Have you ever seen a game called Dance Dance Revolution (DDR for short) in the arcades? If so,have you ever wanted to try it,but you were too afraid you'd look like an ass when you failed every song you tried? Read this guide,and by following the tips I give you,and with alot of practice,you should be doing heavy and oni songs in no time. I organized this guide into sections,so it should be easier to navigate through the guide.


I. The basics

Before I get into the guide,let me tell you a little bit about DDR first. DDR has been around for about 10 years,and is made by Konami. If DDR is used for exersising rather than just another video game,you will burn 2x the calories in a less amount of time rather than if you went to the gym. I know this because my mom said she only burned 200 calories every time she went to the gym for half an hour,but I burned over 400 calories in just 10-20 minutes of heavy songs on DDR. This is one of the reasons why DDR is so popular,(in my opinion) because it is a quick way to lose weight! Today,if you walk into an arcade,there is a 99% chance you will see a DDR machine. THAT is how popular this game is. I've noticed that no arcade in vegas DOESENT have DDR,and when I go on vacation,I still notice the same thing.

If you are confused about gameplay,this is a game you play with your feet. The arrows are arranged in the North,East,South and West directions. The object of the game is to dance through the song you pick without failing it. Usually,most arcades will give you 3 songs per game,but some DDR machines are set to 4 songs/game,or even 5 or 6 songs/game! If you score at least an A on all the songs you normally get per game,you will be able to do an extra stage!

If you are still confused on gameplay,go to youtube and search for DDR. Click on any video you want,and pay close attention to how the game is played. Or,click here to go to DDR freak to view step charts of songs. Step charts show you ALL the steps in a song,so use them to your advantage!

First of all,theres a few terms you need to know. This way,if someone asks you in the arcade 'how many feet is this song' or 'how much of a combo can you get on this song',you don't look dumb when you ask them what that is.


(insert number here) foot - this is the difficulty of the song. The higher the number,the more difficult the song is going to be. 9 & 10 footers are the hardest.

beginner,light,standard,heavy,oni - These are the 5 difficulty levels. If you are just starting out,you might want to only do light songs.

mods - These are modifiers. This is stuff like altering the arrow speed. Usually,you won't want to put arrow speed more than 2x.

combo - Basically,this means how many arrows you step on without missing any. A max combo is when you dont miss ANY arrows in the entire song.



II. Arrow timing

Timing your steps is VERY important in DDR! If you play an instrument,you can go ahead and skip this part of the guide if you want to - think of your arrow timing like note rythms in sheet music,and you should do fine.

Have you ever noticed when the 4 stationary arrows (the top 4 arrows on the top of the screen) blink? This is the tempo of the song,which is VERY important in arrow timing,so before the song starts,just tap along with the blinking on your thigh to help you feel the rythm of the song. If you dont want to do this,you can count 1,2,3,4 every time the stationary arrows blink.

Now for the arrow timing. Blue arrows are counted like 1,2,3,4. Red arrows mixed with blue arrows are counted like 1 & 2 &,with the blue arrows being the 1 count and 2 count. Purple arrows mixed with blue and red arrows are counted like 1e&a2&,again,with the blue arrows being the 1 count and 2 count. As for how fast to hit these rythms,thats where the tempo comes in. The slower the stationary arrows blink,the slower you hit these; the faster they blink,the faster you hit the arrows.

If you are confused by this,don't worry. When you see these arrows,you might instincively know how fast to step on them like I did. (just to let you know,I instinctively knew how fast to step BEFORE I got into any instruments,so don't tell me its because I play 2 instruments)

III.Scoring system


DDR's scoring system isn't too complicated,but still read on! This is important stuff to know!

The 7 possible grades are AAA,AA,A,B,C,D and E. AAA is the best,while E is the worst. Here is a quick rundown on how to get these grades:

AAA - This is REALLY hard to get,(I've been playing for 6 years and I haven't gotten this grade yet) but if you get full combo and do everything excellent in the other elements of the song,you should get a AAA.

AA - This is easier than a AAA,but still tricky to get. If you get a full combo and do good,and your arrow timing is great,you will get a AA.

A - If you just get a full combo and do OK on the other elements of the song,you will get an A.

B - This is the grade you get when you don't get a full combo,but you still did good on the song.

C - This isn't a very good grade.....this is what you get when you miss alot of arrows and do OK on the whole song.

D - This is what you get when you miss most of the arrows,and you don't do very good on the other elements of the song. You also get this grade when you do some songs on little.

E - This is what you get when you miss almost every arrow,and you do horrible on the other elements of the song.


IV. Difficulty system


look over here:


Ignore the part that says AG,I took this screenie in stepmania while it was still on PIU mode,but don't worry. The pentagon difficulty system is the same in the arcade and the home version.

Notice those words on each corner of the pentagon? Those are what I call the elements of the song. These determine how hard the song is going to be. Here is what they mean:

Air - Any part in the song where you hit 2 arrows at the same time.
Voltage - This tells you how many arrows are in the song. When you get your score at the end of the song,this also tells you how much of a combo you got.
Chaos - This is when all the arrows are moving. If this is on a very high level on the pentagon,that means there most likely won't be a time in the song when you aren't doing anything.
Stream - This is all the 8th,16th,and the 32th beat arrows. In most cases,you won't see any of these in a light song. If you play an instrument,it would help you to know that these are also 8th notes,16th notes,and 32nd notes.
Freeze - This is when you hit an arrow (or 2 arrows at the same time) and you hold it down rather than letting it go right after.


V. Starting to play

Now that you know the basic stuff,and how the game works,now its time to play. If you don't have an xbox or PS2,save up for one,because all the home versions of DDR are on these 2 systems. I'm not including DDR mario because the songs are half as easy as normal DDR songs. Anyway,if you have the money to spend on it,I'd recommend you buy EVERY home version for whatever system you have. If you own both,that is GREAT! The extra practice will help you!

Anyway,after you buy a home version,you'll need a dance pad. If you want a soft one,save up for a redoctane ignition,because they are the thickness of an arcade pad,but its still a soft pad. But whatever you do,buy it on ebay! The redoctane site is WAAAAAAY overpriced! If you want a metal pad,and willing to spend 300-400$ for a good one,get a iON pad. I use an iON pad,and its great! Again,buy it on ebay,because most of the other places are overpriced. But really,the dancepad you use is up to you,just use the one in the DDR bundle pack until you find a pad you like.

First off,I am going to stress this alot,but DO NOT RETURN TO THE MIDDLE AFTER EVERY ARROW! This is a very bad habit,and will make clearing standard and heavy songs hard,so don't do it. It is OK to return your feet to the middle if there isn't going to be any arrows for a while, (5-10 seconds) but anything else is bad. To prevent forming this habit,simply keep your foot on the arrow when you step on it until the next arrow comes. Also,don't make the 1.5 foot mistake either (when you use one foot for 3 arrows and the other for the last arrow) - this is a VERY bad habit,and if you take it with you to standard,you will NEVER clear songs.

Right off the bat,I suggest you start off on light songs. Now,you are probably asking yourself,"Why should I start on light when there is beginner?" I started on light,because back when I started playing,none of the home or arcade versions had beginner mode,and I can pass 9 foot songs easily. But if you REALLY think you need beginner mode,go ahead and use it. Just DON'T spend more than a week on beginner mode,make sure you have moved onto light mode after that.

When you are starting out,and you haven't gotten the hang of 8th beat arrows,try to avoid playing any 5 or 6 foot light songs,as you will start seeing 8th beat arrows in those songs. If your the kind of person who likes challenges though,go for it!

If you want some easy songs,here are some easy ones on light:

Graduation
Butterfly
End of the century
Speed over beethoven
Baby baby gimme your love (do this one on standard,its only 3 feet)
Dive
Firefly

Those should be enough to keep you busy for a week or two,go to DDR freak if you want to search for some more.

As for when to move on to standard and heavy,and possibly oni,it is up to you to decide that for yourself,but make sure you do NOT rush it! Practice makes perfect,and if you don't give yourself the time to practice,you aren't getting anywhere. Here is a guideline:

Light -> Standard : If you can do any 5-6 foot song,like legend of maxx,max 300,maxx unlimited,and paranoia survivor max on light,with at least a B,you are ok to go on to standard.

Standard -> Heavy : If you can do alot of 7 foot songs like afronova,bag,cartoon heroes (speedy mix) and Dance Dance Revolution (Yes,thats the name of the song. Pretty funny,isn't it? It is by DDR all stars.) with at least a B,move onto heavy,but when you do,stick with 7 and 8 footers until you feel like you're ready to move on.

Heavy -> Oni : I have to be quite honest here when I say this,but if you have gotten this far,it is up to you when you are ready for oni songs,as some of these are the hardest songs in the game. If you can pass 9 & 10 footers...go for it!

VI. going to the arcade?

I have taught you everything you need to know to get good,but when you do get good,you gotta show off your mad skills in the arcade! However,if you CAN'T answer yes to these questions,its best not to do the song in the arcade,as you will look dumb if you fail the song that YOU picked:

Can I get at least a B on this song?

Have I practiced this song alot at home?

Am I confident I can do this infront of other people watching?

Am I sure this ISN'T a 50/50 song for me? (meaning that sometimes you pass,and sometimes you don't)



If you can answer yes to all of those questions,you are ready to show off your skills in the arcade! But theres just one more thing :

In the arcade,try to avoid picking the same song all 3 or 4 times. People won't be impressed by this,because they will think you are giving a half-baked attempt at this. It is okay to do the same song twice IF you get 5 or 6 songs per credit,as long as its not twice in a row or close to it. (ex: I pick R3 as my first song,I do 4 different ones,then I pick R3 again for my last song.)


VII. The end

If you have read and understood everything in this guide,you should get good at DDR in no time. But remember,don't rush it. Other guides will rush you into getting into heavy songs in a week,but practice makes perfect! When I started playing,I went from light songs to heavy songs in a month. I did get good quite quickly,but you take as long as you need. Best of luck to you! If you have any videos of your results from this guide,I want to see them! click here to send them to me! Don't forget to include the name of the song you are doing,and what difficulty you are doing it in. Also,please don't send bad quality videos.....it is very hard for me to see your progress that way.