Dance Dance Revolution A

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Dance Dance Revolution A
DDR A Logo.png
Developer(s) Konami, Bemani
Publisher(s) Konami
Series Dance Dance Revolution
Platform(s) Arcade
Release
Genre(s) Music, exercise
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer
Arcade system Bemani PC Type 5 (Windows 10 Embedded Standard)

Dance Dance Revolution A [lower-alpha 1] (pronounced Ace) is a music video game, the 16th installment of the Dance Dance Revolution arcade series in Japan (the 8th in Europe and the 7th in North America), and the sequel to the 2014 release of Dance Dance Revolution . It was released on March 30, 2016 in Japan and Asia as a dedicated cabinet and as an upgrade kit, with Japan receiving a localized build, while the Korean release was delayed to the next week. This game was also released in North America later in 2016, in the form of new cabinets with e-Amusement connectivity, while Europe received new offline cabinets on December 15, 2017. It is the first international arcade release of Dance Dance Revolution since Dance Dance Revolution X2 .

Contents

A sequel, titled Dance Dance Revolution A20 , was released in 2019 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the series.

Development

The game was first announced during the Grand Final of the 5th Konami Arcade Championship (KAC), which was held on the final day of the Japanese Amusement Expo (JAEPO) 2016 event, February 20, 2016. [1]

Features

Dance Dance Revolution A in Oakville, Ontario, Canada DanceDanceRevolution White Machine with DDR A installed.png
Dance Dance Revolution A in Oakville, Ontario, Canada

The game features a handful of overhauls to the existing system used by previous games. The most significant change is made towards the song selection screen. While the previous game, DDR 2014, still uses an interface that resembles the Cover Flow system introduced in DDR X2, DDR A changes it into a Sound Voltex -like pagelist giving the illusion of a touchable interface, although selection is still made using buttons below the monitor. Nine song choices, organized in three rows, are in clear view of the player at any time; scrolling past them will reveal additional row of songs, somewhat like the one used in DDR 4thMix. For the first time, selection can be done using the up and down buttons to skip a row of songs (in previous games, these buttons are exclusively used for e-Amusement services and certain modifiers). While highlighting a song is needed to display their detailed information, all of the visible song choices always display their song title and the current difficulty level selected, reducing the time needed to browse through them.

The Groove Radar, previously fixed for each chart, now behaves accordingly whether the player sets options that eliminate arrows (e.g. activating "Freeze: Off" causes the Freeze portion of the radar to disappear) or not. The grading system also includes "+" and "-" levels for all grades except for AAA and E (though D does not have a "-" level). There are also aesthetic changes. If the player's dance meter is depleted down to the red level, a "danger overlay" will be added behind the player's arrow zone and the arcade cabinet's speakers will turn red.

Another expanded feature from previous DanceDanceRevolution versions is the "Clear Lamp" progress tracking system. This allows players to quickly see how well they performed on songs directly on the Music Select screen. The Clear Lamps are located next to each song, and will shine with different colors and intensities. The different colors are listed below:

Lamp ColorDescriptionConditions
Dark GrayNot PlayedThe player has not yet played the song.
Dark AmberFailedThe player attempted the song, but did not pass.
PurpleAssist ClearThe song was passed with the help of modifiers that directly affect the number of steps.
Bright AmberNormal ClearThe player passed the song.
Light RedExtra ClearThe player passed the song either on EXTRA STAGE or under "LIFE 4" life gauge requirements.
Flashing BlueGood Full ComboThe player obtained a full combo on the song.
Flashing GreenGreat Full ComboThe player obtained a full combo with "Great" or better judgments on each step.
Flashing GoldPerfect Full ComboThe player obtained a full combo with "Perfect" or better judgments on each step.
White/RainbowMarvelous Full ComboThe player received all "Marvelous" judgements on each step of the song and obtained a perfect score. (理論値)

The in-game characters now have the dance routines of the Supernova era (which in turn are based on those from the Ultramix series), though premade routines are retained. Some options have also been removed or changed to fit better with the gameplay.

Due to failures related with Windows XP Embedded, all cabinets are replaced by DDR (2013) cabinets or have arcade boards changed from DDR (2013) cabinets. These cabinets have a new Bemani PC Type 5 that runs Windows 7 Embedded Standard.

A mid-2017 update block all CHALLENGE-only songs and "Groove Radar" Special and X-Special charts to users without e-Amusement passes.

Characters

A total of 17 characters are available in Dance Dance Revolution A. Of these, 10 are common to the Dance Dance Revolution SuperNova series and earlier games, but Afro, Jenny, Rage, and Yuni use new outfits instead of DDR X2's outfits. DDR X adds Bonnie and Zero, DDR X2 adds Rinon, and DDR A adds three unlockable new outfits for Emi, Alice, and Rinon. Victory Concent returns as a playable character, but only appears on stage if the character selector is in RANDOM. On the 6th KONAMI Arcade Championship, Yuni received a KAC outfit only for players that cleared both the 6th KAC folders.

Events

Extra Stage

The Extra Stage system retains the star requirement introduced in Dance Dance Revolution X3 VS 2ndMix . The player is required to obtain 9 stars in a round to be allowed an extra song, the number of stars of which is determined by the player's grade. However, the game also introduces the concept of Extra Level which becomes an additional equation to the number of stars attainable. Once again, Extra Stages can only be obtained in Premium Mode, and for Japan only, PASELI users must choice PASELI-Premium instead of PASELI-Standard due to renewal pay method.

Extra Level, introduced on June 13, 2016, rewards the player who plays the game multiple times with an increased chance to gain an extra stage. Each player starts at Level 1 at the start of a day. By completing three rounds, they are promoted to Level 2, which adds an additional 3 stars for every round the player completes afterward. Completing four more rounds promotes the player to Level 3, which nets the player a free access to Extra Stage for every round afterward. The promotion is applicable for a day, however; the level will be demoted back to 1 the next day. Before April 26, 2018, the level will also be demoted if the player selects ENDYMION as Extra Stage Level 3.

Before June 13, 2016, DDR A used the traditional Extra Stage system of previous games, which after the update was refitted into the Extra Exclusive folder. The exclusive song added during this period was New Century.

Extra Exclusive

Introduced also on June 13, 2016, this folder is essentially a replacement for the traditional Extra Stage system of the previous games: the songs in this folder can only be played in Extra Stage. The player's current Extra Level determines the number of songs available inside the folder. Some of them have recently been made available in Final Stage, allowing those without Premium Mode to access them. There are 16 songs in this folder and all are marked on red.

Extra Savior

Introduced on June 13, 2016, Extra Savior allows the player to unlock hidden songs by playing them in Extra Stage. These not only include new additions for this game, but also some hidden songs yet to be unlocked for the general public from previous games. Extra Level impacts the unlock system; if the player is in Level 1 or 2, they must clear the song to unlock them, while being in Level 3 unlocks them regardless if the player clears the stage or not. Also, unlocking a song's difficulty automatically unlocks all difficulties below them, e.g. unlocking the song's Difficult stepchart unlocks the Beginner and Basic difficulties as well. If the EXTRA SAVIOR folder is marked in purple instead of green, the charts must be unlocked in order: BASIC → DIFFICULT → EXPERT.

On October 6, 2016, six Extra Savior songs were added which have an additional unlock requirement before the player can access them in the folder called New Generation Natsu no Ryuusei Festa 2016 (renamed as New Generation 夏の流星フェスタ2016 on Asian versions). The player needs to play a round of either of the following three Bemani games: beatmania IIDX 23 copula , jubeat Qubell , or SOUND VOLTEX III GRAVITY WARS . As promotion, clearing one of the songs added, Triple Counter, unlocks an alternate skin for one of three characters depending on the chart completed. Clearing its Basic chart unlocks EMI (JOMANDA), Difficult nets ALICE (VALLIS-NERIA), and Expert unlocks RINON (Lisa-RICCIA). However, New Generation Natsu no Ryuusei Festa 2016 was not available in the North American release of the game until December 1, 2016.

Encore Extra Stage

If the player manages to score AA or higher in ENDYMION on Basic or higher difficulty as Extra Stage, the player is granted access to the Encore Extra Stage, ACE FOR ACES. A special Risky dance meter is applied, in which scoring Great or lower immediately ends the game. No time is allowed to change options, as the song immediately starts upon completing the previous stage.

Baby-Lon's and Rinon's Adventures

Started on August 8, 2016, Baby-Lon's Adventure event is centered on the character Baby-Lon. At the end of each stage, the player will be given a short cinematic of Baby-Lon climbing stairs, the number of which depends on the player's grade. Once reaching a certain number, the player earns a new song, after which Baby-Lon is sent back down again for another climb. Steps gained are not cumulative as each climb is done separately (gaining 10 steps when the player only needs 2 more means that the remaining 8 steps are lost). There are a total of 5 songs available for unlock in this event.

One variant after any player completes this event, started on April 27, 2017, is Rinon's Adventure, but the steps can only be obtained in Extra Stage. There are all 10 Extra Exclusive songs and their Challenge charts available for unlock in this event. Unlocking them all additionally allows the player unlocking ENDYMION (Initially as an Extra Exclusive song by reaching Extra Stage Level 3 and on April 26, 2018 as Level 1) and ACE FOR ACES (Initially Encore Extra, on April 26, 2018 as an Extra Exclusive song by reaching Extra Stage Level 2 and on July 24, 2018 as Level 1), but it challenge charts is enabled on Extra Stage Level 1 (initially Level 2).

DDR SELECTION

On September 26, 2018, the DDR SELECTION category was added to Dance Dance Revolution A, in order to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Dance Dance Revolution series, having 5 different interfaces.

The DDR SELECTION category has sub-folders based on different eras of the game, as well as both EXTRA SAVIOR folders DDR 20th Anniversary songs and DDR A x pop'n music peace 20th Anniversaries for brand-new songs. When playing a song under this category (marked in gold instead of white (a default song), yellow (an unlocked song), green (an EXTRA SAVIOR unlockable) or red (an EXTRA EXCLUSIVE song)), the UI will change to match that of one of the games released in that period, including videos based on its original background animations (except for 4 songs of DDR (1st) and 2ndMIX which use their X3 VS 2ndMIX videos) or EXTREME's random movies, DANGER animations, scoring changes (Can switch the scoring to SuperNOVA2 score or EX SCORE via operator's intervention), and background images or banners, if applicable.

Selecting any of two EXTRA SAVIOR folders or other category retain the original UI. The brand-new songs have BEGINNER and BASIC charts available by default and harder charts must be unlocked in order via EXTRA SAVIOR. All options if the user plays with DDR (1st) UI are forced to FLAT and CLASSIC. SCREEN FILTER and GUIDE LINE are disabled. Only SPEED, TURN, ASSIST and LIFE GAUGE options are changed by the user.

Release

Dance Dance Revolution A was released on July 6, 2016 in the United States. As of May 2019, the game is available in 66 locations in the United States, [2] including 34 Dave & Buster's locations, [3] and all 28 Round1 locations. [4] Of these, ten Round1 locations are each equipped with two Dance Dance Revolution A machines, instead of just one.

Internationally, Dance Dance Revolution A launched in Canada on December 5, 2016, during the grand opening of the Dave & Buster's in Oakville, Ontario. This is the first Dance Dance Revolution release in the country after Dance Dance Revolution X in 2009 and the import of Dance Dance Revolution X2 in 2011, and it is the first Canadian release with online connectivity. A second Canadian release with online connectivity launched at eSpot in Richmond, British Columbia in August 2019. The game launched in Europe on December 15, 2017 as an offline release. As of May 2019, there are 17 Dance Dance Revolution A arcade machines in Europe. [2]

New cabinets, and upgrades since 2013, feature a 42" monitor at 1080p. However, the game only operates at 720p. Upgrades of DDR X , X2 and X3 feature a 37" monitor at 720p. Legacy cabinets, initially running SuperNova 2 or an older release, feature a 29" monitor at 480p.

Music

There are 157 new songs of 809 total (129 new songs of 773 total in the North American release and 119 new songs of 761 total in the European release). 3 of them were available for play within a limited time period in Dance Dance Revolution (2014) as promotion. [5] The promotional teaser for the game confirmed the following artists who composed the game's music: U1-ASAMi, Captain KING, DJ TOTTO, Musical Cosmology, Sota F., L.E.D.-G, Zodiac Fall, TAG, Nekomata Master, and CLUB SPICE. [6] Most of the songs that made their Dance Dance Revolution arcade release debut on Dance Dance Revolution X3 VS 2ndMix, Dance Dance Revolution (2013), and Dance Dance Revolution (2014) have finally made their North American and European Dance Dance Revolution arcade release debut, including songs that have never been on a North American or European Dance Dance Revolution release have finally made their North American and European Dance Dance Revolution release debut, as those games were never released in those regions. Also, this marks the North American and European Dance Dance Revolution arcade release debut of I'm so Happy and Theory of Eternity from Dance Dance Revolution X2 as those songs weren't available on the North American and European arcade releases of the game due to the lack of e-Amusement in those regions. All Dancemania licenses have been removed due to their licenses expiring, making Dance Dance Revolution A the first core arcade Dance Dance Revolution title to have no traditional Dancemania licenses in it.

This is the first arcade appearance of Billboard Hot 100 songs since Dance Dance Revolution X2 . This game also continues the previous licensing partnerships with EXIT TUNES, which includes Vocaloid music, and Team Shanghai Alice, which includes music based on Touhou Project .

36 songs are exclusive to Asian releases of the game:

With the release of Dance Dance Revolution A20 , 31 of the region-locked songs were made available in North America, while another 4 songs were limited to Local Mode and Maintenance Mode in North America. The limitation was removed in Hawaiian releases and Dance Dance Revolution A20 Plus. The Light remains exclusive to Asian releases.

12 songs are not included in the European release of the game:

Reception

Dance Dance Revolution A was a successful release in the United States and internationally. As of May 2019, there were 145 arcade machines available worldwide for this game, of which 67 are located in the Americas and 17 are located in Europe. This is the second best-selling international arcade release for Dance Dance Revolution, behind Dance Dance Revolution SuperNova and its sequel, Dance Dance Revolution SuperNova 2, which had combined sales of over 330 arcade machines. [2]

Related Research Articles

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Dancing Stage is a series of music video games developed and published by Konami. It is a spin-off of Dance Dance Revolution for the European market as well as a few Japanese titles. Games were released for arcade, PlayStation, PlayStation 2 and Wii.

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<i>Dance Dance Revolution</i> (1998 video game) 1998 video game

Dance Dance Revolution (DDR), is a music video game, developed by Konami, released in arcades on September 26, 1998 in Japan. Dance Dance Revolution is a unique game involving dance and rhythm that defined the genre. It involves timing and balance by having players use their feet instead of their hands like typical video games. In March 1999, the game was released for North American arcades, and for European arcades under the name Dancing Stage. Players and game critics were caught off-guard by the game's addictive qualities winning the new franchise many merits to its design.

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Dancing Stage is a music video game, developed by Konami, released in European arcades on March 9, 1999. In North America, the game was released as Dance Dance Revolution on the same date, and it received a PlayStation port on March 6, 2001. It is the first international release of the game. The arcade version features 13 songs, with 11 of these available on the PlayStation port, while Dancing Stage Internet Ranking adds another three exclusive songs to arcades.

e-Amusement

e-Amusement, stylized as e-amusement, is an online service operated by Konami, used primarily for online functionality on its arcade video games. The system is used primarily to save progress and unlockable content between games, participate in internet high score lists, access other exclusive features depending on the game, and access the Paseli digital currency service.

<i>Dance Dance Revolution SuperNova</i> 2006 video game

Dance Dance Revolution SuperNova, released in Europe as Dancing Stage SuperNova, is an arcade and PlayStation 2 game in the Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) series of music video games. It was produced by Konami and released through Betson Enterprises. The game was released in Europe on April 28, 2006, followed shortly by a North American release on May 15 and a Japanese release on July 12.

<i>Dance Dance Revolution Disney Mix</i> 2000 video game

Dancing Stage featuring Disney's Rave is a music video game released in Japan in arcades on November 30, 2000. On the same day, it was also released for the PlayStation, but under the name Dance Dance Revolution Disney's Rave. It was later released in September 2001 North America as Dance Dance Revolution Disney Mix and in Europe and Australia as Dancing Stage Disney Mix. It is based on Konami's Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) series with animated Disney characters and electronic dance music remixes of past Disney songs. They also include a few non-Disney songs that were popular at the time of the game's release. It is considered to be one of the rarest DDR game released in arcades.

<i>Dance Dance Revolution Extreme</i> 2002 video game

Dance Dance Revolution Extreme is a music video game by Konami and is the eighth release in the main Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) series. It was released on December 25, 2002 for Japanese arcades, on October 9, 2003 for the Japanese PlayStation 2, and on September 21, 2004 for the North American PlayStation 2. This game is the ninth release in North America, but despite having the same name as its Japanese counterpart, its gameplay and soundtrack is significantly different and won the Video Music Awards in 2005 on MTV for Best Video Game Soundtrack.

<i>Dance Dance Revolution X</i> 2008 video game

Dance Dance Revolution X is a music video game developed by Konami. A part of the Dance Dance Revolution series, it was announced in 2008 for Japan and on May 15, 2008 for the North American PlayStation 2. The arcade version was announced on July 7, 2008, July 9, 2008 in Europe, and July 10, 2008 for North America. Released to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Dance Dance Revolution, DDR X sports an improved interface, new music, and new modes of play. The arcade release featured an overhauled cabinet design with a widescreen display, e-Amusement and USB access, and an improved sound system. Despite such new design of its arcade cabinet, upgrade kit to change the edition of DDR on its first generation arcade cabinet from SuperNOVA2 to X is also available. The PlayStation 2 release has link ability with the arcade machine, multi-player support over LAN, and other improved and returning features such as EyeToy support. DDR X was called a "truly global version", with a multi-regional release by all three major Konami houses.

Dance Dance Revolution Extreme has a robust soundtrack. It includes many licensed tracks as well as in-house original music that was written and performed by Konami staff.

<i>Dance Dance Revolution X2</i> 2010 video game

Dance Dance Revolution X2 is a music video game, and a part of the Dance Dance Revolution series. The arcade version of DDR X2 was revealed by Konami on November 20, 2009. The sequel to Dance Dance Revolution X, X2 began public beta testing on November 25, 2009. The game was released in Japan and Asia on July 7, 2010, North America on December 31, 2010, and Europe on May 13, 2011. It was the last arcade installment of Dance Dance Revolution with international releases until Dance Dance Revolution A.

<i>Dance Dance Revolution X3 vs. 2ndMix</i> 2011 music video game

Dance Dance Revolution X3 is a music video game, and a part of the Dance Dance Revolution series. The arcade version of DDR X3 was revealed by Konami on June 2, 2011. The sequel to Dance Dance Revolution X2, X3 began public beta testing on June 8, 2011. Promotional information for the game revealed the full name for the game, called Dance Dance Revolution X3 VS 2ndMix due to the new "2ndMix" mode in the game. It was released in Japan on November 16, 2011 for dedicated cabinets and November 30, 2011 for upgrade kits, and December 16, 2011 in Asia.

<i>Dance Dance Revolution II</i> 2011 video game

Dance Dance Revolution II, later released in Europe as Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party 5, is a music video game in the Dance Dance Revolution series by Konami. It was released on October 11, 2011 for the Nintendo Wii in North America and on November 24, 2011 in Europe. Dance Dance Revolution II is the direct sequel to Dance Dance Revolution for the Wii. This game shares songs with the arcade version of Dance Dance Revolution X3 vs 2ndMix. It features characters from the arcade versions of Dance Dance Revolution. It was the final DDR game release for the Nintendo Wii and is the latest in the series to be released for a home console as of 2022.

Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) is a music video game, the 14th installment of the Dance Dance Revolution series, and the sequel to Dance Dance Revolution X3 vs. 2ndMix. The game was revealed by Konami on October 24, 2012. Public beta testing commenced on October 26, 2012. It was released in Japan on March 14 and 21, 2013 for dedicated cabinets and upgrade kits, respectively, and in Asia on March 21, 2013. A limited test release occurred at select locations in the United States, beginning on August 4, 2015.

There are ten new songs revealed through the location tests of Dance Dance Revolution (2013). Two are only playable in Final Stage through special requirements. Two licensed songs have recently been revealed through advertising materials of the game. During the game's showcase in Japan Amusement Expo 2013, five more songs were revealed, three of which are licenses while the others are all Konami Originals.

<i>Beatmania IIDX 23: Copula</i> 2015 video game

Beatmania IIDX 23: Copula is the 23rd installment of the Beatmania IIDX series. The first location test was held at the Tokyo Lesiure Land #2 location in Akihabara, Japan from July 10 through 12th 2015. It was released on November 11, 2015. This is Last Beatmania Series made by Konami Digital Entertainment before Konami Amusement.

<i>Dance Dance Revolution A20</i> 2019 video game

Dance Dance Revolution A20 is a music video game, the 17th installment of the Dance Dance Revolution arcade series in Japan, and the sequel to Dance Dance Revolution A. The game was released on new, golden cabinets on March 20, 2019 in Japan. A software upgrade for older cabinets for Japan and Asia was released on July 24, 2019, with South Korea receiving a localized release on August 1, 2019, and North America on September 24, 2019. A location test in Europe began on October 7, 2019, and ended on March 16, 2020.

References

  1. ↑ DansuDansuReboryūshon Ēsu (ダンスダンスレボリューションエース)
  1. ↑ "[The 5th KAC] DanceDanceRevolution Ace Announcement". Youtube. February 19, 2016. Retrieved February 21, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 "Arcades". Zenius -I- vanisher.com. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
  3. ↑ Hartling, Paul. "DDR Ace is Coming to Dave & Buster's Locations This Summer!". bemanistyle. Archived from the original on 2016-04-02. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  4. ↑ Round 1 USA. "DDR Ace US version is coming to all stores beginning of July! :) Get ready to dance!". Twitter. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  5. ↑ "「DanceDanceRevolution A」COMING SOON!". Konami. February 20, 2016. Retrieved February 21, 2016.
  6. ↑ "DDR A official site". Konami. February 20, 2016. Retrieved February 20, 2016.[ permanent dead link ]
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