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Dance Dance Revolution

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Dance Dance Revolution, or DDR, is a video game driven by the player's feet. It was first introduced by Konami as a video arcade game in Japan in 1998, and many variations have been produced, some even for home use. It is classified as a Bemani game (Bemani is a Japanese-style shorthand term for Beatmania, the name of Konami's first musical game, which has come to refer to all of Konami's musical games.)

In the arcade, the game appears as a tall cabinet with unusually large speakers and flashing lights. On the floor in front of this cabinet is a raised dance platform with square panels. The more common two-player machines provide each player with 9 squares in a 3x3 matrix to stand on: four colored arrows (up, down, left, and right), and 5 neutral metal squares. One-player "Solo" machines have only one 3x3 matrix, with two extra arrows in the upper left and upper right spots. There is a bar behind each player to grasp to assist in balance, but many consider it poor form to cling to the bar while dancing except when doing tricks. Using the bar unnecessarily is sometimes called "bar hugging."

Gameplay

File:Stepmania spin-the-disk.jpg
Screenshot of Stepmania, a DDR clone for personal computers

Players select one of a variety of songs, which typically have a heavy beat. While the game is in play, there are four stationary arrows at the top of the screen. Other arrows scroll up from the bottom of the screen and pass over the stationary arrows. When scrolling arrows overlap the stationary ones, as the illustration shows the Up arrow is about to, the player must step on the corresponding arrow square(s) on the platform (it is permitted to remain on the square or "panel"). A "jump" step will involve pressing two arrows simultaneously. In this way, the game encourages the player to dance a pre-choreographed series of steps to the beat of the music. Each step is given a rating that indicates how close to the beat the step was. From best to worst, these ratings are PERFECT, GREAT, GOOD, BOO, and MISS. On many American home releases of the game, BOO and MISS are changed to ALMOST and BOO, respectively, and on DDR Extreme in Oni/Challenge mode (and in some simulators) there is MARVELOUS timing, which is even better than PERFECT. It sounds very mechanical, but once a player has learned to respond to the arrows, there is some freedom in style and balance which better players exploit, to the entertainment of other players and passersby. Some players prefer "doubles mode" (usually costing twice as much), where both platforms are used by one player; this is generally considered more challenging.

At the end of each song (assuming the player has made it that far), players receive a final score and a letter grade from "A" to "E" based on how many correct steps they made and how well-timed those steps are. Exceptional performances with almost all PERFECTs (over 90%) will receive "AA" ("S" on older versions) or, should the player make the commendable achievement of earning 100% PERFECTs, "AAA" ("SS" on older versions and see links below for such feats). A game may consist of one or more songs in a series, or multiple attempts at the same song. There are also challenging "courses," or specific groups of songs, which can be played.

Songs and levels

Most songs are licensed from Toshiba EMI's Dancemania collections, imported from other Bemani titles or created for the game by Konami artists such as Naoki, the main music producer for the DDR series.

Music in DDR may be fast or slow, or may even change tempo. It is a common mistake to assume that slower songs must be easier; often, the exact opposite is true, as reading fast-scrolling and thus widely spaced arrows is often easier than reading lots of dense, slow-scrolling arrows. Each song has multiple step patterns associated with it, rated in difficulty from 1 to 10 "feet". The 1-3 foot step patterns are recommended for beginners, and 4-8 are of intermediate difficulty. Nine foot songs, commonly referred to as 'catas' (short for 'Catastrophic', the label given to these steps on 3rd Mix) generally require high levels of mastery of one of more specific DDR skills (such as stamina, rhythm recognition or special techniques such as 'spins', 'crossovers' or 'gallops'), and being able to pass these songs is widely regarded as the mark of a proficient player. Last are the songs with 10 foot step patterns. There are very few of these, and the steps for all but one proceed at an incredible speed; runs containing 10 arrows per second are not uncommon. Extreme demands are placed on a player's physical endurance, as well as arrow reading and balancing capability; only a handful of players can pass these songs with ease. Most regular players of DDR play on Heavy mode, although beginners are advised to start with "Light" mode, which contains mostly songs rated from 1 to 3 feet. Some versions additionally have a "Beginner" mode where almost every song is rated 1 foot and has a dancer in the background demonstrating the moves.

Increasing levels bring more and more arrows in more elaborate and difficult arrangements, "hold" or "freeze" arrows which require the foot to remain on the appropriate square, and syncopation. Sometimes the scrolling arrows "freeze" in time with a silent gap in the music. Players may also introduce variations, such as obscuring the arrows (forcing the player to dance by memory) or changing the scrolling speed.

Regular players of DDR drive the continuing markets for game upgrades. There are many DDR versions; each new "mix" includes both familiar music from past games and new songs (so-called "Konami originals"). There are also Disney-specific and "Euromix" versions. Reluctance by Konami to release some versions in the USA has led to widespread gray-market imports of mixes intended only for the domestic (Japanese) market, and even bootleg copies. A Korean company, Andamiro, produces a competing dance game series called Pump It Up which has 5 floor buttons instead of 4, in the four corners and center of the pad.

Arcades, home consoles, and clones

There are over 1400 arcade style DDR machines in the USA. The game first caught the interest of players in Asian American communities in California, and even today more than 25% of DDR machines are in that state.

DDR can also be played at home using the Sega Dreamcast, Sony Playstation, Playstation 2 or Xbox consoles. They use a dance mat, a novel input device that looks like the mat from the game Twister or the Power Pad from the Nintendo Entertainment System. More durable metal dance platforms, such as those sold by Cobalt Flux, are also available. Alternatively, several manufacturers such as RedOctane sell mats similar to the plastic mats but containing a foam rubber insert.

There are several clones of DDR available for personal computers. These games use their own music and step files, and a variety of both are widely available. Clones include Dance With Intensity for Microsoft Windows; StepMania for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X; the Macromedia Flash-based Flash Flash Revolution; and the cross-platform pydance, which runs in a Python environment on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux among others. A particularly novel DDR simulator called Text Text Revolution can be displayed on text-only terminals. An official, Konami-made version of DDR exists for the PC as well. It has the interface of DDR 4th Mix, and contains a comparatively small number of songs from 1st Mix through DDRMAX (6th Mix). Some feel, however, that it does not compare to the console editions. Although there are no PC Dance Mats as of the time of writing, most Playstation and Xbox dance mats can be used via USB controller adapter; however, only some of the more expensive adapters are compatible with dance mats.

Other Konami music games

Karaoke Revolution is a spin off game, also by Konami, in which a single player sings along with on-screen guidance, in game play similar to single-player DDR. There are also several other Bemani games, such as Para Para Paradise (PPP) (which is somewhat similar to DDR but played with arm sensors and more emphasis on the "dancing" part), Drummania, Guitar Freaks, etc.

The DDR phenomenon

Playing at home is an excellent way to practice, and it saves money in the long run compared to playing in the arcade, but a large part of DDR is the experience of dancing in public. DDR is a social game. Two players can dance together side-by-side in friendship, the better player offering encouragement to the lesser, or in competition. Crowds may gather while the dance is in progress and become involved. Skilled players enjoy showing off by looking away from the screen, dropping to the floor to press arrows with their hands, and other distractions.

DDR is also a phenomenon, around which subcultures of fans and enthusiasts have gathered. Tournaments are held worldwide, some to determine highest scores (called "perfect attack" or "score" competitions), and others for exhibitions of style (called "freestyle" competitions); a player who knows the steps can develop a routine for the rest of the body to follow while playing the game. One of the largest examples of this is the European Cup (held by DDR Europe), gathering players from all over Europe.

Playing DDR can be good aerobic exercise; some regular players have reported weight loss of 10-50 pounds. One player reports that including DDR in their day-to-day life resulted in a loss of 95 pounds. It is argued however that the cases of significant weight loss have all been stories where a significantly overweight player loses a few pounds, and then becomes motivated to take action to lose weight, including dieting, and regular gym attendance. Still, some schools use DDR as a physical education activity, and in Norway, DDR has even been registered as an official sport.

Releases

Name Format Region Release Date Comments
Dance Dance Revolution 1st Mix Arcade/PlayStation Japan 1998 First in the series
Dance Dance Revolution 2nd Mix Arcade/PlayStation Japan 1998 Added a few more songs to the ones in 1st Mix
Dance Dance Revolution 3rd Mix Arcade/PlayStation Japan 1999 Introduced 9-foot songs and nonstop mode. First in the series to use an MP3 decoder to fit more songs on the game CD.
Dance Dance Revolution 4th Mix Arcade/PlayStation Japan 2000 Had song genre divisions, where a particular genre of songs was selected and only those songs were playable in that game
Dance Dance Revolution 4th Mix Plus Arcade/PlayStation Japan 2000 Added 14 more songs to the 4th mix playlist, introduced an "All Music" genre, in which every song would be available to choose from.
Dance Dance Revolution 5th Mix Arcade/PlayStation Japan 2001 Introduced 'long version' songs (3 minutes instead of the usual 1.5). Features 122 songs.
DDRMAX: Dance Dance Revolution 6th Mix Arcade/PS2 Japan 2001 Introduced 'freeze' steps and the advent of the 10 foot songs (Max 300), though foot ratings were taken out of this version. (They were reinstated in Max 2, and Max 300 became a 10 footer)
DDRMAX: Dance Dance Revolution PS2 USA 2002 Introduced 'freeze' steps and 10-foot songs (MAX 300), as well as some USA exclusives like Sandstorm. This version, unlike its NTSC-J counterpart, had Oni mode.
DDRMAX2: Dance Dance Revolution 7thMIX Arcade/PS2 Japan 2002 Up to 116 songs. Introduced Oni mode, and Challenge songs (remixes of original songs which can only be played in Oni, with different step patterns).
DDRMAX2: Dance Dance Revolution PS2 USA 2003 Missing features present in its Japanese counterpart. Does not have Oni mode, nor does it have many of the Dancemania licensed songs popular among arcade players (this being true of any USA release of DDR).
Dance Dance Revolution Extreme Arcade/PS2 Japan/USA December 25, 2002 (PS2 version October 2003, pending USA PS2 version summer 2004) Has 200+ songs, nonstop and oni mode. USA PS2 version has support for Eye Toy
Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix Xbox USA 2003 Almost the same as DDR Extreme, Max and Max 2, but you can now buy new song packs from Konami. This release also includes Xbox Live support, which lets you play against and chat with others through the Internet, and enables online rankings.
Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix 2 Xbox USA pending 2004 Introduction of Quad Mode (a 4 pad version of Double Mode). Also introduces the Party Mode with two "mini-games": Attack and Bomb.
Dance Dance Revolution Party Collection PS2 Japan 2003 Includes songs from many older mixes, and a few new ones, but only has around 40 songs. You also have Nonstop and Oni mode in this version.
DDR Festival: Dance Dance Revolution PS2 Japan TBA Was announced on August 17th to be released on November 18th, but this date and the fate of this game is uncertain.
Dance Dance Revolution USA Arcade USA 2001 Only 26 songs
Dancing Stage Euromix Arcade/PlayStation Europe 1999 (PlayStation version June 16, 2001) European version of DDR 3rd Mix
Dancing Stage Euromix 2 Arcade Europe August 2002 European version of DDR MAX2, but without Oni mode or extra stage, and with fewer songs.
Dancing Stage Party Edition PlayStation Europe November 15, 2002 European console version of Konamix
Dancing Stage Megamix PS2 Europe May 30, 2003 European console version of DDR MAX2

DDR/Dance Games Websites

DDR fan sites offer Web forums in which players can chat about the game and discuss tournaments, scoreboards and media archives of past tournaments, arcade machine location databases, and fan-created song and step files for clone games.

Some popular sites include www.ddrfreak.com and www.bemanistyle.com

Common Step Patterns

As a player advances in the game, some common patterns occur in many different songs. Advanced players watch for these patterns. Recognizing them makes interpreting the song easier. This section describes these common patterns. It will only be useful to people who have played the game.

Turns

  • Back-turns (left-down-right)

Hit the left arrow with your left foot, then the down arrow with your right foot. You should now be partially turned to the right. Hit the right arrow with your left foot. Often, this pattern will continue down-left-down-right. It can also start on the right pad as right-down-left. That is simply the mirror of this.

  • Front-turns (left-up-right)

Hit the left arrow with your left foot, then the up arrow with your right. You should now be partially turned to the left. Hit the right arrow with your left foot. Often, this pattern will continue up-left-up-right. It can also start on the right pad as right-up-left. That is simply the mirror of this.

  • Back-front transitions (right-down-left-up-right)

These are usually on the end of a back-turn, when you are going "backwards". The first part, right-down-left, is the back-turn. Then, instead of the down arrow to continue on the back-side, hit the up arrow with your right foot to go into a front-turn.

The reverse step pattern, right-up-left-down-right, transitions from a front to a back-turn.

  • Full ("Butterfly") turns (left-down-right-up-left)

A more advanced pattern involves a complete turn around. This is often used in "freestyle" DDR to show off. These are sometimes called Butterfly turns, because they occur often in the standard and heavy levels of Smile.dk's Butterfly. Because you cannot maintain eye-contact with the screen through the turn, it might help to memorize what happens after the turn to give yourself time to find your place in the song again.

Start as with a normal back-turn, left-down-right, as described above. Then, instead of hitting the down arrow to continue a back-turn, hit the up arrow with your right foot. This will turn you around backwards. To complete the turn, hit the left arrow with your left foot.

A different way of doing these steps in situations where you might not want to turn around (for example, when doing "perfect attack" on a fast song such as Healing Vision -Angelic Mix-) is to treat this like an "inverted turn" -- use your right foot on the left pad (ie. your body is more or less turned to the left), then the left foot on the down pad, the right foot again on the right pad, and the left foot on the up pad. The only difficulty after this is finding out what to do with the left step; depending on the steps afterwards the simplest thing might be using the left foot again (however, many people find using the same foot twice awkward), or you could use the right foot (but this makes you turn again). This style of play, where turns and other potentially "dangerous" techniques are avoided on fast songs, is sometimes referred to as Angelic-style, because it is almost a required strategy to successfully complete Healing Vision (Angelic Mix).

Other

  • Skips/Gallops

On some songs, Cowgirl on Heavy being a good example, each direction has two closely spaced arrows together, and they continue with several of these pairs. The idea is "skip", or jump from one to the next. Think of each pair of notes as one, which you hit twice: once when you land on it, and once before you take off for the next one. It usually helps to jump to keep momentum, and to keep from stomping on them.

DDR simulator websites

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