(DDR) is a music video game developed by Konami. Played with feet instead of hands, DDR popularized the genre, spawning imitators and a franchise of the same name.
It was originally released to arcades in Japan on September 26, 1998. In March 1999, the game was released to North American arcades as Dance Dance Revolution and to European arcades under the name Dancing Stage.
On April 10, 1999, DDR was released for the Japanese PlayStation, adding new music and gameplay elements. A console release was not made for any other region until 2001.
Gameplay The objective of Dance Dance Revolution is to move one's feet to rhythms and patterns displayed on a screen.
Players must step to the beat, matching the arrows presented to them on screen by stepping on arrows on a dance pad. Arrows come from the bottom to the top towards a set of stationary arrows known as the "Step Zone". If they reach it, players step on the pad and the game will then judge the accuracy of the timing, ranging from "Perfect", "Great", "Good", "Boo", to "Miss". An on-screen life meter, known as the Dance Gauge, begins halfway full at the start of each song. Perfect and Great steps slowly fill the Gauge, while Boo and Miss steps quickly deplete it. Good steps have no effect either way. If a player accumulates too many Boos or Misses, and the Dance Gauge becomes empty, the song fails and the game ends. The game also tracks a combo tally from 4 combos upward, which will break if players score Good or lower.
At the end of each song, players see their accumulated points, bonus points, and how many of each kind of step they made. They also get a letter grade that is dependent on the judgments received during play, ranging from SS, all steps Perfect, to E, failure, which is only seen in Couple mode when the other player passes. If players manage to pass all their songs a cumulative results screen is given, totaling the stats from all played stages.
The game offers three play styles: Single (one player plays on a single dance pad), Couple (two players play with a unified stepchart spread over two separate dance pads), and Double (one player plays on two dance pads, stepcharts are different compared to Single), the last of which requires a step code to be entered. After selecting a play style, players will be prompted to select a game mode out of three: Easy, Normal, and Hard. Normal and Hard are the main bulk of the game and offer different set of songs. Easy, which has the same song selection as Normal, limits players to one stage but enables them to play to the end of the song even if the dance meter is completely depleted.
After choosing a mode, players will be taken to the song selection, which takes the form of a jukebox-like menu of CDs that represent the available songs. On this screen, various step codes can be entered on the dance stage to adjust the game. Single Play offers two different difficulty levels per song. These levels, known as "Basic" and "Another", may be set while selecting play style or by entering step codes during the song selection. Each difficulty is rated on a scale of 1 to 7, each labeled with a name: Simple (1), Average (2), Novice (3), Expert (4), Professional (5), Genuine (6), and Hero (7). Another step code enables the "Mirror" option, which rotates each arrows to their opposite directions. Players may play anywhere from one to five songs, depending on how many the arcade operator sets the machine to play each game. Players start with 6 song options and cannot choose the same song twice within the same credit. If they manage to fill the dance meter to maximum in Final Stage while playing Basic difficulty in Single Play, players will be granted access to Extra Stage, where they may choose another song set to Another difficulty. A new song will also be added, which varies depending on whether players selected Normal or Hard modes.
During gameplay, 3D dancing characters appear in the background of each song. Different characters can be selected at the main title screen by standing on either the left or right arrow panels while pressing the select button.
Internet Ranking Version An update, titled "Internet Ranking Version" and popularly known as "DDR 1.5", was released on November 18, 1998 and is by far the most common version of the game. As the name suggests, the game's main purpose is to rank scores online. After a playthrough ends, the game gives a code which can be inputted to the official website for high score purposes.
The game also adds two new songs and numerous different changes to the gameplay. A new addition is Versus Play, which requires two credits and a step code to activate. It is a two-player mode, similar to Couple, but rather than playing on a unified stepchart, each player plays their own stepchart, though they still have to select the same difficulty level. Two difficulty levels are added: "Maniac" for Single Play and "Another" for Double Play. It is possible to access Extra Stage by clearing Final Stage on Single Another or Double Basic, which will lead Extra Stage to be played on Single Maniac and Double Another, respectively. The difficulty scale is increased to 8, labeled "Exorbitant", and some of the other labels are renamed; Moderate (2), Ordinary (3), Superior (4), Marvelous (5), and Paramount (7). Finally, arrows now disappear within the Step Zone if players score Perfect or Great (the original version made no distinction regardless of timing), which has since become a staple in the series.
Home version The home version was released in Japan on Saturday April 10, 1999 for the PlayStation. It includes all 11 songs from the original arcade version along with 5 new songs, three of which are from the arcade version of Dance Dance Revolution 2ndMIX and the rest being console-exclusive songs (which would be added in DDR 2ndMIX Link Version) for a total of 16 songs. It also includes Edit Mode (for editing stepcharts) and Arrange Mode (a mode where if the player step on direction the arrows not meant to appear, they will get a miss).
Sequels
Dance Dance Revolution 2ndMix
, sometimes abbreviated as , is the second game in the Dance Dance Revolution series of music video games. It was released as an arcade game by Konami in Japan on January 29, 1999.
It has a total of 32 songs: ten from the original Dance Dance Revolution arcade game and 26 all-new songs. The graphics are mostly retained from the original game, with some changes. The jukebox song list now displays 8 song options instead of 6 and a "Random" option, which if selected will cause a random song to play the next stage. Other than Mirror, many new options can be activated with step codes: Left (shifts the arrow placements to the left), Right (shifts the placement to the right), Shuffle (randomizes the placement), Hidden (arrows disappear when they are about to reach the Step Zone), and Little (eliminates all non-quarter beat steps, which will lessen the maximum score available to attain). Through step codes, two players may also select different difficulty levels while playing in Versus and Couple modes. The game removes Extra Stage and adds Step Battle, a competitive play style in which each player records a series of steps for the other player to play. Step Battle is exclusive to three songs and can only be accessed with codes.
An updated version, Dance Dance Revolution 2ndMix Link Version, was released to Japanese arcades on April 28, 1999. This version came with a PlayStation memory card reader, installed in the middle of the arcade cabinet. It supports cards that have Link Data from the home version of Dance Dance Revolution, allowing each player to save high scores and play custom step edits. 2ndMix Link Version adds five new songs to the game, two from the home version and three new licenses, for a total of 37 songs. The game adds an "All Music" mode, making it the first time players can access the entire song list from the start. Future Dance Dance Revolution releases in Japan, up to and including Dance Dance Revolution Extreme, integrated Link Data functionality in-game. However, these required different home games to produce different Link Data formats: 3rdMix, 4thMix, 4thMix Plus, 5thMix and New Version.
, the home version of 2ndMix, was released in Japan on April 20, 2000, for the Sony PlayStation. It includes 35 songs, 3 of which are new to this version and are hidden and unlockable. Two of the hidden songs were previews of the next arcade version, Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMix and can only be played on Basic difficulty. The home version has the ability to Disc Change to 1st and Append Club Version. It also allows to unlock features in previous mixes such as the Nonstop Ranking from 3rd Mix. The interface is still the same as the one used in 2ndMix.
On April 20, 2000, Konami released a version of Dance Dance Revolution 2ndMix for the Dreamcast console. It features 47 songs, seven of which are hidden and unlockable. The song list includes seven songs from Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMix.
Most of the new songs in 2ndMix (with the exception of "BAD GIRLS", "BOYS", "HERO", "stomp to my beat", and the So-REAL Mix of "MAKE IT BETTER") were included in the North American version of Dance Dance Revolution for the PlayStation.
Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMix , sometimes abbreviated as 3rdMix, is the third game in the Dance Dance Revolution series of music video games. It was released in Japanese arcades by Konami on Saturday October 30, 1999. The arcade machine is the first to be based on Bemani System 573 Digital. It has a total of 72 songs, 35 of which are new to the arcade series.
Instead of Easy, Medium, and Hard, the mode selection now offers "Soft", "Medium", and "Nonstop". Soft, a replacement of Easy, activates the Little option permanently and only allows one song to be selected. Medium leads to normal gameplay. Nonstop is a new mode in which players select a course which contains 4 songs back-to-back. Couple Style has been replaced by Unison, where two players play a unified stepchart featuring parts where they have to step on the same direction at the same time. Step Battle has also been removed.
Before the game starts, players may toggle game modes using codes to switch between "3rdMix", "2ndMix", and "Step Step Revolution (SSR)". 3rdMix and SSR modes give access to the new songs, but 3rdMix Mode limits players to choose Basic and Another difficulties, while SSR Mode limits access to Maniac, now renamed "SSR". 2ndMix Mode is an updated recreation of DDR 2ndMix, featuring 37 songs in a 3rdMix interface and enables all three difficulties to be selected. The game is the first to add Double Maniac/SSR stepcharts, but these are not available in 2ndMix Mode. The difficulty scale has been further increased to 9, labeled as "Catastrophic".
The game still utilizes the jukebox-style song list but modifies it so that the highlighted song's CD is displayed to the front. Instead of being accessed through codes, players may choose a character through a dedicated screen. The game is the first to differentiate the colors of arrows based on their timing, an option known as "Vivid". Vivid is turned on by default in 3rdMix and 2ndMix Modes, but must be enabled with a code in SSR Mode, as "Flat" (all arrows are the same color; the previous arrow option) is turned on by default instead. Other new options added include Sudden (arrows appear midway through while rising up towards the Step Zone, a reverse of Hidden) and Stealth (arrows are invisible, requiring memorization)