DDRMAX: Dance Dance Revolution

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This article is about the North American version of the game. For the Japanese version, see DDRMAX: Dance Dance Revolution 6thMIX.
DDRMAX: Dance Dance Revolution
DDRMAX US box art
Developer(s) Konami
Publisher(s) Konami
Release date(s) October 28, 2002
Genre(s) Puzzle
Mode(s) Single player, Multiplayer
Rating(s) ESRB: Everyone (E)
Platform(s) PlayStation 2
Media 720-megabit DVD-ROM

DDRMAX: Dance Dance Revolution is the fourth home version of Dance Dance Revolution to be released in the United States. It was released by Konami on October 28th, 2002. DDRMAX contains a total of 71 songs, 33 of which are hidden and unlockable.

The interface used is a recoloring and smoothing of the song wheel interface first introduced in DDR 5th Mix. This is the first US release to use it. By pressing the Start button, you can change the sorting method from the default (Default songs, then special (red) stages, then unlocked songs) to an alphabetical sort, a sort by song speed in BPM, and a sort by popularity.

DDRMAX is intended to be the Next Generation of Dance Dance Revolution. As such, there are many changes. First, the difficulty levels are renamed. Now, 'Basic' is named 'Light', 'Trick' is named 'Standard', and 'Maniac' is named 'Heavy'. Their color codes--orange, fuchsia and green, respectively--remain the same.

Contents

[edit] Gameplay

The general premise of DDRMAX 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," "ALMOST" or "BOO." 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. ALMOST and BOO steps diminish it. GOOD steps have no effect either way. If a player accumulates too many ALMOSTs or BOOs in rapid succession, and the health bar fully diminishes, then they fail the song and the game ends.

A new feature in DDRMAX is freeze arrows. 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 scores six dance points. If you do not succeed, it scores an "NG," which is worth nothing when your dance points and grade are calculated. OKs help build up the health bar, and NGs diminish it. You get extra base score points for successfully holding a freeze arrow.

A player may play anywhere from one to five 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, bonus 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 (read on about the Extra Stages).

Scoring for each song has changed as well. There are now two systems: the long-score system used to determine rankings, and an independent dance point system now used to determine the grade.

All songs have a long-score ceiling of 50 million points, and a bonus score is tacked onto it based on the difficulty of the song and other factors. Rankings are given for the highest long-score accumulations a round. If a player plays more than three songs, then it only counts the last three played. If a song is played repeatedly among the three songs used for ranking, then the repeated songs carry no bonus score.

The dance-point system uses raw 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, an 'almost' step takes away four points, and a 'boo' 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 takes too many bad steps and depletes the life bar, they will fail, and the game will end immediately. If the first song is in 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 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 step, and automatically gives the failed player an 'E' for the song.

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.

In the US version, if a player achieves a full combo on a song (meaning all steps were scored as either 'PERFECT' or 'GREAT') then a 'AA' is awarded automatically regardless of the dance points actually scored.

[edit] FMV Backgrounds

Dancing characters have been removed in DDRMAX. Instead, 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, a new feature in DDRMAX, is a graphical representation of the difficulty of a song based on five skill areas. The five skill areas are as follows:

  • Stream is the ability to smoothly go through from step to step. This is determined by the number of steps in the song.
  • Voltage is the ability to hit the fastest steps consistently. This is determined by the fastest tempo of the song, and how long such tempo is sustained in aggregate.
  • Air is the ability to hit "jump steps," steps that require you to hit two arrows at the same time. This is determined by the number of jump steps.
  • Chaos is the ability to navigate rapidly-changing step patterns. This is determined by analyzing the overall step routine.
  • Freeze is the ability to hold onto the freeze arrows. This is determined by the number of freeze arrows.

Unlike the Japanese versions of DDRMAX, the foot-rating system is included in the US home version of DDRMAX. The feet appear on top of the Groove Radar graphic under the player's difficulty icon on the song wheel.

[edit] Modifiers

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

Some of the available modifiers include the following:

  • 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 near 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.
  • 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." "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.
  • 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

A new feature to DDRMAX is the Extra Stage.

If, on the final stage, a player get a grade of AA or better on any Heavy step routine, the game gives the message "Try Extra Stage." The Song Wheel is locked on the song MAX 300 and cannot be changed. You are forced to play its extremely difficult Heavy steps, rated 10 feet, 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.

If a dancer scores a grade of AA or better on the Extra Stage, then they are forced to play "Another Extra Stage." This time, the Song Wheel is locked on Candy (Star). The player is forced to play its Heavy steps, rated 8 feet, in a Reverse Scroll modifier and a 2x 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 Challenge/Oni Mode

The Nonstop Challenge, also referred to as Oni Mode, is from DDRMAX2. It is referred to only as Challenge Mode in this US release to avoid confusion with Nonstop Mode in DDR EXTREME. It can be selected when you select difficulty before choosing your first song. You have to complete a set course of anywhere from four to twelve songs, with difficulties set and, in some cases, different mods. You cannot mod any songs in Oni Mode, and must play them all at native scroll and whatever mod the machine deems is part of the course. Unlike Nonstop Mode, you have to be perfect with your steps. The life 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.

Your score is derived from the dance point system, and is based on the percentage of possible dance points you earned. BOOs and MISSes do not take away from your dance points.

Unlike DDRMAX2, DDRMAX does not have any Challenge-only songs.

[edit] Game Saving

Game saving works in the same way as Japanese versions. However, unlike Japanese versions, you cannot unlock DDRMAX's extra songs by accessing its save data in future games. Additionally, DDRMAX edit data is not compatible with arcade versions of Dance Dance Revolution.

[edit] Songlist

DDRMAX US exclusives

  • Dark Black Forest (Short Trip) - Steve Rhyner
  • I Like To Move It - Reel 2 Real
  • Sandstorm - Darude
  • Take It to the Morning Light (Extended Vocal) - Golden Gate
  • You Leave Me Alone - Venus

DDRMAX US

  • 22DUNK - SLAKE
  • 5.1.1 - dj nagureo
  • Abyss - dj TAKA
  • AM-3P - KTz
  • BABY BABY GIMME YOUR LOVE - DIVAS
  • BRILLIANT 2U (Orchestra Groove) - NAOKI
  • BROKEN MY HEART - NAOKI feat.PAULA TERRY
  • CANDY Star - Luv unlimited
  • celebrate - JJ COMPANY
  • CUTIE CHASER (Morning Mix) - CLUB SPICE
  • Deep in you - DJ nagureo
  • Do It Right (Harmonized 2 Step Mix) - SOTA feat. Ebony Fay
  • DROP THE BOMB -System S.F. Mix- - Scotty D.
  • DYNAMITE RAVE -Down Bird Sota Mix- - Naoki
  • ECSTASY - d-complex
  • Electro Tuned (the SubS mix) - TaQ
  • era (nostalmix) - TaQ
  • exotic ethnic - RevenG
  • GAMBOL - SLAKE
  • gentle stress (AMD SEXUAL MIX) - MR. DOG feat. DJ Swan (referred to as SENSUAL MIX)
  • Get me in your sight -AMD CANCUN MIX- - SYMPHONIC DEFOGGERS with 1479
  • GRADIUSIC CYBER (AMD G5 MIX) - BIG-O feat. TAKA
  • Groove 2001 - Sho-T feat. Brenda
  • Healing Vision - DE-SIRE
  • Healing Vision (Angelic mix) - 2MB
  • Holic - TaQ
  • I Was The One - good-cool
  • I'm For Real - Slake
  • INSERTiON - NAOKI underground
  • Jam & Marmalade - Final Offset
  • Kind Lady - Okuyatos
  • Let the beat hit em! (BM IIDX version) - Stone Bros.
  • Let the beat hit em! (CLASSIC R&B STYLE) - STONE BROS.
  • Let's talk it over - SHIN Murayama feat. Argie Phine
  • Logical Dash - DJ Taka
  • Look To The Sky - System S.F. feat. ANNA
  • Look To The Sky (True Color Mix) - System S.F. feat. ANNA
  • LOVE AGAIN TONIGHT (For Melissa MIX) - NAOKI feat. PAULA TERRY
  • LOVE THIS FEELIN' - Chang Ma
  • Matsuri JAPAN - RE-VENGE
  • MAX 300 - OMEGA
  • Midnite Blaze - U1 Jewel Style
  • MY GENERATION (Fat Beat Mix) - CAPTAIN JACK
  • MY SUMMER LOVE - MITSU-O! with GEILA
  • never let you down - good-cool feat. JP Miles
  • ORDINARY WORLD - AURORA featuring NAIMEE COLEMAN
  • ORION .78 (civilization mix) - 2MB
  • Overblast!! - L.E.D. Light
  • PARANOiA EVOLUTION - 200
  • PARANOiA MAX (DIRTY MIX) (Another) - 190
  • PEACE-OUT - dj naguero
  • Remember You - NM feat.Julie
  • RHYTHM AND POLICE (K.O.G G3 Mix) - CJ CREW feat. CHRISTIAN D
  • RUGGED ASH - SYMPHONIC DEFOGGERS with 1479
  • Sana Morette Ne Ente - Togo Project feat. Sana
  • Secret Rendez-vous - DIVAS
  • Share My Love - Julie Frost
  • Silent Hill - THOMAS HOWARD
  • So In Love - Caramel S.
  • Spin the Disc - good-cool
  • STOMP TO MY BEAT - JS-16
  • SYNCHRONIZED LOVE (Red Monster Hyper Mix) - JOE RINOIE
  • THE CUBE - DJ SUWAMI
  • The Shining Polaris - L.E.D. feat. Sana
  • TRIP MACHINE CLIMAX - DE-SIRE
  • true ~trance sunrise mix~ - Kosaka Riyu

[edit] Trivia

[edit] External links


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 - Hottest Party - SuperNOVA 2
North America: DDR - DDR USA - Konamix - MAX - MAX2 - ULTRAMIX - EXTREME - ULTRAMIX 2 - EXTREME 2 - ULTRAMIX 3 - Mario Mix - SuperNOVA - ULTRAMIX 4 - Universe - Hottest Party
Europe/Australia: 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
Notable Dance Dance Revolution songs
v • d • e
Songs: MAX series  - PARANOiA series
Artists: BeForU  - Takayuki Ishikawa  - Naoki Maeda  - Taku Sakakibara  - List of Bemani musicians
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