Video games - Dance Dance Revolution 4thMIX

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	Video games - Dance Dance Revolution 4thMIX

Dance Dance Revolution 4thMIX, or DDR 4th Mix, is the fourth game in the main Dance Dance Revolution
series of music video games. It was released as an arcade game by Konami on August 24, 2000. Although only officially released in Japan, units exist worldwide. DDR 4th Mix features 136 songs, 42 of which are new to this mix. Twelve of the songs are initially hidden and must be unlocked by the arcade operator.

Gameplay

The basic gameplay of DDR 4th Mix follows the rest of the Dance Dance Revolution
series. One player can play using one dance pad (Single mode), two players can play using one dance pad each (Versus mode), or one player can play using both dance pads (Double mode).

A player must step to the beat, matching the beat to the arrows presented to them on screen by stepping on arrows on a metal-and-plexiglass dance stage. A judgment is displayed for each step, depending on the player's timing: "PERFECT!!", "GREAT!", "GOOD", "BOO" or "MISS..". An on-screen life meter, known as the Dance Gauge, begins halfway full at the start of each song. Perfect and Great steps slowly fill the Gauge, while Boo and Miss steps quickly deplete it. Good steps have no effect either way. If a player accumulates too many Boos or Misses, and the Dance Gauge becomes empty, the player fails the song and the game ends.

A player may play anywhere from one to five songs, depending on how many the arcade operator sets the machine to play each game. At the end of each song, the player sees their accumulated points, bonus points, and how many of each kind of step they stepped. They also get a letter grade that is dependent on the judgments received during play, ranging from "AA" (all steps Perfect) to "D" (failure, only seen in Versus mode when the other player passes). If the player manages to pass his or her songs, a cumulative results screen is given, totalling the stats from all played stages.

Scoring

Each step is given a score based on the accuracy of the step and the running combo. A judgment of Great or Perfect will award points and increase the combo, whereas any lower judgment will break the combo, reducing it to zero. Each "jump" (two steps that must be hit simultaneously) is worth one judgment, and only adds one to the combo.

Each Great is worth 555 points and each Perfect 777 points. The player also receives 333 points multiplied by the current combo after every step.

Nonstop Mode

Nonstop Mode, a feature from DDR 3rd Mix, allows the player to play a course of several pre-determined songs without stopping.

Battle Mode

Battle Mode is equivalent to the Unison and Couple modes from previous mixes, and is chosen at the difficulty selection screen while on Versus mode. Battle steps must be played by both players, and are generally designed to make each player "take turns" between playing simple and complex patterns. As an added challenge, the steps rise from the middle of the screen, and drift to either player's side while continuing upwards.

Link Data

Some machines have the ports to insert Playstation memory cards. Such memory cards have to be Playstation 1 memory cards with Link Data from the home version of DDR 4th Mix or earlier. It can exchange data with DDR 4th Mix, as well as any earlier version that has songs that are in 4th Mix. It can also use Edit Data, custom steps made on the home version.

Interface and graphics

The menu interface of DDR 4th Mix is signicantly different from previous versions of Dance Dance Revolution. Players can now choose Single, Versus, or Double modes on a dedicated Style selection screen, instead of the button combinations required of older mixes. Players must also choose one of eight Genres, which each contain a portion of the total song list. The available songs during the game will be limited to those in the chosen Genre.

The song selection screen depicts a series of seven diagonal song banners on the bottom half of the screen. Scrolling off the right edge of the screen causes the next seven banners to replace the current ones. The top half of the screen displays the current song's background image and difficulty ratings. Pressing the start button chooses the song, and replaces the bottom half of the screen with a difficulty selection menu. Each player may choose to play on Basic, Trick (called Another in previous versions), or Maniac (or Battle, if playing Versus). A player can also modify arrow appearance and arrangement on this screen by performing various "step codes" on the dance platform. As in previous mixes, step pattern difficulty is displayed as a foot rating, but the ratings are no longer given text labels (like Catastrophic for 9 feet).

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Dance Dance Revolution 4thMIX ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Dance Dance Revolution 4thMIX; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

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