User:Miik/DDR2
DanceDanceRevolution
DanceDanceRevolution (ダンスダンスレボリューション), abbreviated DDR and also known as Dancing Stage (ダンシングステージ) in select games and territories, is the second music video game series produced by KONAMI in the BEMANI series in 1998. It started initially as an arcade only game but also received home versions (both ports and exclusive versions) and various spin-offs.
Background
- A timeline of the DanceDanceRevolution series can be found on this page.
In the spring of 1998, Yoshihiko Ota, a game producer at KCET (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 first idea evolved into a game operated by hand by pushing buttons to go along with the music. This concept eventually became beatmania.
During the development of beatmania, 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 inspired him to create DanceDanceRevolution. Instead of the usual one year production schedule, Ota decided to make the initial prototype in four months with a core team of 35 people. During the production of the first game, the team studied all kind of different dances and used motion capture technique to analyze the dancers' movement. The results of their research indicated that using 4 arrows for the game would be the most optimal setting. The development process went smoothly but the reception within the company was still negative. Ota believed in his concept and decided to pursue the project with a location test. The first day wasn't successful due to the machine being put higher than the first floor. On the second day, they moved the machine and it was a real success with the customers.
After the official release, DanceDanceRevolution became a success in Japan which led the game being exported in various countries around the world. Throughout the years, DanceDanceRevolution received various spin-offs along with home versions of the game. In recent years, the game returned to be mostly an arcade only game in Asia.
Gameplay
Dance Platform
The core of the game revolves around 4 arrows placed in a cross position on a dance platform to be stepped on by the feet of the players to musical and visual cues. The spin-off, DanceDanceRevolution Solo used 6 panels by adding an up-left and up-right arrows to the existing 4 arrows setup.
Judgement System
Players are judged by how well they time their steps to the patterns shown on screen when they reach the Step Zone. Each arrow that passes the Step Zone receives a text-based timing result based on the accuracy. From highest to lowest: Marvelous!!!, Perfect!!, Great!, Good, Miss... Missing a Frezze Arrows or a Shock Arrow will result in getting a N.G. (No Good) while hitting it correctly will give the timing O.K.! The timing Marvelous was added on every play modes in DanceDanceRevolution SuperNOVA2. Until DDR X2, Almost was a judgement result placed before Miss.
The timing result influences both the score of the player and the player’s life meter. Continuously missing or receiving poor timing judgments drain the life gauge. After a while if the player doesn’t improve, this could lead to the game ending prematurely (getting a “Game Over”, thus failing the song). A visual cue exists to help identify when the life meter is low, it goes from being rainbow colored (no misses in a while) to green (a few miss) and finally to red (danger). The life gauge usually starts at half its capacity and is shown in green as default.
In later games, the standard LIFE GAUGE is often replaced with a stricter gauge such as RISKY during a special event called an EXTRA STAGE which is unlocked after fulfilling one or more conditions.
Another concept is the ability to create a combo. After hitting successfully a number of steps, the combo number will appear on the screen. Since DDR 2013, getting a Great won’t break the combo and only getting a Miss or N.G. can now break a combo.
Arrow Types
The arrows used on a song chart are usually placed following the bar (a bar equal to 4 beats). Other than the regular arrows, the game also have:
- JUMPs: Two simultaneous arrows to step on by jumping.
- Freeze Arrows (FA): One or more arrows that require holding them for the duration indicated on the screen by the length of the arrows. They were added in DDRMAX.
- 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.
Play Styles
- Single Play (シングルプレー): A solo game using the 4 foot panels.
- Double Play (ダブルプレー): A solo game using two 4 foot panels
- Versus Play(バーサスプレー): A two players play style using each a 4 foot panels.
Play Modes
- 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.
STAGE System
Due to the game being an arcade game, it uses a STAGE 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. The EXTRA STAGE is a free STAGE awarded to the player after successfully completed a set of conditions. More information on the EXTRA STAGE can be found on this page.
Songs Selection
In most games, the song list was accessible using a song wheel with each song having a related song banner. Since DDR X2, the songs are now chosen from left to right, with album jackets replacing the series' long-time traditional banners. The songs featured in the game are usually short, around 1:30 in length. The BPM of the songs can either be constant or vary during the song. In DDR 5thMIX, a new feature known as a stop (a moment where the arrows stop scrolling on the screen) was added.
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.
Difficulty
Foot Level
In DanceDanceRevolution, songs are rated using a number from 1, being the easiest, to 20, being the hardest. The difficulty number is known as the 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. The names were dropped in DDR 4thMIX. The rating was changed to 9 in DDR 3rdMIX and finally to 10 in DDRMAX. The whole system was upgraded to its current range of 1 to 20 in DanceDanceRevolution X.
DANCE LEVEL
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.
- BEGINNER
- Added in DanceDanceRevolution EXTREME, this difficulty is aimed at the newcomers to the game. It usually have a foot level of 1 to 4 with the maximum being 9. A typical chart can includes JUMPs and simple Freeze Arrows. It can be also known as 習 (Shuu) or カンタン (Kantan) in Happy Mode found in DDR X2 and X3 vs 2ndMIX respectively only. This difficulty doesn't exist in DOUBLE PLAY.
- BASIC
- Introduced in DanceDanceRevolution, this is the setting for those familiar to the game. Ideal difficulty for players between beginners and intermidiates as the range is 3 to 7 with 13 being the maximum and 1 the minimum. Charts include 4th notes and at times, 8th notes. In DDRMAX to EXTREME, BASIC was known as LIGHT (楽). For the Happy Mode in X2 to X3 VS 2ndMIX, BASIC was known as ふつう (Futsuu).
- DIFFICULT
- Introduced in DanceDanceRevolution, this is for people looking for some resistance. Minimum difficulty is 4 and the standard range is 5 to 9 with 15 being the maximum. Charts can have 4th, 8th and occasionnal 16th notes. DIFFICULT was known as ANOTHER from DDR to DDR 3rdMIX, it changed to TRICK in 4thMIX to 5thMIX and became STANDARD (踊) in DDRMAX to EXTREME. It finally received the name DIFFICULT in SuperNOVA.
- EXPERT
- Introduced in DanceDanceRevolution, this difficulty is aimed at people seeking stimulus. The usual interval is 10 to 13 with 18 being the maximum and 6 the minimum. Introduced as MANIAC in DDR to DDR 3rdMIX, it was temporarily named SSR (Step Step Revolution) in 3rdMIX but returned to its former name in 3rdMIX PLUS. From DDRMAX to EXTREME, MANIAC was known as Heavy (激) before receiving its current name EXPERT in SuperNOVA.
- CHALLENGE
- Added in 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 Non-Stop Courses in DDRMAX2 before being added outside of courses in EXTREME. Typical range is 17-18 with 19 being the highest rated yet and appeared in DDR X2. The Shock Arrows (SA) added in DDR X are only found in challenge charts. An icon is displayed on screen to notify the user of their presence in the chart. Charts with Shock Arrows can also be a modified BEGINNER to EXPERT charts and thus, nearly accessible for everyone.
GROOVE RADAR
Introduced in DDRMAX, the GROOVE RADAR 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 pentagram. The pentagram is drawn using 5 criteria: VOLTAGE, AIR, FREEZE, CHAOS and STREAM.
Modifiers
- To see the complete list of modifiers found in the arcade releases, see this page.
Both to help or increase the difficulty of the game, modifiers are included in the game for players to use. This includes options like changing the color of the arrows or their shapes to hiding the steps on the screen.
Scoring System
- For a complete list of scoring system, see this page.
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, a global score and a letter grade.
Releases
A list of all the released DanceDanceRevolution games can be found here.