The cabinet of maimai has been widely recognized as resembling a front-loading drum washing machine. Electronics manufacturerSharp collaborated with the game in Sega's maimai LIVE 2014 Washing Festival event, showcasing photo spot models combining a washing machine with a maimai cabinet.
Gameplay
Various kinds of objects will appear at the centre and approach the outer rim of the circular touchscreen. The player must tap, hold or slide on the touchscreen or surrounding buttons in time with the music, depending on the type of note. The types of notes in the game includes:
BREAK: A red-yellow ring, requiring a single tap and gives more points than a TAP
HOLD: A pink hexagonal bar, requiring holding for the entire length
SLIDE: A star followed by a path. The player must tap on the star, then slide along path following the star
EACH or BOTH : A combination of two tap, hold or slide notes, now colored yellow
Each song in the game has five playable difficulty levels, four of those being: BASIC, ADVANCED, EXPERT, and MASTER. MASTER mode is only unlocked upon achieving a Rank S score on the EXPERT difficulty of a song. Alternatively, one can also obtain a Ranks S on the MASTER chart of the song and unlock the MASTER chart itself. A RE:MASTER mode is available for selected songs and will be unlocked after achieving a Rank S score on the EXPERT or MASTER difficulty. maimai's scoring system includes alphabetical ranks and a percentage score calculated based on the player's MISS, GOOD, GREAT, PERFECT and CRITICAL PERFECT notes. Players may also earn achievements for not missing any notes, achieving PERFECT or CRITICAL PERFECT on every note, achieving CRITICAL PERFECT on every note or obtaining a 100% score on SYNC PLAY. In order to CLEAR a song, players must score at least 80% on a song. In maimai PiNK, the ranking system changed from D-SS to F-SSS. In maimai MiLK PLUS, 3 new ranks, namely S+, SS+ and SSS+, were added to the ranking system, thus changing the system to F-SSS+. If the game cabinet has a camera installed, players can record one of their played songs and access them on the website maimaiNET, which can then be downloaded and posted to sites like niconico and YouTube. In Murasaki, if a two player game is engaged, and both gets max combo for a song, both the players will get "MAX FEVER" and will be shown on the song selection screen. A significant proportion of players puts on gloves during gameplay, to enhance performance, obtain better scores and avoid injury.
maimaiNET
Players who create an Aime ID on the SEGA website can save their game data onto a website called maimaiNET. The site's functions include changing usernames, accessing past game scores, and downloading recorded gameplay videos. In order to use their Aime ID, players must use an Aime card or compatible smartphone that can be read by the cabinet's card reader, while some other players may use a Banapassport made by Bandai Namco Entertainment or E-amusement pass made by Konami as a substitute for Aime card.
