In order to keep from leaving out the Japanese veterans from the continued innovations in DDR, Konami initiated one more Japanese release called DDR Festival. DDR Festival holds the remarkable distinction of being the first DDR game released in Japan with only six new-to-DDR songs, the rest of the game primarily composed of features and songs already seen in the US releases of DDR Extreme and DDR Ultramix. The most notable elements of this mix are the Extreme US interface, the EyeToy support (and accompanying minigames), and all of the Konami Original songs from Ultramix and its songpacks.
Special Import Instructions
This is a Japanese game, and if you are new to Japanese imports, you may have trouble getting started with the game. When you first boot the game, you are presented with a message in Japanese asking you if you want to create a System File for the game. Select the left option and then hit the Circle button. The next message asks if you want to enable Auto-Save. The left option is 'Yes', the right option is 'No'. Select your preference, and again hit Circle. In Japan, Circle is most frequently used to confirm selections, whereas most US publishers use Circle for canceling instead.
Game Modes
Unlike previous versions of DDR, Festival's menus are in Japanese only. This can make configuration a bit problematic if you're not already familiar with the interface. Below is a list of the menu options translated to English for your convenience. Italicized items are unlocked.
- Game Mode (Nonstop, Oni available)
- Party Mode
- Beginner Mode
- Mission Mode
- Endless Mode
- Lesson Mode
- Training Mode
- Edit Mode
- Diet Mode (Workout)
- Records
- Song Records
- Nonstop Records
- Oni Records
- Options
- Sound
- Channels: Stereo -> Monaural -> Dolby Pro Logic II
- Announcer: On -> Off -> No Booing
- Timing
- Controller
- Save/Load
- Save
- Load
- User Support Party Collection
- Autosave: Off -> On
- Edit Folder: Off -> Edit Use
- Game Options
- Difficulty Level: 1-8
- Number Of Songs: 1-5
- Game Over: Arcade -> End Of Music
- Event Mode: Off -> On
- Default Difficulty: Light -> Standard -> Heavy -> Beginner
- Video Options
- Background Movies: On -> Off
- Dancing Characters: On -> Off
- Movie Brightness
- Step Color: Type1 -> Type2 -> Flat
- Antiflicker filtering: On -> Off
- Screen Adjustment
- Credits
- Information
When adjusting items in the Options menu, remember that the default selections will be written in Green and modified options will be written in Red.
Dance Play Settings
Strangely, DDR Festival does not feature an option within the options menu to disable the face buttons on a dance mat when playing a song. This option was available in all previous versions of DDR, designed to keep players from accidentally triggering arrows prematurely by unintentionally stepping on the button sections of the dance mat.
Fortunately, while the option menu is disabled, the code for the option itself remains intact, and several enterprising DDR fans have developed save files which have the appropriate option toggled so that the face buttons are disabled during gameplay. To download a save file for DDR Festival, click here.
User Support
DDR Festival features an option labelled "User Support" in the Options menu. This can be used to unlock all locked content within DDR Party Collection. Simply load up DDR Festival, insert a memory card containing a System file for Party Collection, and go to User Support. Select the lefthand option both times you receive a prompt.
Note: User Support does *not* add songs from a previous version to DDR Festival, nor vice versa. User Support simply unlocks whatever you have not already unlocked via regular methods.
Unlockable Songs
DDR Festival's unlock system is almost a carbon copy of the Extreme unlock system, the single biggest difference being that unlockable items are earned after a group of 4 songs, not 5. As in Extreme US, if an item is obtained via speed unlock, that item is instead replaced with a dancing character or a costume for one of the currently unlocked characters.
You must not have Event Mode on for the songs you've played to count, and you must also have Workout Mode options disabled (IE - playing in normal mode).
- Keep Ya Body Movin' - Thuggie D.
- There 4 You - Thuggie D.
- A random dancing character or costume is unlocked
- ABSOLUTE (Cuff-N-Stuff It Mix) - Thuggie D.
- ANALYZE - B.BANDJ
- A random dancing character or costume is unlocked
- FIRE DUB - ASLETICS
- What Is Love? - Tomosuke
- A random dancing character or costume is unlocked
- PUT YOUR FAITH IN ME (SATURDAY NIGHT MIX) - UZI-LAY
- BABY BABY GIMME YOUR LOVE 2002 - DIVAS
- Mission Mode is unlocked
- GORGEOUS 2012 - THE SURRENDERS
- BAILA! BAILA! - DANDY MINERO
- A random dancing character or costume is unlocked
- MEANING OF LIFE - K.Wit feat. GARY
- INSERTiON (Machine Gun Kelly Mix) - Thuggie D.
- A random dancing character or costume is unlocked
- BALLAD FOR YOU - NM feat. Thomas Howard
- BATTLE BREAKS - DJ TAKAWO
- A random dancing character or costume is unlocked
- Mind Parasite - Tomosuke
- GET IT ALL - BRASS TACKS
- A random dancing character or costume is unlocked
- KEEP ON MOVIN' (DMX Mix) - N.M.R.-typeG
- Quickening - dj TAKA
- A random dancing character or costume is unlocked
- SANA MOLETTE NE ENTE (B.L.T. Style)
- SOMETHING WONDERFUL - L.E.D.
- A random dancing character or costume is unlocked
- NEMESIS - D.J.SETUP
- In My Eyes - ric
- A random dancing character or costume is unlocked
- INFINITE PRAYER - L.E.D. LIGHT feat. Goro
- Matsuri (J-SUMMER MIX) - Re-Venge
- A random dancing character or costume is unlocked
- MGS2 mission R - L.E.D.
- MAD BLAST - THE INFECTION
- A random dancing character or costume is unlocked
- INFINITE PRAYER (floating flock style) - L.E.D. feat. GORO
- OUTER LIMITS - L.E.D. -G
- A random dancing character or costume is unlocked
- I Need You (True Platinum Mix) - Sho-T
- MAXIMIZER - CLI-MAX S. (or clear it with an AA on Extra Stage)
- Endless Mode is unlocked
Oni and Nonstop courses can be unlocked by passing the currently available courses.
After Endless Mode is unlocked, every additional 4 songs will unlock a new Oni Course, Nonstop Course, Dancing Character, or costume, randomly selected from those remaining.
Party Mode
DDR Extreme features a variety of minigames, some of which use the dance pad, some of which use the EyeToy, and some of which involve both.
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Watch Me Dance - Everything but the arrows and music is taken away, and the screen shows the EyeToy camera feed showing you dancing to the song. |
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Magical Ball - Similar to Breakout or Arkanoid, where your hands bounce the ball on the screen. |
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Clean The Screen - While playing your song, you will need to periodically wave your arms to wipe the bubbles off the screen that will slowly build and obscure your view of the incoming arrows. |
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Hands And Feet - The EyeToy adds a Left Hand and Right Hand area that you'll need to tag along with the standard arrows, similarly to Solo Mode. |
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Coconut Panic - Shake the trees and catch the coconuts that fall from them. |
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Hyper Dash - Running game similar to the old NES Power Pad games. |
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Feeding Time - Hit the pad arrow that corresponds to the correct food to feed each animal on the screen. 1-2-Samba (from Samba de Amigo) meets Baku Baku Animal, in a way. |
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Oni Courses
Three courses are available from the start, and more are unlocked as the game is played - you can unlock Oni courses either in normal gameplay or by clearing existing Oni courses.
Nonstop Courses
Six courses are available from the start, and more are unlocked as the game is played - you can unlock Nonstop courses either in normal gameplay or by clearing existing Nonstop courses.
Mission Mode
Similarly to Extreme US, Festival comes with a Mission Mode, which is a reprisal of 4th Mix's Challenge Mode. Festival's Mission mode comes with 50 missions in total, including the infamous final mission with a custom MAXIMIZER stepchart.
When starting Mission Mode, you can only try the missions with a flashing border. As you clear missions, the tiles will go away to reveal an image underneath, and ajacent missions will become accessible, though you can only choose one to open up. If you have trouble with a particular mission, the game will allow you to open another mission after several attempts. Finish all 50 missions, and all currently locked songs, courses, dancers, and costumes will be unlocked.
In the tables below, there are five columns:
- Song: the name of the song that will be played for this challenge.
- Difficulty: the difficulty level of the song in the challenge.
- Rating: the difficulty rating of the mission.
- Portion: if this is a range of numbers, the range describes which measures of the song will be played for the challenge; if it says "All", then the whole song will be played.
- Description: a summary of the conditions that must be fulfilled to pass the challenge.
|
Song |
Difficulty |
Rating |
Portion |
Description |
| 1. |
Believe |
 Standard |
 |
|
Clear the song with a combo of 90 or higher. |
| 2. |
D2R |
Standard |
|
|
Clear the song with a grade of A or higher. |
| 3. |
Diamonds |
Standard |
|
|
Clear the song with all steps Good or greater. |
| 4. |
Cutie Honey |
Standard |
|
|
Clear the song with a full dance gauge. |
| 5. |
WAITING FOR TONIGHT |
Standard |
|
|
Clear the song on Sudden with over 5,000,000 points. |
| 6. |
Gakuen Tengoku |
 Heavy |
|
|
Clear the song on x3 stepping only on jumps. All steps must be Perfect or Great. |
| 7. |
SOMETHING WONDERFUL |
Standard |
|
|
Clear the song with the dance gauge at 10% or less. |
| 8. |
CANDY❤ |
Heavy |
|
|
Clear the song with a full combo. The music will not be played. |
| 9. |
ABSOLUTE (Cuff-N-Stuff It Mix) |
Standard |
|
|
Clear the song with a grade of C. |
| 10. |
There 4 You |
---
|
|
|
Clear the song with a custom stepchart with over 5,000,000 points and without breaking any freezes. |
| 11. |
DIVE |
Heavy |
|
|
Clear the song without stepping on  . Jumps containing are fine. All steps must be Perfect or Great. |
| 12. |
5.1.1 |
 Light |
|
|
Clear the song on x8, Shuffle with all steps Great or better. |
| 13. |
Kids In America |
Heavy |
|
|
Clear the song on Reverse, Sudden without holding any freezes. |
| 14. |
INFINITE PRAYER |
Heavy |
|
|
Clear the song with between 4,000,000 and 4,100,000 points. |
| 15. |
Your Rain (RAGE MIX) |
Standard |
|
|
Clear the song on x0.5, Dark with a full combo. |
| 16. |
MAKE IT BETTER (So-REAL Mix) |
Light |
|
|
Clear the song with a max combo of 60 or higher and at least 90 Perfects. The song will be played at 200% speed. |
| 17. |
Don't Stop! (AMD 2nd MIX) |
Heavy |
|
|
Clear the song with a full combo and no more than 30 Greats. The audio will not be synced with the steps. |
| 18. |
Odoru Ponpokorin |
Standard |
|
|
Clear the song on Hidden with all steps Good or better. |
| 19. |
Sakura |
Light |
|
|
Clear the song with all Perfects and all freezes held. |
| 20. |
Funk Boogie |
Heavy |
|
|
Clear the song on Accumulate with a full combo. |
| 21. |
INSERTiON |
Heavy |
|
|
Clear the song on x8, Shuffle with a full combo. |
| 22. |
KEEP ON MOVIN' (DMX Mix) |
Standard |
|
|
Clear the song stepping only where arrows do not exist. Each step is worth 1 point. Clear the song with more than 190 points. |
| 23. |
GRADIUSIC CYBER (AMD G5 MIX) |
Heavy |
|
|
Clear the song with a full combo. |
| 24. |
In My Eyes |
---
|
|
|
Clear the song with a custom stepchart with a full combo and all freezes held. |
| 25. |
.59 |
Light |
|
|
Clear the song with a full combo. There will be a rectangle on the screen moving up and down partially obscuring the arrow stream. |
| 26. |
Abyss |
Standard |
|
|
Clear the song with at least 5,700,000 points. The music will speed up as the song progresses. |
| 27. |
Mind Parasite |
Heavy |
|
|
Clear the song on Flat with a full combo. |
| 28. |
CANDY❤ |
Standard |
|
|
Clear the song with a full combo and all freezes held. The arrow columns are rearranged. |
| 29. |
I Was The One |
Standard |
|
|
Clear the song on Brake with a full combo. |
| 30. |
Electro Tuned (the SubS mix) |
Heavy |
|
|
Clear the song without stepping on 1/4-beat arrows. All steps must be Perfect or Great. |
| 31. |
BATTLE BREAKS |
Heavy |
|
|
Clear the song on Dark, Reverse with a full combo. |
| 32. |
Superstar |
Heavy |
|
|
Clear the song without stepping on ony jumps. |
| 33. |
What Is Love? |
Heavy |
|
|
Clear the song on Wave with at least 110 combined Perfects and Greats. |
| 34. |
Quickening |
Heavy |
|
|
Clear the song with between 5,300,000 and 5,600,000 points and without getting a combo higher than 10. |
| 35. |
Keep Ya Body Movin' |
---
|
|
|
Clear the song with a custom stepchart with at least 180 Perfects. |
| 36. |
GORGEOUS 2012 |
Standard |
|
|
Clear the song with at least 43 Perfects, 43 Greats, and 43 Goods, and holding all freezes. |
| 37. |
BROKEN MY HEART |
---
|
|
|
Clear the song with a custom stepchart. The dance gauge penalty for Boos and Misses will be much worse than normal. |
| 38. |
ANALYZE |
Heavy |
|
|
Clear the song on Flat, Reverse, stepping on only jumps. All steps must be Perfect or Great. |
| 39. |
un deux trois |
Standard |
|
|
Clear the song with a full combo and all freezes held. The arrow columns are rearranged. |
| 40. |
Sana Molette Ne Ente |
Heavy |
|
|
Clear the song on x2, Accumulate, Mirror with all steps Good or better. |
| 41. |
GRADIUSIC CYBER (AMD G5 MIX) |
Standard |
|
|
Clear the song on Hidden with a full combo. |
| 42. |
Firefly |
Heavy |
|
|
Clear the song with more than 5,500,000 points. The tempo of the music will change during the song. |
| 43. |
Holic |
Standard |
|
|
Clear the song with Phantom Arrows with a full combo. |
| 44. |
PUT YOUR FAITH IN ME (SATURDAY NIGHT MIX) |
Heavy |
|
|
Clear the song with a max combo of 53 or higher while keeping the dance gauge under 30% at all times. |
| 45. |
Sakura |
Light |
|
|
Clear the song on Stealth with a full combo and all freezes held. |
| 46. |
BABY BABY GIMME YOUR LOVE 2002 |
Standard |
|
|
Clear the song with all freezes held and without getting a combo higher than 3. |
| 47. |
BALLAD FOR YOU |
Heavy |
|
|
Clear the song on Accumulate without stepping on  . All steps must be Perfect or Great. |
| 48. |
NEMESIS |
Light |
|
|
Clear the song without holding any freezes and with 0 points. All steps must be Good or Boo. |
| 49. |
era (nostalmix) |
Heavy |
|
|
Clear the song stepping only where arrows do not exist. Each step is worth 1 point. Clear the song with more than 160 points. |
| 50. |
MAXIMIZER |
---
|
|
All |
Clear the song with a custom stepchart with more than 6,500,000 points. |
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Dancing Characters
DDR Festival only contains 8 characters, as opposed to the 18 found in Extreme US. However, you can play dress-up with the characters in Festival - each character has two additional costumes to unlock for a total of 24 different character designs. The eight characters available are listed below:
- Blues
- Rhythm
- Drum
- Bass
- Afro
- Lady
- Rage
- Emi
Beginner
Challenge
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5.1.1 