Dance Dance Revolution Playstation FAQ March 9th 2000, Revision 1.0 Written By : Crono E-mail : crono@tows.org Real Name : Justin Strauss Home Page : www.tows.org This document is the intellectual property of the author. It is intended to provide help, to fellow gamers, on a title that is both entertaining and difficult at various times. Please do not copy or distribute this file in any format without consent of the author. This means: on other web pages, as part of another FAQ, in any written or electronic publication, etc. And, to be crystal clear, this document is legally copyrighted through two or more means. This is including a publishing firm clause, as well as various websites' legal setups (such as the one found on GameFAQs). If you have any new tips or info you want us to hear, just drop an e-mail. And, just in case this comes up, neither Game Cave nor anyone else may not distribute this to those who purchase this title or who are somehow bringing profit to said party. Dance Dance Revolution is a trademark of Konami Computer Entertainment, Inc. Copyright 1999 by Konami Computer Entertainment, Inc. Copyright Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo, Inc. All related names fall under the same applicable laws. All rights reserved. You can find the newest version of this FAQ only at the following sites. If you find it anywhere else, please let me know as soon as possible. It should not be posted anywhere else but at the following sites: Game FAQs Videogame Strategies http://www.gamefaqs.com/ http://vgstrategies.about.com/ Table of Contents: -------------------------------------- 0.0 Revision History 1.0 General Description 2.0 Options Menu 3.0 Arcade Mode 3.1 Arrange Mode 4.0 Song List and Info 5.0 Training Mode 6.0 Records List 7.0 Edit Mode 8.0 Game Secrets and Hidden Options 9.0 Contributions and Thank-You's 0.0 Revision History -------------------------------------- V0.9 - 03/07/00 - Initial Release! Expect typos or grammar problems from it. V1.0 - 03/09/00 - Fixed any apparent typos and missing bits. - Polished up some sentences and areas. - Separated Arcade and Arrange Mode. - Added button commands for Edit mode. Coming Soon: -more detailed music listings. -more secrets and hidden things. -whatever might be left out. 1.0 General Description -------------------------------------- Dance Dance Revolution has grown to become my favorite series in Konami's entire "Bemani" line of musical games. This genre of Konami games started with "Beatmania" and grew to contain "DDR," as well as "Pop 'n Music" and realistic games for the Guitar, Drums, and Keyboards. However, this series holds a special place in my heart. Not only does it have the most recognizable and catchy music (especially for an English-speaking audience) but it also has an amazing ability to combine the worlds of video-gaming and dancing into one incredible genre. This game has music and visuals to keep you entertained forever, but it is the true interactive nature of the game that makes it so fun. The basic gameplay is simple to learn, but insanely tough to master. The game is played with four primary buttons, one being for each direction on a control pad (up, down, left, and right). On your side of the game screen, you will see these four directions indicated at the top section. During gameplay, flashing arrows will move slowly from the bottom of that "column" up to the top where your arrows are. The basic premise is to hit the correct direction's button whenever the flashing arrows meet with the arrows at the top. You hafta listen to the rhythm of the song as well, because the simple "sight" of the arrows can't always tell you exactly when to hit the arrows. You have a "dance meter" which increases as you do well and decreases as you miss. If it empties, you lose. Each time you press a directional button, the game will keep track of how close to the exact beat you were. You can "Miss" or get a "Boo" if you do it poorly. A "Good" means you did it fairly well, while a "Great" or "Perfect" is right on the money. Each of these five possibilities yields more points than the one before it. Also, the game keeps track of a "combo" for you. A combo is how many "greats" or "perfects" you have gotten in a row. If you get a "good" or worse for any arrow... the combo ends. You receive a score at the end of the level, depending on how well you did (from "E" to "A" and then to "S." You get an "SS" if you did a combo for the entire level, from start to finish). It takes coordination as well as a sense of rhythm to play this game well, especially for the later levels. This also gives an incentive to play again, to earn an "SS" on every level variant. This aspect alone makes the game incredibly fun to play with a standard control pad. However, this is not the true nature of the game. If you purchase the special Dance Dance Revolution Controller from Konami, you can experience the Arcade game's true play style (the one that proves to combine the gaming world with the world of dance). With this "dance mat" set up, you use your feet and dancing skill to play the game. The dance mat (as with the arcade machine) has four large arrows on it (set up like a giant version of the directional pad you're used to). With this, you must "step" to the beat properly, and this adds much more challenge and appeal to the game. In fact, only those with true dancing skills and coordination have ever been able to beat the toughest levels with the dance mat. Songs that you play in DDR are amazingly catchy and well done. Aside from the "Konami Original" songs that you'll find in the game, all the songs that you play are taken from the "Dancemania" compilation series in Japan. This series of mix-CD's is released by Toshiba-EMI in Japan, and is composed of dance hits from around the world (mainly Europe). And, aside from the specialty DDR games, all of the songs in Dance Dance Revolution are in full English. So yes, every song that you hear in this game is from a REAL artist or group that has released their own CD in the past. Names like Chumbawamba, Olivia Newton John, EPMD, The Specials, Me&My, Captain Jack, and many others are well-known in America and worldwide. Either way, this game is truly one of the most well-conceived titles to come out of the gaming industry. When you get into it, it becomes very addictive. There are different dancers that you can choose to play on-screen, and songs that will easily make you want to go out and buy the artists' full CD's (because the songs are so great) ^_^ And besides, the game is universally appealing and simple enough for anyone to wanna try. Men, women, kids, adults... all of them will like the songs and the ability to "show off their moves" on the miniature dance floor. It is truly a series in which the term "video game" barely seems acceptable. I'd rather say "interactive experience." But even then, descriptions can't do the game justice. Give it a try, it's all I can say. NOTE: To play an import game on an American Playstation, you normally need a "mod chip" to get your system to play the Japanese title. However, some recent import games like Final Fantasy VIII and Um Jammer Lammy will NOT work on an American Playstation with a normal mod chip. To play this, you have two choices. The first is to get the new type of mod chip that works with these locked-out games. Your second choice is if you have a Game Shark accessory for your PSX. If you have an older mod chip, you can get it to work with Dance Dance Revolution by using the following Game Shark code on the game: D001E160 FFF2 8001E160 0001 D01B6F20 0003 801B6F20 0001 D01B76A8 DE07 801B76A8 DDFE D01B6414 6424 800101DA 0101 This code must be on when the game boots up, until the "Konami" screen. After this point, you can turn the effects switch off, though this code will not mess up your game in any way. If you are unfamiliar with a Game Shark and how to use it, you can visit the maker, InterAct (www.gameshark.com) or the official- unnoficial best code site, the GSCCC (www.cmgsccc.com). 2.0 Options Menu -------------------------------------- The Options Menu in Dance Dance Revolution is completely in English, and therefore it should be self-explanatory in most any case. However, certain options may be earned through fulfilling certain objectives or might be difficult to understand. Various options will change the way that the gameplay operates, while others will be cosmetic changes. The full set of menu options is as follows: -Sound: Stereo/Monaural -Game Level: 1-8 -Vibration: Button/ArrowSync/Miss/No Use -Double Play: On/Off -Key Config -Double Mode Setting -Type: A-D -Type: I-III -Exit -Dance Play Setting -Controller 1: On/Off -Controller 2: On/Off -Exit -Memory Card -Save -Want to Save: Yes/No -Overwrite Old Data: Yes/No -Load -Want to Load: Yes/No -Auto Save: On/Off -Exit -Exit 3.0 Arcade Mode -------------------------------------- This is the primary mode of the game, and it's the place where you will spend most of your time. You first must choose the game's "difficulty" (which really just determines which set of levels you will play). You can also choose which "variant" of the levels you will play. And finally, you can decide which "effects" you want to take place on the level. In this first DDR game, however, you must input a few codes in order to choose the variants and effects (see the tricks section). After doing so, you can choose the variants and effects that you wish to use by pressing the "select" button at the screen where you choose the game difficulty. This takes you to the secret screen where you input the codes and choose the options in here by pressing "start." -Difficulty: Three choices "Easy," "Normal," or "Hard." Normal mode has the first set of the game's levels, while Hard mode has the other half of the levels (the tougher ones). You play a set of Three stages in whichever you choose, and you choose which song you will play for each new stage. All of the game's songs/levels are found within these two main modes. If you choose Easy mode, you will play One stage (chosen from an assortment of levels from both Normal and Hard). On Easy mode, you can not lose the stage, no matter how low your dance meter goes. Easy mode is just for practice, and does not let you set records or progress farther. -Variant: Five choices "Basic," "Another," "Maniac," "Double Basic," or "Double Another." Basic is the default set of steps (arrows) for a level. This is the easiest choice of the bunch. Another is a bit harder and has more steps in it. Maniac is the hardest and has the most steps of all. Think of those as the easy, medium, and hard variants of each level. Double mode lets one person play with both controllers (yes, so they have to do double duty, worrying about eight arrows). Double Another is the harder version of Double, with more steps in the song. -Effects: One choice "Mirror." In Mirror mode, the steps in the level will be reversed to their opposite. In other words, left and right get switched, and up and down will get reversed as well (not at the top or anything. This just means that any "lefts" will become "rights" and so on). This is the only special effect available in this first DDR game. Important info. Each song in the game has a difficulty level associated with it, and each song has a different difficulty for each of its variants. You can see the difficulty level below each song disc that you can select. The difficulty level itself is indicated by how many "feet" markers you will see, as well as a title (each level of difficulty has a title that indicates how tough it is). These difficulty levels are in relation to the other levels in the particular game. A specific level's difficulty number can always change if it appears again in a later DDR game. These difficulty titles are listed in the table below, along with how many "footmarks" each represents... Also, there is the list of each step rank you can get while playing the game (along with the colors that represent them). This comes into play during the level, to tell how close you were to hitting a step (arrow) at the correct time. They are listed in order from best to worst. "Perfect" is right on the beat, and "Great" is extremely close. "Good" is close to the beat, and "Boo" is far off. "Miss" is what you get when you totally miss the beat or just don't even input anything at all for it. Your "combo" is counting how many Perfects or Greats you can get in a row. Your "Grade" at the end of the level depends on how well you did with the steps. If you keep a combo going for every beat of the stage (start to finish) you will receive an "SS" rank (though in this game, "S" is the highest. The higher rank is not present until later DDR games). Here are the tables of important info: Song Difficulty Step Rank Level Grade 1: Simple Perfect : Yellow E: Terrible 2: Moderate Great : Green D: Poor 3: Ordinary Good : Blue C: Fair 4: Superior Boo : Pink B: Good 5: Marvelous Miss : Red A: Great 6: Genuine S: Perfect 7: Paramount Ouch : White 8: Exorbitant 3.1 Arrange Mode -------------------------------------- The "Arrange Mode" in this game is just a slight variant on the "Arcade Mode." This mode has a different set of character costumes, and it also adds a new sixth (and worst) rank that steps can be judged on called "Ouch." This extra ranking changes the meaning of "Miss." Usually, the rank "Miss" can either mean that you were way off on hitting the step, or it could mean that you did not press a button for that step at all. In Arrange mode, "Miss" only means that you did not press the step at all, where "Ouch" takes the role of saying that you were "way off." Besides this, both games are the same for everything: steps, difficulties, variants, and effects. However, because of the slight difference in rankings, this mode has its own whole set of "Records" which can be filled in. 4.0 Song List and Info -------------------------------------- Song Title Artist Difficulties Have You Never Been Mellow The Olivia Project B/ 1 A/ 2 M/ 5 D/ 3 AD/ 4 Butterfly (Normal) Smile.dk B/ 3 A/ 4 M/ 6 D/ 4 AD/ 6 Butterfly (Hard) Smile.dk B/ 3 A/ 4 M/ 6 D/ 4 AD/ 6 Kung Fu Fighting (Normal) Bus Stop feat. Carl Douglas B/ 2 A/ 3 M/ 5 D/ 4 AD/ 5 Kung Fu Fighting (Hard) Bus Stop feat. Carl Douglas B/ 3 A/ 3 M/ 5 D/ 4 AD/ 5 My Fire X-Treme B/ 4 A/ 5 M/ 6 D/ 5 AD/ 6 Little Bitch The Specials B/ 4 A/ 6 M/ 7 D/ 5 AD/ 6 Let's Get Down JT Playaz B/ 3 A/ 4 M/ 7 D/ 4 AD/ 7 That's the Way (I Like It) KC & The Sunshine Band B/ 2 A/ 3 M/ 5 D/ 4 AD/ 5 Strictly Business Mantronik vs EPMD B/ 4 A/ 5 M/ 6 D/ 5 AD/ 6 Paranoia 180 B/ 6 A/ 7 M/ 8 D/ 7 AD/ 8 Trip Machine De-Sire B/ 6 A/ 7 M/ 8 D/ 6 AD/ 8 Make it Better Mitsu-O! B/ 5 A/ 6 M/ 8 D/ 5 AD/ 6 Boys Smile.dk B/ 3 A/ 4 M/ 7 D/ 4 AD/ 5 I Believe in Miracles Hi-Rise B/ 5 A/ 6 M/ 8 D/ 6 AD/ 7 Make a Jam! U1 B/ 2 A/ 4 M/ 5 D/ 3 AD/ 5 Paranoia KCET ~clean mix~ 2MB B/ 6 A/ 7 M/ 8 D/ 7 AD/ 8 Paranoia MAX ~dirty mix~ 190 B/ 6 A/ 8 M/ 8 D/ 7 AD/ 8 5.0 Training Mode -------------------------------------- "Training" mode is the place to sharpen your skills on any level that you have accessed, without fear of losing. At any time during the menu, you may press the "select" button to move the menu to the other side of the screen. And, after each level you play, you get a choice of "Press 'O' for menu, or 'X' to exit." In the menu, you can choose from: "Check/Again/Return." The "Check" option lets you review the song you just played, bar by bar, and shows you how well you did for each step (arrow-press) in the level. Each arrow will be colored in a specific shade to indicate how each was ranked (yellow=perfect, green=great, blue=good, pink=boo, red=miss). "Again" lets you repeat the level, and "Return" takes you back to the main menu. The menu options are as follows: -Music Select -Mode: Arcade/Arrange -Level: Basic/Another/Maniac -Play Style: Basic/Mirror -Player: 1P/1P&2P/Double -Speed: 1-5 -Bar Start: 01-70 -Bar End: 02-71 -Edit -Start -Exit 6.0 Records List -------------------------------------- This menu keeps a list of your high scores for all of the game's stages (Music High Score). You can view high scores for each variant of each song (five variants per song). It keeps track of your letter and number high score for each one, as well as your maximum combo achieved while earning that score. In this game, your highest overall scores (Total Ranking) can also be viewed here, along with the five highest single-stage scores (Music Ranking) and a stage-by-stage review of your highest scoring overall game (Total High Score). The menu options are as follows: -Arcade Mode -Total Ranking -Music Ranking -Total High Score -Music High Score -Exit -Arrange Mode -Total Ranking -Music Ranking -Total High Score -Music High Score -Exit -Edit Mode -Exit 7.0 Edit Mode -------------------------------------- This mode is one of the cooler features of the game, as it lets you create your own sets of steps for any of the game's levels. From here, you create your steps and then save them to a memory card. At any time in the process, if you attempt to start a "new data" or "load" data without having "saved" your current data, the game will ask you "Do you wish to continue without saving: Yes/No." The menu options are as follows: -New Data -Choose Song -Load Official Data: Yes/No -Basic/Another/Maniac -Directionl Pad: move one beat distance up/down -Circle: create/delete right arrow -Triangle: create/delete up arrow -X button: create/delete down arrow -Square: create/delete left arrow -L1: change beat distance (Full/Half/Fourth) -R1: hold down and press up/down to move in full bars -L2: create an area (press once for start, once for end) -R2: clear line -Select: change measurement (Bar/Sec) -Start: Area Menu (effects contents of created area) -Copy -Paste -Cut -Delete -Exit -Memory Card -Save -Load -Rename -Edit Menu -Player -1P/1P&2P/Double -Test Play -Start: 01-70 -End: 02-71 -Guide -Exit 8.0 Game Secrets and Hidden Options -------------------------------------- -Variants and Effects. In this game, you can not choose the level "variants" or "effects" by default (see above for what they are). When you start Arcade (or Arrange) mode, and are choosing the game's difficulty, you can access the special menu by pressing the "select" button (or by pressing "up" on the directional pad). This menu starts out empty, and you must input the following codes (on the directional pad, while in the special menu) to fill it in with these choices (and combinations of them): -Another: U, U, D, D, U, U, D, D -Maniac: L, L, R, R, L, L, R, R -Double: U, U, D, D, L, R, L, R -Mirror: L, R, L, R, L, R, L, R -Secret Songs. Some of the game's songs will not be accessible from the start of the game. You must fulfill a certain requirement in order to unlock each of them. Once you do so, they will be available to play at any time in their respective modes and stages: -Make a Jam! : clear Normal mode 10 times -Boys : clear 600 songs -I Believe in Miracles : clear 700 songs -Paranoia KCET ~clean mix~ : clear Hard mode 100 times -Paranoia MAX ~dirty mix~ : clear Hard mode 500 times -Edit Mode. This mode is not accessible from the start of the game. To open it up, you must clear 500 stages in the Arcade or Arrange modes. It will then appear at the bottom of the title screen menu, under the "Options" menu. Additionally, you can open up this mode (as well as all the other secrets) instantly by using the "Online Support" option from Dance Dance Revolution 2nd Remix. See my FAQ for that game for more information. -Select Characters. There are more characters to play as in this game (other than the primary man and woman character). Both Player 1 and Player 2 have Three different character models for Arcade mode, and Three different ones for Arrange mode. By holding either "left" or "right" on the directional pad, and then pressing the button to select Arcade mode (or Arrange mode) you will select the alternate character models. By pressing the button without holding either direction ("neutral" on the directional pad) you will get the standard character for that mode. The characters you can select are as follows: Mode Left Neutral Right -Arcade P1 : Plug Afro Mars -Arcade P2 : Bunny Girl Venus -Arrange P1 : Bug Afro 2 Exclaim -Arrange P2 : Cat Girl 2 Question 9.0 Contributions and Thank-You's -------------------------------------- GameFAQs (www.gamefaqs.com) for hosting this FAQ, along with more great gaming info than most any site out there. Keep up the good work, man. Without GameFAQs... where would we all go for detailed game help? Sure, lotsa places have great code archives, and some TRY to keep all the best FAQs. But who succeeds? Only one, my friend ^_^ Jeff "CJayC" Veasey does an astounding, daily job of organizing these entries (and he writes his own wonderful FAQs). I must also give a hearty thanks to Al Amaloo, the maintainer of Videogame Strategies (vgstrategies.about.com). He has completed perhaps the best and most extensive archive of codes and tricks (www.gamewinners.com) and written extensive guides for games that would go otherwise un-covered. And what makes these two men (Jeff Veasey and Al Amaloo) so special... is that they provide an invaluable service to the gaming community out of the goodness of their heart. They work hard, every day, without the help of any major affiliate. Bravo to both of you! The wonderful patrons of my own message board, the OtherWorlds Shrine (www.tows.org) which is sometimes the only refuge for the true gamer. Along with my friend SineSwiper, we keep the shrine alive as a place for gamers to respectfully speak and get together while online. The friends that I have made there have meant the world to me, despite how my "real life" sometimes drags me offline for days at a time. Either way, here's to ya'll... and I won't mention any names (as there are too many of you to possibly remember them all now. And you'll kill me if I miss any, hehe). The place has been around for years, and I guarantee that it will always exist as long as there is an Internet. The select few of my real-life friends who love gaming almost as much as myself, and keep me inspired to keep on playing. Tacchi, you're as obsessed over games as me. We've been gaming for well near two decades. We're getting old, dude. And Crystal, well you can kick most of our sorry arses ^_^ Steffannee... you introduced me to Will in Rival Schools! Scott, you've been a pal through it all, despite how you suck at games ^_^ Kathryn, your love and understanding will always be cherished (yes, call me sappy). And Alex, you've been there since we were infants, when the NES was only a dream in the semi-near future. Chris, you're one of my dearest friends (as well as one of the most eerily unique). Your love for the Butterfly song and the goofy dance you do... will always bring a smile to my face. And of course, thanks go out to Lynn and Donna! You two are a few of the only people who love Pop 'n Music (and Bust a Move of course) as much as I do. Every time we meet is a cherished moment. And, speaking of music games, I owe a world of thanks to Malcolm. His friendship has meant a ton to me, and he's one of those few folks who plays and works hard at ALL the music game series just like I do (Beatmania, Dance Dance Revolution, Pop 'n Music, Bust a Move, and the countless other Bemani titles as well). Matt, you're the only true Gas-o, and a dear dear friend (I know, I use that phrase so often, but it's true!) And finally, Freddy-kun, you love H-anime more than any other Shorty I've ever known ^_^;; Konami, Sony, Sega, and all the great companies and people who made the game possible. Without them, we'd never have been introduced to this wonderous world, beautiful characters, and a style of gaming that changed our lives. These Bemani games, like Dance Dance Revolution, are perhaps my favorite genre out there right now. It gives those folks with a "rhythmical sense" a way to convey that sense through gaming. And besides, it beats having another cookie-cutter RPG or fighter to deal with. ~End of File~