DDR AC General Info

General Arcade Gameplay

Unlike beatmania IIDX and pop'n music, DanceDanceRevolution's menu layout tends to change a lot based on what version you are playing. Also unlike IIDX and pop'n music, DanceDanceRevolution has dedicated menu buttons.

All DanceDanceRevolution cabinets have at least left, right, and start menu buttons. Cabinets that were sold with DanceDanceRevolution X or later also have up and down menu buttons. The directional menu buttons are used to navigate menus, and the Start button to make selections.

Once the game is started, the first order of business is inserting your eAMUSEMENT card if the machine supports eAMUSEMENT. After that, or otherwise, you will be taken to the Select Style screen. After that, you will be taken to the Select Difficulty or Select Mode, and from there to Select Music or Select Course. In DDRMAX or later, you can hold Start when you select a song to enter modifiers. In earlier versions, you must use codes. After play, your score will be evaluated, and you will be returned to Select Music if not playing a course. When the game is done, a final evaluation is performed, and under certain circumstances you can enter your name.

Game Modes

Modes that appeared only in a single mix are not included.

• NORMAL MODE
  • The only mode available in every mix. In DanceDanceRevolution, 2ndMIX, 5thMIX, and DDRMAX, this is the only mode available.
  • You can play 1-5 songs per game, depending on how operator set the machine, plus an Extra Stage if earned. Extra Stages are not available in 2ndMIX through 5thMIX, the Japanese Dancing Stage games, or the Solo games.
  • Songs (and difficulty levels after 2ndMIX) are chosen one at a time.
• COURSE MODE
  • Before DanceDanceRevolution X, this was split into NONSTOP MODE and CHALLENGE MODE. NONSTOP MODE first appeared in 3rdMIX and was removed in 5thMIX, and CHALLENGE MODE first appeared in DDRMAX2. EXTREME was the first mix to have both.
    • NONSTOP MODE included courses with a selectable difficulty level and the standard lifebar. CHALLENGE MODE featured only the 4-life Challenge lifebar and one difficulty level.
    • CHALLENGE MODE did not allow the player to select modifiers through at least EXTREME.
  • Instead of picking individual songs, a course of at least four songs is chosen.
  • There are two lifebar types: the Normal lifebar similar to the standard lifebar, and the Challenge lifebar. With the Challenge lifebar, the player is given 4 or 8 lives that deplete on each Good, Bad, Miss, or NG. When the player runs out of lives, they fail. One or two lives are recovered after each song successfully cleared.

Styles

• Single: One side of the dance floor, one player. Always requires only one credit.
• Versus: Two players, each with one side of the dance floor. This requires two credits unless Joint Premium is enabled.
• Double: One player uses both sides of the dance floor. The Beginner difficulty is not available in this style. It also requires two credits unless Double Premium or Joint Premium is enabled.
• Couple: Only available in 3rdMIX or earlier. Two players each have one side of the dance floor, but each has different steps for the same difficulty. This requires two credits.

Modifiers

Speed modifiers were not added until DDRMAX.