What Is DDR?: Difference between revisions

== History ==

[[Image:DanceDanceRevolution logo.png|thumb|DanceDanceRevolution series logo since 2009.]]

In the spring of 1998, [[Yoshihiko Ota]], a game producer at KCET (Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo, a former subsidiary of KONAMI) had an idea for a music game inspired by his habit of walking around town and visiting clubs and discos. He thought that moving his body along to music was fun and could be a great idea for a game. His initial idea received mostly a negative reception from his colleagues: "It's embarrassing to dance in front of people; no one will want to do it!" He argued that the same logic could be applied to karaoke which was quite popular at that time. Ota's initial idea was for a a game operated by hand by pushing buttons to go along with the music. However, during the development of that plan, he heard about a product in development that would require the player to stand on panels and operating the game would require the player's foot. That concept mixed with his own idea inspired him to create DanceDanceRevolution.

A list of all the DanceDanceRevolution releases can [[DDRicon|be found here]].

= Gameplay =

[[Image:DDR Arcade.png|thumb|DanceDanceRevolution (2013) arcade cabinet.]]

The goal of the game is to make points by stepping correctly on the matching arrows of the dance platform to the arrows seen on screen when they reach the [[DDR Glossary|STEP ZONE]] (ステップゾーン). The STEP ZONE is the four grey arrows (← ↓ ↑ →) that can be seen on the top of the screen, below the DANCE GAUGE.

On the arcade machines, a metal bar can be found attached to each of the dance platform. Although not necessary to use, the handle bar can be useful when playing on the more advanced difficulties in the game.

Usually, the arrows (or notes) are seen scrolling upward from the bottom to the top of the screen. The arrows are normally placed to match the main beat of the song. The most common note found in the game is a ¼ note. In the first two games, only ¼, ⅛ and ¹/₁₆ notes existed and they were each colored the same. After DanceDanceRevolution 3rdMIX, the game sporadically added options to change the color of the notes depending on the beat they fall on. For example, a ¼ note will appear colored in red when the modifiers ARROW COLOR is set to NOTE.

* Shock Arrows (SA): A set of 4 in Single Play or 8 arrows in Double Play that the player has to avoid stepping on. The Shock Arrows can be identified with the blue lightning graphics and by the metallic color of the arrows. They were added in DanceDanceRevolution X.

Depending on the timing accuracy of the player, various text-based judgement can appear on screen. From highest to lowest:

* <span style="color:#f0d3a1;">'''Marvelous!!!'''</span> is the judgment obtained when the step hit perfectly the arrow. It was added on every Play modes in DanceDanceRevolution SuperNOVA2. The accuracy for this rating is higher than a Perfect.

Another concept is the ability to create a combo (コンボ). After hitting successfully a number of steps (4), the combo number will appear on the screen. Since [[AC DDR 2013|DanceDanceRevolution (2013)]], getting a Great won’t break the combo and only getting a Miss or a N.G. can now break the combo.

[[Image:DanceDanceRevolution VERSUS Play.png|thumb|VERSUS Play in DanceDanceRevolution (2014).]]

Introduced in the first game, these three Play Styles are found in nearly every titles of DanceDanceRevolution.

* VERSUS Play(バーサスプレー): A two players play style. Each player have a 4 foot panels.

* NORMAL MODE: This is the default mode found in every version of the game which allow the player to select one song by STAGE.

* COURSE MODE: Instead of selecting one song at a time, a set of songs (known as a course) can be selected. Available in select games only.

Due to the game being an arcade game, it uses a STAGE (ステージ) system to limit the amount of songs played so that other player can enjoy the game too. Only one song can be played by STAGE. In the earlier games, the number of STAGE possible for a play session was decided by the arcade operator, usually from 3 to 5 songs. In the most recent versions, the game is set to 3 STAGEs (FIRST, 2nd and FINAL) with a potential EXTRA STAGE if unlocked.

If the EXTRA STAGE was cleared by completing a specific condition (different for every games), an ENCORE EXTRA STAGE can be played. It was first introduced as ONE MORE EXTRA STAGE in DDRMAX before being renamed ENCORE EXTRA STAGE in SuperNOVA2. The EXTRA STAGE was removed in DanceDanceRevolution (2013) after being used in nine arcade games.

[[Image:DanceDanceRevolution Music Select Screen.png|thumb|Music Select Screen in DanceDanceRevolution (2014).]]

To select a song, the player have to browse through the song list of the game using a song wheel. Throughout the various versions of the game, the song wheel received three major overhauls. The first version was in DanceDanceRevolution up to DanceDanceRevolution 3rdMIX, a jukebox-like interface was used. A second one was used in DanceDanceRevolution 4thMIX up to DanceDanceRevolution X, the game used its most well-known iteration, a vertical song wheel. Since DanceDanceRevolution X2, the songs are chosen from left to right in a Cover Flow-style interface.

For the first few games, KONAMI opted to use mostly licensed songs from the popular remix compilation series, Dancemania by the label i-DANCE. Some original songs (known as KONAMI originals) made by the game staff were also included in the song list. As the years progressed, the ratio of original songs overtook the number of Dancemania licenses. This also includes cover of songs or licenses mainly from Japanese artists that are included in the game but in a smaller proportion. With the addition of more rhythm games in the BEMANI series, songs from the other games got transplanted in DanceDanceRevolution as well.

In DanceDanceRevolution, songs are rated using a number from 1, being the easiest, to 20, being the hardest. The difficulty number is known as a Foot Level due to a feet icon being displayed next to the rating number for the song in the earliest games. Initially in the first game, the rating was from 1 to 8 and each number had a corresponding name. However, these names were dropped in DanceDanceRevolution 4thMIX. The rating was expanded to 9 in DanceDanceRevolution 3rdMIX and finally up to 10 in DDRMAX2. The whole system was upgraded to its current range of 1 to 20 in DanceDanceRevolution X.

Depending on the edition of the game, dance steps are broken into 3 to 5 levels of difficulty. Each dance level is also represented by a color. The differencee between each difficulty for a song, is the sequence of pre-recorded dance steps (known as a chart).

:Added in [[AC DDRMAX2|DDRMAX2 -DanceDanceRevolution 7thMIX-]], this last difficulty is for people who want to feel a new world. Challenge is also often referred as 鬼 (Oni), which is a kind of supernatural monsters (such as an ogre or demon) in Japanese mythology. This difficulty was first made available on select songs during some NONSTOP Courses in DDRMAX2 before being added outside of courses in DanceDanceRevolution EXTREME. Typical range is 17-18 with 19 being the highest rated yet and appeared in DanceDanceRevolution X2. The Shock Arrows (SA) added in DanceDanceRevolution X are found in challenge charts only. An icon is displayed on screen to notify the user of their presence in the chart. Charts with Shock Arrows are often a modified BEGINNER to EXPERT chart and thus, can be actually played by nearly everyone.

Introduced in DDRMAX, the [[GROOVE RADAR]] (グルーヴレーダー) was supposed to be the successor to the traditional feet level system. Due to the negative reception, the Feet Level system returned in DDRMAX2 and ever since, both systems are used in the game. In a nutshell, the GROOVE RADAR is a graphical representation of a song difficulty using a pentagon shape. The pentagon is drawn using 5 categories:

* VOLTAGE refers to the peak density of the steps of the song. It's the highest density of arrows that ever appear on the screen at once.

Different values will appear on the GROOVE RADAR depending on the difficulty currently selected for a song. Before DDR SuperNOVA, BEGINNER charts had no Groove Radar data at all. The maximum value for a category is 200.

Both to help or to increase the difficulty of the game, modifiers are included for players to use since the very first game. The possible options range from changing the color of the arrows or their shapes to hiding the steps on the screen. Usually, the players are free to use any options but on select occasion such as an EXTRA STAGE, the modifiers are set by the game and can't be changed. Also, some modifiers such as CUT can alter the score obtained by the player.

[[Image:DanceDanceRevolution Results Screen.png|thumb|Results Screen in DanceDanceRevolution (2014).]]

After each song completion, an evaluation is performed on the player’s performances. It typically includes a list of each timing judgement with how many of them were obtained, the max combo, the calories burned (since DanceDanceRevolution SuperNOVA2), a global score and a letter grade. In case the song was failed, the word FAILED appears in red before the evaluation screen. The same happens when the song is cleared with the word CLEARED appearing in green.