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Trip Machine Climax

 

Artist: DE-SIRE

BPM: 180

Light: 5

Standard: 7

Heavy: 9

Choice difficulty: Standard

 

Trip Machine Climax is a thinking man’s 7-footer on Standard. While not nearly as complex as say Healing Vision Angelic Mix or Sweet Sweet <3 Magic — also 7s on Standard — it’s a song that requires the stepper to pay attention and conserve energy. What characterizes the Standard steps of Trip Machine Climax is the usage of jumps and triplets. There are a lot of variations of the two throughout the song and while they dominate, there are also some red-blue jackhammer runs.

One of the interesting points of the song is near the middle and has a red-green set of six steps that follow a particularly staccato tone. The steps are on beat in this part of the song and is really the only part that sticks with the track. I like to characterize the song as having three parts: The intro, the jackhammer middle and the trip house section at the end. Learning the song greatly helps with understanding the step changes of Climax.

 

Suggested speed modifier: x2

First appearance: 4th mix

Destiny

 

Artist: Naoki featuring Paula Terry

BPM: 155

Light: 2

Standard: 5

Heavy: 7

Choice difficulty: Standard

 

Destiny is a favorite because the Standard steps are just that: Standard. If you can pass these 5-foot steps, you can safely say you’re in the Standard division and you’re ready for more challenging movement and placement. The steps aren’t anything special and feature the basic red-blue-red triplets that beginning Standard players need to get used to seeing. Also, be on the lookout for Freeze-step patterns that are often presented as Freeze jump-step-step-, where you start with a Freeze, hold one note of it for several measures and at the same time, tap out quarter notes. The stepchart is full of these and they can trip you up if you’re not ready for the speed at which they come.

 

Suggested speed modifier: x2

First appearance: Max 2

Cartoon Heroes (Speedy Mix)

 

Artist: Barbie Young

BPM: 170

Light: 4

Standard: 7

Heavy: 9

Choice difficulty: Heavy

 

Cartoon Heroes is one of the hardest songs in the pre-SuperNova days. It’s not a boss song, but the steps suggest a tiring and intensive song. It’s a true cata: The Heavy steps are expert in level and require an expert reading comprehension. These steps are one of the biggest examples of why players need to listen to the music to get a better idea of how the song progresses.

The first few measures start out easy though the steps are on beat. Once you move past the Freeze jump, the steps begin to ramp up, stay on beat and throw jumps and gallops (red and yellow notes) out there. Interspersed with the jumps and gallops are 1/4th-1/8th-1/16th triplets (red-blue-yellow notes). This continues throughout the rest of the song, but it’s the pattern and placement that makes the song hard to get a grasp on. Be ready to do a lot of triplet completions and then quickly hold a Freeze with steps in between.

 

Suggested speed modifier: x2

First appearance: Extreme (JP arcade)

Modifiers and you: We use speed and note modifiers. It makes some songs a lot more manageable and easier to sight read. To that end, our suggestions will note the use of a speed modifier where we feel necessary. Note modifiers will come into play in song chart discussion: Red, 1/4th note; Blue, 1/8th note; Yellow, 1/16th note; Green, 1/32nd note; and Purple, 1/64th note.

 

What the numbers mean: The first number next to a category is the foot rating for Singles and the second number is the step rating for Doubles. Every DDR mix except for 6th mix arcade has foot ratings that indicate the difficulty of a song. Sixth mix arcade did not use the foot ratings and introduced the Groove Radar.* These ratings are based on the older system before DDR X as are the difficulty categories (6th mix to SuperNOVA). To get an approximate rating in the new rating system, multiply the foot rating by 1.3 to 1.5 and round upward.

 

*There are only two songs within the entire DDR song list that do not have official Konami ratings: “Follow Me” and “Flash in the Night.” Neither song has ever been repeated in a mix since its original appearance.

DDR Spotlight notes

A note from the editor