The core gameplay involves the player stepping their feet to correspond with the arrows that appear on the screen and the beat. During normal gameplay, arrows scroll upwards from the bottom of the screen and pass over a set of stationary arrows near the top (referred to as the "guide arrows" or "receptors", officially known as the Step Zone). When the scrolling arrows overlap the stationary ones, the player must step on the corresponding arrows on the dance platform, and the player has been given a judgment for their accuracy of every streaked note (From highest to lowest: Marvelous,[1] Perfect, Great, Good, Almost,[2] Miss[3]).
Dance dance revolution
Additional arrow types were added in later mixes. Freeze Arrows, introduced in MAX, are long green arrows that must be held down until they completely travel through the Step Zone. Each of these arrows awards an "O.K.!" if successfully pressed or an "N.G." when the arrow is released too quickly. An "N.G." decreases the life bar and, starting with X, also breaks any existing combo. X also introduced Shock Arrows, walls of arrows with lightning effects that must be avoided, which will award an "O.K.!" if successfully avoided or an "N.G." if any of the dancer's panels are stepped on. An "N.G." for shock arrows has the same consequences found with freeze arrows, but hitting a shock arrow additionally hides future steps for a short period.
A standard Dance Dance Revolution arcade machine consists of two parts, the cabinet and the dance platform. The cabinet has a wide bottom section, which houses large floor speakers and glowing neon lamps (led on X cabinets and hide lights on white cabinets). Above this sits a narrower section that contains the monitor, and on top is a lighted marquee graphic, with two small speakers and flashing lights on either side. Below the monitor are two sets of buttons (one for each player), each consisting of two triangular selection buttons (four on X and white cabinets) and a center rectangular button, used mainly to confirm a selection or start the game.
The dance stage is a raised metal platform divided into two sides. Each side houses a set of four acrylic glass pads[4] arranged and pointing in the orthogonal directions (left, up, down and right), separated by metal squares. Each pad sits atop four pressure activated switches, one at each edge of each pad, and a software-controlled cold cathode lamp illuminating the translucent pad, not available on the white cabinet. A metal safety bar in the shape of an upside-down "U" is mounted to the dance stage behind each player. Some players make use of this safety bar to help maintain proper balance, and to relieve weight from the legs so that arrows can be pressed with greater speed and accuracy.
The Solo arcade cabinet is smaller and contains only one dance pad, modified to include six arrow panels instead of four (the additional panels are "upper-left" and "upper-right"). These pads generally don't come with a safety bar, but include the option for one to be installed at a later date. The Solo pad also lacks some of the metal plating that the standard pad has, which can make stepping difficult for players who are used to playing on standard machines. An upgrade was available for Solo machines called the "Deluxe pad", which was closer to the standard cabinet's pad. Additionally Solo machines only incorporate two sensors, located horizontally in the center of the arrow, instead of four sensors (one on each edge).
DDR games have been released on various video game consoles, including the PlayStation, Dreamcast, Nintendo 64, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, GameCube, Wii, Xbox and Xbox 360, and even PCs. Home versions often contain new songs, songs from the arcade version, and additional features that take advantage of the capabilities of the console (e.g.; Xbox 360 versions such as the Dance Dance Revolution Universe series include support for online multiplayer and downloadable songs over Xbox Live, and high definition graphics). DDR has even reached Nintendo's Game Boy Color, with five versions of Dance Dance Revolution GB released in Japan; these included a series of three mainstream DDR games, a Disney Mix, and an Oha Star. The games come with a small thumb pad that fits over the Game Boy Color's controls to simulate the dance pad.
Home versions are commonly bundled with soft plastic dance pads that are similar in appearance and function to the Nintendo Power Pad. Some third-party manufacturers produce hard metal pads at a higher price.
A Christian version of DDR, named Dance Praise, has been made by Digital Praise. Ubisoft produced a dance game based on Disney's The Jungle Book titled The Jungle Book Groove Party.
Besides direct clones, many other games have been released that center around rhythm and dance due to DDR's popularity. Dance! Online released by Acclaim combines dance pad play with an MMO element. ABC's Dancing With the Stars and Codemasters' Dance Factory are more recent examples of games that pay homage to DDR and the genre it created. Konami uses music from its other rhythm game series such as Beatmania and Beatmania IIDX, Drummania, GuitarFreaks, and Pop'n Music, as well as making references to DDR in its other games and vice versa.
Tournaments are held worldwide, with participants usually competing for higher scores or number of Perfects (referred to as "Perfect Attack" tournaments). Less common are "freestyle" tournaments, where players develop actual dance routines to perform while following the steps in the game.[14]
Other DDR players choose to incorporate complex or flashy techniques into their play movements, and some of these "freestyle" players develop intricate dance routines to perform during a song. Freestyle players tend to choose songs on lower difficulty levels, so that the player is not restricted in their movements by large quantities of required steps. Some players can even dance facing away from the screen.
Somewhere in the middle are the players which choose to do a little bit of both of the formers. There are criticisms of the In The Groove style of play which focuses on "perfect attack". More traditional players say it takes the fun away from the game the harder the step-charts get, which makes players use much less movement overall to conserve stamina. By doing this, it is no longer a dance game and many arrows do not fit perfectly with the beat because there are simply too many of them. The middle players enjoy moving to the beat and still trying to improve their scores without having to adopt the In the Groove style of play.
Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix (known as Dance Dance Revolution with MARIO in Japanese and Dancing Stage: Mario Mix in European languages) is a Nintendo GameCube game based on the popular Dance Dance Revolution video game series, but with a Mario theme. Mario Mix utilizes an included Mario-themed dance mat. To play the game, players must step on the up, down, left, and right arrows when they line up with a bar on the screen. The player can choose to play with either Mario or Luigi in a number of modes and difficulty levels with nearly thirty songs.
Toad warns Mario (or Luigi) that someone has stolen the Music Keys and explains the trouble that this causes. Mario decides to go stop Waluigi and Toad decides to come with him to Truffle Towers. On a boat, the two cross a river, and after climbing a vine, reach Truffle Towers. However, once there, the two find the doors to Truffle Towers locked. Waluigi then laughs and tosses a Bob-omb at them, knocking Mario down a nearby Warp Pipe and into a cavern filled with Goombas, though Mario is able to get out by dancing, causing the mushroom he is standing on to grow. After escaping the cavern Mario and Toad enter a shop run by a Lakitu, who has the key to Truffle Towers. He agrees to give it to them only if Mario is able to get rid of the Koopa Troopas playing in his farm. After getting rid of the Koopas, Lakitu gives them the key and they enter Truffle Towers. Inside the tower is Waluigi with one of the Music Keys; he refuses to return it unless he is beaten in a dance-off. After beating him Waluigi is gone and the Music Key is recovered. Mario and Toad set off to recover the other keys on a ship, the SS Brass.
On their way to investigating a seaside area, a cyclone suddenly appears and causes the SS Brass to spin out, turning a nearby hotel into a corkscrew. Toadette, the owner of the hotel, comes out and scolds Mario for ruining her hotel. Mario, however, decides to dance to fix the hotel, and after the hotel is fixed they set out to sea, only to get caught in a whirlpool. Mario and Toad escape the whirlpool and sail to a nearby island to rest. Here, they find a shop run by a pirate Lakitu who has a device called the "Boogie Booster", which will allow their ship to travel through the whirlpool. Lakitu refuses to give it to them, though afterward decides that they duel to decide who can have the part. After beating Lakitu, he installs the part onto their ship, allowing them to get through the whirlpool. Toad notes that the Music Keys have something to do with the storms, and the SS Brass sails into the whirlpool and down to an underwater temple, where a Music Key is being guarded by a Big Blooper. After defeating it in a dance-off, Mario and Toad retrieve the second Music Key.
Mario and Toad head to their next destination, Wario's Carnival. They arrive at the entrance, which is blocked by two Hammer Bros. who will not let Mario and Toad through unless they are able to beat them in a dance-off. After Mario beats them, the Hammer Bros. allow them to enter the park. Inside, they see Wario riding a roller coaster carrying a Music Key. Mario and Toad chase after him on the roller coaster and on foot until finally cornering him in front of a Ferris wheel, where he states that he plans to use the Music Key to wish for his own game: DDR: Wario Mix. Wario then challenges Mario to a dance-off on the Ferris wheel, though when he loses he gives Mario the Music Key. 2ff7e9595c
Comments