of the task they completed so far.

Locked achievements will be a purple vinyl record with a question mark in the center while unlocked achievements will be a gold vinyl record with a star in the center.

New Jack: Complete your first mix
Scratchophobia!: Perform one and only one hit during any mix^{[a 1]}
Multiplier Madness: Achieve an 8x multiplier during any mix
The Full Set: Complete all mixes on any difficulty setting
All over the World: Complete a mix in every venue
Super Scratchin': Successfully perform 5000 scratches^{[a 2]}
Here Comes the Hot Starter: Earn 50 hot starts in any complete mix^{[a 3]}
Harsh Fader: Successfully perform 2000 crossfader moves^{[a 4]}
No Mistakes Allowed: Successfully perform all scratches in any mix on Expert difficulty
Tap King: Successfully press buttons for all tap icons in any mix on Expert difficulty
Fantastic Fader: Successfully all crossfades in any mix on Expert difficulty
Superstar DJ: Get 100% hits in any mix on Expert difficulty
Euphoria DJ: Complete all Perfect Regions and activate Euphoria in any mix on Expert difficulty
My 50 pence: Attain 50 streak in any mix on any difficulty
200 Deep: Attain 200 streak in any mix on any difficulty
300 Deep: Attain 300 streak in any mix on any difficulty^{[a 5]}
The Grandmaster: Earn 5 stars in all mixes from a single difficulty.^{[a 6]}
Legendary Status: Earn 5 stars in all mixes on Expert difficulty.^{[a 6]}
Turntable Perfection: Earn 5 stars in all mixes on all difficulties
Euphoric Hoarder: Complete all Perfect Regions in any mix without using Euphoria on Expert difficulty
Smashing Duo: Play any mix with Jugglernort and Kitty Smash
From Alpha to Omega: Play one mix on Easy, Medium and Expert

Notes

↑ Tip: DJ Hero Mobile does not have a failing feature for making too many mistakes. It is possible to play an entire song without making any hits but the "Scratchophobia!" achievement only requires 1 successful hit of any type of icon and no more than 1.
↑ Tip: "Beverly Hills" / "Fresh Rhymes and Videotape" and "Juke Box Hero" / "DJ Hero" have a lot of scratch icons on Expert difficulty to acquire the "Super Scratchin'" achievement quicker.
↑ Tip: A Hot Start is earned by achieving a 15-Hit Streak at the start of a mix without breaking a combo beforehand. This means at least 50 mixes must be played and completed to earn the "Here Comes the Hot Starter" achievement. (Note: Exiting out a mix after a Hot Start does not count towards this achievement.) For some players, this achievement could be their last achievement to earn. To grind this achievement faster, the shortest mix in the main setlist is the 4th mix "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" / "Let's Dance" at 2 minutes 30 seconds.
↑ Tip: "I Want You Back" / "Semi-Charmed Life" has plenty crossfading horizontal lines on Expert difficulty for the "Harsh Fader" achievement but so do most other songs except "Juke Box Hero" / "DJ Hero" has the least amount of horizontal lines, almost not appearing until the outro of that mix. Also, it's not possible to acquire this achievement on the Easy difficulty setting as the crossfader and horizontal lines are not available on Easy.
↑ Note: This achievement is not available in some demo versions (including 360×640 sized J2ME versions).
↑ ^6.0 ^6.1 Trivia: "The Grandmaster" and "Legendary Status" achievement's descriptions are the only one with a period placed at the end of their text.

References[]

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 DJ Hero Mobile on Glu Mobile's official website (web archived)
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 DroidGamers — Glu quietly releases DJ Hero Mobile onto the Android Market. Article posted on July 13, 2011 3:19 pm by droid. Android Market link (web archived).

External links[]

DJ Hero Mobile on Glu Mobile's official website (web archived; game no longer available)
DJ Hero Mobile on the Android Market (web archived; game no longer available)

[3] Tip: DJ Hero Mobile does not have a failing feature for making too many mistakes. It is possible to play an entire song without making any hits but the "Scratchophobia!" achievement only requires 1 successful hit of any type of icon and no more than 1.

[4] Tip: "Beverly Hills" / "Fresh Rhymes and Videotape" and "Juke Box Hero" / "DJ Hero" have a lot of scratch icons on Expert difficulty to acquire the "Super Scratchin'" achievement quicker.

[5] Tip: A Hot Start is earned by achieving a 15-Hit Streak at the start of a mix without breaking a combo beforehand. This means at least 50 mixes must be played and completed to earn the "Here Comes the Hot Starter" achievement. (Note: Exiting out a mix after a Hot Start does not count towards this achievement.) For some players, this achievement could be their last achievement to earn. To grind this achievement faster, the shortest mix in the main setlist is the 4th mix "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" / "Let's Dance" at 2 minutes 30 seconds.

[6] Tip: "I Want You Back" / "Semi-Charmed Life" has plenty crossfading horizontal lines on Expert difficulty for the "Harsh Fader" achievement but so do most other songs except "Juke Box Hero" / "DJ Hero" has the least amount of horizontal lines, almost not appearing until the outro of that mix. Also, it's not possible to acquire this achievement on the Easy difficulty setting as the crossfader and horizontal lines are not available on Easy.

[7] Note: This achievement is not available in some demo versions (including 360×640 sized J2ME versions).

[.-8] 6.0 ^6.1 Trivia: "The Grandmaster" and "Legendary Status" achievement's descriptions are the only one with a period placed at the end of their text.

[official-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 DJ Hero Mobile on Glu Mobile's official website (web archived)

[droidgamer-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 DroidGamers — Glu quietly releases DJ Hero Mobile onto the Android Market. Article posted on July 13, 2011 3:19 pm by droid. Android Market link (web archived).

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