WACCA is a 2019 arcade Rhythm Game developed by Marvelous Entertainment (of Senran Kagura fame) and the J-core record label HARDCORE TANO*C. It's best described as Lanota with a side of CHUNITHM and maimai, using a conical cabinet with a touch-sensitive interior (with each individual panel connected to a series circuit) around a circular screen. Its original soundtrack primarily features songs from the label's roster (including Aran, Massive New Krew, USAO, and t+pazolite, among others, who have been recent mainstays of other recent rhythm games), but much like its competitors, it still features a wide variety of anime, J-pop, Touhou Project, and Vocaloid licenses among others.
The game was first released in Japan in July 2019. Round1's U.S. locations also began to receive the game by September, followed by South Korea, Hong Kong/Macau, Singapore and Taiwan in December (although these international builds do not support over-the-air updates over network services (requiring manual updates with USB drives instead), so it has sometimes lagged behind Japan in terms of new content). The first major update, WACCA S, was released in January 2020, with Marvelous also stating that it planned to keep the international builds in sync with the Japanese build.
WACCA's online service was terminated on August 31, 2022, however it received one final update to allow it to be played offline but only with all the songs it had at launch.
This game provides examples of
- Anti-Frustration Features:
- The notefield only darkens the lanes where upcoming phases of notes are going to appear, changing throughout a song.
- Several events in spring of 2020 were delayed and extended in response to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic forcing players to stay home (and thus away from arcades).
- Crossover: The game has done crossover events with games such as Arcaea, Azur Lane, Groove Coaster, Lanota and Muse Dash.
- Developer's Foresight: If you take an HDMI-out of the cabinet's monitor, the bottom of the screen (not usually shown) shows a "secret" stats display
during gameplay, mainly for those recording or streaming their gameplay online. In fact, it is revealed that the top of the screen is projected to the front of the cabinet at a certain angle behind a transparent concave screen, hiding the stats below. - Genre Mashup: BATTLE NO. 1 is what happens when HARDCORE TANO*C allows every artist signed to them to make a single song. And they have to share. Every artist has 8 measures in the song. Their parts aren't officially credited, so it's a fun guessing game figuring out who made what part.
- Lovable Lizard: The game's mascot.
- Non-Indicative Name: A "Missless" is scored if you get 1-5 misses. (If you don't get any misses, you get the more traditional "Full Combo" status.)
- Social Media Before Reason: Elizabeth accuses the player of being on their smartphone if they idle during the tutorial.
- Stealth Pun: The top judgment window is "Marvelous", also the name of the developer.
- What the Hell, Player?: Elizabeth sasses the player if they flub the tutorial, and complains if you use the post-credit options menu to turn her mid-song Announcer Chatter off.
ALL MARVELOUS!
