Dance Dance Revolution A

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DanceDanceRevolution A (pronounced Ace) (?????????????????, DansuDansuRebory?shon ?su) is a music video game, the 15th installment of the Dance Dance Revolution series, the sequel to 2013's Dance Dance Revolution. It was released on March 30, 2016 in Japan and Asia and on April 4, 2016 in Korea in dedicated cabinet form and as an update to 2013's Dance Dance Revolution . It was released in North America on July 6, 2016, and the first North American Dance Dance Revolution release to support e-Amusement. The game was also released in Europe on December 15, 2017, though the European version does not have e-Amusement support.

Video Dance Dance Revolution A

Development

The game was first announced during the Grand Final of the Konami Arcade Championship (KAC) 2016, which was held on the final day of the Japanese Amusement Expo (JAEPO) 2016 event, February 20, 2016.

Maps Dance Dance Revolution A

Features

The game features a handful of overhauls to the existing system used by previous games. The most significant change is made towards the song selection screen. While the previous game, DDR 2014, still uses an interface that resembles the Cover Flow system introduced in DDR X2, DDR A changes it into a Sound Voltex-like pagelist giving the illusion of a touchable interface, although selection is still made using buttons below the monitor. Nine song choices, organized in three rows, are in clear view of the player at any time; scrolling past them will reveal additional row of songs, somewhat like the one used in DDR 4thMix. For the first time, selection can be done using the up and down buttons to skip a row of songs (in previous games, these buttons are exclusively used for e-Amusement services and certain modifiers). While highlighting a song is needed to display their detailed information, all of the visible song choices always display their song title and the current difficulty level selected, reducing the time needed to browse through them.

The Groove Radar, previously fixed for each chart, now behaves accordingly whether the player sets options that eliminate arrows (e.g. activating "Freeze: Off" causes the Freeze portion of the radar to disappear) or not. The grading system also includes "+" and "-" levels for all grades except for AAA and E (though D does not have a "-" level). There are also aesthetic changes. If the player's dance meter is depleted down to the red level, a "danger overlay" will be added behind the player's arrow zone and the DDR X's speakers will turn red. The in-game characters now have the dance routines of the Supernova era (which in turn are based on those from the Ultramix series), though premade routines are retained. Some options have also been removed or changed to fit better with the gameplay.

Due to failures related with Windows XP Embedded, all cabinets are replaced by DDR (2013) cabinets or have arcade boards changed from DDR (2013) cabinets. These cabinets have a new Bemani PC Type 5 that runs Windows 7 Embedded Standard.

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Events

Extra Stage

The Extra Stage system retains the star requirement introduced in DDR X3 VS 2ndMix. The player is required to obtain 9 stars in a round to be allowed an extra song, the number of stars of which is determined by the player's grade. However, the game also introduces the concept of "Extra Level" which becomes an additional equation to the number of stars attainable. Once again, Extra Stages can only be obtained in Premium Mode, and for Japan only, PASELI users must choice PASELI-Premium instead of PASELI-Standard due to renewal pay method.

"Extra Level", introduced on June 13, 2016, rewards the player who plays the game multiple times with an increased chance to gain an extra stage. Each player starts at Level 1 at the start of a day. By completing three rounds, they are promoted to Level 2, which adds an additional 3 stars for every round the player completes afterward. Completing four more rounds promotes the player to Level 3, which nets the player a free access to Extra Stage for every round afterward. The promotion is applicable for a day, however; the level will be demoted back to 1 the next day. Before April 26, 2018, the level will also be demoted if the player selects "ENDYMION" as Extra Stage Level 3.

Before June 13, 2016, DDR A used the traditional Extra Stage system of previous games, which after the update was refitted into the Extra Exclusive folder. The exclusive song added during this period was "New Century".

Extra Savior

Introduced on June 13, 2016, Extra Savior allows the player to unlock hidden songs by playing them in Extra Stage. These not only include new additions for this game, but also some hidden songs yet to be unlocked for the general public from previous games. Extra Level impacts the unlock system; if the player is in Level 1 or 2, they must clear the song to unlock them, while being in Level 3 unlocks them regardless if the player clears the stage or not. Also, unlocking a song's difficulty automatically unlocks all difficulties below them, e.g. unlocking the song's Difficult stepchart unlocks the Beginner and Basic difficulties as well. If the EXTRA SAVIOR folder is marked in purple instead of green, the charts must be unlocked in order: BASIC -> DIFFICULT -> EXPERT. Only 2 folders have purple unlocks instead of green ones.

On October 6, 2016, six Extra Savior songs were added which have an additional unlock requirement before the player can access them in the folder called New Generation Natsu no Ryuusei Festa 2016 (New Generation ????????2016). The player needs to play a round of either of the following three Bemani games: beatmania IIDX 23 copula, jubeat Qubell, or SOUND VOLTEX III GRAVITY WARS. As promotion, clearing one of the songs added, "Triple Counter", unlocks an alternate skin for one of three characters depending on the chart completed. Clearing its Basic chart unlocks "Emi (JOMANDA)", Difficult nets "Alice (VALLIS-NERIA)", and Expert unlocks "Rinon (Lisa-RICCIA)". However, New Generation ????????2016 was not available in the North American release of the game until December 1, 2016.

Extra Exclusive

Introduced also on June 13, 2016, this folder is essentially a replacement for the traditional Extra Stage system of the previous games: the songs in this folder can only be played in Extra Stage. The player's current Extra Level determines the number of songs available inside the folder. Some of them have recently been made available in Final Stage, allowing those without Premium Mode to access them. There are 16 songs in this folder.

Encore Extra Stage

If the player manages to score AA or higher in "ENDYMION" on Basic or higher difficulty as Extra Stage, the player is granted access to the Encore Extra Stage, "ACE FOR ACES". A special Risky dance meter is applied, in which scoring Great or lower immediately ends the game. No time is allowed to change options, as the song immediately starts upon completing the previous stage.

Baby-Lon's and Rinon's Adventures

Started on August 8, 2016, Baby-Lon's Adventure event is centered on the character Baby-Lon. At the end of each stage, the player will be given a short cinematic of Baby-Lon climbing stairs, the number of which depends on the player's grade. Once reaching a certain number, the player earns a new song, after which Baby-Lon is sent back down again for another climb. Steps gained are not cumulative as each climb is done separately (gaining 10 steps when the player only needs 2 more means that the remaining 8 steps are lost). There are a total of 5 songs available for unlock in this event.

One variant after any player completes this event, started on April 27, 2017, is Rinon's Adventure, but the steps can only be obtained in Extra Stage. There are all 10 Extra Exclusive songs and their Challenge charts available for unlock in this event. Unlocking them all additionally allows the player unlocking "ENDYMION" (Initially as an Extra Exclusive song by reaching Extra Stage Level 3 and on April 26, 2018 as Level 1) and "ACE FOR ACES" (Initially Encore Extra, on April 26, 2018 as an Extra Exclusive song by reaching Extra Stage Level 2 and on July 24, 2018 as Level 1), but it challenge charts is enabled on Extra Stage Level 1 (initially Level 2).

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Release

Dance Dance Revolution A was released on July 6, 2016 in the United States. As of July 2018, the game is available in 57 locations in the United States: 34 Dave & Buster's locations, and 23 Round1 locations. Of these, ten Round1 locations are each equipped with two Dance Dance Revolution A machines, instead of just one.

In Canada, Dance Dance Revolution A launched on December 5, 2016, during the grand opening of the Dave & Buster's in Oakville, Ontario. As of July 2018, this is the sole venue in Canada to feature this game. This is the first Dance Dance Revolution release in the country after Dance Dance Revolution X in 2009 and the import of Dance Dance Revolution X2 in 2011.

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Music

Currently, there are 129 new songs of 781 total. 3 of them were available for play within a limited time period in Dance Dance Revolution 2014 as promotion. The promotional teaser for the game confirmed the following artists who composed the game's music: U1-ASAMi, Captain KING, DJ TOTTO, Musical Cosmology, Sota F., L.E.D.-G, Zodiac Fall, TAG, Nekomata Master, and CLUB SPICE. All Dancemania licenses have been removed due to their licenses expiring, making Dance Dance Revolution A the first core arcade Dance Dance Revolution title to have no traditional Dancemania licenses in it.

This is the first arcade appearance of Billboard Hot 100 songs since DanceDanceRevolution X2. This game also continues the previous licensing partnerships with EXIT TUNES and Team Shanghai Alice. There are 26 songs that are absent in the North American and European releases of the game due to licensing issues, which include 18 licenses from Dance Dance Revolution A, "???????" from Dance Dance Revolution 2014, "????????? (Ryu?Remix)" from Dance Dance Revolution 2013, and all licenses from Dance Dance Revolution X3 VS 2ndMix.

Notes

• mark indicates that this song has a music video which is played full-screen.
• (BG) mark indicates that this song has a music video which is played in an in-game background dance stage.
• mark indicates that this song must be unlocked.
• mark indicates that this song is not available in the North American and European releases of DDR games due to licensing issues.

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References

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External links

• Official site

Source of article : Wikipedia