MAX (Dance Dance Revolution)

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The MAX series is a collection of several (at present 6) songs from the various releases of Dance Dance Revolution. All of them have been given the 10-foot difficulty rating and are considered the pinnacle of achievement to pass for the average DDR player.

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[edit] MAX300

MAX300 was released in Dance Dance Revolution MAX and was the first song to be given the 10-foot difficulty rating. However, DDRMAX did not have foot-ratings, and upon MAX2's release it was given the official rating. Running at 300 BPM, the Heavy steps are a combination of fast 8th notes, designed to drain the player's stamina. Passing the song requires much endurance and speed, as it is common to have as many as 10 notes in one second. MAX300 is often misspelled "MAX 300" by players.

[edit] Song information

  • Title: MAX300
  • NAOKI Alias: Ω
  • Arcade Mix: Dance Dance Revolution MAX
  • BPM: 300
  • Beginner difficulty: 3 (DDR Extreme only)
  • Basic/Light difficulty: 6
  • Trick/Standard difficulty: 8
  • Maniac/Heavy difficulty: 10
  • Oni/Challenge difficulty: N/A

[edit] MaxX Unlimited

MaxX Unlimited was released in Dance Dance Revolution MAX2 as a continuation of the series created with Max 300 in the previous game. At 320 BPM, it is less focused on stamina and speed, and more focused on technique. The heavy steps require fast jumps, streams, and complex rhythms. Beginning at 300 BPM and slowing down as low as 47 BPM, it features a series of tempo changes designed to throw the player off rhythm, as well as a full stop similar to that of Max 300. After the stop, the song reaches 320 BPM. It is considered in the DDR community to be harder than Max 300, despite being less tiring.

[edit] Song information

  • Title: MAXX UNLIMITED
  • NAOKI Alias: Z
  • Arcade Mix: Dance Dance Revolution MAX2
  • BPM: 48-320
  • Beginner difficulty: 3 (DDR Extreme only)
  • Basic/Light difficulty: 6
  • Trick/Standard difficulty: 8
  • Maniac/Heavy difficulty: 10
  • Oni/Challenge difficulty: N/A

[edit] The Legend of Max

The Legend of Max was released in Dance Dance Revolution EXTREME and was one of the first songs to receive the "Flashing 10-footer" rating, the flashing property itself often associated with the song's difficulty relative to a "normal" 10 (when actually, it is meant to highlight the song's properties as a "boss" in that mix.) Some feel that it sounded less like the previous songs and more like the Paranoia series, though this is debatable as the trademark melody is still present. Featuring technically challenging runs and jumps, it is similar in difficulty to Maxx Unlimited. The song begins at 333 BPM and has a stop in the middle, like the others. There is a short period of 666 BPM in the middle of the freeze arrow, right before the stop.

[edit] Song information

  • Title: The legend of MAX
  • NAOKI Alias: ZZ
  • Arcade Mix: Dance Dance Revolution EXTREME
  • BPM: 83-666
  • Beginner difficulty: 3
  • Basic/Light difficulty: 6
  • Trick/Standard difficulty: 9
  • Maniac/Heavy difficulty: 10
  • Oni/Challenge difficulty: N/A

[edit] Max.(period)

Released only in the Japanese home version of Dance Dance Revolution EXTREME, MAX. (period) was not written by Naoki Maeda as with the previous MAX's, but was created by 2MB (Yuichi Asami or "U1-Asami"). The song mostly runs at 300 BPM, except for a slow section in the middle running at 180 BPM (reminiscent of the original Paranoia) and the last several seconds which run at a blistering 600 BPM. The song does away with the "Max Full Stop" in its original form, though it does include a pause before the 180 BPM section. While not considered as difficult as the other MAX's technically[citation needed], the 600 BPM section is very difficult to read, and there are several fast "trills" (2 arrows hit in an alternating pattern) and jumps throughout the song.

[edit] Song information

  • Title: MAX. (period)
  • Artist: 2MB
  • Arcade Mix: None; Dance Dance Revolution EXTREME Japanese Home Version
  • BPM: 150-600
  • Beginner difficulty: 3
  • Basic/Light difficulty: 9
  • Trick/Standard difficulty: 9
  • Maniac/Heavy difficulty: 10
  • Oni/Challenge difficulty: 10

[edit] Max 300 (super-max-me mix)

Released in the home version Dance Dance Revolution ULTRAMIX 2, this song again was not written by Naoki Maeda, but by a pair crediting themselves Jondi & Spesh. In spite of the title, this song is more of a remix of MaxX UNLIMITED than MAX300. Considered by some to be more difficult than any of the official MAX's, the song features dense, complex patterns of 8th notes and jumps, and various slow downs designed to throw the player off. Starting at 300, the steps briefly slow down to 140 BPM about 50 seconds into the song, offering a slight rest, but they quickly start up again with increased difficulty. The song then goes to 320. The ending part of the song includes several 1/8-note runs, including one lasting six measures (the longest in any official MAX).

[edit] Song information

[edit] Fascination MAXX

From the newly announced Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA, this song is an extremely difficult remix of the MAX series. Steps are rated at 9/9/10/10 (light/standard/heavy/oni or basic/difficult/expert/challenge). The song is unlockable as an extra stage or through the game's Stellar Mode.

The BPM of the song alternates between 100, 200, and 400, as displayed in the artist's name.

The song starts off with a Healing Vision-esque beginning: It starts off very slow and then speeds up immediately after the first arrows hits the stationary arrow's outline, when it immediately jumps to a shocking 400 BPM. A brief variation on one of the Max themes (possibly originated from PARANOiA) is heard at this point. The song features a plethora of tempo changing in the beginning and has a lot of sudden song pauses near the end like those in PARANOiA -Respect-.

The song also features a long stream of gallops and has the traditional 'MAX-Stop'. Some players believe that the introduction of Fascination ~eternal love mix~ might suggest that Fascination could be a new, separate family of boss songs.

[edit] Song information

[edit] Other Maxes

"MAXIMIZER" (CLI-MAX S., Sota Fujimori), from the Dance Dance Revolution EXTREME US Home Version, is considered by some to be a part of the MAX series, while others contend it's related in name only. Some claim the song as a separate entity as the DDR Extreme information mentions no affiliation to the MAX series, its music bears no similarities, and it is only given a difficulty rating of 8 on maniac/heavy, lacking the series' typical stamina-draining and technically challenging step patterns.

[edit] See also

[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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