As a huge fan of the DJMAX series, I had high hopes for SUPERBEAT: XONiC. Would they be able to retain the high quality music and addictive gameplay from the DJMAX series? The answer is yes. I felt right at home among the wonderfully produced pop, rock, and electronic music featured, and the limited edition set we got our hands on is one of the most impressive even compared to the DJMAX special edition releases. So much so, in fact, that we had to record an unboxing video, which you can see above.

There’s tons of music to love, and I didn’t find any of it outright disappointing or overly cheesy. Some of my favorites include Takahiro Eguchi’s infectiously upbeat electronic opener, “STARGAZER,” M2U’s ultra-funky “Nodding Hawk” (featured in the unboxing video) and vocaloid “March of Fear,” Makou’s electronic pop ballad, “Lop Nur,” sticky sweet pop tune, “One Juicy Step,” the funky ballad “HINAGIKU,” and Ragnarok Online-esque “Murky Waters.” Paul Bazooka goes dubstep, incorporating some neat vocal snippets in “Kitty From Hell,” while Nauts offers the energetic “CHASER” and cute pop track, “Timeline.” I also enjoyed Sampling Masters AYA (Ayako Saso)’a hard-hitting “Dimension Detonator” and playfully upbeat “Peach Fuzz,” and some authentic metal with “HEAVY DAY” from Guilty Gear X and NieN’s two-part “Souls of Vampire” and stemage-flavored “Systematic Chaos.” Fan-favorite pop trio 3rd Coast offer the sweet “Love is Real,” Kjun and Flash Finger present a tasteful mainstream pop track with great vocals called “Collaboration,” and the ranking track, “Rise to the Top,” is short but sweet, coming with a catchy Asian-inspired vibe.

In all, I couldn’t be more pleased with this collection. The limited edition comes in a fancy box that houses a two vinyl “best of” compilation as well. Learn more on the SUPERBEAT: XONiC official website!