Released hot on the heels of Konami's groundbreaking beatmania, pop'n music was originally envisioned as taking the rhythm game concept and applying it to something couples could enjoy together. A design standard was immediately set that included cute characters (both human and anthropomorphic), bright colors, and a wide variety of musical genres. Over the years the game has branched out a great deal and fleshed out not only the multiplayer component (battle and net-taisen modes), but also offering an extremely robust and difficult single player experience. While friendly looking on the outside, pop'n music offers some of the most challenging songs in all of Konami's music game offerings.
Over the years the franchise has also become something of a merchandising behemoth with soundtracks, plush characters, clothing, trading cards, and even tea sets being produced. Many of these items are only available by playing Japanese UFO catcher machines, but a wide variety of this merchandise is also available through konamistyle. Nearly every character in the series' 20+ games has received the merchandise treatment in one way or another, with the most popular characters being offered in nearly every format you can think of.
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