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Premium Game Modes on Lincle

IIDX Lincle expands the previously available selection of premium modes (Premium Free) to include DJ VIP Passes. These premium modes are only accessible to users of PASELI, Konami's electronic money system.

Comparison of premium modes

Mode Stages Price Limitations Price per stage
Standard Mode 1 to 3 100P Harder songs are unavailable on earlier stages, game ends as soon as you fail a song 34P-100P
Step Up Mode 3 100P No fail penalty; the more you play, the more songs get unlocked. More info in this post. 34P
DJ VIP Pass Gold 3 160P Harder songs are unavailable on earlier stages 53P
DJ VIP Pass Platinum 3 180P   60P
Free Mode 2 100P   50P
Premium Free (6 min) ~3 145-290P   ~49-97P
Premium Free (8 min) ~4 174-349P   ~44-88P
Premium Free (10 min) ~5 204-408P   ~41-82P
Free Plus Mode 3 100P Requires two players 34P

The above prices will vary depending on the arcade. Check the IIDX Arcade Map for pricing info on the arcade you plan on going to.

It is technically possible to make it to five stages in Standard Mode if you manage to get Extra Stage and One More Extra Stage. The above table doesn't take that into consideration because I made it for my personal use and I can't reach ES/OMES. It is also possible to reach ES/OMES with DJ VIP passes, even if you fail 1st and/or 2nd stages.

My math for Premium Free assumes all songs are 2 minutes long. The average song length for songs since IIDX RED is around 2:10; the older the style, the shorter the average song gets. Time spent in the menus does count towards your overall time, so be quick when selecting tracks. Luckily, if your timer runs out during a song, the game will let you finish it. This means you can milk almost an extra two minutes out of Premium Free if you play your cards right.

Premium Free pricing tends to fluctuate throughout the day. The more active the arcade is, the more expensive it will get. Certain arcades will put stickers on the machine detailing what prices apply at what time of day. The chart above uses the lowest and highest prices I've seen from videos/pictures taken in Japanese arcades using a base price of 100P for Standard Mode.

Which is the best deal?

That largely depends what you plan on doing and what level you play at.

If you have regular access to an e-amuse-equipped machine, Step Up Mode may be a good choice over time. Step Up Mode is essentially the equivalent to a three-song free mode for any songs you've unlocked. Check the Step Up Mode charts on BemaniWiki for a better idea of how much effort is needed to unlock interesting songs at your level.

If you are fairly certain you will clear all stages, don't waste any time with premium modes and get in Standard Mode, especially if you can reach Extra Stage where it reaches 25P per stage. The only reason you'd have to upgrade a premium mode (DJ VIP Pass Platinum) would be if you wanted to play 11s or 12s on your first and second stages and they weren't available in Step Up Mode (or you don't have the time/money to invest in it).

My personal preference is DJ VIP Pass Gold. DJ VIP Pass Gold effectively transforms Standard Mode into a 3-stage Free Mode, with the exception that harder tracks aren't playable immediately. That is a non-issue in my case, as most songs at my level are available from the first stage onwards anyway. While it is 3 points more per stage than Free Mode, I don't think that's an unreasonable amount to pay to be able to play three songs in a row instead of two. I envision this being a good choice for anyone wanting to play through a folder of songs for the first time on a normal gauge.

Premium Free modes might be a better deal if you're playing with Hard or EX Hard gauge and you think you might fail some songs, as you are buying a block of time on the machine and not a set number of stages. The earlier you fail in a song, the more advantageous this becomes. (Please don't use this as an excuse to buy 10 minutes of time just to hard fail stuff that's way out of your league.)

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