Dance Dance Revolution ULTRAMIX 2
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| Dance Dance Revolution ULTRAMIX 2 | |
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| Developer(s) | Konami |
| Publisher(s) | Konami |
| Release date(s) | November 18, 2004 |
| Genre(s) | Music |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Everyone (E) orignal rating now Teen (T) |
| Platform(s) | Xbox |
| Media | DVD |
Dance Dance Revolution ULTRAMIX 2, or DDR Ultramix 2, is the eighth home version of Dance Dance Revolution to be released in the United States. It was released by Konami exclusively in North America on November 18th, 2004, on the Microsoft Xbox video game console. An adaptation called Dancing Stage Unleashed 2 was created in Europe. It comes with 70 songs, 10 of which are hidden and unlockable. 58 of those songs were new to Dance Dance Revolution, with several artists from the "A Different Drum" label.
DDR Ultramix 2 was developed and published by Konami Digital Entertainment, formerly known as Konami Computer Entertainment Hawaii.
The interface used is new, but retains the Groove Radar and foot ratings. The names of the difficulty modes are "Beginner", "Light," Standard," and "Heavy". 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 DDR Ultramix 2 is the same as other 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 songs.
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 "O.K.", which scores six dance points. If you do not succeed, it scores an "N.G.", 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 extra base score points for successfully holding a freeze arrow.
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.
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 changed. Every song has a score ceiling of 100 million points, with anywhere from 40-60 million accounting for the actual song score and the remainder being bonus points. There appears to be no relation between difficulty and the base long score of a 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, 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 you take too many bad steps and deplete the life bar, you 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.
How a dance score is connected to a grade is unknown, but the grading system is known to be somewhat more lenient than arcade DDR games.
There is no Arcade-style gameplay in DDR Ultramix 2. The regular game continues in Event Mode, where the dancer plays songs until they decide to quit. If a song is failed, the player is sent back to the song selection screen.
[edit] Backgrounds
Full motion video backgrounds can be turned on or off in the Options menu. They are on by default. Both these and dancing characters (below) can be on at the same time, but some gamers complain that the game slows down when both are on, so most gamers use one or the other.
Dancing characters can be turned on or off in the Options menu. They are on by default. The dancers can be changed in the Options screen, and each player can choose between Afro, Lady, Rage and Emi. Two more dancers, Maid-Zukin and Konsento:03, are available via Xbox Live free of charge. The dancers' outfits are equivalent to the ones in the Japanese arcade version, Dance Dance Revolution 4thMIX, but the characters are redesigned to take advantage of Xbox's superior hardware.
- The Emi Controversy When a test release of DDR Ultramix 2 appeared at E³ in early 2004, Emi was rendered with a rather racy version of her 4th Mix costume, which amounted to her top being stripped down like a bikini top and her jeans being cut into short-shorts. DDR veterans, knowing that Emi was intended to be a schoolgirl according to her character descriptions, lashed out against the change. The final version of the game showed her in her normal clothes. No reason was given for either change.
[edit] Groove Radar
The Groove Radar is a graphical representation based on a five-point difficulty system. 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.
The foot-rating system of measuring song difficulty is also used. 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 modifires:
- 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 half-way up the screen. "Sudden" makes the arrow fade in half-way up the screen. "Stealth" means the arrows are not visible at all. The Ultramix 2-exclusive "Phantom" has the effects of Sudden and Hidden being activated, the former taking place first. The arrows suddenly fade in half-way up the screen but fade out once they are in the proximity of the Step 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." "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. Lastly, the Xbox-exclusive "Help" modifier (first seen in the first Ultramix appearance) randomly assigns arrows a noticeably different color that, when stepped on, will result in a much higher increase to the player's lifebar than usual (though its use may be questionable as the lifebar in Ultramix 2 has quite possibly the most forgiving lifebar in any DDR game, allowing the player to miss many more arrows than usual before failing).
- 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 while the score counter is moved to the top.
- Freeze can turn the Freeze Arrows on or off. The default is "On." Turning Freeze Arrows off will affect your score negatively should a song contain them.
- Step is the last chance to change the difficulty of the song. The default is whichever difficulty you selected before choosing the song, including any Edit Data the player has.
[edit] Challenge Mode, also known as Mission Mode
The Challenge Mode in DDR Ultramix returns in DDR Ultramix 2, with new tasks. Players must complete a series of tasks of increasing difficulty in order to get more unlocks. The Xbox version of Challenge Mode is not the same Challenge Mode seen in the American PlayStation releases of DDRMAX and DDR EXTREME, where the player can miss an extremely limited amount of times before the song ends. Rather, it is similar to DDR EXTREME's Mission Mode as well as the Dance Master Mode in the U.S. PS2 release of DDR EXTREME 2.
[edit] Workout Mode
Workout Mode is a special mode where you can play songs and have the game keep track of your exercise performance, such as calories burned. There is an undocumented Nonstop Mode-like feature where if the player chooses Random, the game will begin to play all available songs in a random order until the player quits. They must be careful as once this selection is made, they cannot change difficulties or change modifiers unless they quit and start over.
[edit] Xbox Live Capability
Live Mode takes advantage of the Xbox Live online gaming service. An internet connection is required. In Live Mode, players can play online against other players around North America. It keeps track of global rankings.
By Xbox Live, players can download song packs that add new songs to the game. For DDR Ultramix 2, a total of twelve song packs are available in the United States, including the first six from DDR Ultramix, at a price of $5.00 each. There will not be anymore further songpacks released for Ultramix or Ultramix 2. Future songpacks will only be available for Ultramix 3. Each song pack has five songs in it, which contain only in-house songs; in other words, songs made only by Konami. There will never be licensed songs in songpacks, as stated by Konami Digital Entertainment. Song packs from Song Pack 7 onward cannot be used in DDR Ultramix, but the first six song packs from DDR Ultramix can be purchased and/or used in DDR Ultramix 2. The original DDR Ultramix can read and play the first 6 song packs only if the player purchased them through DDR Ultramix, not Ultramix 2. If they were purchased in Ultramix 2, Ultramix cannot detect them and will require another purchase if you wished to do so. This is very likely to hold true for Ultramix 2-series song packs when DDR Ultramix 3 is released. Ultramix 3 will also contain the ability to detect previous song packs purchased and will make them a part of the Ultramix 3 songlist when first started.
Ultramix 2-series of song packs contain three kinds of content:
- Older DDR songs that have been in a past release worldwide, but must be in-house Konami originals (no licensed songs)
- Brand new songs premiering to the DDR series that have been taken from other Bemani series of games such as beatmania, beatmania IIDX, and GuitarFreaks, and must also be Konami originals (also no licensed songs)
- Brand new songs premiering to the DDR series specially made from contracted artists outside of Konami that are considered in-house original material and has a chance to appear in another Bemani game elsewhere (always seen as a remix of a previously-made Konami in-house song)
[edit] Music
[edit] Initial Songlist
- 19, November - good-cool
- 321STARS - DJ SIMON
- A - DJ Amuro
- After All (Svensen & Geilen Remix) - Delerium
- air - DJ SIMON
- Altitude - Kause & Konception
- B4U - NAOKI
- Baile Le Samba - Big Idea
- Brick House - The Commodores
- Burn For You - Kreo
- C Squared - Alien#Six13
- Catch It! - Total Science
- Close Your Eyes (Radio Edit) - Daybehavior
- DAM DARIRAM - JOGA
- DEAD END - N & S
- Disco Break - Art of Hot
- Don't Stop - Freestylers
- DREAM A DREAM (MIAMI BOOTY MIX) - CAPTAIN JACK
- DROP OUT - NW260
- EyeSpy - or-if-is
- FLASHDANCE (WHAT A FEELING) - MAGIKA
- fly through the night - Mr. T
- Hit 'N' Slap - ASLETICS
- I'm In Heaven (Radio Edit) - Jason Nevins Presents Holly James
- Istanbul Cafe - Jesper Kyd
- Jam On It - Newcleus
- La Cucaracha - Big Idea
- LEADING CYBER - dj TAKA
- Life Is A Game - Arctic Blue
- Lookin For You - BOYJAZZ
- LOVE ♥ SHINE - Riyu Kosaka
- LOVE IS DREAMINESS - L.E.D.-G VS GUHROOVY fw/ asuka
- LUV TO ME (Ucchie's Edition) - tiger YAMATO
- Macho Gang - ANAL SPYDER
- MAKE a JAM! - U1
- Make Your Move - good-cool feat. JP miles
- MAXX UNLIMITED - Z
- Mello - Alien#Six13
- Monkey Punk - Big Idea
- MOONLIGHT SHADOW (New Vocal Version) - MISSING HEART
- MY SUMMER LOVE - MITSU-O! with GEILA
- NIGHT IN MOTION - CUBIC22
- Play My Game - Lightning
- R10K - tiger YAMATO
- Red Room - Jesper Kyd
- RIDE ON THE LIGHT (HI GREAT MIX) - Mr. T
- route 80s - sampling masters MEGA
- Rubberneckin' (Paul Oakenfold Remix Radio Edit) - ELVIS
- Skulk - echo !mage
- Sleepwalker - Perfect Ending
- Standing Still In Time - Neuropa
- Starmine - ryu
- Superstar (Nevarakka Mix) - Daybehavior
- THE BIG VOYAGER - INFINITE PRAYER REINTERPRETATION- - L.E.D.
- Tittle Tattle - Zonk
- Tough Enough - Vanilla Ninja
- V (for EXTREME) - TAKA
- VJ Army - good-cool
- VOL. 4 - RAVER'S CHOICE
- Wherever You Are - Laava
[edit] Hidden Songs
- .59 -remix - Jesper Kyd
- G2 - Aya
- GYRUSS -FULL TILT- - JT.1UP
- i feel...(T.O.Y. Remix) - T.O.Y.
- In My Eyes (Midihead Remix)- Midihead
- MAKE a JAM! (Dub/House Mix) - Big Idea
- MAX 300 (Super-Max-Me-Mix) - Jondi and Spesh
- Midnight Special - Love Machineguns
- Toe Jam - Big Idea
- ZERO-ONE - Mr. T
[edit] Notable Songs
MAX 300 (Super-Max-Me Mix): In spite of the title, this song is more of a remix of MAXX UNLIMITED than MAX 300. It scrolls at 320 BPM for the majority of the song. The Heavy step patterns are more complex than MAX 300 and denser than MAXX UNLIMITED, taking a toll on stamina and endurance. The song briefly slows down to 140 BPM 50 seconds through, offering a slight rest, but quickly starts up again with increased difficulty in the steps. The Heavy steps end with several 1/8-note runs, including one lasting six measures, the longest in any official MAX song. The artists listed are Jondi & Spesh.
[edit] External links
- Konami (US Home Page), makers of DDR.
- Official DDR Ultramix 2 Website
| 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 |
