Once again...the DDR Accomplishments Thread

[Kroogah]

I can see this topic needs a revival, what with all the new DDR players at the forum (and new forum members that happen to be DDR veterans)

So I'll start it off. Of course. Don't be afraid to post your recent accomplisments no matter what skill level you're at.

I've begun the cata (a.k.a. 9-foot song) count once again, having passed 7 or 8 new ones in the past few weeks. My most recent victories were Afronova Primeval, Ska a Go Go, Trip Machine Survivor, and Frozen Ray.

[Sylentwulf]

I haven't played in a LONG time, but I don't think I ever got past 4 or 5 foot songs.

[Kroogah]

When I could only do 4-foot and 5-foot songs...I took a break from playing for 2 weeks, and when I started again I beat my first 6-footer (PARANOiA). I only seem to make progress when I DON'T play very often...

4 new 9-footers tonight: Stay, Drop Out, Rain of Sorrow, and Kakumei. Woo. I never have to do Drop Out again!!!

[MyNameIsBoB]

Have any of you guys played Pump it up? I got that for computer like 6 months ago and I was between really good and ok good at it until I got bored because it was too hard. The computer version is nothing compared to the arcade version, of course.

[davidbrit2]

Pump it Up RULES! There's a Premiere about 5 minutes from my house. I've beaten Mr. Larpus on Hard, as well as Turkey March Double and Crazy. Crazy mode is just that. It seems like almost everything in there is about twice as hard as Max 300, which I can pass with anywhere from a C to an A.

[Anonymous]

I've completed almost every song on Light in DDRmax. for some reason while I was playing today, the half steps just clicked, and now I can do them with a little concentration.

[Dahne]

I just upgraded to DDRMax from the origional PS1 version, after building a nice setup from plywood, a little padding, some nails, and my old crappy cloth pad (thanks for the tips guys :-D) . I'm having a blast, but I'm terrible. I can do half steps sometimes, but when there's so many of them it's hard to tell what step is first and what is what, I get lost.

Then there're all the tuneless songs. How do you guys do ones like Paranoia that have no discernable beat to them?

Damn trance crap. Very tough to dance to.

[Kroogah]

Keep up the good work. ^_^

Yeh, eventually the half-steps (a.k.a. 8th notes, a.k.a. blue ones, depends on who you're asking) DO click, and that's usually when you realize the game isn't about dancing as much as stepping rhythmically. Hence, songs that you wouldn't be able to dance to normally (Paranoia, Max 300, most TaQ songs) suddenly are very easy to keep the beat on. ^^

As for Pump it Up, I used to have a machine 30 mins. away from my house but that's gone. I was able to beat songs up to level 4 or so before they took it away from me (I only got to play it twice... :( )

[RetroYoungen]

I play every Friday for probably the last 8 months, so I've gotten quite good. About two Fridays ago I finally got all the way through Tsugaru on Maniac. That one tripped me up when I first started doing it; too quick to convert from gallup steps to half steps. It was I think my 5th 9-footer, but I could be wrong about that. Geez i play that too much...

[zmeston]

Okay, here's my question for all y'all: how long did it take you to go from bumblin' stumblin' tumblin' newbie to nine-foot master? A few days? A few weeks? How much DDR time do you put in each week to maintain your mad skillz?

I myself am pretty much stuck at the 6/7-foot level, and I don't know if it's white-boy reflexes or a lack of repetition/memorization that's keeping me from making the breakthrough.

-- Z.

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure, but I think at this point (I'm about where you're at), you need to start memorizing the songs, and then once you can do a few of them, muscle memory will take over and you'll be able to do the rest of the harder songs with little or no rehearsal.

As for how long I've been playing, I won DDRmax and two pads on eBay, and got them I think 11 days ago. Since then I've played probably 5 or 6 sessions of 2-4 hours each to get where I am. I can do all of the combo jumps (l-r, u-l, u-d, etc), and hit 1/8 steps on most of the slower songs. I'm just starting to get into the standard song sets.

[Kroogah]

I can't remember exactly when I started knocking down the 9-footers (it was quite a few months ago, that's all I know) but the key isn't memorizing whole songs. It's memorizing specific patterns in the songs, so you can apply those techniques to other songs.

Example a: Pivoting. Turning to the side with 1 foot on down or up and 1 foot on left or right so you can go LDRDLDRDLDRDLDR (for example) by alternating feet.

9-footers this turns up in: A LOT. Primarily Exotic Ethnic.

Songs to learn it with: AM-3P Heavy, Spin the Disc Heavy

Example b: Gallops. Pairs of 16th notes that you hit by...well, galloping.

9-footers this turns up in: Matsuri Japan, Rhythm & Police, Tsugaru, etc.

Songs to learn it with: Cow Girl Heavy (DDRMAX & MAX2 arcade), My Generation Heavy

zmeston: Your first 8-footer should be Holic on Heavy. That one is pretty good for graduating to the 8-foot level...

[WiseSalesman]

Disagree. If you have a seventh near you, try Trance De Janeiro. I beat that eight footer a while before I beat holic.

[RetroYoungen]

I started taking on 9 footers when I got bored doing Matsuri Japan on Basic while everyone else was doing it on Maniac. Only took me maybe two months, going once a week on Fridays, to finally get past it. My first 9.

Oh, and about Holic being a good 8-footer to go with, I have to agree. It's especially good for people who want to really get half steps down. Then it's easy to move up.

[Kroogah]

I am the MAN.

Broke my old 1-day record....I beat 7 NEW CATAS TODAY.

Justify My Love
Dynamite Rave
Fantasy
Afronova
Electro Tuned
Trip Machine Climax
Healing Vision Angelic Mix

Here's the funny part: I failed Waka Laka. ^_^

I also passed Club Trax Oni with a 91.8% and I have no idea how I managed to sight-read You Leave Me Alone.

[WiseSalesman]

Woohoo! Been playing with modifiers. Today, I pulled an A on my summer love, trance de janeiro, and more than I needed to know (all on heavy) with:
reverse, flat, shuffle, 1.5x, boost, hidden.

[JWKobayashi]

Okay, here's my question for all y'all: how long did it take you to go from bumblin' stumblin' tumblin' newbie to nine-foot master? A few days? A few weeks? How much DDR time do you put in each week to maintain your mad skillz?

I myself am pretty much stuck at the 6/7-foot level, and I don't know if it's white-boy reflexes or a lack of repetition/memorization that's keeping me from making the breakthrough.



Eh... I started playing in December of 2001, and it took me about 3 months before I could beat my first cata (Dead End of a 3rd mix whooo). From that point on, it took me only a couple weeks before I could do stuff like ranking 3 SSR (Afronova, BB$ KOG, Vol 4, Dead End) pretty easily. I myself have these 'white-boy reflexes' of which you speak, and have 0 songs memorized. That's not to say that I don't know patterns (such as how the steps on Tsugaru go with the music, or how Kakuemi is almost all gallops), but there is no real need to memorize a whole song. However, repetition is a must though. I suggest that if you have any players that are better than you in skill level, you play with them, doing songs that are a little more difficult than you're used to. That way, you're learning harder patterns sooner, and not failing to do so.

[Kroogah]

Well, it seems that I have infinite stamina when I play on a soft pad.

Today I popped in Konamix, then passed PARANOiA Rebirth, Leading Cyber, and End of the Century all in a row. I thought something was odd, so I checked the options and sure enough the game was set on the easiest difficulty. So I cranked it back up to default, then went back into game mode, and PASSED THEM ALL IN A ROW AGAIN. Hmm...maybe it's time for me to stop being suprised when I beat a new 9-footer. LOL

For those playing the home game, here's a little clarification: On DDR Konamix (and 3rd, 4th and 5th mix) End of the Century and Drop Out are rated as 8 feet on Maniac. But when DDRMAX2 came out, they had been bumped up to 9s. They're still 9s in DDR Extreme, so it can't be ruled out as a typo (as in the case of Burnin' the Floor being a 9 on MAX2)

[Kroogah]

BUMP

I'm curious to see your progress, people!

Around late October/early November I passed PARANOiA Eternal (I think that was the last one) meaning I've passed every single cata on DDR Extreme arcade. I've also passed Justify My Love and Stay so that means I passed every cata on MAX2 as well. ^^; Nearly all my accomplishment since then have been home ver. ones (3 greats on Happy Wedding, 4 on A Stupid Barber, almost passed Darkness Oni [failed last measure of Stoic])

And no, I can't pass Max 300. I've passed every cata on Extreme, plus almost full comboing Bag and Sakura, but no Max 300. *sigh*

[scooterb23]

I passed my first 5-footer :)

on the Disney mix...finally got by the It's A Small World Duckling Hardcore Mix on whatever the light mode is...that song kicked my ass for nearly a year!!!

I'm still not very good, and I know I will never get much better, but at the COSI winter staff party, I was a God on the game to my co-workers (getting As on "Butterfly" Light mode and such...) :D

[downfall]

Hrm. I only have DDRMax2. Got it in late November of last year, but didn't really play more than once every week or two until January. Now I make time to play every day.

With that said, yesterday, I finally beat MaxX 300 on light mode. Yay for a "D" ranking on that one. x_x

Other than that, I've beaten all the light mode songs with an "A" or better. (Not counting the purple songs and red songs.. Challenge/MaxX300 and whatever that other red song is.) I'm not quite that good yet.

I'm starting to beat songs on Standard now, probably up to about 10 or 15. Mostly 6-footers, but a few 7's I think. Probably easier ones, I don't know though. I just play. It's helping me get back into good shape, which is my main goal anyway, all things considered, so I feel good about it, regardless of my skill.

[MarioAllStar2600]

I semi-enjoy the Famicom version. I just think its awsome they could put a PS2 game on to a famicom version. The pad is cool to, I think its pretty unique. I have some cool DDR icons you guys might enjoy.

http://media.ign.com/boards/images/icons/games_dancedance.gif

http://media.ign.com/boards/images/icons2/ddr_dancingBunny.gif

I like the first one.

[Sotenga]

Last time I played the DDR machine at the movie theater, I managed to pass a few songs! Then I got my ass owned on Standard difficulty! LOL

I am such a DDR newbie. These things take practice, I'm sure. If not for Return of the King, then I'd like to go back there to donce. :popcorn:

BTW, my sucky factor is higher on Pump It Up. Argh. *_*