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DDRMAX2 Dance Dance Revolution
FAQ 1.1 10/27/2003

By Shin Pinoy and C-SPAM

i. Foreword
------------
This is an FAQ not created for telling you how and which songs are to be
unlocked, but rather to provide tips and information about each song. I've
been playing DDR long enough to find patterns in the steps for each song, but
not long enough for Double steps. We will, however, accept user-submitted
strategies for Double steps.

ii. Table of Contents
------------
i. Foreword (look up)
ii. Table of Contents
iii. Changelog
01. How To Play
02. Game Mode
03. Techniques
04. Songs
05. Nonstop Mode
06. Workout Mode
07. Lesson Mode
08. Training Mode
09. Edit Mode
10. Options
11. Records
12. Information
13. Endless Mode
14. Other Useless Crap

iii. Changelog
------------
1.0 10/03/2003 - First release.
1.1 10/27/2003 - Added more songs. This FAQ is now available for use on Cheat
Code Central (see note on bottom)

01. How To Play
------------
Your feet will be used to play this game.

A set of gray arrows called the Step Zone in the order left, down, up, right is
at the top of the screen. Your standing on a pad called the Dance Dance
Revolution controller with four panels with arrows in each cardinal direction
pointing outward. Colored arrows scroll toward the Step Zone as the background
music plays. When the colored arrows align with the Step Zone, step on the
corresponding arrow on the Dance Dance Revolution controller. The arrows match
the beats of the music and do this repetitively until the song ends.

For every step correctly timed and executed, the dance gauge at the top of the
screen (your "life bar", if you will) increases. This is known as getting a
combo. The main idea is to get a full combo (i.e., correctly time every step).
The larger the combo, the more points subsequent steps are worth. For every
step missed, the dance gauge decreases and the combo stops. When the dance
gauge decreases completely, the game ends. Depending on your settings, game
over occurs at the moment your dance gauge bottoms out, at the end of the song
if you bottomed out, or not at all.

DDRMAX Dance Dance Revolution introduced freeze arrows. Freeze arrows are
green and yellow arrows that extend from one point to the other. The player is
expected to time a freeze arrow like he/she would a normal arrow and hold the
step until the freeze arrow ends and "O.K.!" is displayed. If the player
releases before the freeze arrow ends, "N.G." is displayed and the dance gauge
decreases. Getting "N.G." will not stop a combo, but will cause considerable
damage to the dance gauge.

Having said that, just reading this explanation is not enough. In order to
pass a song, many advanced techniques must be applied to step to each song.
This includes twisting, "galloping", and reading arrows packed close together
in a short amount of time. To get a hold of the experience, start by playing
in Lesson Mode or in the Beginner difficulty.

02. Game Mode
-----------
The heart of Dance Dance Revolution.

After the warning screen that tells you to be careful when playing and to keep
it down if you have neighbors that would hear you stomping all over the floor,
three modes of normal play are shown. These are Single play, Versus play, and
Double play (not covered in this guide). Single play is for one player using
one four-panel Dance Dance Revolution controller. Versus play is for two
players each using one four-panel Dance Dance Revolution controller. Double
play is for one player using two four-panel Dance Dance Revolution controllers
placed side-by-side. As stated before, this will not be covered in this guide,
as this is a mode hardly for those new to Dance Dance Revolution.

In Single and Versus play, one of four difficulties are chosen by each player.
These difficulties, in order of easiest to hardest, are Beginner, Light,
Standard, and Heavy. Pressing Right at the Heavy difficulty gives access to
Nonstop mode. The difficulty for Nonstop mode varies, and will be covered
later.

After selecting difficulties, the game begins. Players then choose a song.

Introduced in DDRMAX is the Groove Radar. This measures five aspects of
difficulty and plots them on a five-pointed graph. The larger the area of the
graph, the harder the song. Five degrees of difficulty are as follows:

Stream - average density of arrows in relation to the length and speed of the
song.
Voltage - density of arrows in relation to the length and speed of the song.
Air - amount of jumps (2-panel steps) and complexity of the pattern of jumps.
Freeze - amount and length of freeze arrows in the song.
Chaos - amount of irregular patterns in the song (non-1/8th arrows, arrow
streams ending on a 1/8th beat instead of a 1/4th beat, etc.) in
relation to the length of the song.

03. Techniques
-----------
The methods for the techniques listed here are the ones I use. There may be
several ways to perform them, but this is my FAQ and my word on them.

Illustrations for common patterns look like this:

1/4 Scale, each arrow is _/___ of a beat long
L A left arrow
D A down arrow
U An up arrow
R A right arrow
� The beginning of a freeze arrow
| Length of a freeze arrow
! End of a freeze arrow
Butterfly turn

This very common set of arrows first appeared in the song "butterfly" in
Japanese versions of Dance Dance Revolution. It looks like this:
1/4 1/4
L R
D U
U D
R L

Alternate feet between each step in butterfly turns. Step in the order L,R,
L,R for butterfly turns that start with L and R,L,R,L for butterfly turns
that start with R. Do this quickly for 1/8 butterfly turns.

Twisting steps

Twisting steps are commonly three or five steps long. Variations include:
1/8 1/8 1/8 1/8 1/8
L R L R L
D D D D D
R L R L U
D D D
L R L

These variations of twisting steps are simple. Turn sideways, preferably to
the left, and put one foot on the second arrow (in these cases, this is D) and
start with the other foot. Commonly used for down is the right foot, so step
on the first arrow with the left foot in the order L,R,L,R,L. Twist along with
the steps and try to get used to it. Other variations mirror this one and they
look like this:
1/8 1/8 1/8
L L R
U U U
R R L
U U
L R

For this start with the right foot and place your left on U. Step in the order
R,L,R,L,R. For all cases, switching feet for starting a twist is common as
well, especially with songs that chain many twisting steps together.
1/8
D
L
D
U
D
R
D
L
D
R

For twisting steps like these, don't switch feet until the constant arrow (the
one that appears in a straight line downward) changes. These are called
pivoting steps.

Galloping

Galloping steps are pairs of 1/16 arrows placed one 1/4 or 1/8 note apart. It
looks like this:
1/16 1/16
L R
D U


\ \
/ /
\ \


D U
L R

After stepping on the first arrow, quickly step on the next. Galloping steps
usually come in successions, so prepare to do this a lot. For closely packed
galloping steps, you'll need to do it much faster.
1/16
L
D
\
/
\
D
L

If I missed anything, describe it to me. See the contact list on the bottom
for more details.

04. Songs
-----------
Song list taken from http://www.ddrfreak.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=74003
because I was too lazy not to make one myself.

The strategies for each song listed, provided it has one, apply to the Single
Heavy and Challenge steps only. To master Light and Standard, playing them
over and over is the only way to make it to the Heavy ranking players. They
should also read the above mentioned notes on common dance patterns. I can't
really write strategies for songs without complex patterns anyway. If you have
your own tips, describe it to me. See the contact list on the bottom for more
details.

A Little Bit of Ecstasy - Jocelyn Enriquez
Passing this song requires you to really listen closely to the beats in the
background. When the song slows down, speed up a little on the clusters of
1/16 steps.

AFRONOVA - RE-VENGE
This song is notorious for its unrelenting streams of 1/8 arrows. You'll need
to twist several times in a row twice after the beginning fragments of 1/8
arrow triplets. Then comes the four streams of jumps, which isn't hard to
read. After that, whatever stamina's left is the only thing that can save you
in the next strings of 1/8 arrows. Jump as quickly as possible for the ending
1/12 jumps.

AM-3P - KTz
An excellent warm-up song, as this song has the works: a long string of
pivoting arrows, a bit of galloping, irregular beats and techniques with jumps.
Learn the patterns and techniques of mastering each segment separately.

AM-3P (AM East Mix) - KTz
The more challenging version of the original AM-3P. Stepped up 10 bpm and with
more beats than its predecessor, this song has more chaos, which is distributed
evenly throughout the song, with the bias after the beginning. A bit hard to
follow at parts, get the pattern of the beginning of each irregular stream and
follow it until the end. If you lose focus, you'll most likely end up lost.

Bad Routine - DJ Spunga
The two stops in this song can throw you off if you're not paying attention, so
pay attention. After the apparent gap in the music, wait one beat before
starting again and you'll be fine.

BREAK DOWN! - Be for U
Much circling and twisting is incorporated into these steps. A good deal of
stamina is required to pass too. Stay away from this one for a while until you
get a good hold of both.

Burning Heat! (3 Option Mix) - Mr.T with Motoaki F.
There are no 1/8 arrows or 1/16 arrows in this song. It is comprised entirely
of 1/12 arrows. Faster than 1/8 arrows but slower than 1/16 arrows, 1/12
arrows in large groups very stamina depleting. The arrows don't always follow
the beat completely, so play in 1.5x to make them appear as 1/8 arrows until
you can clearly see the pattern in the steps.

Busy Child - The Crystal Method
Probably the longest song in DDRMAX2. Note that certain repeated sounds are
stepped to differently, particularly in the end.

Can't Stop Fallin' In Love - Naoki
A little chaos and an above-average amount of stream is in this song. Just be
careful in the beginning and the end.

Celebrate Nite - N.M.R
A bit hard for a 7-foot song. If you're careful, the only things to worry
about are the clusters of 1/16 arrows throughout the song, which are few and
far between.

Celebrate Nite (Euro Trance Style) - N.M.R.
More chaotic than the original. The beats in this song allow for more 1/16
arrows throughout the song. This is, after all, the nature of trance music.

Conga Feeling - Vivian

D2R - Naoki

Days Go By - Dirty Vegas

Destiny - Naoki feat. Paula Terry

Dive (More And Deeper Style) - BeForU

Do It Right - SOTA feat. Ebony Fay

Do It Right (80's Electro Mix) - SOTA feat. Ebony Fay

Don't Stop (AMD 2nd Mix) - Dr. Vibe feat. JP Miles

Dream a Dream - Captain Jack
An easy 7-foot song. Lots of marching (repetitve patterns of two alternating
arrows). Nothing much more to worry about.

Drifting Away - Lange feat. Skye
The latter half of this song has an unrelenting, but repetitive, galloping
pattern. Learn it and base your steps on it until the ending 1/8 arrows.

End Of The Century - No. 9
The bulk of the difficulty of this song comes from its long and hard to follow
streams of 1/8 arrows. Don't lose your focus on the jumps that come afterward.

Feeling Of Love - Youhei Shimizu

Forever Sunshine - Chel Y.

Get Down Tonight - K.C. & The Sunshine Band

Ghosts (Vincent De Moor Remix) - Tenth Planet
Another song with an irregular pattern. Again, listen closely to the music and
you'll be fine. Try not to be distracted with the video.

Groove - Sho-T feat. Brenda

Heaven - DJ Sammy & Yanou featuring DO

Hysteria - Naoki 190
The only hard part of this song is the interesting thing they did with the
jumps. You won't break your combo if you gallop on the up and down steps after
a left-right jump, but do it as quickly as possible after the jump.

Hysteria 2001 - NM
Stay alert. The steps begin very early. They did interesting things using
freeze arrows. In my opinion this is the only reason it's harder than the original.

i feel... - Akira Yamaoka
The only reason this song is considered a 9-foot song is the hard to read
pattern. It does, however, follow the music, so try hard to read it. Feel
free to speed it up.

I Need You - Supa Fova (Feat. Jenny F.)

I Was the One - good-cool
This song offers streams of 1/8 arrows that end on 1/8 beats rather than on 1/4
beats. The arrows follow the vocals.

In the Navy '99 (XXL Disaster Remix) - Captain Jack
A large amount of galloping in the beginning and the end of the song. The
verse is the easiest part.

Jam & Marmalade - Final Offset
Kakumei - dj TAKA feat. Naoki
This song has pairs of galloping steps throughout the song. The Challenge
steps have more complicated galloping patterns and less stream.

Keep on Liftin' - DJ Nagureo
Kind Lady - Okuyatos
Just listen to the vocals. The steps follow the vocals closely in the beginning.

Kind Lady (Interlude) - Okuyatos
This remix has more stream than the original. Other than that, it's a bit
shorter than its predecessor. Hang in there to survive.

MaxX Unlimited - Z
The fastest song in American Dance Dance Revolution to date. Faster and more
complex than MAX 300, the pattern is very hard to read and should be avoided
unless you feel you're ready for a challenge at 320 bpm.

Let's Groove - Tips & Tricks Vs Wisdome
Not very hard, but the beginning and end of the 35 bpm section can be hard to
predict. At that time, watch your timing until the string of 1/16 steps, when
it ends. Then it's a walk in the park from there.

Long Train Runnin' - Bus Stop
The difficulty in this song lies in the clusters of 4 1/16 arrows throughout
the song. Time them correctly and the song appears easier than it looks.

Love at First Sight - Kylie Minogue

Lovin' You (Rob Searle Club Mix) - Vinyl Baby
Packs of 5 1/16th steps are plenty in this song. Work on stepping speed to
pass.

Paranoia KCET (Clean Mix) - 2MB

more deep (ver 2.1) - Togo Project feat. Sana
Just watch out in the middle where 1/16th steps are packed together in galloping
patterns.

Put Your Faith In Me - Uzi-Lay

Radical Faith - TaQ

Rain of Sorrow - NM feat. Ebony Fay

Secret Rendezvous - DIVAS
A slow song with packs of 1/16 steps that follow the vocals most of the time.
Near the end, all you can do is watch the arrows to get them right.

Silent Hill - THOMAS HOWARD

Silent Hill (3rd Christmas Mix) - THOMAS HOWARD

SO DEEP (PERFECT SPHERE REMIX) - SILVERTEAR
One of the most feared songs, the beat is all fast-paced galloping. The
pattern adds beats at times, so you may want to speed it up by at least x2.

SP-Trip Machine (Jungle Mix) - DE-SIRE
Beat patterns repeat in the beginning and the end, but the steps are presented
differently. Get used to stepping early.

Spin the disc - good-cool

Still in My Heart - Naoki

Super Star - DJ Rich feat. Tail Bros.
This song is very repetitive, especially in the middle. Get a hold of the
movement of the pattern and continue until the pattern shows an apparent
change. The cluster of 1/16th steps, since this song is only 128 bpm,
isn't a thing to worry about if you did well so far.

Super Star (from nonstop megamix) - DJ Rich feat. Tail Bros.

Take Me Away (Into the Night) (radio vocal) - 4 Strings

The Shining Polaris - L.E.D. feat. Sana

The Whistle Song (Blow My Whistle Baby) - DJ Aligator Project
The stop near the end of the song can stop a good combo if you're not focused.
Try hard to follow the galloping in the middle of the song.

think ya better D - sAmi

Tomorrow Perfume - dj TAKA

Try 2 Luv. U - S.F.M.P.

Tsugaru - RevenG vs De-Sire

Twilight Zone (R-C Extended Club MIX) - 2 Unlimited

Vanity Angel - Fixx

Will I? - Ian Van Dahl

Xenon - Mr. T
Pivoting steps start the song off, then it's all chaos from then on. All I can
say is listen carefully.


05. Nonstop Mode
-----------
Can you keep dancing until the end?

Nonstop Mode's difficulty lies in the song courses it offers. The length of
each course ranges from 3-12 songs and has two difficulties each, Normal and
Difficult. Nonstop courses can be played in Single, Versus and Double play.
Also included are 3 Orders, which are user-defined courses up to 20 stages
long. Difficulty and modifiers can be set individually.



06. Workout Mode
------------

Nothing much to say here. This is a modified version of Game Mode that
calculates score in calories rather than points and records progress.

07. Lesson Mode
------------
If you've never played Dance Dance Revolution before start with this lesson!

The Lesson Mode is separated into 3 lessons of 8 sections each. In each
lesson, the first 7 lessons introduce a basic of play. The eighth lesson is a
test of the previous lessons and can only be accessed by passing the first
seven lessons. After passing lesson 3, play with the Beginner difficulty.

08. Training Mode
------------
Remember to use training mode for songs that are difficult.

The training mode simulates normal game play, but with more features for the
purpose of improving on a specific song. Options include:

Difficulty - Choose from the difficulties available for each song.
Player - Choose from Single, Versus, and Double.
Assist - Toggle the music, assist tick (makes a noise on each step), metronome,
a combination of two, or all three.
Music Speed - Slow the music down from 1-5, 1 being the slowest and 5 being
normal speed.
Options - Use modifiers available in normal play.
First Bar - Specify the beginning of the music to be played.
Last Bar - Specify the end of the music to be played.
Edit Data - Select edit data to be used.

09. Edit Mode
-----------

10. Options
-----------
Sound Options
---
Sound - Stereo or Mono.
Voice - All - All remarks are played during play.
No Booing - All negative remarks are not played during play.
Off - No remarks are made during play.
Timing - Offset between arrows and music in 1/32 beat increments. +16 moves
arrows 1/16 ahead of music and -16 moves arrows arrows 1/16 behind music.

Controller Options
---
Vibration - Off - Do not vibrate controller during play.
Miss - Controller vibrates on each missed arrow. Only affects
Controllers that support vibration.
Button - Controller vibrates when buttons are pressed. Only
affects controllers that support vibration.
Double Play - Only available when Vibration is set to Miss or Button.
Toggles vibration during Double play.
Double Mode Setting - Submenu for changing Double play controls. Blue
arrows control 1P side and red arrows control 2P
side.
Controller Options - Submenu for allowing non-arrow buttons during play. Set
this option individually for each player.

Save/Load
---
Save - Saves system data.
Load - Loads system data.
Auto Save - Automatically save system data after exiting Game Mode, Workout
Mode, Lesson Mode, Records, Options, Information or Endless Mode,
given data has changed within.
Edit Folder Load - Loads Edit Folder 1 at startup. Will slow down load time, so
only use this if you have Edit Data in Edit Folder 1.

Game Options
---
Difficulty - Set between 1-8. Higher values will cause the dance gauge to
increase slower and decrease faster.
Max Stage - Set between 1-5.
Game Over - Change to Arcade or End of Song. If all players' Dance Gauges
bottoms out during play, Arcade will end the game immediately,
End of Song will end the game at the end of the song. This setting
Is irrelevant in Game Mode if Event Mode is on.
Event Mode - Set to on or off. If this option is on, the Select Music, Select
Course, or Endless Mode Settings screen is displayed at the end of
a game, depending on the mode.
Default Difficulty - Set to Beginner, Light, Standard, Heavy, or Nonstop. This
controls what the difficulty select screen starts on.

Graphics Options
---
Movie - Set to on or off. Toggles the background movies for each song. Turning
this option off also disables Danger.
Danger - Set to Blink, Still or off. Danger screen will be shown continuously
when Dance Gauge is at a dangerously low level when set to Still,
alternates between movie and Danger screen regularly when set to Blink
and will not be shown at all when set to off.
BG Brightness - Set to 25%-100% in increments of 5%. Turn this option down if
you have trouble seeing the arrows.
Position - Press X to move the screen. Use the directional buttons to move the
screen position. Use the corner brackets as a guide to center the
screen. Press X to accept, Start or O to return to default, and
Select or Triangle to discard changes.
Step Mark Color - Set to Type1 or Type2. Type1 is the normal vivid colors and
Type2 colors each note clearly. 1/4th notes are colored red,
1/8th notes are colored blue, 1/16th notes are colored yellow
and 1/12th notes are colored green.
Flicker Free - Set to on or off. Toggles anti-alias to smooth edges. Turning
this option off can make edges look sharper but makes some edges
close together flicker on some screens.

Workout Options
---
Measurement - Set to Free or Regulation. Free will count calories for the
duration of the song and Regulation will count calories between
the first and last steps.
Calorie Display - Set to Calories or Score. Calories will show calories burned
in place of the score and Score will show the score.
Calorie Unit - Set to pounds or kilograms. Set unit to count weight lost.

Dancer Options
---
Dancer Display - Set to on or off. The following four options will be disabled
When this option is off. Turning this option on allows dancers
(i.e, characters) to be displayed over the movie. Dancers will
not be displayed on the following songs if the background
movies are on:
CONGA FEELING
DAYS GO BY
DREAM A DREAM
IN THE NAVY '99 (XXL Disaster Remix)
Love At First Sight
THE WHISTLE SONG (Blow My Whistle Baby)
Extra Character - Set to off, 1 or 2. This allows extra characters to be
displayed during gameplay. When set to 1, on Single Play the
non-participating player's character is used and on Versus
Play the Extra Character is used. When set to 2, on Single
Play the Extra Character is used. This has no effect on
Versus Play.
1P Character - Set to Random Male, Random Female, Random All, or a specific
character.
2P Character - Set to Random Male, Random Female, Random All, or a specific
character.
Extra Character - Set to Random Male, Random Female, Random All, or a specific
character. This only has an effect if Extra Character is
enabled.

11. Information
------------
This screen shows information about songs you unlocked or played, new modes
you've unlocked, how to use certain features, and tips for gameplay. Nothing
much to say about it.

12. Endless Mode
------------

13. Other Useless Crap
------------
This section contains other statements about Dance Dance Revolution and this
FAQ.

If you want to amend to this FAQ, send all of your information to my servant
C-SPAM (not a member at GameFAQs) at cm555@cox.net. Put a meaningful subject
in your message or C-SPAM will delete it, along with the other 100 messages of
spam he gets a day. You will be fully credited without fail. If you feel that
you haven't, tell C-SPAM about and he will check his archive of messages
pertaining to FAQs and verify. My e-mail is strictly reserved for a select
group of users.

This FAQ is (c)2003 Shin Pinoy and C-SPAM. We have spent a good amount of time
writing this FAQ, time we could have otherwise spent improving. The following
websites have full permission to use this FAQ in full, all others have used
this work without permission and can expect legal action from the author(s) of
this FAQ:

GameFAQs - http://www.gamefaqs.com
Cheat Code Central - http://www.cheatcc.com

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