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

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

Most players will agree this is the hardest mode by far. The key configuration and 'charts' are similar to that of 7KEYS, but are often harder and not as straight forward. Even if you can complete a song on 7KEYS, you may not even be able to get too far on ANOTHER. To play a song on ANOTHER, you must select 7KEYS from the menu and then select the song while holding down the VEFX button. Songs in ANOTHER difficulty were not given separate difficulty ratings in IIDX 1-11, which was often misleading as the difficulty meter showed the same rating as the 7KEYS variation. As of IIDX 12: HAPPY SKY, songs in ANOTHER difficulty were given a separate rating. Not every song has an ANOTHER version. Some tracks have an Another that sounds different from the original song.

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

Practice mode. You can play to the end of a song and won't fail, but you get one song less than if you were to play LIGHT7 or 7KEYS. (Usually, you'd get 3 songs if you played LIGHT7 or 7KEYS; you only get 2 with FREE.)

HYPER / 7KEYS

This is the standard play mode. When a fixed condition is satisfied on the last song, you can get an extra stage.

In IIDX 12: HAPPY SKY, this difficulty was renamed "Hyper"

NORMAL / LIGHT7

This mode is a degree of difficulty lower than 7KEYS. On LIGHT7, the game will not end if you fail the first stage. Before 8th style, it was possible to attain the extra stage by playing in this mode. You may play the 7KEYS difficulty for a song by holding down the VEFX button when selecting the song.

In IIDX 12: HAPPY SKY, this difficulty was renamed "Normal".

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