DDR Uni3, DDRX, DDR HP2 officially announced! (56k Warning!)

[mequetrefe413]

[Reenee]

[Nightime]

JUPITER, I believe, is at least sublicensed, hence how SN2/J doesn't feature the song in it's entirety (and that's VERY obvious if you've ever played it). In fact, it does that e-motion sort of thing, where it sounds like the song is barely beginning, and it's already over. (In fact, if you play the intro up to the point where it pauses, that's pretty much the climax of the whole stage. You're really not missing much.)

MARS WAR 3, on the other hand, I *think* may be KO, as GF/dm have featured lots of songs from JET GIRL (variable). While it's cool-sounding, the stepchart design for it is about as copy-paste as R3, and considerably more linear. Again, apart from editability, you're not missing a lot there, either, unless they're gonna "Venus" it, and give it a wicked-cool CHG chart.

o.O Does the game feature L'amour et la Liberte (DJ Silver and Darwin Mix)? That's another planet song I've yet to have confirmed/heard about before my PS2 went all disc-read error crazy on me. Now that I finally have the mix! ~.~ *sigh*

(Yes, I've done the airblow fix, I've checked the voltage/disc tray alignment, and I've even switched the PS2 frame cover for another. I *really* hope it's not the lens/hardware failure!)


On another note of "you're missing less than nothing..." the GROOVE RADAR specials really just have retardedly edited charts. Unless you *need* a DEAD END that temposhifts, you're really not missing anything (besides the otherwise-obvious featuring of the cool NAOKI revivals).

A concept I *do* think would be cool is ACTION specials: a Jump-sequence special, a skipping special, more twisty-stream specials or note-timing-freeze-tap-sequence special... like the EDIT missions on EXTREME US. In fact, if those kind of edits could be centralized, then perhaps they should be.

Imagine - a whole course of those, ending in an "Action special" Xmix Challenge chart! Or maybe two, a slower-paced one, and a faster-paced one...

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I can see "the Reenee argument" about games being produced on EQUAL SKILL QUALITY to the import games, which is what I think is really being debated here. If you've ever played an imported PS2 DDR game, you would know there's a very obvious difference in the way many features, such as courses, are set up.

For example, only one or two courses in FESTIVAL/STR!KE featured primarily light stages, usually there is a much bigger emphasis on heavy stages, with fair, but not always gracious smattering of standard charts. And where challenge charts are made, they are *certainly* used in it. In US-mixes, that's not really the case; about *half* the courses (and not only the defaults, but usually the first layer of unlockable ones as well) are light-dedicated, with about the same amount of standard charts, and *maybe* 5 courses of heavy charts, usually only one or two of any "pro-level" or "arcade-level" of difficulty.

Another example is the usual default tracklist, which is HEAVILY skewed towards easier stages in US titles, and considerably more balanced in Japanese ones. Songs like CAPTAIN JACK -GRANDALE REMIX-, SO DEEP -PERFECT SPHERE REMIX-, and CARTOON HEROES -Speedy Mix- are often *designed* for the Japanese titles, and their inclusion in US mixes seems to depend a lot on how much we nag them to include them, and how long we're willing to wait for them.

This is one reason why people continue to hail EX2 and UM2 as "greatest DDRs ever" - the fact that the *default tracklist* included a plentiful amount of stages at this skill level - *and* they had more new ones you could open/unlock. (DDRMAX 2, for example, had a *terrific* opening tracklist - but the difficult unlockables were nearly ALL yesterdecade's news, and nearly all of the *new* unlockables were sleepthroughs with 5-foot heavys.) And while a truly skill-balanced mix rarely seems to occur in USA DDR's, how often do you see a Japanese release that DOESN'T contain new stages like that?

The Ultramix/Universe series does a pretty good job of featuring a balanced opening tracklist, though for the most part, they don't usually hide a whole lot of stages. But for PS2'ers, and the titles being supposedly more "arcade-focused," the difference between the average console difficulty degree and the average arcade mix difficulty degree is pretty astounding. Especially considering Oni mode.


SuperNOVA 1~2 kinda took a few steps in the right direction, at least where default tracklists are considered - but still had one fundamental flaw in their unlocking systems/master modes... again apart for XS/OMES influence, you had to get to the last 3-or-so planets of SMM, or the "hidden" sections of HMM (by 100%'ing EVERYTHING up to that point) before you got access to the "real meat" of the mix for many long-term players.

StellarMM did get one thing right, by featuring each of the boss songs on a planet BEFORE "the LAST," and saving Felm/CHAOS for that. Had HMM taken that approach (featuring stages like Konoko and OUTER LIMITS as early-section "bosses", and featured earlier "boss" stages as normal songs), only saving gems like TMP/PH and one or two surprises (like FINALLY getting bag!) for those secret sections, that would've turned out a bit better than it did. Or if the hidden sections only required 80-90% of the other stages, because everybody's going to have SOME songs they want to ignore completely. Yes, even in EX2/UM2/JP-EXTREME.

DDRX does a really cool thing with making StreetMM optional, and both approachable and somewhat fun - though digging through the easy to get to the challenging still feels a bit like "fluff" to me. and it does feature some cool tracks - though it seems kinda weird to me that 90% of people's attention is focused on about 10-15% of it's tracklist. I guess it's not totally unheard of, as every mix does have obvious gem tracks that people love!

[tsugaru7reveng]

[Saotome2U]

Well, guess it's time I chime in on my opinions on DDRX and HP2, though I gave a brief opine on it a couple of weeks ago. I'll try to make it short... *sigh*

DDRX, for me, is a disappointment. While the stepcharts are very well done, I do find this mix just a wee bit sloppy, and once again, I question many of the license choices for this. Even some of the KOs leave a lot to be desired, and are almost as nails on the chalkboard grinding as LET THEM MOVE...Lift You Up comes to mind...OMG!! Also, what's with all the remix songs? I may be the only one bothered by it, but just like I've said many times over, I would much rather have had brand new songs, or crossovers, instead of remixes of songs that don't sound too different from the original...I'm looking at you Dance Celebration...
Anyway, so we finally get another "taste" of the planet songs...but as we all know by now, we are missing 6 of the planet songs, and if we wanna count MOONSTER, we're missing 7. Also, I'm noticing some major glitch issues here, one (to me) being more severe than the other. One, jump freeze arrows, when one of the freezes ends 1st, you don't get an OK for it, and Two, who's idea was it to break your combo when you get an NG from a freeze arrow?!...and WHY?! The shock arrow icon is missing when you select a song with shock arrows in 'em. The shock arrow stuff is okay, but it's only more "challenging" on songs like Dance Celebration. SMM was loooooong and tiresome. I enjoyed SuperNOVA1's version much more... This mix definitely seems like a step back, while it's not a horrible mix, I'm not really enjoying it as much.

As for DDRHP2...well, I'm a bit disappointed with this one, too. The redeeming factor for this mix, to me, are the KOs. The licenses are way below the quality of the ones from HP1...I was REALLY looking forward to Makes Me Wonder, but wow...bad, and I mean bad. Where there were only maybe 5 covers I didn't much care for last year, this year, there are probably only 5 covers I actually like. The others are bearable, but not as good. I still thoroughly enjoy the dancers. Actual choreography is so much better to me, and that is just so much better than what the dancers do on PS2 and AC releases. The stepcharts are still really good, so no complaints there...some songs are a lil' jumpier, but not horrible. I'm a bit disappointed with Red Alert, but the song is still good, so it's give and take.

Well, I tried to make it short.... I dunno, these releases are just kinda meh to me. Guess I'll see what UNIVERSE 2 has to offer...Dancing Machine already has me intrigued.
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"Ahhh, Freak Out!" - F!
Come on everybody, commence to jigglin'...
http://zenius-i-vanisher.com/v4/viewsimfilecategory.php?categoryid=65

[chennymountain]

Here's my review on DDRX:

I like that fact that the story mode actually has a (sort of) storyline, even though some of them are quite random. I also like the fact that you don't have to do a bajillion songs on beginner and light. The normal mode kind of disappointed me because the challenge has nothing to do with the story. Like when you have to do a dance battle, on normal mode, the requirement is just pass the song. I also do like the characters. Well, except for Queen Zukin. She's too bulky.

Game mode: I like the idea of blending the advanced mode into game mode. But endless mode greatly disappointed me. Who's idea was it to make it so you can save??? And I prefer just being able to choose what songs I want and what songs I don't want as opposed to "pick a difficulty level and we'll give you a bunch of songs in that difficulty level". I am one of those people who want to play both Ticket to Bombay AND Pluto. Speaking of planet songs, where's Mars Wars 3, L'amour et La Liberte ~Darwin & DJ Silver Remix~, and Jupiter ~Bringer Of Jollity~?? And why did they name the planet song for Neptune "Poseidon" as opposed to Neptune? (I know that Poseidon is the other version of Neptune). It seemed to me like there is a lack of songs. Maybe it's those Xmixes. Samples of DDRX songs??? WTF? I was sad when I found out that there were only 5 stages. There were 20 in SuperNOVA. Also the shock arrows disappointed me (like everyone else). It just makes you jump to the middle every other measure or so. The announcer isn't that annoying, but I'm glad you can turn him off.

It's better than SuperNOVA 2 but I've seen better. It's like SuperNOVA 1, but without the millions of Mainstream songs. I only knew like 2 of them. (Here It Goes and Big Girls Don't Cry).
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DDR? Did someone say...DDR? DDR?! DDR?!?!

[Zonic]

[Nightime]

[Saotome2U]

[Pie~]

[violently average]

[GERARDAMO]

[Pie~]

Moonster is an awesome song with a good chart.
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YouTube

[Ashura96]

[violently average]

@Everyone: ...So? Moonster was a good song, I just didn't like it. I guess it was the timing (SNJP just wasn't good, it was only a pre-release of SN2US with some SNAC songs) or something, but...it just didn't work for me. As for Voltum Stellarum, I DETEST THAT SONG. I don't see how anyone could actually like that song; I just don't know why

[Reenee]

[Nightime]

Having finally spent a decent amount of time with the game - finally - I can see what's going on, and why 10% of the tracklist is gaining 90% of the attention.

Now, if you single out all of the new DDR X stages from the abundance of SN2 ones; it looks like they're a lot closer to nailing that "urban" theme than many players/users think. But the fact that half of the tracklist is still space-oriented SN2 kind of drowns that out.

I see what they're trying to do here. JP releases coincide much more with arcade releases, because their release time does, too. Ours are much more in-between; as a result, we get half of SN first, the second half with the first half of SN2, the second half of SN2 with X, and so on.

Which tells me we're *probably* missing a wicked-cool 2MB cover of Horatio! (or possibly On The Break, 'cause I'm pretty sure it ain't Taj He Spitz - though I could be wrong, and that could be awesome, too!)

I like how many of the new tracks sound, even though the first time or two of playing "Slip Out" made me wtf? myself. But it is really simple and catchy. There's a bit of imbalance in the X-song difficulty curve - most of them have ridiculously easy charts, where the challenging ones are for the most part, on the high-9/low-10 end. For example, Trigger is hella cool, though it's like FaXX/Pluto Relinquish without the super-hard, draining parts. WHICH I LIKE! But understandably, people expecting the difficulty of the SuperNOVA boss stages (that who hasn't complained about?), may only have the Plutos to look forward to, or On The Bounce CHG. Oh, and obviously Horatio.

I really don't see why so many people dog Taj He Spitz. That song is so ridiculously catchy! It may not be the new "DYNAMITE RAVE," but it's certainly cool enough to be the new "BRILLIANT 2U," if you get what I mean. Dance Celebration is really cool too, but props mostly go to the remix; one of the tracks that balances both the catchiness and the often-adored middle-difficult area that few new tracks in the game actually hit. Thankfully, *many* of the SN2 tracks fit into that range, so there is still a nice learning curve between levels.

The Xmixes are executed rather brilliantly, too. Playing smaller parts of more numerous songs is a great way to have fun mixes while coping with the PS2's hardware limitations; I actually think I like those a little *more* than Power Mode - that and the fact that it's actually incorporated into the main gameplay mode, instead of being a standalone/sidetrack. (I did have another idea for a "SN2 encore" PwrMix... but it looks like jiggens kinda beat me to it! Well played!)

I can see a 2/3-1/3 approach working for crossing over titles; but the half-and-half tends to distort the "core theme" of each mix. And the tracklist does successfully feel like it catches good parts of both the "Ultramix" and arcade series and blends them pretty well. The only weakness I see is the shortage of new Bemani transplants; which *both* series are known for doing pretty well.

One thing I'll be curious about for awhile though - since all but maybe one-two of our Xmixes featured songs that won't be in JP DDR X, I kinda wonder what Xmixes their title will have. Slight revisions of ours, or totally new, fleshed out ones?

Face it, our releases are probably going to be halflings from here on out; but I think that can be more of a blessing than a curse. We'll always open mixes with some songs we know, and some we don't - and of those we don't, we'll get first dibs on. Sort of a fair trade, I suppose. Plus, every new arcade release will come with some songs we'll know, and some songs we won't yet, too - a sort of advantage you probably won't be seeing overseas!

Give it some time. I hear lots of dogging now, but I think people will grow to love this title (if they don't already), once they see past the ITG comparison, and how much "SN2" it is.

As for the announcer, I recall feeling the same way about the 4th Mix one. And the EXTREME one. And the overly pun-heavy DanceManiaX one, too. It's not quite as bad as you think (play 4th Mix. NOW. I dare you.). Dialogue is laughable, but ain't it always?
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Celebrate DDR's 10th Anniversary with a collection of over 150 of your (or someone else's) favorite hits, featured in more than 30 continuously mixed stages!

Play DDR PwrMix today!

I am not affiliated with Konami, Dancemania, or any related company. This project is intended for fanart/fanservice purposes only.

[Reenee]

[Sharz_Miguazin]

Its not bad Nightime, its just that everyone that plays DDR loves to complain. Trust me, next year, when DDRX2 cowboy theme comes out, and we have Cow Girl 2008 X-edit, a boss song called Fascination Bandits with 240 BPM gallops, and the announcer says "Yeehaw partner, rustle us up a stray tune!" people are going to complain when nothings wrong, too.

Its funny because last year everyone was saying DDR needs a story, and a better theme, and more songs, and change the difficulty, and you know what? They did it all, and people still complained. Nothing wrong with the game, although personally...

I still hate most of the stepcharts. First DDR game ever where I refuse to play without jumps off. It seems like every other chart was made by Kriss Kross for crying out loud. Jump jump step and jump step jump do not a good stepchart make. Edit steps go!

Speaking of which, anyone have a good 13/14 for Bloody Tears?
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You know, back in my day, we got a D on Firefly beginner! Oh and we liked it! We liked it a lot! We even called all our friends to give them the good news too! It was quite the new record!

[Coolkid27]

hehe, i know. there are way too many STEP-JUMPS in this game. I think the chart for 'Big Girls Don't Cry' is ruined due to the jumps. The step chart doesn't flow nicely.

I have way too many complaints about DDRX to even write down. Basically, just have to be Konami's bit_h and accept whatever they give you.