DDRMAX2: Dance Dance Revolution
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- This article is about the North American version of the game. For the Japanese version, see DDRMAX2: Dance Dance Revolution 7thMIX.
| DDRMAX2: Dance Dance Revolution | |
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| Developer(s) | Konami |
| Publisher(s) | Konami |
| Release date(s) | September 23, 2003 |
| Genre(s) | Puzzle |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Everyone (E) |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2 |
| Media | DVD |
DDRMAX2: Dance Dance Revolution is the fifth home version of Dance Dance Revolution to be released in the United States. It was released by Konami on September 23rd, 2003, for the Sony PlayStation 2 video game console. DDRMAX2 contains a total of 69 songs, 28 of which are hidden and unlockable.
The interface used is a recoloring and smoothing of the song wheel interface first introduced in the US in DDRMAX. The names of the difficulty modes are "Beginner," "Light," "Standard," and "Heavy," just as they were in DDRMAX. By pressing the Start button, you can change the sorting method from the default (New songs first, then returning songs, then unlocked songs) to an alphabetical sort, a sort by song speed in BPM, and a sort by popularity.
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[edit] Gameplay
The general premise of DDRMAX2 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 dance pad. They are either metal-and-acrylic glass (known as a "hard pad") or thin foam and plastic (known as a "soft pad"). 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 BOOes 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 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 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 (read on about the Extra Stages).
There are two scoring systems: the long-score system used to determine rankings, and an independent dance point system used to determine the grade.
The long-score system has been totally revamped. Bonus points have been eliminated, and now 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 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 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 step, 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.
Dancing characters make a return in DDRMAX2. In the Options menu, you can select which character you want (or make it choose random characters) for each player, and have an extra character appear, for a total of three on-screen. And for the first time ever, some songs utilize full-length music videos instead of short clips. These songs will not show the dancing characters regardless of the Dancer Settings. Unlike the PlayStation versions, which used 3D rendered polygonal characters, the characters are rendered using cel-shaded animation, for a cleaner and more presentable look. Each of the character models were transferred from Dance Dance Revolution 5th Mix since the game was never released in the United States.
[edit] Groove Radar
The Groove Radar is a graphical representation based on five different aspects in the difficulty of a song:
- Stream indicates of the total number of steps in a song.
- Voltage indicates the difficulty of the densest part of a song.
- Air indicates the number of jumps as a proportion of the total number of steps.
- Chaos is an indicator of the number of irregular steps in a song as a proportion of the total number of steps in a song. 12th, 16th, 24th and 32nd notes are considered "chaotic". These types of steps are generally more difficult to understand than 4th and 8th notes, which are typically on, and exactly between bass beats. Conversely, "Chaotic" notes tend to follow vocals and instrumentals.
- Freeze indicates the number of freeze arrows as a proportion of the total number of steps.
The foot-rating system of measuring song difficulty is also used in DDRMAX2. The representation appears beneath the Groove Radar graphic.
[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. "Dark", a new modifier in DDRMAX2, 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
The Extra Stages are back.
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." The Song Wheel is locked on a song called MAXX UNLIMITED 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, in Dark mode. 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 "One More Extra Stage." This time, the Song Wheel is locked on Kakumei. The player is forced to play its Oni steps, rated 8 feet, in a Reverse Scroll modifier and a 2x Speed modifier. One More Extra Stage 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
Unlike the arcade version of DDRMAX2, Nonstop Mode appears instead of Challenge Mode. Nonstop Mode, a feature from DDR KONAMIX, allows the player to play one of several set courses without stopping. It is selectable when you are selecting the difficulty for the song.
[edit] Workout Mode
Workout Mode is a special American-oriented mode where you can play songs and have the game keep track of your exercise performance, such as calories burned, time spent exercising, or a program.
[edit] Endless Mode
Endless Mode is new to DDRMAX2. You can dance nonstop until you deplete your lifebar and, thus, fail. You can use a default song order, or adjust the song difficulty, song order and modifiers for the game, as well as how often the game allows you to take a break.
[edit] Songlist
- A Little Bit of Ecstasy
- AFRONOVA
- AM-3P
- AM-3P (AM EAST mix)
- Bad Routine
- BREAK DOWN!
- Burning Heat! (3 Option Mix)
- Busy Child
- CAN'T STOP FALLIN' IN LOVE
- CELEBRATE NITE
- CELEBRATE NITE (EURO TRANCE STYLE)
- CONGA FEELING
- D2R
- DESTINY
- DIVE (more deep & deeper style)
- Dirty Vegas - "Days Go By"
- DJ Sammy & Yanou ft. Do - "Heaven"
- Do It Right
- Do It Right (80's Electro Mix)
- Don't Stop! -AMD 2nd MIX-
- DREAM A DREAM
- DRIFTING AWAY
- Earth, Wind, and Fire - "Let's Groove"
- END OF THE CENTURY
- feeling of love
- Forever Sunshine
- GHOSTS (Vincent De Moor Original Mix)
- Groove
- HYSTERIA
- Hysteria 2001
- I Feel...
- I Need You
- I Was The One
- IN THE NAVY '99 (XXL Disaster Remix)
- Jam & Marmalade
- Kakumei
- KC and the Sunshine Band - "Get Down Tonight"
- Keep On Liftin'
- Kind Lady
- Kind Lady (interlude)
- LONG TRAIN RUNNIN'
- Kylie Minogue - "Love at First Sight"
- LOVIN' YOU (ROB SEARLE CLUB MIX)
- MAXX UNLIMITED
- More deep (ver.2.1)
- PARANOiA (KCET CLEAN MIX)
- PUT YOUR FAITH IN ME
- Radical Faith
- Rain of sorrow
- Secret Rendez-vous
- Silent Hill
- SILENT HILL (3rd christmas mix)
- SO DEEP (PERFECT SPHERE REMIX)
- SP-TRIP MACHINE (JUNGLE MIX)
- Spin the Disc
- STILL IN MY HEART
- SUPER STAR
- SUPER STAR (FROM NONSTOP MEGAMIX)
- Take Me Away (Into the Night) (radio vocal)
- The Shining Polaris
- THE WHISTLE SONG (Blow My Whistle)
- Think ya better D
- Tomorrow Perfume
- Try 2 Luv. U
- TSUGARU
- TWILIGHT ZONE (R-C Extended Club MIX)
- VANITY ANGEL
- Will I?
- Xenon
[edit] External links
- Konami (US Home Page), makers of DDR.
| 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 |
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| 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 |
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Notable Dance Dance Revolution songs
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| Songs: | MAX series - PARANOiA series |
| Artists: | BeForU - Takayuki Ishikawa - Naoki Maeda - Taku Sakakibara - List of Bemani musicians |
