DDR
 

I'll admit it, I've only started playing this game about a week ago, and already, I'm totally addicted.

So, I ask you, all of TFP, what are your favorite songs on DDR?

Any good tips, strategies, and such would be appreciated!

So, discuss all that you will about DDR!

(Oh yeah, I just bought a CobaltFlux pad too...I'll post reviews when it gets here)

Practice, practice, practice! And dance like there's no one around.

I don't remember my favourite songs' names interestingly enough.

Tips - Be careful of "bouncing." (Jumping and then turning your body to get EVERY arrow) Lots of new players do this. And lots of new players get good at this. And then lots of new players get owned by hard songs.

Granted that you HAVE to do this once in a while, my point is to not do it EVERY time. Not only does it make you unnecesarily tired, you also can't keep up with the hard songs if you're bouncing all over the place. You need to develop more of a walking motion, which later becomes a running motion.

Oh, and if you're just starting, don't worry about looking like an idiot. It's all about practice, and unless you own some pads, the arcade is the only place you're going to get it. Hell, I remember looking like an idiot the first time I played drummania at a popular arcade. Actually, I still suck at it.

Yeah I was totally, irreversably addicted when i first started, I swore I'd never touch one of those things.
As Seige says, the best best BEST thing you can do as a newbie is do NOT revert back to the centre panel after every arrow. Watch what the demo characters do on the screen in beginner mode. This is what you want to avoid. If you can develop the habit of leaving you feet where they are way back in the biginning levels, you'll glide gracefully all the way up to standard. Also, getting the knack of freezes will be childs play.
Thats the best tip I can give. A not-quite-so-important-but-also-good-to-know tip:
Once in a while do a song you've never done before. Do the ones you hate occasionally. This is a more laid back way to practise sight reading. (the alternative being doing songs with massive streams (long clumps of lots of arrows one after another).

Also, practise Air (two feet at once moves) - on Cartoon Heroes and DDR All Stars.

Oh, here's a HUGE tip: the left arrow doesn't always have to be hit with your left foot, same with the right arrow/foot. They're called crossovers, if I'm not mistaken. Say you have an arrow combo: left, down, right, down, left. In that combo, keep your right foot on the down pad, while your left foot, basically, does the work. Watch someone play V or Can't Stop Fallin' In Love (Speed Mix) on heavy. Both have some long crossover sections.

When you become really aquainted with DDR, try out In The Groove (either for the PS2 or in the arcade, if you can find a machine). Exact same premise as DDR, four arrows U/D/L/R, but more "American" songs as well as some truly hardcore difficulties (three arrows at once you say?)

All the paranoa songs are really cool. Good tip, I see alot of begginers do this, you DON'T have to put ur feet back in the middle. hehe.

For the first song, do a song you can do perfectly. For the 2nd, do one where you just barely pass. For the 3rd, do one where you fail half way.

That's what I used to do. But you look like a retard for the first one.

I've played it a few time at a friend's house, but I'm pretty bad at it. :P
From what I watched, the better players just move much more fluidly and don't do that bouncing at all.

My favorite song is move your feet by junior senior.



/in the midst of trying to figure out how to build his own DDR mat
/would prefer to play stepmania, so you can add your own songs to it.

Which is why I told the thread starter to AVOID bouncing when possible.


And the best way to make a mat, if you don't mind working with wood/metal is to buy one of the cheap ddr mats and then make a platform out of wood/metal. Next you use a sheet of plastic to hold down the mat. Kind of hard to explain without pics. Or if you want to splurge, you can just buy a professional hard mat. :lol:

I keep hearing about this, I gotta try it sometime.

yea, i heard about this one person who lost like... 75 pounds on DDR.

If only...

anyways, Sandstorm by Darube and Dream A Dream by Captain Jack are prolly my favorites. I didnt stop until i had to go to the bathroom. (not long with all that bouncing)

DDR at the high levels is no joke. You have to have at least a decent level of fitness to do the hardest songs.

eh....damn DDR... I started that a long time ago. I can do any 9foot song on Heavy Doubles..it's the only way I used to play, heavy doubles, singles were way too easy.

Yes... that game gives you a GREAT workout.. I have quads of steel. :P

I hate that fucker.

Not because I suck at it, but it and the next most sound-intensive game (in my case, usually Initial-D, can't shift gears right without the sound) are usually right next to each other.

Best advice ever. I have seen countless people "bounce" or "jump" when they start playing, and by half-song, they are out of breath. Not to mention, when you get later in the harder songs, you physically cannot jump fast enough due to gravity to hit the arrows fast enough. You have to step, not jump. Very good advice. Also, don't be afraid to tap arrows that aren't supposed to be tapped to keep in rhythm. For instance, if you have a Left, Right, Left, Right combination, but they are going at a slow rhythm, do "left right left right left right left right" (twice as many arrows) to keep in rhythm. Same for all the arrows.

Ah. See I was always afraid of hitting the wrong arrow so I would always revert back to the middle before hitting the next arrow. It always threw me off. So, it doesn't matter what arrows you're hitting, but as long as you hit the correct arrow at the right time, you'll still get the same result? Awesome.

I can't believe I'm talking about DDR on the internet. :p

Exactly.

The CobaltFlux pad is hands down one of the most amazing things i've ever seen. It is easily worth the 300 dollars it costs, if you love DDR, buy this thing! It's amazing!

I like making fun of people who play DDR. They look really silly.

Just as surely as anything you do will appear silly to at least one group of people

"OMFG DDR IS TEH GHEY!"

I played this once at the bowling alley. While nicely tipsy. It didn't go over so well.

Although the Fat Guy (when going to the bowling alley in a group, a Fat Guy is mandatory) tried to get fancy and ended up landing on the bar on the back the wrong way. The very wrong way.

I remember reading a gaming magazine that interviewed the top DDR players in the world. One of the questions was "what're the worst injuries you ever got from playing DDR." You'd be surprised by the number of broken ankles and arms

I got Extreme 2 for the PS2 last week, and out of the songs that I've unlocked... probably Cartoon Heroes, Captain Jack, and Polovtsian Dances And Chorus. Haven't crossed the barrier into Standard yet. :(

I haven't picked up Ex2 yet, how is it?

Also, Ultramix 3 for the Xbox is coming up very soon, anyone planning on picking that up?

It's the only DDR that I've played for more than ten minutes, but:

• The songwheel is back
• Mission mode (now called Dance Master) is available from the start and is fairly involved. Secret missions, secret objectives.
• The corner buttons on pads can be turned off
• AA can only be accomplished with a full combo
• Rudimentary online play

I'm pretty much a DDR noob, so I don't know how helpful that is...