Beethoven Virus

Often shortened to 'Beba' by Korean players, Beethoven Virus draws on the third movement of the Pathétique Sonata, but it is not a straight remake: only the start of the main theme is borrowed, and the rest is an original melody by Oh Sang-jun. It was the series' third classical remix after Midnight Blue and Turkey March, and its production polish surpassed the latter. Of all the Perfect Collection debuts it drew the most explosive response, and it has never been removed from the game except in the Reverse version, which scrapped the entire old catalogue. Its success pushed the BanYa team fully into classical remixing (Dr. M, Maria, Winter) and even nudged contemporary Korean rhythm games such as O2Jam and DJMAX toward the same idea. To this day it is one of the most-picked songs among casual players, and many listeners now associate Beethoven's original melody with 'Beethoven Virus' rather than the Pathétique. It stands as one of the series' three great classics alongside Turkey March and Another Truth.

Much of the song's fame rests on its chart design, the work of the stepmaker nicknamed 'Space Monster' Kwon Oh-seok, who also charted Mr. Larpus. The S7 (Hard) is the iconic chart: it started as level 6 and was bumped to 7 in NX, and it features the famous 360-degree spin plus an eighth-note section combining simultaneous steps, weight shifts and twists that make it feel closer to a level 9. The D13 (Freestyle) is notorious for its extreme left-right travel and frequently turns up in viral choreography videos. The D21 (Nightmare), added in Exceed, served for years as the level-20 boss song and introduced both double staircases and the 'gapped staircase.' XX finally delivered a high-level Single, the S21, plus a D24, both packed with twists and brutally demanding on stamina since the song offers no recovery breaks.

Three official versions of the audio exist: the pre-release demo, the in-game cut (with added chorus effects and a grander climax), and the take on BanYa's second album, which features more aggressive percussion. The BGA repeatedly displays the date '6th. July,' whose meaning is still debated; it may reference Beethoven's letter to his 'immortal beloved,' but Andamiro has never explained it. The track has spawned countless parodies and covers, from StarCraft sound-effect mash-ups to Bulgarian electric violinist Diana Boncheva's arrangement, which is so well known that many mistake it for her own composition. In 2021 a remix by former BanYa member Yahpp appeared on StepManiaX, preserving the signature S7 spin.