DanceGames.com
Definitive DDR Max Preview
by neil hughes
With DDR Max hitting
arcades in 2 days, Konami has made it's final pre-release update to it's official
DDR Max site [http://www.konami.co.jp/am/ddr/ddrmax/index.html], outlining the
new gameplay system.
The first minor
change is renaming the difficulty settings for the 4th time. Basic now becomes
Light, Trick is Standard, and Maniac becomes Heavy. Until we play it, we won't
know whether this is just a simple name change, or a complete re-think on the
difficulty system. It's still unknown whether older songs will be given new
steps, or will retain the steps they had in 5th Mix. Difficulty selection is
essentialy the same as fifth. Each player can select a different difficulty
in Versus mode, and settings can be changed at the song selection screen, as
they were in 4th and 5th Mix
5th Mix's song
selection screen is still intact, with the new difficulty rating system in the
bottom left, and a comprehensive list of which codes are on/off, in the top
left. For those who missed it, the new rating system goes like this :
Ported straight
from Drum Mania, all songs are rated out of 5 catagories of difficulty. The
chart for each song shows how difficult the song is, and also gives an indication
of what kind of steps the song contains. The 1-9 step rating system is FINALY
gone, meaning no more illogical ratings, like End Of Century and Night Of Fire...
The cyan (blue) outline shows the difficulty for the mode selected by player
1, the orange for player 2.
The rating catagories
explained :
Stream
Constant streams of arrows.. Think of Do It All Night, In The Heat Of The Night)
Chaos
The degree of irregularity within the steps. Previously seen in End Of Century
and Grandiusic Cyber, where the steps don't follow any real pattern and seem
almost random
Freeze
The ammount of freeze steps in the song, and how difficult they make the song
(think of the Pump It Up Extra steps to Caution)
Air
Ammount of jumping (Drop Out's intense jumping sections come to mind. This might
also cover skipping, ala In The Navy and Matsuri Japan)
Voltage
Maximum Density of the arrows, or more simply, the ammount of rapid off-beat
steps your going to face. Grandiusic Cyber and Superstar would probably rank
pretty highly on the voltage scale.
Next is the jaw-dropping
selection of Max's code system. The page lists the codes for the usual variables.
Some are changed, some remain the same. It all becomes irrelevant, though, as
a quick double-tap of the right arrow brings up...
The Solo 2000 Menu
Screen!
It's back, new and improved, and the gameplay options availible are just jaw-dropping.
Speed
x1 / x1.5 / x2 / x3 / x5 / x8
Choose from 1 to 8 times the regular gameplay speed, but surprisinginly, no
option to play at 0.5 speed.
Boost
On / Off
Not quite sure, but it's probably the 'Special' speed option from Solo, making
arrows scroll slowly halfway up the screen, at half the normal speed, and then
shoot upwards at incredible velocity once they hit the half-way mark. Hard to
time, and even harder to explain.. ^_~
Appearance
Regular / Hidden / Sudden / Stealth
Turn
Off / Mirror / Left / Right / Shuffle
Other
Little / Flat / Solo
I know what solo means.. anyone who's played Solo Bass Mix also knows what it
means.. I'm excited! ^_^
Scroll
Standard / Reverse
This really is a DDR Solo 2000 fan's dream. Selecting reverse is the same as
pressing the selection button mid-song in Solo 2000 - it reverses the screen,
so that arrows fall downwards, instead of scrolling upwards.
Freeze Arrow
On / Off
An option to remove the freeze arrows from the game, giving a more old-school
experience
Step
Light / Normal / Heavy
A chance to change the difficulty mode you selected earlier
Another step towards
the solo series, and confirmation of a rumor nobody really believed - background
dancers are gone.
Our first real
glimpse at the actual gameplay also reveals just how much the freeze arrows
will add to the depth of gameplay. The arrow is held for trail that it leaves
behind. This shot shows the player having to spin a traditional circle, holding
and releasing each arrow at a specific time, then pressing another as he releases.
One of the dozens of ways the designers are going to find uses for freeze arrows.
Note that these are Standard (trick) steps, expect Heavy Mode freeze steps to
be scary...
The grading system
remains intact, adding a 'Bonus' box, in which the game grades you on how well
you perform in each of the 5 outlined disciplines of DDR (Stream, Voltage, Air,
Freeze, Chaos - remember them, you'll be tested later ^_^)
Internet Ranking
is also back in a big way. On the final rating screen, the password is displayed.
This year's conpetition is based on the total score of the last 3 songs you
play, presumably using the 5th Mix scoring system, since the page doesn't outlined
any changes to the way a score is calculated.
..Well, that's
it. Only 2 days to go until that sweet, sweet Max. I reccomend that the first
song you play is Freckles, 'cause it kicks ass ^_^
This is Neil, signing
off to get excited about playing Max sometime soon.. Oh, and updating the Lyric
Guide
*whistle*
http://www.gamefaqs.com/coinop/arcade/game/31959.html
*whistle*
Check it out, more
DDR Max news as we get it
-Neil / NMR
[email protected]
Posted by Neil
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