StepManiaX

Last updated

StepManiaX
Stepmaniax Arcade.jpg
A StepManiaX Dedicated cabinet
Developer(s) Step Revolution
Engine StepMania
Platform(s) Arcade
ReleaseJune 10, 2017
Genre(s) Music, Exergaming
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

StepManiaX (abbreviated SMX and pronounced "Step Maniacs") is a rhythm game developed and published by Step Revolution, a studio formed by former developers of In the Groove, ReRave, and Pump It Up Pro. It is considered a spiritual successor to the In the Groove series. The name is a nod to the legacy of the open-source simulator StepMania , as many of the original StepMania developers were involved with the project. StepManiaX is derived from the same codebase, with modifications made to support the new game types, lights, touch support, connectivity, and the custom Android operating system and hardware that dedicated units run on.

Contents

Gameplay

StepManiaX gameplay, showing holds, pits, early perfects, and so forth SMX 2 Player.jpg
StepManiaX gameplay, showing holds, pits, early perfects, and so forth

Similar to other stepping or dance-based games, StepManiaX uses a "stage" that the user stands on with certain areas being pressure-sensitive buttons, or "panels". StepManiaX uses five identically sized inputs, arranged similarly to a Directional Pad - Up, Down, Left, Right, and the inclusion of Center.

Players can select between seven different difficulty levels that affect how many inputs are active and the difficulty of patterns displayed. Players can also customize modifiers adjust to their preferred style, such as changing the visual appearance of patterns, how fast patterns appear, background brightness, etc.

The core gameplay involves players stepping on the panel with their feet to correspond with the scrolling arrows (or "Notes") on-screen once they reach the end of beat lines (horizontal bars that move up the screen). During normal gameplay, arrows scroll upwards from the bottom of the screen towards the end of the play area, towards a set of receptor markers on the sides of the arrow lanes. When these scrolling arrows reach the end, the player must step on the corresponding arrows on the dance stage, and the player is given a judgement for their accuracy of the input. Each note judged has multiple "windows" that it can be categorized into. These, from most accurate to least, are: PERFECT!!, PERFECT, EARLY, LATE, and MISS. Any judgement that is not "PERFECT!!" will show an indicator if the input was registered early or late compared to the intended timing.

Stepping accurately will contribute to the player's life bar, visible on the edge of the screen. Missing notes will cause a player's lifebar to decrease. If a player's lifebar empties entirely, scoring will halt and the song will no longer be able to be "passed" for that player, although the game will still continue until a player manually ends the song or the song completes.

Additional note types are also included with StepManiaX's gameplay.

Completing a song while a player still has energy remaining in their health bar will award a "pass" to the player. The player is taken to the Results Screen, which rates the player's performance with a star rating (between one and six stars, with a specialized design for players who achieve the maximum score of 100,000 points), the points earned (between 0 and 100,000, which can be interpreted as a percentage by dividing by 1000), and specific judgement statistics.

Modes

Two players playing Team Mode SMX Team.jpg
Two players playing Team Mode

There are seven modes to play:

MODEFormatPanelsLevels
BEGINNERSingle31-6
EASYSingle56-13
HARDSingle513-20
WILDSingle519-27
DUALDouble62-23
FULLDouble107-28
TEAMDouble109-28

For single-stage format, beginner mode exists to get newcomers to play and cater to freestylers, while using just three panels: left, center, and right. Easy adds the up and down panels, making all five panels available to play. Hard makes the different colored rhythm panels more common and may add a few advanced features like pits. Wild further increasing the difficulty while making additional features more common.

Unlike single-pad, double-stage formats have no difficulty restrictions. Dual Mode is a new mode introduced to dance games that uses six panels, with both ups and downs not present. Full Mode uses all ten panels. Team Mode is like Full, but requires two players to play based on the color of the panels, with both players sharing the same lifebar and same score.

During development, "Beginner" mode was titled "Basic". This was later updated to ease new players into the game. The original difficulty scale was also adjusted from a 1-10 scale to allow for more range in Beginner and Easy charts.

Announced at IAAPA 2022, + (plus) charts such as Hard+ will be added to songs. Although rare and on certain songs, this is intended to fill the void on difficulty gaps.

On May 22, 2023, the StepManiaX mobile app began allowing users to create their own Edit charts for songs and share them with other users.

Development

Step Revolution showcasing two StepManiaX machines at Gamescom 2019 SMX Gamescom 2019.jpg
Step Revolution showcasing two StepManiaX machines at Gamescom 2019

Development of StepManiaX started with stage development in early 2015. Several different designs were prototyped using various sensor technologies, including an aluminum slim-line stage. This design was officially shown to the public by project lead Kyle Ward in early 2016. [1] Later that year, the retail version of the stage was shown, sporting a thicker, more durable steel stage design. During this period, the StepManiaX software was being developed in tandem with hardware development. The goal of the software was to create a simple interface that was accessible for all ranges of players. The game then grew its design to appeal to a wide variety of locations: Home, Health & Fitness, Education, Competitive E-Sports, and Family Recreation. [2] The title StepManiaX was selected to focus on the aerobic stepping aspect of the game.

The game's first public showing was during MAGFest 2017. [3] [4]

StepManiaX was released in June 2017, but access to the game was very limited. Initially targeting fitness and recreational facilities, the game was installed at various family-oriented locations. During this time, the all-in-one cabinet design was exhibited at various trade fairs and gaming events like Gamescom 2017 [5] as sales were limited due to stock shortages and gauging interest with distribution partners. Multiple waves of sales for consumer use eventually led to home users acquiring hardware, as sales were not limited to organizations or certain environments. [6] The following year, a coin-operated version of the game premiered at 8 on the Break as an initial location and hardware test. [7] This cabinet revision also premiered commercially at IAAPA 2019. [8] Since then, the game is available directly via the developer's web store [9] and through various distribution partners. [10] [11] [12] [13]

Step Revolution unveiled a new, larger, cabinet model IAAPA 2022 known as the "StepManiaX Deluxe" model. [14] It features a 65" touchscreen display, dynamic lighting show, and an improved sound system over the Dedicated model.

Hardware

There are currently three StepManiaX cabinet models available:

While StepManiaX is intended to act as a complete product that includes both the game and the hardware needed to play it, individual parts can be bought and used on their own with other products.

The StepManiaX stage features five pressable panels by default: Up, down, left, right, and center. An additional kit can be purchased to make the diagonal directions pressable, and there is also a kit that can convert it to play 5-panel games that traditionally have rectangular panels, like Pump It Up. An additional stage can be purchased to play game modes that require two stages, such as "Double" mode in many 4-panel dance games.

The stage is fully compatible with various simulators such as StepMania , Project OutFox, MAME, or any application capable of using HID Joystick input.

Due to its breakout wiring, StepManiaX stages can be modified to completely bypass the USB output and natively work with other I/O solutions. This allows stages to be used with older home consoles, or even as replacements for stages on official Pump It Up cabinets. [15]

Music

Music selection screen SMX Song Selection.jpg
Music selection screen

The soundtrack style for StepManiaX is similar in approach to other dance games such as Dance Dance Revolution , Pump It Up, and In The Groove. The soundtrack generally consists of higher tempo music with easy to follow beats and well-defined rhythms. The song selection consists of newer songs that have never appeared in other music games, as well as older licenses that have also appeared in other music games. Alongside these older licenses are newer songs made by the same artists who worked on other music games, such as: Naoki Maeda, the original sound director for Dance Dance Revolution; Yahpp, one of the original members of Pump It Up's in-house production group BanYa; and Kyle Ward, the original sound director of In The Groove.

StepManiaX originally launched with a soundtrack of 80 songs, consisting of 52 standard songs and 28 premium songs. [16] [17] Premium songs are only available with a purchase from the arcade operator. Starting on March 5, 2018, StepManiaX started receiving free content updates, with the update schedule moving to a monthly cadence in April 2020.

As of May 3,2024, StepManiaX features a total of 439 songs consisting of 412 standard songs, 28 premium songs, and 3 free DLC songs. This does not include the four songs which were removed on August 17, 2021, prior to the release of update #19.

Notes:

Reception

StepManiaX has been met with generally positive reviews, both for its hardware and the game itself, compared to other dance games such as Dance Dance Revolution and Pump It Up .

In 2018, Wilcox Arcade stated that StepManiaX is welcoming to the American arcade industry, [18] [19] while Arcade Heroes reported that the booth seemed popular with vendors at IAAPA 2021. [20]

Gemu Baka praised the machine during his time at BASHCon 2020 as the best alternative to Dance Dance Revolution, as the latter game remains exclusive to Round 1 and Dave & Buster's in North America. [21]

Reception of StepManiaX hardware has been generally positive, citing durability, more easily adjustable sensitivity, easier maintenance, options for customization, and quality of customer support. For the dedicated game itself, the majority of the praise comes from the large song library and its focus on otherwise neglected dance music genres, and lack of subscription fees or unlocks. Internet connections are only needed for content updates and automatic upload of user scores and preferences, and so completely offline StepManiaX setups are more complete in function than their competitors. [22] [23]

StepManiaX has been criticized for limited supply availability and having no support for cheaper, non-standard home offerings, such as video game console and personal computer versions. While stages are available on their own to private customers, restocking happens infrequently and sales periods typically only last for a few minutes. The high demand for these items increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, as many arcades remained closed or had limited reopenings. [24] There are also fewer public arcades featuring StepManiaX compared to modern installations of Dance Dance Revolution and Pump It Up. [25]

StepManiaX's relative newness, position within current family entertainment center industry trends, and its advertised return on investment [26] has led to some operators setting generally higher prices per credit compared to the games it is meant to replace from years prior. These pricing changes have led to criticism from dedicated players, as this new pricing is more catered to infrequent casual experiences and is less conducive to dedicated practice and repeat play. This does not apply to Round 1 and various arcades price matching other games.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Hard Fast Disco samples "Get the Party Started" by Pink (singer).
  2. ↑ Show Me Your Moves samples " Brick House" by Commodores.
  3. ↑ Dance Freaks and Dance Maniax feature "In My Dreams (U.K. Mix)", while StepManiaX features the original version of "In My Dreams".
  4. ↑ "Megalovania" was originally featured in the 2015 video game Undertale . It is also available in Chunithm New, Groove Coaster and Taiko no Tatsujin . The song was added to various Bemani games (including Dance Dance Revolution A3 , Gitadora , Sound Voltex and Pop'n Music ) in 2022, and Nostalgia and Dance Rush in 2023.
  5. ↑ "Everybody 2 The Sun" samples "Ice Ice Baby" by Vanilla Ice and "Just Can't Get Enough" by Depeche Mode.
  6. ↑ This is a remix of "VTuber死なない (VTubers Never Die!)" by Eternal JK Yoripi-chan with Ayatsugu_Otowa
  7. ↑ Get Busy (Koyotie version) is also featured in Just Dance 2020.
  8. ↑ Ievan Polka is a remix of the original Ievan Polkka.
  9. ↑ "What Ya Gonna Do" by Scott Brown was used as the menu music in a leak of the unreleased video game In the Groove 3. The song art for "What Ya Gonna Do" in StepManiaX is based on an In the Groove 3 promotional flyer.

Related Research Articles

Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) is a music video game series produced by Konami. Introduced in Japan in 1998 as part of the Bemani series, and released in North America and Europe in 1999, Dance Dance Revolution is the pioneering series of the rhythm and dance genre in video games. Players stand on a "dance platform" or stage and hit colored arrows laid out in a cross with their feet to musical and visual cues. Players are judged by how well they time their dance to the patterns presented to them and are allowed to choose more music to play to if they receive a passing score.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">StepMania</span> 2001 rhythm video game

StepMania is a cross-platform rhythm video game and engine. It was originally developed as a clone of Konami's arcade game series Dance Dance Revolution, and has since evolved into an extensible rhythm game engine capable of supporting a variety of rhythm-based game types. Released under the MIT License, StepMania is open-source free software.

<i>beatmania IIDX</i> Video game series

Beatmania IIDX (IIDX) is a series of rhythm video games, that was first released by Konami in Japan on 26 February 1999. Beatmania IIDX has since spawned 31 arcade releases and 14 console releases on the Sony PlayStation 2. It is the sequel to the beatmania game series, and is part of the Bemani line of music games.

Bemani, stylized as BEMANI, is Konami's music video game division. Originally named the Games & Music Division (G.M.D.), it changed its name in honor of its first and most successful game, Beatmania, and expanded into other music-based games, most notably rhythm games such as Dance Dance Revolution, GuitarFreaks, and DrumMania.

<i>Pump It Up</i> (video game series) 1999 video game

Pump It Up is a music video game series developed and published by Andamiro, a South Korean arcade game producer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dance pad</span> Flat electronic controller used for input in dance video games

A dance pad, also known as a dance mat or dance platform, is a flat electronic game controller used for input in dance games. Most dance pads are divided into a 3×3 matrix of square panels for the player to stand on, with some or all of the panels corresponding to directions or actions within the game. Some dance pads also have extra buttons outside the main stepping area, such as "Start" and "Select". Pairs of dance pads often are joined, side by side, for certain gameplay modes.

<i>GuitarFreaks and DrumMania</i> 1999 video game

Gitadora is a music video game series produced by Konami. The series consists of two games, GuitarFreaks and DrumMania, where players use game controllers modeled after musical instruments to perform the lead guitar, bass guitar and drums of numerous songs across a wide range of genres by matching scrolling musical notes patterns shown on screen. Players are scored for successfully-hit notes, but may fail a song if they miss too many notes. The series has featured numerous game modes, and supports both single-player and multiplayer modes where up to three players can perform together. Some earlier versions of the game could also be linked with Keyboardmania.

<i>In the Groove</i> (video game) 2004 video game

In the Groove is a rhythm game developed & published by Roxor Games, and is the first game in the In the Groove series. The game was shown in an official beta-testing preview on July 9, 2004, and was officially released in arcades around August 30, 2004. A PlayStation 2 port of In the Groove was released on June 17, 2005, by RedOctane.

<i>TechnoMotion</i> 2000 video game

TechnoMotion is a Korean music video game. As in other games that use dance pads, such as Dance Dance Revolution, a player must press panels in response to scrolling arrows on the game's monitor.

<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.

Roxor Games, Inc. is a 25-person company based in Austin, Texas that develops video game software for the arcade and home markets. Founded in 2002, Roxor works with developers of open source software to deploy games on a Linux-based hardware platform in the arcade and on multiple home consoles. Although their most well known product, In The Groove, is proprietary software, the developers regularly contribute code back to the open source project StepMania upon which In The Groove is based.

This is a comparison of dancing video game series in which players must step on panels on a dance pad in time with music. Step placement and timing is indicated by rising arrows overlapping fixed targets.

<i>In the Groove 2</i> 2005 video game

In the Groove 2 is the sequel to Roxor Games' 2004 arcade game In the Groove. It was released to arcades officially on June 18, 2005. It was available as an upgrade kit and as a dedicated cabinet developed by Andamiro. The price for a dedicated cabinet was $9,999 USD and the upgrade kit was US$2,999.

<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>Cyber Groove</i> 2000 video game

Cyber Groove is a Taiwanese dancing game, by Front Fareast Industrial Corporation, played on a Microsoft Windows computer. It was released in January 2000, and can be played on either the keyboard or a dance pad.

<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>Beatmania IIDX</i> (video game) 1999 music video game

Beatmania IIDX is an arcade music video game developed by Bemani and published by Konami. It was released in Japan on February 26, 1999. The objective is to perform songs using a controller with seven keys and a turntable. After the surprise success of Beatmania, Benami conceived IIDX to simulate an actual disc jockey (DJ) live performance. Its arcade cabinet contains a widescreen monitor, speakers, and eight spotlights. Bemani later developed several updated versions of IIDX to increased success. The game retrospectively received a positive reception from video game publications for its gameplay and increased difficulty. A sequel, Beatmania III, was released in 2000.

<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.

The music of In the Groove includes 136 songs for arcade and home releases. A few additional songs were confirmed to be present in the now-cancelled In the Groove 3. Some artists are common to Dance Dance Revolution. In fact, a few song revivals can be found in In the Groove, but with different stepcharts.

References

  1. ↑ "Returning to Dance Games! | www.kyleaward.com". www.kyleaward.com. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
  2. ↑ "TAP #26: StepManiaX (ft. Kyle Ward)". DDR Community. August 31, 2018. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
  3. ↑ "StepManiaX Preview at MAGFest". DDR Community. January 12, 2017. Retrieved January 12, 2017.
  4. ↑ Hartling, Paul (January 7, 2017). "StepManiaX Full Song List and Debut Information from MAGfest 2017". Otaquest . Retrieved January 7, 2017.
  5. ↑ "StepManiaX at Gamescom | www.kyleaward.com". www.kyleaward.com.
  6. ↑ "StepManiaX - setting up machine and first songs". YouTube. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
  7. ↑ "StepmaniaX Dedicated Arcade Version Prepping For A Q2 2018 Release". Arcade Heroes. March 12, 2018. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  8. ↑ Hartling, Paul (August 17, 2018). "StepManiaX Location Test 2018 Details and Preview". Otaquest. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
  9. ↑ "Step Revolution Shop". Step Revolution LLC - Shop.
  10. ↑ "StepManiaX - Arcade Dance Game". Betson Enterprises.
  11. ↑ "Player One Amusement Group". Player One Amusement Group.
  12. ↑ "Step ManiaX". PrimeTime Amusements.
  13. ↑ "StepManiaX". Exergame Fitness | Powered by Motion Fitness.
  14. ↑ "IAAPA Expo 2022". IAAPA 2022 Map.
  15. ↑ Ward, Kyle. "People have asked so here it is: #StepManiaX 4th Generation Stages #PIU Style". Twitter. Retrieved May 7, 2021.
  16. ↑ LG (January 12, 2017). "StepManiaX Preview @ MAGFest 2017". DDRCommunity. Retrieved May 7, 2021.
  17. ↑ "StepManiaX Songlist". Google Sheets. Retrieved May 7, 2021.
  18. ↑ Wilcox, Dustin (April 11, 2018). "StepManiaX and Ninja Soldier (M2) Thoughts". Wilcox Arcade . Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  19. ↑ Wilcox, Dustin (August 13, 2018). "My Thoughts on the Recent Release of Deadpool Pinball; the Impending Release of StepManiaX". Wilcox Arcade . Retrieved August 13, 2018.
  20. ↑ Pratt, Adam (December 4, 2021). "QuickBits: StepManiaX Expands Reach; Chrono Circle Coming To Round1USA". Arcade Heroes. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  21. ↑ "StepManiaX Preview at MAGFest". Gemu Baka. February 21, 2020. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
  22. ↑ "NEACE: Buying insane dance pads, worth it? (StepmaniaX Stage Review)". YouTube. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  23. ↑ "StepManiaX Gen 4 Stages! First Impression & Review". YouTube. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
  24. ↑ "Dom's 4-Panel Dance Pad Roundup 2020". YouTube. Retrieved September 26, 2020.
  25. ↑ "Arcades". Zenius-I-Vanisher. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
  26. ↑ "Product Profile – StepManiaX". RePlay Magazine. April 1, 2023. Retrieved October 24, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.