Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMIX

Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMIX
Cover art for the PlayStation port of Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMix
Developer	Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo
Publisher	KCET
Release Date	Arcade: (DDR 3rd Mix) (JP) October 30, 1999 (DDR 3rd Mix VER.KOREA) (KR) April 1st, 2000 (DDR 3rd Mix Ver.KOREA2) (KR) May 1st, 2000 (DDR 3rd Mix Plus) (JP) June 21, 2000 PlayStation: (JP) June 1, 2000
Genre	Music & Exercise
Series	Dance Dance Revolution
Platforms	Arcade PlayStation
Modes	Single-player & Multiplayer
Ratings	CERO: A (PlayStation)
Technical Infos
Media	CD-ROM
Engine	3rdMix & 3rdMix PlayStation

Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMIX, or 3rdMIX, is the 3rd game in the Dance Dance Revolution series of music video games. It was released in the arcades by Konami on October 30, 1999. Although only officially released in Japan, units exist worldwide. It has a total of 68 songs, 35 of which were new to Dance Dance Revolution.

General Information / Changes

Original

• First Dance Dance Revolution game to use KONAMI's System 573 Digital hardware.
• A new opening video was added to 3rdMIX.
• Features a new announcer variant which would be used up to DanceDanceRevolution 5thMIX.
  • First Dance Dance Revolution game to have the announcer saying the game title on the title screen.
• First Dance Dance Revolution game to have the BEMANI logo displayed after the KONAMI logo.
• First Dance Dance Revolution game to show a Caution Screen (about danger of violent/extreme playing motion) when starting a game.
• The interface received new graphics and new text placement.
  • The currently selected CD artwork is now shown from the front, and is angled as flat.
  • During the last five seconds of the timer, the song CD begins to shake. When the song is selected, the CD briefly fades.
  • The LIFE GAUGE now features 17 bars in pill shapes instead of 42.
• First Dance Dance Revolution game to include a character select screen. Prior to 3rdMIX, the characters were set by default with two alternative duos using input codes.
• Eight new characters were added, grouped into pairs for Player 1 and 2 respectively. Every character from the past two arcade versions are also included, except for KONSENTO:02 and OSHARE-ZUKIN:02.
  • SoulExpress (BOLDO for P1, TRACY for P2), Puppets:03 (KONSENTO:03 & DEVIL-ZUKIN), FUTURE PATROL (ASTRO & CHARMY), Burning (RAGE & EMI)
  • Returning (and hidden) characters: AFRO & LADY, Puppets:01 (KONSENTO:01 & OSHARE-ZUKIN), DISC-BEINGS (DISK-A & DISK-B), DREAD-SNAKE & JANET
• First and only Dance Dance Revolution game to feature SOFT mode. This mode removes tougher notes from part of each chart similar to LITTLE (later known as CUT on ON1).
• First Dance Dance Revolution game to introduce NONSTOP mode, which features courses containing four selected songs each.
• UNISON mode introduced, in which both players share one playfield and must hit arrows corresponding to their color: red for 1P, blue for 2P, and yellow for both players. If one player does not hit one of their exclusive arrows, the other player can "save" them by hitting it.
  • It replaces COUPLE PLAY, though COUPLE is still available in 2ndMIX mode.
• Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMIX has three different game modes:
  • Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMIX itself. The available play modes are SOFT, MEDIUM and NONSTOP. Only BASIC and ANOTHER difficulties are available. MEDIUM includes only the new songs from 3rdMIX.
  • Dance Dance Revolution 2ndMIX, which features songs from Dance Dance Revolution and Dance Dance Revolution 2ndMIX with 3rdMIX's interface, including the character selection. All difficulties are available using either the EASY (player cannot fail out early) or HARD (player can fail out early) mode.
    • Its interface uses several shades of green instead of blue.
  • STEP STEP REVOLUTION, which is identical to 3rdMIX but only features SSR (formerly known as MANIAC) difficulty. FLAT arrow color is enabled by default; VIVID must be enabled with a code. The available play modes are TOUGH and NONSTOP, which are the same as MEDIUM and NONSTOP respectively from 3rdMIX mode but with the difficulty locked to SSR.
    • MANIAC difficulty retains its old name in 2ndMIX mode.
    • The announcer on the CAUTION screen will say "There are no easy choices in this mode" instead of "Give it your best".
    • The door transition and its interface also use several shades of red.
• Songs are no longer restricted by STAGE like they were in 2ndMIX.
  • Songs are listed in order on MEDIUM by their BASIC difficulties.
• First mainline Dance Dance Revolution game to introduce charts with a difficulty level of 9 (on the classic 1-10 scale). The level 9 rating first appeared in Dance Dance Revolution 2ndMIX CLUB VERSiON 2. Prior to that, 8 was the highest level found in the game.
• First Dance Dance Revolution game to have Double MANIAC charts.
  • Only new songs have Double MANIAC charts. 4thMIX was the first game to add Double MANIAC charts for pre-3rdMIX songs.
• First Dance Dance Revolution game to introduce official KONAMI Edit Data charts, for both 3rdMIX/SSR and 2ndMIX modes. Only a few songs have them, though.
  • These charts are available on every arcade Dance Dance Revolution game up to 5thMIX. They did not return after that.
• The 2ndMIX STEP BATTLE charts were removed, but the three STEP BATTLE songs are back with normal charts.
• No songs from CLUB VERSiON 1/2 were carried over to 3rdMIX; instead four remixes by AMD were added.
• First Dance Dance Revolution game to remove songs.
• Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMIX has four different versions. All of them can be easily differentiated by the default song:
  • The Japanese version. The default song is XANADU.
  • A version of Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMIX intended for the Asian market, which lacks Stomp to my beat, LOVE, TUBTHUMPING, GET UP(BEFORE THE NIGHT IS OVER), GET UP AND DANCE, IF YOU CAN SAY GOODBYE, and XANADU. The default song is UPSIDE DOWN, since it received new BASIC charts.
  • Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMIX VER.KOREA, which includes seven Korean songs, and lacks the songs absent in the Asian market. The default song is BA KKWO.
  • Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMIX Ver.KOREA2, based on the above version plus nine more Korean songs. The default song is SHOCK.
• In the Asian release, ANOTHER difficulty was renamed as TRICK. This would eventually be renamed in mainline at DanceDanceRevolution 4thMIX.
• First mainline Dance Dance Revolution game with the VIVID arrow skin. It is enabled by default, except in SSR mode, where it requires a code to be activated.
• Only Dance Dance Revolution arcade game along with its PLUS version to display the song credits (only for 3rdMIX songs with vocals and lyrics) in-game, under the "READY" message before a song starts.
  • However, credits for some KONAMI original songs (such as DYNAMITE RAVE and END OF THE CENTURY) are displayed as "KONAMI Presents".
• First main Dance Dance Revolution arcade game to feature karaoke lyrics on-screen, and the only main arcade title to do so (aside from Dance Dance Revolution A for the tutorial song Lesson by DJ).
  • Also the only Dance Dance Revolution title until Dance Dance Revolution UNIVERSE3 to have lyrics for KONAMI originals.
  • XANADU is the only Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMIX license without lyrics on-screen in the game.
  • AMD's beatmania remixes, STEP BATTLE songs, and songs prior to Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMIX with vocals don't display them.
• First Dance Dance Revolution game to change the scoring formula. From this version on, almost every version had a different scoring formula until Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA2.
• First Dance Dance Revolution game wherein a player using play style SINGLE can be switched at any stage to UNISON.
• ROULETTE selection was removed. It later returned in DDRMAX.
• Total Songs: 72 (Japan), 65 (Asia)

VER.KOREA

• Released for the South Korean market, Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMIX VER.KOREA adds some Korean songs.
• Several songs from the Japanese version of the game are missing. These are Stomp to my beat, LOVE, TUBTHUMPING, GET UP(BEFORE THE NIGHT IS OVER), GET UP AND DANCE, IF YOU CAN SAY GOODBYE, and XANADU.
• The default song is 바꿔.
• As with the Asian release, ANOTHER difficulty was renamed as TRICK.
• BASIC and TRICK charts of 바꿔 and 와 are different compared with other Dance Dance Revolution games.
  • UPSIDE DOWN's Single BASIC chart is also different (this change was adopted in DanceDanceRevolution 4thMIX as well).
• The playable character CHARMY was given stockings, presumably for censorship purposes.
  • OH NICK PLEASE NOT SO QUICK's graphics were also censored.
• Total Songs: 72

VER.KOREA2

• Updated version of Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMIX VER.KOREA, featuring additional Korean songs (although it still lacks the 3rdMIX songs from the Japanese version of the game that were removed in 3rdMIX VER.KOREA).
• The default song is SHOCK.
• None of the new songs introduced in DanceDanceRevolution 3rdMIX Ver.KOREA2 have been revived on any arcade or console release of DanceDanceRevolution.
• Total Songs: 81

PLUS

• Songs from 2ndMIX MODE no longer have COUPLE charts; they were replaced with UNISON charts.
  • Last Dance Dance Revolution game with UNISON.
• First PLUS release in the Dance Dance Revolution series, which added 17 songs: three new Dancemania licenses, all seven Korean licenses from VER.KOREA, and all seven CS songs from 2ndReMIX and 3rdMIX CS.
  • All of the VER.KOREA licenses are written in Latin Script instead of Korean, and have a generic "Korean Dance music" label.
• The announcer doesn't include PLUS when saying the game's title during the opening credits.
• First Dance Dance Revolution to have all three difficulties available on the same song selection screen; STEP STEP REVOLUTION is removed from 3rdMIX.
• Three game modes available: 3rdMIX PLUS (default), 3rdMIX, and 2ndMIX.
  • To access any of the modes, simply press 1P or 2P song selection buttons thrice or twice on the title screen.
• Play modes for all three game modes are SOFT, NORMAL, and NONSTOP.
  • SOFT functions like it did in the original 3rdMIX, but now supports 2ndMIX songs.
  • NORMAL is near identical to MEDIUM mode from 3rdMIX.
  • NONSTOP functions like it did in 3rdMIX, but now allows up to three different difficulties to be used. The difficulty can be switched using the same step codes as in NORMAL mode.
• The four AMD remixes that were hidden in 3rdMIX are available in 3rdMIX PLUS by default.
  • If playing on 3rdMIX, the songs are still hidden (except in EVENT MODE).
• The three new CS songs from 2ndReMIX can be played in either 2ndMIX or 3rdMIX PLUS mode, though their Double MANIAC charts can only be played in 3rdMIX PLUS.
• Final Dance Dance Revolution game (aside from 2ndMIX MODE in X3 VS 2ndMIX) to feature names for difficulty levels.
• The interface color remains blue even in 2ndMIX mode, as opposed to being recolored to green in 3rdMIX.
• On-screen lyrics don't appear in 2ndMIX or 3rdMIX PLUS modes.
• Last Dance Dance Revolution game wherein a player on SINGLE can be switched at any stage to VERSUS, UNISON, or DOUBLE during song selection.
• Last Dance Dance Revolution game to have doors for gameplay transitions upon choosing a song until SuperNOVA.
• AFRONOVA received a new background.
• Total songs: 88

Gameplay

The core gameplay of 3rdMix is the same as the previous Dance Dance Revolution games. 3rdMix featured a brand new scoring system, instead of being heavily combo-based like the last two mixes, combos are of virtually no importance. The maximum score for each song is 10,000,000 (all Perfects). Perfects are worth twice as many points as Greats, and steps toward the end are worth progressively higher points than steps toward the beginning. In nonstop mode, a 2x, 3x and 4x multiplier apply to the 2nd, 3rd and 4th songs respectively, making a perfect nonstop worth 100,000,000 points.

3rdMix was also the first version of DDR where different beats (compared to a 4-beat register) alternate different colors, making 1/4, 1/8, 1/12 and 1/16 steps look different and making it easier for the player to recognize changing rhythms. This color scheme is called "vivid" mode, whereby the old scheme of all arrows being the same color is henceforth referred to as "flat" mode. Flat appears as an option and modifier in later versions of DDR.

This release marked the first time lyrics were displayed during gameplay for every song. This can be turned on or off by the arcade operator. This feature was later dropped from future arcade mixes, although some home versions contain this as an option, and most European Dancing Stage versions contain this on by default.

3rdMix also allowed to choose characters, and while their purpose is for the most part aesthetical, the chosen character affects which beatmania remix song can be played at one playthorugh.

Link data

Some machines have the ports to insert PlayStation memory cards. Such memory cards have to be PlayStation memory cards with Link Data from the home version of 3rdMix. It can exchange data with 3rdMix or 2ndMix. It can also use Edit Data, custom steps made on the home version.

Modes

The player can choose which mode they want to play after putting in their coins, but before pressing Start.

Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMix This is the default mode. In this mode, the 35 new songs are all available in addition to three carry-overs from 2ndMix, for a total of 38. When selecting difficulty, only Basic and Another are available. Nonstop Mode is a new feature available in 3rdMix mode, selectable when selecting single or double play. It allows the player to play one of several set courses without stopping. The only times that it stops is after each song and the new song's name appear.

Dance Dance Revolution 2ndMix By pressing the yellow arrows in the pattern (Left, Left, Right, Right) before pressing start, the player enters 2ndMix mode. In this mode, Nonstop is not available, but the player can select all the songs available in 2ndMix. All three difficulties—Basic, Another and Maniac—are available. Unlike SSR, "vivid" mode is on by default in 2ndMix mode.

Step Step Revolution By pressing the yellow arrows in the pattern (Left, Left, Left, Right, Right, Right, Left, Right) before pressing start, the player enters SSR mode. This mode is identical to 3rdMix, but only Maniac (SSR) difficulty is available. For the first time, the Maniac (SSR) difficulty for Double-Play is available (previous versions only has Basic and Another available for Double). "Vivid" mode is turned off by default, although it can be turned on with a code.

Dance Dance Revolution 3rdReMix (available only in the home version) Using the 2ndMix code after unlocking SSR mode will unlock ReMix mode. In this mode, more characters and more songs are selectable, and all three difficulties (Basic, Another, and SSR) are selectable. You also have the option to exit or continue after each stage.(acts like a Event Mode)

Regional and alternate versions

Different versions based on 3rdMix were also made for specific regions in Asia, Europe, and North America.

Asia

A version of Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMix was released elsewhere in the Orient, except for South Korea. It is missing a few songs, and has a bug when trying to enter the step code for the Shuffle modification.

Korea

Two versions of Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMix were released in South Korea in March 2000. It is exactly like the original version of 3rd Mix, except that it fixes the Shuffle bug and adds seven Korean pop songs and one from the original to 3rdMix and SSR modes. An update to this version, Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMix verKorea2 was also released in South Korea in March 2000, adding 9 more K-Pop songs. The songs missing in the Asian version is still absent in this game, however. The exclusive songs from the first Korean version would be added to the Japanese version with the 3rdMix Plus update. However, due to censorship, Charmy now wears stockings. And OH NICK PLEASE NOT SO QUICK's graphics were also censored.

3rdMix Plus

Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMix Plus is a re-issue of 3rdMix released on June 21, 2000. It does away with SSR mode and allows the player to select Maniac difficulty in 3rdMix mode. It also adds 23 songs: 14 brand-new songs, the seven new songs added to verKorea1, and two more carryovers from 2ndMix. With few songs from DDR Solo 2000.

Home version

The home version of Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMix was released in Japan on June 1, 2000, for the Sony PlayStation video game console. It contained 60 songs, 25 of which were hidden and unlockable, including most of the new songs from 3rdMix and several selections from 2ndMix and other new songs that would later appear in 3rdMix Plus, including two preview bonus songs from 4thMix "Bumble Bee" and "Gimme Gimme Gimme", which in this version can only be played in Basic difficulty. It does not contain any Korean pop songs.

The home version has the ability to Disc Change to 1st, 2ndReMix and Append Club Version. It also allows to unlock features in previous mixes such as the Nonstop Ranking. The interface is still the same as the one used in 3rdMix but the background effects are disabled, except Append Club Version are retain in 2nd Mix interface.

"Xanadu", "Follow the Sun (90 in the Shade Mix)", and "It Only Takes a Minute (Extended Mix)" did not appear on the 3rdMix home versions. These songs are featured in the Home Version of Dance Dance Revolution 4thMix.

A few of the songs in 3rdMix were included in the North American version of Dance Dance Revolution for the PlayStation.

General Information / Changes

• Songs prior to Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMIX no longer have COUPLE charts. Instead, they were replaced with UNISON charts.
• FOLLOW THE SUN(90 IN THE SHADE MIX), IT ONLY TAKES A MINUTE(Extended Remix), and XANADU are missing from the song list. All three songs were later included in 4thMIX CS, though.
  • In an interview with DDRSpot.com, director Hirotaka Ishikawa stated the licensing for these songs took over a year, so they appeared in the next game instead.
• First CS Dance Dance Revolution release with DOUBLE MANIAC charts.
• First CS Dance Dance Revolution release with DIET MODE, which keeps track of how many calories you burn as you play songs.
• Only mainline Japanese CS Dance Dance Revolution release with on-screen lyrics.
• First CS Dance Dance Revolution game to show your grade for a song on the MUSIC SELECT screen.
• None of the Korean songs from the Asian releases of 3rdMIX appear in the game.
• You can play all the songs from the original CS game and 2ndReMIX on the 3rdMIX interface using the DISC CHANGE feature. However, background animations are disabled during gameplay, and the interface uses green as it's color, just like 2ndMIX mode in the arcade version.
  • You can also use the DISC CHANGE feature to boot up the two APPEND CLUB games, though the interface will not change to 3rdMIX's.
• With 57 songs, Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMIX CS has the highest amount of songs of any PlayStation Dance Dance Revolution game in any region.
• Can unlock everything in Dance Dance Revolution CS and 2ndREMIX, as well as the respective CLUB VERSIONS through System Data Support.
• Total songs: 57

Characters

• Boldo
• Tracy
• Rage
• Emi
• Astro
• Charmy
• Konsento:03
• Devil-Zukin

Songlist

Main article: Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMIX/Songs

3rdMix

This is the complete list of new songs of Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMix. Three songs from Dance Dance Revolution 2ndMix (that only playable on STEP BATTLE) are now given full set of stepcharts here. Note that this list is for 3rdMix and SSR mode, the songs from previous versions are on 2ndMix mode.

3rdMix Plus

DDR 3rdMix Plus kept the entire song list from the original (with the exception of STRICTLY BUSINESS on 2ndMix mode) and introduce 17 new ones. Some of the licenses are from DDR 3rdMix Korea Ver.1, while the Konami Originals are taken from the home version of DDR 3rdMix and DDR 2ndMix. The song list from the original version are moved to "3rdMix mode" (which replace SSR mode) and the default mode is "3rdMix Plus" (this list).

Home Version

The console version has most of new songs from the original arcade version. It is missing the 3 dancemania licensed songs (FOLLOW THE SUN (90 IN THE SHADE MIX), IT ONLY TAKES A MINUTE (Extended Remix), and XANADU) in this game. These songs are featured in the Home Version of Dance Dance Revolution 4thMix. Unlockable songs 4 from DDR 1st Mix, 10 from DDR 2nd Mix, 4 brand new console-konami original in DDR 3rd Remix mode. and 2 preview songs from DDR 4th Mix in bonus track.

Soundtrack

The original soundtrack for 3rdMix was produced by Toshiba EMI under their Dancemania dance music brand.

Reception

On release, Famitsu magazine scored the PlayStation version of the game a 30 out of 40. This version was a bestseller in Japan.

Trivia

• Both 3rdMix and 5thMix are the two Dance Dance Revolution PlayStation titles which all hidden song cannot unlocked via support system data.
  • In 3rdMix case, the reason 4thMix cannot supporting 3rdMix save data because both 3rdMix and 4thMix's game engine is different.

External links

• Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMix official website
• Dancemania
• Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMix Console Japan Version (Playlist)

Sources

• https://remywiki.com/AC_DDR_3rd
• https://remywiki.com/AC_DDR_3rd_VER.KOREA
• https://remywiki.com/AC_DDR_3rd_Ver.KOREA2
• https://remywiki.com/AC_DDR_3rd_PLUS
• https://remywiki.com/CS_DDR_3rd