When I first heard about Beatmania, it sounded like the coolest thing in the world. Imagine my dismay upon importing the game and two controllers, only to find that the controls consisted of a five-key piano keyboard and a turntable that, for all intents and purposes, could also have been represented by a button. Crackin' DJ takes a few major steps toward realism, though not at the expense of interesting and fun gameplay.

　　Crackin' DJ's controls consist of two turntables and a crossfader. It's up to you to follow the onscreen commands, which tell you when to scratch on the wheels of steel. But you've got to have the fader in the proper position to earn points. Aside from scratching, other commands ask you to move the crossfader from one side to the other (changing the beat in the process) or cue the record by spinning one table in the backward direction and fade over. Note that you don't actually have to cue the record up to any certain point - just making sure that it's spinning backward is enough. The turntables spin on their own, stopping between songs.

　　Graphically, the game doesn't have much going for it, though the game's display is certainly functional. The music consisted of a nice selection of varied hip-hop beats. Overall, the game makes for a complex yet still exciting alternative to Konami's usually simplistic style.