DDR Glossary

DanceDanceRevolution
History - Gameplay (Scoring - GROOVE RADAR) - Trivia - Glossary
AC releases (Info - All region) - CS releases (JP - NA - EU - Other)
List of DDR characters - List of DDR artists - List of DDR songs (CS exclusives)

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DanceDanceRevolution Glossary

This page covers the most common terms found in DanceDanceRevolution and its fan community. Not included in this are the modifiers and character names, they can be accessed in the Related Pages section below.

A

• AC: Acronym of the term Arcade Cabinet. Used to designate the arcade version of a title.
• Air: One of the five parameters of the GROOVE RADAR. It is determined by the number of jumps and Shock Arrows in the song.
• Announcer: The voice that provides all of the commentary in-game. This has been a main feature throughout the series. In order, a currently unknown person was the game announcer from DanceDanceRevolution up to DanceDanceRevolution 5thMIX, Londell "Taz" Hicks from DDRMAX -DanceDanceRevolution 6thMIX- to DanceDanceRevolution SuperNOVA2, Justin and Wil-Dog from Ozomatli from DanceDanceRevolution X to DanceDanceRevolution A3, and another currently unknown person from DanceDanceRevolution WORLD onwards. Spin-off titles such as the Solo series and Dancing Stage featuring DREAMS COME TRUE feature other announcers as well.
• ANOTHER: Name for the DIFFICULT dance level in DanceDanceRevolution to DanceDanceRevolution 3rdMIX.
• Auto-Fail: Refers to a setting which when set to on, the song ends immediately when the player's dance gauge is completely empty. Nowadays, Premium users have that feature set to Off.

B

• BASIC: The difficulty setting aimed at those familiar with the game. Prior to Dancing Stage EuroMIX / DanceDanceRevolution EXTREME, this was the lowest selectable difficulty level.
• BeForU: The group created by Naoki Maeda with the winners of the DanceDanceRevolution 5thMIX アーティストオーディション (Artist Audition) 2001, a competition held for a new J-POP group for KONAMI and DanceDanceRevolution.
• BEGINNER: The lowest selectable difficulty level, as of Dancing Stage EuroMIX / DanceDanceRevolution EXTREME.
• Boo: Old judgment for when the player's step is far off the timing. Replaced by Almost in international releases, and Boo was used instead of Miss. Amalgamated into Miss as of DanceDanceRevolution X2. This judgment breaks the player's combo.

C

• CATASTROPHIC: Old term to refers to a level 9 song, added in DanceDanceRevolution 3rdMIX.
• CHALLENGE MODE: A variation of COURSE MODE where the player has to play from a selection of courses, which may trigger certain modifiers at times. The player is always restricted to having four or eight lives that are removed whenever the player breaks their combo. Merged into COURSE MODE as of DanceDanceRevolution X2.
• CHALLENGE: A difficulty which is often used for charts with higher levels than EXPERT, or charts with "gimmicks" such as Shock Arrows.
• Chaos: One of the five parameters of the GROOVE RADAR. It is determined by the number of notes (including Shock Arrows) which are not placed on 4ths, as well as the number of stops and BPM changes, in the song.
• Clear Rank (クリアランク): Official term used for the grade letters (AAA to E) used in the scoring system.
• Combo: The number of consecutive non-combo breaking judgments the player has gotten.
• Combo Breaker: A judgment that breaks the current combo. Combo breakers include Good, Boo, Miss, and N.G.; with Good no longer being a combo breaker in DDR 2013 onwards.
• COUPLE Play (カップルプレー): A VERSUS Play-based two-player style where two players play a chart with note variations for each player.
• Course: A set of songs that must be played back-to-back.
• COURSE MODE: A game mode that allows players to select from various courses of varying difficulty, with the life gauge either being a normal Dance Gauge or a 4/8-life meter.
• CS: Acronym for Consumer Software, a term that refers to home versions.
• Cut-in (カットイン): Term used to refer to the player's character appearing on the screen when the combo hits 20 or multiples of 50 and 100. A third cut-in appears when the player is halfway through the song, and again when the player is 90% done with the song (e.g. hitting the 459th note in a chart with 510 notes). Removed in DanceDanceRevolution A.

D

• Dance Gauge (ダンスゲージ): Term used to designate the life gauge of the player.
• Dance Level (ダンスレベル): Term used to designate the available difficulty in DanceDanceRevolution.
• Dance Platform: The raised metal platform on which the player plays the game. Left and right sides each have a 3x3 grid, with spaces reserved for the left, up, down, and right panels. Behind the down panel is a metal guardrail known as a "bar".
• Dancing Stage: The name given to European releases of DanceDanceRevolution before X, as well for some Japanese spin-offs.
• Dan (段位認定): Introduced in DanceDanceRevolution A20, they are a series of courses ranked so that each course is harder than the last.
• DIFFICULT: A difficulty which is used for charts with levels between those of BASIC and EXPERT.
• DOUBLE Play (ダブルプレー): A one-player game using all 8 foot panels.
• Double Premium: An arcade machine setting that allows DOUBLE play for the same price as SINGLE play. Removed in DanceDanceRevolution A3, as it is now always in effect.

E

• e-amusement: Online service offered by KONAMI to enable updates, special content or features as well as providing online ranking to an arcade machine. DanceDanceRevolution SuperNOVA was the first game to use the service and since DanceDanceRevolution (2013), e-amusement has to be enabled to boot the arcade machine.
• EDIT: Term used to designate the custom charts created by a user. Also known as EDIT DATA.
• ENCORE EXTRA STAGE (EES): The stage that occurs after the EXTRA STAGE. Usually involves the player playing a difficult song without missing a note (or getting anything lower than a Great, prior to DanceDanceRevolution (2013)). In three cases, a PERFECT FULL COMBO is required instead; in one case, FLARE Level EX (a non-recovery LIFE GAUGE for penalties below MARVELOUS) is used instead, making it the first time that neither RISKY nor PERFECT FULL COMBO are required to clear the song.
• ENJOY LEVEL: The DanceDanceRevolution experience level a player has on their e-amusement pass, determined by how many songs (s)he has played, along with the scores/performance for each song played. Prior to DanceDanceRevolution A, increasing the ENJOY LEVEL would unlock items like new CHALLENGE charts, new songs, or new character accessories.
• EVOLUTIONARY: Term used in the 2ndMIX MODE of DanceDanceRevolution X3 VS 2ndMIX to refer to a level 9 song. Originally, no song rated level 9 was found in 2ndMIX as it was added in DanceDanceRevolution 3rdMIX as CATASTROPHIC.
• EXORBITANT: Old term to refer to a level 8 song.
• EXPERT: Highest normally-available difficulty level, harder than DIFFICULT and usually easier than CHALLENGE.
• EX SCORE: An alternate scoring system based on the scoring mechanics used in DanceDanceRevolution EXTREME's CHALLENGE MODE courses. It is displayed by default on the result screen in DanceDanceRevolution A. EX stands for Expert.
• EXTRA STAGE (ES): A bonus stage that occurs after the FINAL STAGE. Certain songs or CHALLENGE charts can only be accessed in EXTRA STAGE.

F

• Flat footing: This is where the player steps on a foot panel without lifting their foot high as much as possible.
• Free Play: A pay mode that allows players to play on the arcade machine without paying a single credit.
• Freestyle: A non-official play style where the player aims to look good and perform for an audience when playing a song.
• Freeze Arrow (フリーズアロー): A green-colored note on which the player has to hold down their foot for the full duration. Sometimes also abbreviated as FA. Successfully holding down gives the result OK; failing gives an N.G. or Not Quite (in DDR II)
• Freeze: One of the five parameters of the GROOVE RADAR. It is determined by the number and total length of the Freeze Arrows in the song.
• Full Combo (FC): Given to a player that hit all of the notes in a song without getting any Goods (before DDR 2013), Boos, and Misses, in addition to avoiding N.G.s on Freeze Arrows or Shock Arrows, effective as of DanceDanceRevolution X.

G

• Geki (激): Alternative name for the difficulty EXPERT.
• GENUINE: Old term to refer to a level 6 song.
• Good: Judgment level, lower than Great but above Almost/Boo. The lowest judgment that will not break the player's combo as of DanceDanceRevolution (2013).
• Good Full Combo: A type of full combo acheived by getting only Marvelouses/Perfects/Greats/Goods, as well as no N.G.s. Known as simply "Full Combo" in-game, and can be acheived in DanceDanceRevolution (2013) and later games.
• Great: Judgment level, lower than Perfect but above Good. The lowest judgment that would not break the player's combo until DanceDanceRevolution (2013).
• Great Full Combo: A type of full combo acheived by getting only Marvelouses/Perfects/Greats, as well as no N.G.s. Known as simply "Full Combo" in-game.
• GROOVE RADAR: A graphic representation of different aspects of the song's difficulty. In DDRMAX, it was the only representation of difficulty.

H

• HERO: Old level name to designate a song rated 7 in DanceDanceRevolution. It was later replaced by PARAMOUNT in DanceDanceRevolution Internet Ranking Version, presumably to avoid confusion with a song of the same name which was added in DanceDanceRevolution 2ndMIX.

I

• Internet Ranking (Net Rank): Feature found in older titles which provided codes to the players during the Result Screen to be entered on the official website. These codes would allow the players to compete for high scores online.

J

• Joint Premium: An arcade machine setting that allows VERSUS and DOUBLE play for the same price as SINGLE play.
• Jump: Two arrows to be hit at the same time. This refers to the fact that the player has to jump to hit them with both feet.

L

• Level (レベル): Term used to refer to the rating range found in the game. Also known as foot level.
• Link Data: Data from a CS DDR release that can be used in its corresponding arcade version.
• Location test (ロケテスト): Name used for a public test of an upcoming release, similar to a prototype release for a software.
• Long Version: Longer than usual songs that only appeared in DanceDanceRevolution 5thMIX and in DanceDanceRevolution X under the name Xmix. These songs take up two stages each, and as such are unavailable if the player is on their FINAL STAGE.

M

• MANIAC: Previous name for the difficulty EXPERT in DanceDanceRevolution to DanceDanceRevolution 3rdMIX.
• Marvelous: The highest timing judgment level as of SuperNOVA2. Also an old name for a Level 5 song.
• Marvelous Full Combo (MFC): The highest type of full combo acheived by getting only Marvelouses, as well as no N.G.s.
• Miss: The lowest judgment, for when a player does not step on an arrow at all. This judgment breaks the player's combo.
• MODERATE: Old term to refer to a level 2 song.
• Modifiers: Term used to refer to the options available to the players in the game. See this page for more details.

N

• NONSTOP MODE: A game mode where the player has to play a set of songs back-to-back without stopping, hence the name. Merged into COURSE MODE as of DanceDanceRevolution X2. NONSTOP courses returned in DanceDanceRevolution A20, although as a folder and not as a separate game mode.
• N.G. (No Good): Judgment given if a player lifts off a Freeze Arrow or steps on Shock Arrows. As of DanceDanceRevolution X, this judgment also breaks the player's combo.

O

• O.K.: Judgment given if a player completely holds a Freeze Arrow or avoids Shock Arrows.
• ONE MORE EXTRA STAGE (OMES): Alternative name for ENCORE EXTRA STAGE (EES) before SuperNOVA2.
• Oni (鬼): Alternative name for the difficulty CHALLENGE.
• ORDINARY: Old level name given to a song rated 3 out of 9 in DanceDanceRevolution until DanceDanceRevolution 4thMIX.

P

• PARAMOUNT: Old level name given to a song rated 7 out of 9 in DanceDanceRevolution Internet Ranking Version until DanceDanceRevolution 4thMIX.
• PASELI: A digital currency service created by KONAMI in 2010 for its arcade games. For more information, see its article.
• Perfect: The highest judgment level by default until DanceDanceRevolution SuperNOVA2.
• Perfect Full Combo (PFC): A type of full combo acheived by getting only Marvelouses/Perfects, as well as no N.G.s.

R

• RANDOM: Song will be picked in no particular order.
• Rank: Official term to designate the grade letters; see Clear Rank.
• REVOLUTIONARY: Term used in the 2ndMIX MODE of DanceDanceRevolution X3 VS 2ndMIX to refer to a level 10 song.
• Rival (ライバル): Another player that can be added as Rival (Score, EDIT Data) using e-amusement.
• Roulette: A Random-like function where, if entered, causes the song wheel to quickly scroll past a random set of songs. Pressing the START button will stop the wheel and cause it to land on a random song from the set of songs.

S

• Save: Rating given in Unison mode when one person misses their arrow, but their partner hits it.
• Shock Arrow (ショックアロー): Arrows which are not meant to be stepped on. Only full lines of four or eight Shock Arrows appear, meaning the intention is for the player to be in the center or in the air (since Shock Arrows increase the Air parameter of the GROOVE RADAR). "Missing" Shock Arrows gives an OK; stepping on them gives an N.G. and subsequent arrows disappear for a short time. Roughly equivalent to StepMania / In The Groove's mines. Sometimes also abbreviated as SA.
• Sight read: Playing a song without having seen the chart nor heard the song beforehand.
• SIMPLE: Old name for a level 1 song.
• SINGLE Play (シングルプレー): A one-player game using the 4 foot panels.
• STEP BATTLE: Mode found in DanceDanceRevolution 2ndMIX.
• Step Step Revolution (SSR): A separate mode found in 3rdMIX where MANIAC charts can be accessed. Later folded back to the main game mode in 3rdMIX PLUS.
• STEP ZONE (ステップゾーン): The four grey arrows (← ↓ ↑ →) that are usually found at the top (or bottom if the REVERSE option is used) of the screen.
• Stream: One of the five parameters of the GROOVE RADAR. It is determined by the overall note density in the song.
• SUPERIOR: Old name for a level 4 song.

T

• TRICK: Old name for the difficulty DIFFICULT. Replaced by STANDARD in DDRMAX.

U

• UNISON: A variation of VERSUS play seen only in 3rdMIX. In this mode, both players share one playfield and must hit arrows corresponding to their color: red for 1P, blue for 2P, and yellow for both players. If one player does not hit one of their exclusive arrows, the other player can "save" them by hitting it.

V

• VERSUS Play (バーサスプレー): A two-player game with each player using 4 foot panels.
• Voltage: One of the five parameters of the GROOVE RADAR. It is determined by the note density of the measure with the most notes in the song.

W

• Workout Mode (ワークアウトモード): Also known in select games as Diet Mode (ダイエットモード).

X

• Xmix: Found in DanceDanceRevolution X, the Xmixes are medleys of selected songs from SuperNOVA2 and X. See Long Version for more details.

Y

• You (踊): Alternative name for the difficulty DIFFICULT. Not to be confused with the song You.

Related Pages

• List of DanceDanceRevolution Modifiers (Options)
• List of DanceDanceRevolution characters

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