Suppose we live in a world...

Where DDR X3 Vs 2nd mix is the final DDR game.

Given this scenario, which is the better fair well song?

Paranoia Revolution or Max.(Period)

Why?

Note the following similarities:
Both songs were granted to the Japanese market only.
Both songs call back to the greatest (hardest? worst?) songs of their day via step chart and song series.
Both songs are viewed, at release, as an unholy monument to test the strength and greatness of the players who dare challenge them.


Personally, I have no idea how to choose between them. They both call back to song selection, and Revolution does it in a self-aware almost taunting way: claiming it's own difficulty and reminding the player of their own "free will" to choose the song. Continuing with this theme, it presents the constant fear of failing to the player partially through, and jumps on the player's need for success, to hear the announcer proclaim triumph. It is awesome, and if it were the last song ever, my only regret is that it is not a 20 footer.

Had Max (period). been it, I think it would have captured the series very well. Furthermore, the echoing lyric "Why do you need Konami original songs?" is almost prophetic in, which is noted (indirectly) by Aaron who witnessed the popularity of Konami originals growing larger than the licensed songs. Plus, one can never forget that Max.(Period) holds the original claim to calling back to the first Paranoia and summing up that startling and surprising growth of hit arcade game. Few people thought that DDR would take off as it did, and recalling those roots would be more important to the Japanese rather than the American players because they grew up with the series more so than American audiences. (Necessarily true since most of our machines were shipped from Japan or bootlegged from other Asian countries.) Still, it offers a ton of challenge that is simply not seen in newer DDR songs, which rely on a different type game style to create its challenge. In fact, I'd say that even if Max (period). did not end the series, it ended the first era of DDR, and the step chart styles that defined it.

For a TL;DR
Which do you prefer as a fair well song? Why?

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For me, it's hard to choose between the two of them as well. I do agree with what you're saying at MAX.(Period) though. I feel like that did end an era of sorts.

The more I think of it, though, I would have to say PARANOiA Revolution is the farewell song. Sure, MAX.(Period) at the time did seem to be the "swan song" of DDR and the MAX series was usually viewed as the hardest song of its respective mix. But before the MAX series, PARANOiA was the original boss song of the series. Of course it's a walk in the park next to any of the MAX songs, but at the time it was deemed as very difficult for obvious reasons. In X3 vs. 2ndMIX, it's as if PARANOiA returned with a vengeance. PARANOiA was the hardest chart in 1stMIX, and PARANOiA Revolution is the hardest in X3 vs. 2ndMIX and even references its past, original self. Because of PARANOiA's overall involvement throughout the entire DDR franchise, I view it as a "theme of DDR" of sorts and would choose PARANOiA Revolution as the farewell song (if X3 vs. 2ndMIX happened to be the final installment, of course).

I actually believe PARANOiA REVOLUTION really is the "final song" of this generation of DDR in a way.

MAX. (period) ended the 1998-2003 era of DDR, and then we had the pretty much 3 long year wait before SuperNOVA came out. Then once SuperNOVA was out, it took from 2006-2012 for what is the "current gen" of DDR (even though X2 was a start of a new 'look' to the game, it still felt the same in retrospect in regards to the gameplay and the such. Pretty much, the only thing that really changed was the song select screen and the ES system for X2, X3 looks like a watered down version of past DDR games with the exception that it has that unique song select screen). And then came PRevo, which I personally feel it closes both chapters of DDR, it puts together some of the hardest charts from the 2000 - 2012 era of DDR with a majority coming from the recent mixes (2006 - 2011), but it also flips it around with it's own breakdown of it's original past PARANOiA songs, each containing their own special "trick" to the chart from each respective song.

I honestly have a gut feeling we won't be seeing another DDR arcade game after X3, and they may be going the route of EXTREME and stretch out the years with home version to fill the gap both in the East and the West. Funny thing is, MAX. (period) never made it into the arcades, yet the feel of the song felt extremely reminiscent of a "final" boss song, every element from the song just yelled out "You are about to enter the land of which no man has ever traversed before, you have been warned" and then just before you think it's over it throws in the 600BPM(?) section to really make you squirm....and just when you think it's all over, one final note/jump to throw you out. (This would have been one incredible EES if it did make it into EXTREME, and it would have really been one HELL of a song to pass if the conditions were done correctly.)

I could be wrong though, I just don't know how KONAMI works, but every time I play PRevo either on SM or just to listen to it, it really has both an ominous yet nostalgia feeling to it...

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I used to be affected by the simple "Thank you for playing" at the end of MAX.(Period), but the "I'm so impressed, I could cry! Thank you very much for your BEST dance! (audience cheering)" along with the chord its being said under just says to me, "this is the end."

This isn't like what happened with EXTREME. They explicitly stated that they were starting over, not ending the series (If you want a moment in that time period where the series was seriously about to end, look at 5thMIX). And console releases continued in all regions almost uninterrupted. I think this is the very first time since the series started that zero arcade and console games are waiting in the pipe. Classroom Edition is a whole other animal, being made for a whole different reason ...and I think there's a good chance it'll get cancelled.

The difference between MAX. (period) and PARANOiA REVOLUTION is that period is kind of passive aggressive about things. "Why do you need Konami original songs?". It shows the difference between maximum difficulty in 1998 and 2003, but it is somewhat unpleasant about it, almost accusing. As if blaming players for the (then) current state of things. REVOLUTION is totally different. It has a Look how far we've come! message to it. We took this journey together and never would have made it this far without each other. No regrets.

Paranoia Revolution could really mean the farewell to Naoki himself, and not so much DDR itself, because if I recall in a Facebook post he made earlier, he was wanting to work on his music career outside of Konami. What better way than to remix his two iconic songs in the form of Trip Machine Evolution and Paranoia Revolution? (Shame we didn't get a Max in it, though, would have been nice to see a MAX Innovation, to represent what I heard is his favorite phrase... Revolution, Evolution, Innovation.)

But regardless, if PRevo is to represent the farewell to the series, it was definitely quite a way to do so. Can't say I'd be surprised, the slowdown part does give that "final" feel to it.

Though I did get that feeling with the case of Max(period) and its whole "Why do you need..." and "thank you for playing" deal going on, plus with the fact that 600 BPM was just plain UNHEARD of at the time. Kinda reminds me of how PRevo's challenge chart, a 16th note trill at 360 BPM is just plain unheard of in our time.

I feel like PRev is a swan song either way because of the "end" of international releases. I wonder what will come of the series, if anything at all.

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Is it confirmed that x3 is done with song unlocks? It seems likely with the ost, but the revolution, evolution, innovation thing is sticking in my mind.

MAX.(period) sucks.

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yawn.

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This is most likely the case. I'd personally would rather see the end the series on a high note (like EXTREME was supposed to do) than for the series to be "canceled" with a half-assed mix nobody likes.


I like Tohoku EVOLVED better than PRevo. I always thought of Tohoku as "MAX.(Period) 2.0" because it was done by the same artist, 2MB excuse me, 2.1MB if you want to get technical.. But PRevo should take the crown because PARANOiA's been around since the very beginning; and the MAX series didn't start until, well, MAX.

Is this situation about DDR X3 vs 2nd MIX really going to be the end of DDR? Or the end of an era? Much like EXTREME almost marked as the end of a DDR era, only for SuperNOVA to come out three years (?) later. Nevertheless, I agree with the posts here about PARANOiA Revolution being a Revolution in itself...

^ I bow down to this with hats off and a curtsy nod.

Is it possible that it won't also be the end of the EVOLVED series (as boss battles)? MAX boss series are still running and popular, though overshadowed by PARANOiA, reigning supreme. TRIP MACHINE has had some followers but not as popular as MAX or PARANOiA. And then there comes EVOLVED... If there would be versions in the future, would the EVOLVED boss series (and possibly their new much more difficult EVOLVED songs, if any) become formidable songs to conquer?

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Except that it's actually AeronPeryton who made that remark. Oops.

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i rectify my post OwO

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Par Rev. can't be the last Paranoia...

It should have been Paranoia Respect-ish.

I have a few friends who would agree because they think Paranoia Respect was the best Paranoia. I don't completely agree, but I definitely think it is one of the best in the game.

Side note: Paranoia has always overshadowed (kind of) the Max series, as it was here first and, at the moment at last, concludes last. Trip Machine is quite similar with a different theory: Trip Machine is the definition (opinion...) of what an Encore Extra Stage should be. Challenging, insane, and kind of a claim to the DDR machine (it's a Trip!).

I think that one other thing to consider is the important difference between the DDR players of the Max.(Period) conclusion and the DDR players of the Paranoia Revolution era. The former would likely have never believed something like Valkyrie Dimension or Pluto or Fascination (series) would ever be seriously considered a song for DDR. It makes sense, seeing the evolution of difficulty, but it seems otherworldly from that old perspective.

I don't know if this is the end, but as a mere speculation, it would have been an amazing way to en, but I feel that if that is the case, then Konami kind of fumbled. I believe that a final battle, like Replicant-D-Action would have been the best finale with the EES being something like Max.(Period)-nostalgia surprise, anyone?- or Paranoia Revolution-imagine the challenge chart, EES rules.

I hope that there is another game, and should it come, I pray that the finale feels as such.

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>Reads the whole thread again

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I laughed. >.>

Silver, do you know if there is another game in the works? I presumed there would be a new one at some point, but apparently people seem pretty skeptical here.

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Nah, I doubt they will kill DDR out of the blue with all these new games coming out.

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THE FINAL ROAD

/ Dance Dance Revolution
/ Pluto the First
/ TRIP MACHINE Evolution
/ PARANOiA Revolution
/ MAX. (period)
/ Fascination Innovation
/ Tohoku Evolved
/ Valkyrie Dimension
/ UNBELIEVABLE (Sparky Remix)
/ Love Is The Power (RE:born)

Now that I think about it, LITP with shocks is totally legit.

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