What I know about DDR EX (8th Mix) / Review
The official Konami DDR EX site can be found here:
http://www.konami.co.jp/am/ddr/ddr_new/index.html
I Apologize in advance for the rush-look of the page at present; I am using this
to clear up confusion and to do away with the silly rumors that have been floating around. I will make this page
more asthetically pleasing soon enough, and as I get more information.
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Okay, I got back from the test location. Yes I was there. Check out the photos
from Konami's weekly journal here:
http://www.konami.co.jp/am/ddr/ddr_new/1018.html Or, if you are still confused, here is the pic from there with me pointed out: |  |
First off, the location test had only the new songs in it (in the default list; you could at least see the older songs by switching to view songs alphabetically/by catergory/Player's Best/etc.), but the final will (as was told to me by the Konami rep) have all of Max 2's songs (116), 3 from Max (Ghosts, Flash in the Night, Bye Bye Baby Balloon (This might change before the final release, though; and no news on what will become of Follow Me or Telephone Operator)), and 70 or so Oni stages/old songs/hidden songs. Here is the playlist in order as it appeared on the screen (in the color used as well):
| Song | Single | Double | ||||||
| Light | Standard | Heavy | Oni | Light | Standard | Heavy | Oni | |
| Be For You - Graduation | 2 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 7 | ||
| Wildslide - Irresistablement | 3 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 8 | ||
| Naoki feat. Paula Terry - Memories | 3 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 8 | ||
| Rose - Speed Over Beethoven | 3 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 9 | ||
| Fixxx - Vanity Angel | 3 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 8 | ||
| Live 2 Love - We Are The Champions | 3 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 7 | ||
| Houseboyz - We Will Rock You | 3 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 7 | ||
| Re-Venge - bag | 4 | 8 | 10 | 4 | 8 | 10 | ||
| Mr Brian & The Final Band - Crash | 4 | 5 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 8 | ||
| Riyu Kosaku - Love Love Shine | 4 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 8 | ||
| Joga - Dam Dariram | 4 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 8 | ||
| CJ Crew - Rhythm & Police | 4 | 6 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 9 | ||
| Joe Rinoe - Synchronized Love | 4 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 8 | ||
| Hi-Rise - I Believe In Miracles | 5 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 8 | ||
| Jennifer - If You Were Here | 5 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | ||
| D-Crew - Be Lovin' | 3 | 6 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 8 | ||
| Mutsuhiko Izumi - Destiny lovers | 3 | 5 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 8 | ||
| Tomosuke - Gamelan de Couple | 3 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 8 | ||
| tiger YAMATO - Hold on me | 3 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 6 | ||
| LED feat. Sana - Miracle Moon | 3 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 7 | ||
| Orange Lounge - Mobo*Moga | 3 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 7 | ||
| Youhei Shimizu - Feeling Of Love | 4 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 7 | ||
| DJ Taka - Frozen Ray | 4 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 7 | ||
| Naoki feat. Shanti - Kiss Kiss Kiss | 4 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 8 | ||
| Naoki feat. Paula Terry - L'Amour et Liberte | 4 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 7 | ||
| DJ Taka feat. Noria - Love Love Sugar | 4 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 7 | ||
| DJ Taka - V | 4 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 9 |
| Sky High - D.J. Miko version | 2 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 7 | ||
| U1-Asami - AM-3P (303 Bass mix) | 3 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 7 | ||
| Scotty D - Drop The Bomb! (System SF Mix) | 3 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 6 | ||
| Okutatos - Kind Lady | 4 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 6 | ||
| Caramel.S - So In Love | 3 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 7 | ||
| Paranoia Survivor 270 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 10 | ||
| ZZ - Legend of Max | 10 | 10 | ||||||
| ?? - Paranoia Survivor Max | 10 | ? | ? | |||||
Other songs in the test location version (not in the main selection list/display)
| Song | Single | Double | ||||||
| Light | Standard | Heavy | Oni | Light | Standard | Heavy | Oni | |
| DJ Amuro - A | 8 | 8 | ||||||
| DJ Taka - Colors | ||||||||
| Aska - Happy Wedding | ||||||||
| Mitsuhiko Izumi - Jet World | ||||||||
| Hirofumi Sasaki - The Least 100sec | 9 | 9 | ||||||
| Kiss Me All Night Long | ||||||||
| Des-Row - Daikenkai | 8 | 8 | ||||||
| Mahou no Todoke | ||||||||
| White Lovers | ||||||||
| Blue Impulse | 8 | 8 | ||||||
| JT Players - Let's Get Down | 3 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 7 |
| 8Bit - Afronova Primeval | 4 | 6 | 9 | 4 | 6 | 9 | ||
| NMR - Keep On Movin' | 4 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 7 | ||
| Remember You | 1 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 5 | ||
| De-Sire - Trip Machine (Jungle Mix) | 6 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | ||
| De-Sire - Trip Machine | 6 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | ||
| Baby Weapon feat, Asuka M - Dr Love | 3 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 6 | ||
| L.E.D Light - Genom Screams | 5 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 10 | ||
| Luv to Me (Disco Mix) | 4 | 7 | 9 | 4 | 8 | 8 | ||
| Bald Heads - Ska A Go Go | 6 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 8 | 9 | ||
| U1-Asami - Cutie Chaser | 3 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 7 | ||
Nonstop Courses in the Test Location (chances are very high these will not be the ones in the final version)
Difficulty was selectable between two levels at the beginning before the course was selected.
Legend : S = Standard, H = Heavy, O = Oni
| Course | Song 1 | Song 2 | Song 3 | Song 4 |
| Player's Best | 4th most played song [S/H] | 3rd most played song [S/H] | 2nd most played song [H/H] | 1st most played song [H/H] |
| Random Select | ???? [S/H] | ???? [S/H] | ???? [H/H] | ???? [H/H] |
| Course 1 | Love Love Sugar [S/H] | Miracle Moon [S/H] | Love Shine [H/H] | Mobo Moga [H/H] |
| Course 2 | Hold on Me [S/H] | Feeling of Love [S/H] | Be Lovin [H/H] | Daikenkai [O/O] |
| Course 3 | Love Shine [S/H] | Jet World [S/H] | Mahou no Todoke [H/H] | Blue Impulse [O/O] |
Oni Courses in the Test Location (chances are very high these will not be the ones in the final version)
| Course | Song 1 | Song 2 | Song 3 | Song 4 | Song 5 |
| Course 1 | Let's Get Down (Heavy) | I Believe In Miracles (Heavy) | If You Were Here (Heavy) | Dam Damiram (Heavy) | Sky High (Heavy) |
| Course 2 | Kiss Kiss Kiss (Heavy) | A (Oni) | V (Heavy) | Frozen Ray (Heavy) | Destiny Lovers (Heavy) |
| Course 3 | Drop the Bomb S.F. Mix (Standard) | L'amour et la liberte (Standard) | Vanity Angel (Standard) | The Least 100 Sec. (Oni) | Blue Impulse (Oni) |
| Course 4 | Matsuri Japan (Boost) (Oni) | Sexy Planet (Reverse Boost) (Oni) | DROP OUT (0.5x speed) (Oni) | ECSTASY (Oni) | AM-3P (303 Bass Mix) (Oni) |
| Course 5 (at .5x speed) | Drop Out (Heavy) | Dead End (Heavy) | Max 300 (Heavy) | Maxx Unlimited (Heavy) | Paranoia Survivor Max(Heavy) |
 | Anyways, in the final version, I was assured by the Konami guy that there would be 230 songs...whatever his word is worth (it was not Eto; just some guy hiding in the back noting what songs were being picked) Okay, now, the system. It's very...green. |
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There are 6 modes; Beginner, Light, Standard, Heavy, Nonstop, and Oni. Some notes:
Beginner - shows the character dancing on-screen so you know where to
step.
The new songs are...well...not so hard. V is 8-feet and everyone passed it with ease. Only the last bit is a bit tricky. "bag" is *EVIL*!! Imagine Orion .78 AMEuro mix as one *HUGE* run of 16th steps, and there you have it...I'm not making that up :( Speed over Beethoven is just fun. Thank you. Easily my favorite song on the mix so far. As for the scoring system, it appears to be the same as MAX2, except for the oni courses, which give you your result in "Dance Points" instead of a percentage (the "Dance Points" are calculated the same as in Max2, and a description of what they are can be found on my scoring page here). |  |
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UPDATE: There is a new grade above "Perfect!" called "Marvelous!!!", which has the same effect as the
flashing greats did in Beatmania IIDX. However, you only need a full combo with all Perfects or higher to get an AAA.
The EX Stage(s). You can choose *ANY* song as your EX stage, but it will be on 1.5 reverse dark, and 5 misses/boos fail you. Legend of Max is not *too* bad until the end, and then...good god... :( I wonder if they will change it. The "One More Extra Stage" (Yosaku AAed it) *WAS* the extra from IIDX 8th style, "Sakura", but was changed to "Paranoia Survivor Max" in the 55% complete test location version. It could also be played in the "Course 5" oni course if you got to the last song. |
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Now, I asked a few questions and got a few answers:
Q: Can you upgrade from Max 2 easily, or do you need new hardware?
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Now, some random points
As was pointed out on my board, the songs from Max/Max 2 were listed in DDR Extreme, but not in the default list. If you switched viewing modes (alphabetically, by mix, player's best, etc.) you could see at least a good number of the other songs
Next, the announcer is the same one as in Max/Max2, and almost all of the voices are the same. The only new one I remember is him screaming "Yeeeeeeeeeeeehaaaaaaaaaaw!" when you are on a roll (combo-wise). The machine shouts "Let's D D R!" instead of "Let's Max"...that's about all I remember from that.
Next, on Beginner mode, the background changes to the animated character stepping on the pads. If the other player is on any other mode, the dance pad image is still displayed, but the dancer is not (if either or both of the players pick Beginner mode, the background animation normally seen is not displayed)
Speaking of which, the BG animations are about the same quality at Max2...same stuff. It might be just me, but I remember the newer ones being a little bit dimmer so you can see the arrows more. Still, there are some memorable ones, like the spinning Beethovens or running flat bears that come to mind. Oh, and for the Euromix2 people, Crash! has a different anim than the one you have seen, which was a rehash of the one from Trance de Janeiro, I believe?
Finally, about cabinets: it's the same one, hear? There is nothing special about it, you don't need new uber-hardware, it's not coming in a new box, thank you.
Well, that's it for now. Until next update,
Aaron
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Comments or Suggestions? Then contact me at: aaron@f6.dion.ne.jp