Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMIX
Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMIX, or
DDR 3rd Mix, is the third 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, 34 of which were new to Dance Dance Revolution.
For a complete list of songs, please see the
Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMIX song list.
DDR 3rd Mix is arranged in three modes, which are explained later. The interface is the same as the previous versions: you rotate a jukebox-like menu of CD's which represent the available songs. You could modify how the arrow arrangement and how they appear on the screen with various step codes when you selected a song. After you selected the song, a menu would appear allowing a player to select a difficulty level. As with
DDR 2nd Mix, each player can choose a different difficulty level if they desire.
The general premise of DDR 3rd Mix is the same as the previous Dance Dance Revolution games. One player can play using one dance pad (Single play style), Two players can play using one dance pad each (Versus play style), or One player can play using both dance pads (Double play style).
A player must step to the beat, matching the beat to the arrows presented to them on screen by stepping on arrows on a metal-and-plexiglass dance stage. Depending on the timing of each step, the step is scored "PERFECT," "GREAT," "GOOD," "BOO" or "MISS." A health bar is on the screen, and starts half-way at the beginning of the routine. PERFECT and GREAT steps increase the health bar until it is full. BOO and MISS steps diminish it. GOOD steps have no effect either way. If a player accumulates too many BOOs or MISSes in rapid succession, and the health bar fully diminishes, then they fail the song and the game ends.
A player may play anywhere from three to seven songs (not including extra stages), depending on how many the arcade owner sets the machine to play each game. At the end of each song, the player sees their accumulated points, bonus points, and how many of each kind of step they stepped. They also get a letter grade, ranging from E (only seen in two player modes when one player fails but the other passes) to SSS (all steps PERFECT), solely determined by the kind of steps they make. At the end of the game, they get a cumulative score based on the last three songs they played.
The scoring system is completely different from previous versions of DDR. 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.
Dancing characters
Just like previous versions, 3D-rendered dancing characters appear in the background of each song. This time, you can choose which dancer you want before the song select screen appears.
Link Data
Some machines have the ports to insert PlayStation memory cards. Such memory cards have to be PlayStation 1 memory cards with Link Data from the home version of DDR 3rd Mix. It can exchange data with DDR 3rd Mix or DDR 2nd Mix. It can also use Edit Data, custom steps made on the home version.
Gameplay modes
You can choose which mode you want to play after putting in your coins, but before pressing START.
DDR 3rd Mix This is the default mode. In this mode, the 34 new songs are all available in addition to three carryovers from DDR 2nd Mix, for a total of 37. When selecting difficulty, only Basic and Trick are available.
Nonstop Mode is a new feature available in 3rd Mix 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.
DDR 2nd Mix By pressing the yellow arrows in the pattern (Left, Left, Right, Right) before pressing START, you enter 2nd Mix mode. In this mode, Nonstop is not available, but you can select all the songs available in DDR 2nd Mix. All three difficulties are available. Unlike SSR, "vivid" mode is on by default in 2nd Mix mode.
Step Step Revolution (SSR) By pressing the yellow arrows in the pattern (Left, Left, Left, Right, Right, Right, Left, Right) before pressing START, you enter SSR mode. This mode is identical to 3rd Mix, but only Maniac difficulty is available. "Vivid" mode is off by default, although it can be turned on with a code.
DDR 3rd Mix Asian
DDR 3rd Mix Asian is a version of 3rd Mix 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.
DDR 3rd Mix verKorea1
DDR 3rd Mix verKorea1 was 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 3rd Mix and SSR modes.
DDR 3rd Mix verKorea2
DDR 3rd Mix verKorea2 was also released in South Korea in March 2000. It is based on the Asian version. In addition to the verKorea1 songs, it adds nine more Korean pop songs to 3rd Mix and SSR modes.
DDR 3rd Mix Plus
Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMIX PLUS was a re-issue of DDR 3rd Mix released on
June 21,
2000. It does away with SSR mode and allows you to select Maniac difficulty in 3rd Mix mode. It also adds 23 songs: 14 brand-new songs, the seven new songs added to verKorea1, and two more carryovers from DDR 2nd Mix.
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 68 songs, 23 of which were hidden and unlockable, including all the new songs from 3rd Mix and several selections from 2nd Mix and 3rd Mix Plus. It does not contain any Korean pop songs.
The Home Version has the ability to Disc Change from 1st, 2ndReMIX and Append Club Version. this unlocks the other Nonstop Ranking from 1st to 2nd and Club Version. the Graphic Interface is still the same but the BG Effect are disable.
The Home Version of Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMIX has 3 missing songs;Xanadu,Follow the Sun (90 in the Shade Mix),It only takes a minute (Extended Mix), these songs are featured in the Home Version of Dance Dance Revolution 4thMIX
The game engine and menus were used for the U.S. version of Dance Dance Revolution (2001) for the Sony PlayStation. A few songs from this mix were also included.
The Original Soundtrack for DDR 3rd Mix was produced by
Toshiba-EMI under their
Dancemania dance music brand.
Tracklist: Disc 1 (Original Soundtrack)
#
OLIVIA PROJECT / XANADU#FREEDOM / GET UP AND DANCE#RICE.C feat.jam master '73 / Jam Jam Reggae~AMD SWING MIX~#
THOMAS HOWARD / Silent Hill#
ME & MY / SO MANY MEN#
TAVARES / IT ONLY TAKES A MINUTE (Extended Remix)#
COO COO / UPSIDE DOWN#
E-ROTIC / DO IT ALL NIGHT#
PAPAYA / OPERATOR#
CAPTAIN JACK / THE RACE (Formula One Mix)#CAPTAIN.T / La Senorita#WHO'S THAT GIRL! / HOLIDAY#
E-ROTIC / OH NICK PLEASE NOT SO QUICK#KATE PROJECT / IF YOU CAN SAY GOODBYE#
CAPTAIN JACK / IN THE NAVY '99 (XXL Disaster Remix)#
TECHNOTRONIC feat.
YA KID K / GET UP (BEFORE THE NIGHT IS OVER)#
SMILE.dk / MR.WONDERFUL#
SMILE.dk / BUTTERFLY (Upswing Mix)#
JOGA / DAM DARIRAM#
KING KONG & D.JUNGLE GIRLS / BOOM BOOM DOLLAR (K.O.G G3 MIX)#
X-TREME / WONDERLAND (UKS MIX)#TRIPLE J / FOLLOW THE SUN (90 In The Shade Mix)#
RAVERS CHOICE / VOL.4#DJ KAZU feat.
tiger YAMATO / LUV TO ME~AMD MIX~#
E-ROTIC / TURN ME ON#NO.9 / END OF THE CENTURY#
LOUD FORCE / ROCK BEAT#M.A.G.I.K.A featuring STIXMAN / FLASHDANCE (WHAT A FEELING) (
Dougal Mix)#
CAPTAIN JACK / CAPTAIN JACK (Grandale Remix)#MR.DOG feat.DJ SWAN / gentle stress~AMD SEXUAL MIX~#N & S / DEAD END#
NAOKI / DYNAMITE RAVE#BIG-O feat.
DJ TAKA / GRADIUSIC CYBER~AMD G5 MIX~#RE-VENGE / AFRONOVA#190' / PARANOiA Rebirth#
SONIC DREAM / LOVE#DIXIE'S GANG / EL RITMO TROPICAL (El Bimbo)#
CHUMBAWAMBA / TUBTHUMPING#
U1 / MAKE A JAM!#
2MB / PARANOiA KCET~clean mix~#
sAmi / think ya better D#
2MB / TRIP MACHINE~luv mix~#Chang ma / LOVE THIS FEELIN'#TITLE~CAN YOU FEEL THE LOVE~#SELECT~L.O.V#LOOP~TAKE ME HIGHER~#NONSTOP MODE~LET'S MOVE YOUR HIPS~#NAMING~YOU FOR ME~#NET PASSWORD~SO EMOTIONAL~#ENDING~GIVE ME A REASON~
*
Konami (US Home Page), makers of DDR.
*
Konami (Japanese Home Page)*
Official Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMIX website, from Konami. (In Japanese)
*
Dancemania (In Japanese)
