Dance Dance Revolution EXTREME

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This article is about the Japanese version of the game. For the North American version, see Dance Dance Revolution EXTREME (North America).


Dance Dance Revolution Extreme
Developer(s) Konami
Publisher(s) Konami
Designer(s) Konami
Release date(s) Christmas 2002
Genre(s) Music
Mode(s) Single, Versus, Double
Platform(s) Arcade
Input Dance Pad Controller

Dance Dance Revolution EXTREME is the eighth game in the Dance Dance Revolution series of music video games. It was released in arcades by Konami on December 25, 2002. Although only officially released in Japan, units exist worldwide. It features 240 songs, 14 of which are hidden and unlockable. 59 were new to DDR, and 23 were never seen before in any other Bemani game. It was speculated to be the final arcade version of Dance Dance Revolution, but with the announcement of Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA, that has proven not to be the case.

For a comprehensive list of the songs available in this game, please refer to the Dance Dance Revolution EXTREME song list.

The interface used is a recoloring and smoothing of the song wheel interface first introduced in DDR 5thMIX. The names of the difficulty modes are "Light," Standard," and "Heavy," [楽 (raku), 踊 (gyou), and 激 (geki), respectively] just as they were in DDRMAX and DDRMAX2. A "Beginner" [習] mode, color-coded light blue, is now available. First seen in Dance Dance Revolution USA as "Simple", it is easier than Light mode. "Challenge" [鬼 (oni)] steps, color-coded dark blue and first seen in DDRMAX2, are also available for some songs, but it is not selectable before the game starts. By pressing the two arrow buttons on the machine simultaneously, one can change the sorting method of the songs from the default order (new songs, then returning songs, then unlocked songs) to a sorting by origin in the Bemani games (new to this version), an alphabetical order, a sorting by song speed in BPM, and a sorting by popularity.

Contents

[edit] Gameplay

The general premise of DDR EXTREME is the same as the previous Dance Dance Revolution games. One player can play using one dance pad (Single play style), Two players can play using one dance pad each (Versus play style), or One player can play using both dance pads (Double play style).

A player must step to the beat, matching the beat to the arrows presented to them on screen by stepping on arrows on a metal-and-acrylic glass dance stage. Depending on the timing of each step, the step is scored "PERFECT," "GREAT," "GOOD," "BOO" or "MISS." A health bar is on the screen, and starts half-way at the beginning of the routine. PERFECT and GREAT steps increase the health bar until it is full. BOO and MISS steps diminish it. GOOD steps have no effect either way. If a player accumulates too many BOOs or MISSes in rapid succession, and the health bar fully diminishes, then they fail the song and the game ends.

Freeze Arrows, introduced in DDRMAX, have returned. Instead of just stepping on the arrow, you have to hold it for as long as the green arrow line remains on the screen. If you hit the arrow and keep it held, you score an "OK," which is worth six dance points. If you do not succeed, it scores an "NG," with is worth nothing when your dance points and grade are calculated. OKs help build up the health bar, and NGs diminish it. You get additional base score points for successfully holding a freeze arrow.

A player may play anywhere from three to seven songs (not including extra stages), depending on how many the arcade owner sets the machine to play each game. At the end of each song, the player sees their accumulated points and how many of each kind of step they stepped. They also get a letter grade, ranging from E (only seen in two player modes when one player fails but the other passes) to AAA (all steps PERFECT), solely determined by the kind of steps they make. At the end of the game, they get a cumulative score based on the last three songs they played plus Extra Stages, if obtained (see below for more information on Extra Stages).

There are two systems for scoring each song: the long-score system, used to determine rankings, and an independent dance point system, used to determine the grade.

The long-score system is the same as in DDRMAX2. The maximum score for a song is the foot-rating for that routine multiplied by 10 million. The highest number of points possible for a single song is 100 million points (for a 10-foot song).

The dance-point system uses individual step values to determine the grade. It goes by the following formula: A 'perfect' step adds two points, a 'great' step adds one point, a 'good' step is worth nothing, a 'boo' step takes away four points, and a 'miss' step takes away eight points. An 'O.K.' freeze adds six points, and an 'N.G.' freeze is worth nothing. The dance points are also tied to the life bar. As always, if a player take too many bad steps and depletes the life bar, they will fail, and the game will end immediately. In two-player games, if one player fails, they can continue dancing, but it ceases to accumulate dance points for the failed player, accumulates score points at only 10 points per Perfect and 5 points per Great, and automatically gives the failed player an 'E' for the song.

If the first song is in Beginner or Light mode, then the game will allow a player to fail that song and continue, but will fail the player out if they fail a second song. In Beginner mode, it will fail only at the end of a song. In Light mode, it will fail as soon as the life bar is depleted.

The grade is dependent on the number of dance points you accumulate: 100% dance points is 'AAA', at least 93% is 'AA', at least 80% is 'A', at least 65% is 'B', at least 45% is 'C' and anything below 45% is a 'D'. If you manage to get a net dance-point total of zero without depleting the life bar and, thus, failing, then you get an 'E'. The final grade for the entire game is an average of the grades from the last three songs and not derived from the actual dance points scored.

[edit] FMV backgrounds

The arrows scroll over clips of full motion video. The screen refreshes at a full speed of 60 frames per second.

[edit] Groove Radar

The Groove Radar is a graphical representation of the difficulty of a song based in five different areas. The five areas are as follows:

  • Stream is the overall density of the steps in the song.
  • Voltage is the measure of the peak density of the steps, essentially showing how hard the hardest part of the song is.
  • Air represents the amount of jump steps within the song. When jump steps appear, two arrows are present, requiring you to jump in order to hit them both successfully.
  • Freeze represents the number of freezes (requiring the player to hold a note after it has been pressed initially) in the song. It does NOT represent the length.
  • Chaos tells the player the number of notes in the song that don't happen on 4th or 8th beats.

The Groove Radar displays up to two graphs, one for each player, depending on the difficulty they select.

The classic foot-rating system is also used as a simpler (but rather arbitrary) method of determining a song's difficulty. A new rating, referred to as flashing 10, was introduced, and it signals that the steps are extraordinarily hard. Only three songs have stepsets rated flashing 10s:

  • "The legend of MAX" on Single Heavy and Double Heavy
  • "PARANOIA survivor MAX" on Single Heavy, Single Challenge, Double Heavy and Double Challenge
  • "MAX. (Period)" on Single Heavy, Single Challenge, and Double Heavy (on Japanese home version)

[edit] Modifiers

Modifiers are changes that can be made to modify the step routine. A menu is available to make these modifications easier to use. This menu can be accessed by holding the Green select button when you choose your song.

Some of the available modifiers are as follows:

  • Speed mods change the speed at which the arrows scroll on the screen. You can increase it to multipliers of 1.5x, 2x, 3x, 5x or 8x. The default is "1x."
  • Boost, when turned on, causes the arrows to accelerate as they come close to the step zone. The default is "Off."
  • Appearance mods change how the arrows appear on the screen. The default is "Visible." "Hidden" makes the arrow fade out halfway up the screen. "Sudden" makes the arrow fade in halfway up the screen. "Stealth" means the arrows are not visible at all except beyond the stepping zone.
  • Turn mods affect the pattern of the arrows themselves. The default is "Off." "Left" turns all the arrows 90 degrees left. "Right" turns all the arrows 90 degrees right. "Mirror" flips the step pattern so that all left and right arrows swap, and all up and down arrows swap. "Shuffle" creates a random swap of the arrows, and can vary from turn to turn.
  • Other mods affect the difficulty of the step routine. The default is "Off" (Which is actually "Vivid"). "Little" eliminates all steps that are more frequent than standard 1/4 steps. "Flat" makes all the arrows appear the same, regardless of their step fraction. "Solo" changes the colors of the arrows to the colors used in DDR Solo 2000. "Dark" is the same as "Off" except that it removes the "step zone," forcing the player to rely solely on the beat to determine when to step.
  • Scroll mods affect the direction in which arrows scroll. The default is "Normal." "Reverse" makes the arrows scroll from top to bottom instead of bottom to top. The health bar is also moved to the bottom.
  • Freeze can turn the Freeze Arrows on or off. The default is "On."
  • Step is the last chance to change the difficulty of the song. The default is whichever difficulty you selected before choosing the song.

[edit] Extra Stages

Once more, the extra stages have returned.

If, on the final stage, you get a grade of AA or better on any Heavy step routine, the game gives the message "Try Extra Stage." Unlike previous versions, you can choose any song for your Extra Stage. You are forced to play Heavy steps in a Reverse Scroll modifier and a 1.5x Speed modifier. On top of all that, Extra Stage is played in "Pressure" mode, which means the health bar starts full and does not regenerate if it depletes with missed steps. Challenge-only songs may also be used for Extra Stage.

If, by choice or chance, a dancer chooses The legend of MAX (a flashing 10 in Heavy difficulty) for their Extra Stage and scores a grade of AA or better, then they are forced to play "One More Extra Stage." This time, the Song Wheel is locked on Dance Dance Revolution. The player is forced to play its Oni steps in a Reverse Scroll modifier and a 3x Speed modifier. On One More Extra Stage, it is in sudden-death mode, which means just one step that is not scored "Perfect" or "Great" or one freeze that is scored "NG" ends the game.

[edit] Nonstop Mode

Nonstop Mode, which appeared in DDR 3rdMIX and DDR 4thMIX, has officially returned. You must choose a course of four songs and play through it to the end (or until you fail). The course Pop 4 is used to determine rankings. Your base score is used to determine your rank. Base score is always a maximum of 100 million points. Since base score is always graduated, the first song is generally worth up to 10 million, the second song 20 million, the third song 30 million, and the fourth song 40 million.

Each Nonstop course has two difficulty settings, Normal and Difficult. In Normal difficulty, songs are typically Light or Standard difficulty, and in Difficult they are one level above, so Light songs become Standard and Standard songs become Heavy.

In addition to a number of courses with pre-set songs and difficulties, there are 10 courses where the songs vary. Six of these courses are named Player's Worst, Player's Best 1-4, Player's Best 5-8, and so forth to Player's Best 17-20, and they contain the four least popular and twenty most popular songs respectively. The method for deciding a song's popularity is based on how often and how recently a song is played, and songs with equal popularity are chosen in alphabetical order (evident as the songs in Player's Worst typically include the least popular songs starting with numbers or the letter A). For the Player's Best/Worst courses, the Normal difficulty is Standard and Difficult is Heavy for all songs, except where the song only has Oni/Challenge difficulty.

The remaining four courses with variable songlists are named Random Dancemania, Random Bemani, Random All and Random Caprice.

  • Random Dancemania: Four songs taken from the Dancemania label. In the Course Select screen, the names and foot levels of songs are replaced with question marks, the only hint to the songs being that Oni/Challenge level songs appear in purple.
  • Random Bemani: Four songs that have appeared in previous Bemani games. Like Random Dancemania, song titles and foot levels are obscured with question marks.
  • Random All: Four songs from the entire DDR Extreme song list. Again, song titles and foot levels are obscured with question marks.
  • Random Caprice: Like Random All, the four songs are taken from the entire DDR Extreme song list. Unlike the other three random courses, the song titles and foot levels are displayed on the Course Select screen.

With the exception of Random Caprice, the songs selected for the random Nonstop courses are not known to the player until play begins. Like the Player's Best/Worst courses, the songs are typically Standard in the Normal difficulty course and Heavy in the Difficult course, but under certain conditions (such as the song only having an Oni difficulty) the difficulty may be Oni/Challenge. Since the colour of the song title (or the question marks that replace it) reflects the difficulty - pink for Standard, green for Heavy, and blue for Oni - this is the only clue towards what songs are in each course, since not every song has Oni steps.

Some songs have well-hidden secret Oni steps that can only be played through Nonstop mode, as a result of exploiting a bug. If a player has one course selected, then changes to an adjacent course and presses the start button the split second after the previous songlist collapses, but before the new songlist expands, the newly selected course will inherit the difficulties of the previous course. For example, if one of the song's difficulties of the previous course is Oni, the song in that slot of the new course will be played on Oni, regardless of what it actually should be. Performing this trick on Love <3 Shine gives the player access to its hidden challenge steps, which are considered to be quite challenging and fun. A few other songs have secret Oni stepcharts as well, though most of them seem unfinished, and some songs can crash the machine if the bug is used on them. The player must also not enter the mod screen before playing the course, otherwise the course's proper difficulties will load, rendering the exploit void.

A new timing, "MARVELOUS," is used in Nonstop Mode. It is stricter than "PERFECT" timing, and a MARVELOUS step is worth three points in determining your letter grade.

[edit] Challenge Mode, also known as Oni Mode

The Nonstop Challenge feature from DDRMAX2, also referred to as Oni Mode, returned and was officially renamed Challenge Mode to avoid confusion with Nonstop Mode. It can be selected when you select difficulty before choosing your first song. You have to complete a set course of anywhere from five to nine songs, with difficulties set and, in some cases, different modifiers. You cannot mod any songs in Oni Mode, and must play them all at native scroll and whatever modifiers the machine deems as part of the course. Unlike Nonstop Mode, you have to be perfect with your steps. The health bar is replaced with a battery. If you get a GOOD, BOO, MISS or NG up to four times in any one song, it fails you out and the game ends. As before, you can regain 1-3 battery pieces after every song.

Your score is based on the number of dance points accumulated in the song, unlike DDRMAX2, which shows the percentage of available dance points instead. BOOs and MISSes do not take away from your dance points. The courses Naoki Neo-Standard and Dancemania are used for rankings. Both the dance points and how long you last, if no one has passed the course on that machine yet, determine your rank on each.

MARVELOUS timing is also used in Challenge Mode. It is worth three points in this mode.

The "difficulty bug" described in the Nonstop section works in Oni mode as well. This can make most Oni courses considerably more or less difficult.

The "Trick" Oni course is home to three unique mods that are not available in any other mode. The Ecstacy remix uses "Brake", which causes the arrows to decelerate as they reach the target; basically the exact opposite of "Boost". The AM-3P remix uses "Fuwa-Fuwa", which causes the arrows to expand and contract like an accordion. MAX 300 is on 0.25x speed. Also, the "Neo-RevenG" course has Sakura on 0.5x speed. Some DDR Extreme machines have been hacked to make these mods available at all times.

[edit] Link Data

Some machines have the ports to insert PlayStation memory cards. Such memory cards have to be PlayStation 1 (not PS2) memory cards with Link Data from the home version of DDR 5th Mix (the home version of DDR Extreme cannot create arcade-compatible Link Data). 5th Mix can create two different kinds of arcade link data; the Link Data file for DDR Extreme is known as "New Version" Link Data, and unlike the previous two games, is not backward-compatible with DDRMAX or DDRMAX2 arcade machines due to a small technical bug. The machine will use all scores previously saved in the file by DDRMAX or DDRMAX2, but when the data is saved, the file is re-written in such a way that the previous arcade games will not recognize it. With the appropriate hardware to read/write PlayStation 1 memory cards on a Windows-based PC such as a DexDrive, a user can easily correct the file and make it useable in all three arcade games (though subsequent uses of DDR Extreme will require the link data file to be fixed again prior to use in DDRMAX or DDRMAX2). Cutriss of DDR Freak has written a Windows-based program which will perform the modifications to a save file in the .mcs format. This program can be downloaded here.

Link Data serves two primary purposes: Score-saving and Internet Ranking. The user can save his or her scores from arcade performances, and whenever the game is played in the future, the arcade game will load the scores for each user and show them on the song-selection screen to show the player's best performances. These scores can also be viewed at home with DDR 5th Mix. DDR Extreme also provides Internet Ranking codes based on the user's performance in a given set of Challenge or Nonstop courses. As with all of Konami's Internet Ranking events, the webpage for the game would allow users to enter in a generated password which contains their initials and scores for that session, and the webpage would display the rankings for those who have submitted codes. Link Data saves these passwords so that they may be entered much more conveniently.

The arcade game can exchange custom stepchart data with DDR Extreme, as well as any earlier version that has songs that are in DDR Extreme, though this requires special steps to be taken in DDR Extreme to write a PlayStation 1-formatted save file, which must then be copied to the PlayStation 1 memory card by the user.

[edit] Bootlegs

As with other DDR versions, bootlegs are fairly common. However, bootleggers of DDR EXTREME went beyond the standard practice of releasing the same game as Konami. Two modified versions were produced, DDR EXTREME PLUS and DDR MEGAMIX.

[edit] Dance Dance Revolution MegaMix

Dance Dance Revolution MegaMix was the first of the two bootlegs. It was advertised as an "upgrade" to DDR EXTREME, and many arcade operators paid to install it over DDR EXTREME. To their chagrin, it turned out to be a scam: the gameplay was exactly the same; only a few interface elements were tweaked, including the removal of the original songwheel background with a blank blue screen and the replacement of freeze arrows with "freeze blocks", where the whole area of the freeze arrow is simply a filled rectangle (likely a bug), and the replacement of the Japanese warning screen with the words "DONT FALL OFF !!"[1]

[edit] Dance Dance Revolution EXTREME Plus!

Dance Dance Revolution EXTREME Plus! was the second of the two bootlegs. It also featured some graphical changes, but it had one gameplay addition - the ability to increase the song tempo by 10% or 20% by increasing the clockspeed (overclocking) which in turn damages the machine's internal CPU. In addition, the tempo cannot be changed if one selects "Heavy" at the beginning, although this can be worked around by choosing any other difficulty, then switching to heavy. Also, the speed increase remains in effect even after the game ends -- a machine that is left on 20% speed for extended periods of time will be damaged very quickly. However, there have been some arcade operators that have installed fans over the CPU to stop them from overheating, though this is not common.

[edit] Home versions

The home version of Dance Dance Revolution EXTREME was released in Japan in September 2003 for the Sony PlayStation 2 video game console. It featured 111 songs, and had all the features of the arcade version, but there is one missing song: Senorita (Speedy Mix) by JENNY ROM.

The North American home version of DDR EXTREME was released on September 21st, 2004, for the Sony PlayStation 2 video game console. The songlist is considerably different from the Japanese version, and the feature set is closer to that of DDR Festival: Dance Dance Revolution. Additionally, the US edition of DDREXTREME has a completely re-worked user interface which bears no resemblance to any arcade version, making it quite difficult to navigate for veterans of the arcade.

[edit] Music

See also Dance Dance Revolution EXTREME song list

Notable songs from this version include:

  • bag: An unusual 10-footer that runs at 65 BPM, despite the fact that its true BPM is 130. The stepset's difficulty lies mainly in reading the arrow patterns, which appear in extremely dense clusters of 1/24th notes. Because of this, many players do not consider "bag" to be a 10-footer at speed modifiers higher than the default "1x". Regardless of the scroll speed, the steps have notoriously difficult timing, caused by the game engine's inability to properly space triplet-based notes (it rounds them to 1/64ths). This also affects songs such as "BURNING HEAT! (3-Option MIX)" and "AFRONOVA." The problem, however, is amplified in "bag" due to its slow BPM.
  • "Cartoon Heroes (Speedy Mix)". A remix of the popular song by Aqua, often considered to be the hardest song with a rating of 9 feet, with steps including twisting runs, jumps, and many gallops at 170 BPM.
  • The legend of MAX: DDR EXTREME's addition to the "MAX" song series, scrolling at 333 BPM. It briefly accelerates to 666 BPM in the middle of the song. Technically, this makes it the fastest-scrolling song in DDR, but no steps are hit during this speed-up. It also has a slow section at 83.25 BPM, which provides a rest before returning to 333 BPM. The Heavy stepset's final section includes a long run and concludes with a series of jumps, with gallops thrown in. The legend of MAX is a "flashing" 10-footer, signified by the pulsating feet below the Groove Radar on the song selection screen.
  • PARANOiA Survivor MAX: This "PARANOiA" remix was considered to be the hardest song in any DDR game until the release of Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA. The Challenge/Oni steps have a combo of 655 (613 steps total, on Single and Double), consisting mainly of 1/8th notes at 290 BPM. Turns and jumps are plentiful, and several major slowdowns often catch players off-guard. The last portion of the song is infamous for its "death runs" – four 1/8th note patterns that contain highly complex turns, similar to those in "RHYTHM & POLICE" or "exotic ethnic" (except at 290 BPM). Both the Heavy and Challenge/Oni steps are rated a "flashing" 10.
  • 桜 (SAKURA): Originally from Beatmania IIDX 8th Style, it is considered by many players to be the easiest of the 10-footers. Although it reaches 320 BPM, the Heavy steps are very simple and do not have the stamina draining ability of the MAX songs. The main difficulty in SAKURA comes from the BPM changes at the middle and end of the song. One step in particular is notoriously difficult to hit, due to a sudden BPM slowdown that occurs 1/32nd before the actual arrow. It is of interest to note that although the song selection screen displays 300 for the maximum BPM, the final section of the song scrolls at 320 BPM.
  • MAX. (period): Appearing only on the Japanese home version of DDR EXTREME, this song scrolls mostly at 300 BPM, and has step patterns similar to "MAX 300", with several 1/4th note jump sections thrown in. It also includes a short 180 BPM section which pays homage to the original "PARANOiA". However, the song is most notable for its last 12 seconds, which consist of a long stream of 1/4th note arrows. This section is extremely difficult to sight-read, since the arrow scroll doubles to 600 BPM. It is of interest to note that this MAX song is not by NAOKI, unlike the other MAXes, but by 2MB, a renowned DDR song remix artist, most popularly known for Healing Vision (Angelic mix).
  • Dance Dance Revolution: This song, named after the game series itself, is initially only available as "One More Extra Stage". The Challenge stepset consists almost entirely of Heavy patterns from other classic DDR songs. In order of step pattern appearance, these songs are: "BRILLIANT 2U (ORCHESTRA GROOVE)", "DEAD END", "DYNAMITE RAVE", "AFRONOVA", "END OF THE CENTURY", "AM-3P", "CELEBRATE NITE", and "B4U". "Dance Dance Revolution" also has original Beginner, Light, Standard, and Heavy steps that are unlockable through the use of machine codes. Another notable feature of the song is that the female background singer sings lyrics from the openings of previous DDR mixes.

[edit] Soundtrack

The Original Soundtrack for DDR EXTREME was produced by Toshiba-EMI under their Dancemania dance music brand. It contained 30 of the new songs.

[edit] Trivia

  • 1998 is a very important, defining year for Konami, as it was the year that the first arcade version of Dance Dance Revolution was released. The song "1998" by NAOKI is a commemorative track devoted to this event.
  • Jason Gilleece of Effort, Pennsylvania currently holds the world record for Dance Dance Revolution EXTREME at 680,808,465 points. However, some players are able to beat this "world record"; their attempts have just not been authenticated.

[edit] External links


Games from the Dance Dance Revolution series
Japan / Asia: 1stMIX - 2ndMIX - 3rdMIX - 4thMIX - 5thMIX - MAX (6thMIX) - MAX2 (7thMIX) - EXTREME - Best Hits - Extra Mix - Party Col. - FESTIVAL - Mario Mix - STR!KE - SuperNOVA - Universe
North America: DDR - DDR USA - Konamix - MAX - MAX2 - Ultramix - EXTREME - Ultramix 2 - Extreme 2 - Ultramix 3 - SuperNOVA - Ultramix 4 - Universe
Europe: Dancing Stage EuroMIX - PARTY EDiTiON - Disney Mix - MegaMiX - Fever - Unleashed - Fusion - Unleashed 2 - Mario Mix - Max - Unleashed 3
See also: Dancing Stage - Disney versions - Game Boy versions - DDR Solo - List of DDR games
Related topics
Notable songs: MAX series
Notable artists: BeForU  - Takayuki Ishikawa  - Naoki Maeda  - Taku Sakakibara  - List of Bemani musicians
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