Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage doesn’t officially launch in the West until later this year, but for anyone who can’t wait until then to take Miku’s latest mobile rhythm game out for a spin (guilty), there’s good news: starting today, Sega and Colorful Palette are holding a two-week beta test.
The test runs from 3pm on Monday, October 4 to 3pm on Tuesday, October 19 PDT (that’s 11am, October 5 to 11am, October 20 NZDT), and is available on both Android and iOS TestFlight. There are 28 songs available from day one, with another 13 to be added over the course of the test period. A handful of chapters for the game’s story mode will be available, too, as will gacha pulls—though only using crystals given to players daily, with in-app purchases not available until the full release.
Hatsune Miku and her vocaloid friends have appeared in plenty of mobile games to date, covering everything from picross (which is now on Switch, too) to the adorable Hatsune Miku Amiguru Train. There have been surprisingly few rhythm games, which makes Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage feel long overdue. Compared to the Project Diva series on consoles, Colorful Stage is a more “traditional” (for want of a better term) rhythm game in the style of Beatmania, Guitar Hero, SuperStar, and so on—notes sliding down a track, for you to hit as they cross the target bar.
The game will also play host to virtual live concerts and events, one of which you’ll be able to join during the beta: a birthday celebration for Haruka Kiritani, member of idol group MORE MORE JUMP!. The full game will include 20 characters split into five different bands, with a story mode that explores the backstories of each, as well as various challenges, difficulty modes, and character cards to unlock through the gacha system.
Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage is due out later this year, but for now, the beta test is a good taste of what to expect, while also helping the development team to prepare for a smooth launch.
