IIDX Glossary

4KEYS: Replaced in 3rd Style by LIGHT7, this was intended as a beginner-friendly mode that used only the four white keys. Available only on 1st, Substream, and 2nd style.
5KEYS (10KEYS on Double): Available for home versions as a specific mode, this plays exactly as 7KEYS, except for the idea that the last two keys farthest from the turntable are not used. This is probably a compatibility issue with original beatmania controllers, so that owners of the original could still somewhat play beatmania IIDX, only having the 5-key controller at hand. In arcade versions of IIDX, 5KEYS has been available from the start as a special gameplay option, most likely as an attempt to help players of the original series make the transition. Starting with 7th style AC (and 10th style CS), 5KEYS can be used with notecharts other than the ordinary 7KEYS mode.
ANOTHER (ANOTHER14 on Double): The most difficult play mode -- harder than Hyper/7KEYS and much harder than Normal/LIGHT7. Prior to HAPPY SKY, ANOTHER charts did not have their own difficulty ratings and would display as the same difficulty as the HYPER version. Some tracks have an Another that sounds different from the original song. ANOTHER is intended generally for experienced players and usually contains notecharts with a difficulty of 9 to 12. Not every song has an ANOTHER version, though songs without Anothers typically originate from older styles.
BEGINNER: This mode was added in 9th style (5th style for home version). In the arcade, Beginner limits the list of songs available to only 1-3 star songs, thus severely limiting the number of songs available in a game. In the home versions, Beginner gives an alternate note chart for nearly all songs, rated from 1-3. These alternative note charts are not available in the arcade.
CLASS / DANININTEI (DAN): This mode serves as a skill-ranking system for IIDX players. Modeled after the Dan system for many martial arts schools, players are ranked from 7th Kyu (the initiate level; 5th Kyu on Double) all the way through 10th Dan (the highest rank attainable). Each rank consists of a course of four songs (three on Double), each rank being harder than the last. The highest rank a player can achieve can be considered that player's relative "skill level," and is a decent way to gauge player ability. In DistorteD, an extra rank above 10th Dan was added, called Kaiden, that is designed to truly test a IIDX master's skills.
EXPERT: This mode is one in which you can play a course of songs in a row without stopping. You start with the gauge at its maximum; if it drops to 0, the game is over. The gauge is the same as that used in Hard mode in normal play, but drops at a much slower rate.
FREE: Similar to Standard/Arcade mode, with the exception that there is no limit on the which songs can be picked for any particular stage. On home versions, play in Free Mode will continue endlessly until the player chooses to return to the main menu. On arcade versions, Free Mode allows for the player to play two stages, but the player can pick any song for either stage without limits on difficulty and without having to worry about Game Over if a song is failed.
HYPER / 7KEYS (14KEYS on Double): This is the standard play mode -- harder than Normal/LIGHT7, and easier than Another. It is intended for intermediate players and usually contains notecharts with a difficulty between 6 and 10.
NORMAL / LIGHT7 (LIGHT14 on Double): This mode is a degree of difficulty lower than Hyper/7KEYS. It is intended for beginning players and usually contains notecharts with a difficulty between 1 and 7.

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