DDRMAX Dance Dance Revolution - Gameplay

Gameplay

Core gameplay remained mostly the same on DDRMAX, with the addition of Freeze Arrows and a new scoring system:

Freeze Arrows appear as green arrows with a long extension. If they are held for the entire length successfully, an O.K. is scored. If it is not held down for the entire length, an N.G. (no good) is scored. Freezes affect the life bar. Scores are calcuated with 2 distinct scoring systems, the long-score system used to determine rankings, and an independent dance point system now used to determine the grade.

All songs have a long-score ceiling of 50 million points, and a bonus score is tacked onto it based on the difficulty of the song and other factors. Rankings are given for the highest long-score accumulations a round. If a player plays more than three songs, then it only counts the last three played. If a song is played repeatedly among the three songs used for ranking, then the repeated songs carry no bonus score.

The dance-point system uses raw step values to determine the grade. A 'Perfect' step adds two points, a 'Great' step adds one point, a 'Good' step is worth nothing, a 'Boo' step takes away four points, and a 'Miss' step takes away eight points. An 'O.K.' freeze adds six points, and an 'N.G.' freeze is worth nothing. The dance points are also tied to the life bar. As always, if a player takes too many bad steps and depletes the life bar, they will fail, and the game will end immediately. If the first song is in Light mode, then the game will allow a player to fail that song and continue, but will fail the player out if they fail a second song. In two-player games, if one player fails, they can continue dancing, but it ceases to accumulate dance points for the failed player, accumulates score points at only 10 points per step, and automatically gives the failed player an 'E' for the song.

The grade is dependent on the number of dance points accumulated: 100% dance points is 'AAA', at least 93% is 'AA', at least 80% is 'A', at least 65% is 'B', at least 45% is 'C' and anything below 45% is a 'D'. If a net dance-point total of zero is obtained without depleting the life bar and, thus, failing, an 'E' is awarded. The final grade for the entire game is an average of the grades from the last three songs and not derived from the actual dance points scored.

In addition, unlike the Japanese arcade release of DDRMAX, the Groove Radar is accompanied by the normal foot ratings as with DDRMAX2.