DanceDanceRevolution X (PS2) (North America)

Horatio Expert totally AAA'able (full perfect AAA, too) but some tricky for the full combo

Hello, everyone.

I'm a long-time lurker, first-time poster at Z-i-V. I've finally been motivated to join the site thanks to DDR X US, and my complete inability to figure out how to unlock songs. I'm wary of looking through this thread because spoilers aren't always so well-hidden, so I was hoping someone could just shed some light on how I could go about unlocking songs. Street Master Mode doesn't seem to work, as I've gotten past a few songs I don't have now and I didn't unlock them.

At first I was thinking the unlock method was just a repeat of MAX CS US (unlock more songs simply by playing songs you have), but it's taking *forever*. I'm pretty sure I've played over 25 songs now and I've only unlocked two. It's driving me crazy, too, because the questionable quality (IMO) of this mix is making it difficult for me to want to devote that much time to unlocking it.

So, can anyone give me a few tips? First time I've ever had to ask how to unlock anything in a CS mix, haha.

Thanks!

Seen the info page?

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Arigatou Al for the banners XD

now the on the bounce simfile has been updated with the much better banner, but still the same steps and background and music.

You can find that here http://www.mediafire.com/?9q2p8zw9ent

Note: I'll probably be doing Horatio tomorrow, but not tonight

.......No comment. Either that, or I suck. Even at CCR.

Anyway, do any of you know of a way to get the character splash screens? Some of the new costumes for these characters are just absolutely hilarious.

i.e. Emi's pseudo prom dress, Alice's polka-dotted.... shorts?

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Horatio Expert is sweet, I dunno why so many people hate it.

People hate Horatio ? I can't imagine why; it's really, really awesome.

Thanks for the link to the info page. There aren't really any explicit instructions, but I got the gist of it; completing specific episodes unlocks certain content. I thought so, but it's just taking forever. Thanks!

I think people hate it because of the god damn trills. I really like the song. The Exp chart is just.... heavily obnoxious.

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I like Horatio, but I hate Expert steps when I want make full combo ... very continous quickly move
I did AAA On the Break Expert and Saber Wing Challenge 6 hours ago ... Does anyone here cleared Trigger Expert as Encore Extra Stage?

~Piepiepie75's DDR X US PS2 review. WARNING SPOILERS~

Intro
Ah, for some it may be hard to believe that a whole decade ago, Dance Dance Revolution hit the arcades for the first time and helped usher in a new era of music games. And still, Konami continues to pump out release after release of the popular rhythm game ten years later. Their latest incarnation is Dance Dance Revolution X, a "port" of the arcade release of the same name.

Some may be wondering why I put port in quotation marks. Well, there's two reasons. First, to call any console release for the US since DDR USA a port of the respective arcade version is understating at best. The US console versions of arcade games generally get a chunk of the arcade songs, a helping of older songs yet to appear on a US mix, and a plethora of 'mainstream' licenses. The second reason is a reason unique to DDR X: its arcade port isn't due for release in Japan until January 2009. Why they decided to still bring over a US port at its usual September drop date I can't tell you.

But I digress. Dance Dance Revolution X, as the title may imply, is meant to be a 10th anniversary edition of the game series. To celebrate, they've given the US its largest songlist on a PS2 game yet...but sadly it only beats the old record by one song. Konami also packed in some special treats for veterans in the songlist, which I'll get to later.

Gameplay/Graphics

Most everyone should be familar with how this game is played. Players choose a song from the songlist and arrows scroll up to match the beat of the music. When the arrow reaches the "step zone" at the top of the screen, players hit the corresponding arrows on their dance pad controller.

Now, onto the graphics. DDR X incorporated an "urban" theme meshed with a theme inspired from Beatmania IIDX 12th Style for this game. Although the two could not seem more alike, they strangely work together to create an experience quite pleasing to the eye.

The dancing stages from SuperNOVA and SuperNOVA2 have also received a touch up for the 10th anniversary game. No longer are your characters dancing on a platform in the middle of floating blocks! Now they have several more realistic venues to choose from, such as a disco floor, an alleyway, and, funnily enough, a giant birthday cake! These stages are more pleasing to the eye and less distracting to the gameplay and they get a big thumps up from this reviewer. Sadly, only a few of these stages exist, so they can get a little tiresome after playing for a while.

The characters who dance on the stages weren't left out of the mix either. They've put on some new outfits to enjoy on these new stages. Emi trades in her skirt for a ballerina dress, baby-lon happily dances around in a spacesuit, and Yuni wears a maid costume (as we later find out, she had to sneak out of her mansion wearing it). There are all sorts of other wacky changes, but if this is all too much for my dear reader to handle, then don't fret. Their original SuperNOVA/2 outfits are unlockable (including Alice and Julio, who weren't included in the US version of SuperNOVA2!)

Though it may look a bit strange at times, this all comes together to create an interesting and unique theme. This reviewer hopes Konami continues making 'themed' graphic schemes for upcoming games.

Songs and Stepcharts

Ah, and now we come to the real meat of any Dance Dance Revolution: the songs and their respective stepcharts. Let's start by going through some of the music featured in DDR X.

Veteran players may be surprised to see several old Dancemania licenses gracing the songwheel. "Boys", "Butterfly" "Dub-I-Dub", "Hero", and "Get Up'N Move" all are available on the default songlist for players to hop in and play. All these revival songs have longer, and sometimes worse, edits than the original songs that appeared in early DDR games. The stepcharts remain largely the same however, at least modeled after their original chart. Your humble reviewer was hoping for a little more than that, but it is certainly nice to see these licenses coming back for another DDR game.

The rest of the licenses consist of your average US console license songs. Edun's "Put 'Em Up", Tommie Sunshine's remix of the Hush Sound's "Wine Red", Bob Sinclair's "Sound of Freedom" and MC Hammer's "U Can't Touch This" are some examples of the licenses you'll find in DDR X. As usual, your average player is likely to find a few enjoyable songs in these licenses, however this is not one of the stronger license lists to grace a DDR game.

The rest of the songlist, the Konami Originals, are hit and miss as well. Non-importers will be delighted to see such gems as "Trust -DanceDanceRevolution Mix", "Blind Justice ~Torn Souls, Hurt Faiths~, and "Poseidon" ported from the arcade version of SuperNOVA2.

As for the brand-spanking-new Konami Originals, they are where the true hit and miss comes into play. Dance fans may be excited to see the names of such artists as Darwin, Bill Hamel, DDT, and Tommie Sunshine hit this game, but DDR players may be disappointed to see very few songs from Bemani artists such as Sota Fujimori, Junko Karashima, and Osamu Migitera. It's not hard to see why Konami chose to port these songs from the arcade version over Bemani artists, but it still leaves a feeling of emptiness in your humble reviewer's heart.

Not to say that these new songs are bad. There's certainly enough genres to appeal to everyone here. Into hardcore dance? Try Darwin's "On the Break" or DDT's "Waiting 4 u". Trance more your style? Check out Ruffage & Size's "Tracers (4Beat Remix)" and Darwin's "Dream Machine". Into house music? Look out for Bill Hamel's "Dance Celebration" and Tommie Sunshine's "Party Lights". Or perhaps you'd like to broaden your horizons? Look no further than Jena Rose's "Ticket to Bombay" and "Flight of the Phoenix".

Each of these commissioned artists bring their own unique flavor to the DDR scene. Most of the songs are good enough, but there are certainly some that are...not so good. Harmony Machine's "Slip Out", for example, is a funk kind of song that doesn't seem suited for DDR. Wolli's "Lift You Up" should have been left on the cutting room floor, and neuras' "Take A Chance" lacks a certain...quality that makes it seem like it's not quite finished.

Buried in the mountain of commissioned music do seem to be a few Bemani artists hiding. TAG (of GuitarFreaks/DrumMania fame) creates an awesome game music song reminiscent of Gradius -Full Speed-, sonic-coll (an artist your humble reviewer suspects to be an alias for the famous Naoki Maeda) creats a soulful pop song with frances maya in "Flourish", and creates a mad boss song in "Trigger".

As far as music goes, your casual dance fan will find more than a few songs to groove to, but avid Bemani fans looking for the next hits from their favorite artists may want to wait to see how the Japanese version of the game turns out before picking up this one.

But hey, music is only part of the equation! Stepcharts also play a major factor into the DDR games as well. Well, on this side of the equation, DDR X hits it out of the park. Most of the songs feature charts that fit well with the music and are fun to play as well. On the lower side of the difficulty scale, DKC Crew's "Inspiration" features light 8th streams coupled with jumps to keep the chart well paced but on the lighter side of difficulty. Looking higher? Darwin's "On the Break" features 16th gallups that may remind players of CaptivAte ~Chikai~, "Dance Celebration (System7 Mix) features some messy 16th clusters and jumps to keep you on your toes, and TAG's "Saber Wing" features high-paced crossover streams. I have no doubt that players of all skill will find more than a few charts they'll want to play a second time over.

And DDR fans are in for a special treat when they unlock "Venus", as the song features a new oni chart that is both difficult and fun!

Ah..but what of boss songs, the charts that are given the most attention? Konami once again struggles with some of these charts, but they are certainly improving. neuras' "On the Bounce" features challenging 16th clusters and jump and OR-IF-IS's "Horatio" features long 16th streams that require some stamina to complete. Both of these charts represent a good direction for boss songs.

The other two major boss songs are "Trigger" by sonic-coll. and Akira Ishibara's remix of "Saber Wing". These are perfect examples of songs that have decent expert charts and are ruined by the challenge charts. The expert charts are challenging, yet not stupidly so. The challenge charts of these songs are generally there to make the song harder, and in both cases stupidly so. Thankfully, they do not reach the level of NGOO or DEGRS.

There are also 10 charts in the game that feature "Shock Arrows". These are arrows that come up four at a time and the player must jump to the center of the mat to avoid hitting them. However, these charts are simply copies of another chart of the song with the shock arrows replacing some of the arrows. Shock Arrows are a horrible addition anyways, but the way they are implemented is even more stupid. Thankfully, as these charts are not really unique in any way, they are easily ignorable. Just make sure you drop Konami a note to get rid of the Shock Arrows!

Overall, the stepcharts are a step up from SuperNOVA2, and your humble reviewer hopes the trend continues into the AC game.

Summary

There are a lot of things to love and hate about DDR X. Arguments will be had on forums and comments all across the internet, as is the case with almost every DDR game release in any form. Still, I think that most DDR players who pick this up will have a good time with it. However, importers and avid Bemani artist fans may want to wait patiently on the sidelines for the Japanese release to come.

Pie's score: 8/10 B-.

Well, I got 18 greats and a pad miss on a sightread, and I'm gonna try to FPC it today. (on pad of course)

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Thanks for that review! Nice work.
Were you a tad disappoitned with X, out of curiousity?

For the most part, I agree with that review.

Knuckles, I know you're asking Pie, but I can't imagine this is worse than SN or SN2.

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Pie, the one thing I noted in your review was that this was aimed for any audience, casual or serious, and you abbreviated Dead End Groove Radar and NGO Challenge. Casuals once again might not know what they are.

Casual players won't know what the charts were like anyway. Practically everybody that knows how the charts are constructed knows the acronyms, and vice versa.

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RoyBoy: Thanks. I was just asking if he personally felt that way since I may have gotten that impression from the review. I'm not getting DDRX though, so I wasn't asking as though I was basing my decision on his opinions or anything. DDRHP2 ftw!!!

whats "DEGRS"?

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Dead End Groove Radars I'm assuming but don't quote me on that.

Dead End "Groove Radar Special". You can quote me though...//

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Lol. We're both eager to answer the question.