DDR
Spotlight
Spotlight
with Lyndsey Beatty
Note from the editor:
Welcome to the DDR Spotlight! We’re examining the myriad of songs found in the Dance Dance Revolution series from the very first mix all the way to SuperNova.
Welcome to the DDR Spotlight! We’re examining the myriad of songs found in the Dance Dance Revolution series from the very first mix all the way to SuperNova.
Download the current DDR glossary. Just in case you ever wondered what some of the terms mean, we've compiled a dictionary, courtesy of the now-defunct DDR Freak.
-fixed.png)
Artist: Naoki
Difficulty: 4/5/6/7 (DDR 2nd Mix to SuperNOVA2), 5/6/8 (DanceDanceRevolution CLUB VERSiON (DC))
Chosen difficulty: Heavy
BPM: 150
Brilliant 2U is an early DDR favorite that teaches you how to DDR. That is, it will teach you the fundamentals, and if you're playing without Speed Mods, you're going to learn how the early core of DDR works. Look out for triplets, runs and jumps interspersed throughout the song. This is early DDR, so it won't have a lot of tricky pieces to worry about and it follows the melody closely, but it's also a challenge. Like other songs at the same speed, you may want to consider adding a Speed Mod to help with reading the stepchart.
Suggested Speed Mod: x2
Difficulty: 4/5/6/7 (DDR 2nd Mix to SuperNOVA2), 5/6/8 (DanceDanceRevolution CLUB VERSiON (DC))
Chosen difficulty: Heavy
BPM: 150
Brilliant 2U is an early DDR favorite that teaches you how to DDR. That is, it will teach you the fundamentals, and if you're playing without Speed Mods, you're going to learn how the early core of DDR works. Look out for triplets, runs and jumps interspersed throughout the song. This is early DDR, so it won't have a lot of tricky pieces to worry about and it follows the melody closely, but it's also a challenge. Like other songs at the same speed, you may want to consider adding a Speed Mod to help with reading the stepchart.
Suggested Speed Mod: x2
Artist: NAOKI feat. PAULA TERRY
Difficulty: 4/6/7
Chosen difficulty: Heavy
BPM: 150
Love Again Tonight is a favorite, mostly because of vocalist Paula Terry. However, the chart is fun also on Heavy, and it's challenging without being hard. When played in unison, it's a chart made for couples to dance to and it's easy enough for an intermediate player to put in the work and be rewarded. Like most vocal songs in DDR, learning the lyrics is your best bet. The stepchart matches Terry almost note for note so learning the lyrics will immediately help with stepping. You may want to consider giving it some speed to improve readability.
Suggested Speed Mod: x2
Difficulty: 4/6/7
Chosen difficulty: Heavy
BPM: 150
Love Again Tonight is a favorite, mostly because of vocalist Paula Terry. However, the chart is fun also on Heavy, and it's challenging without being hard. When played in unison, it's a chart made for couples to dance to and it's easy enough for an intermediate player to put in the work and be rewarded. Like most vocal songs in DDR, learning the lyrics is your best bet. The stepchart matches Terry almost note for note so learning the lyrics will immediately help with stepping. You may want to consider giving it some speed to improve readability.
Suggested Speed Mod: x2
Artist: NM feat. EBONY FAY
Difficulty: 2/5/9
Chosen difficulty: Standard
BPM: 140
One of my absolute favorite songs in all of DDR, Rain of Sorrow has all that I'm looking for in a DDR song. The lyrics are cool, the vocalist - Ebony Fay - shines like a diamond here and the stepchart is fun to step to on the Standard difficulty. Because I've learned the lyrics and the melody of the song over the years, even when I don't play for a long time, I still can pick this and do well on Standard. The Standard step chart matches the lyrics and melody perfectly, so it's easy to understand. Rain of Sorrow is a perfect example of jumps, runs and twists along with Freeze steps that will teach you about mid-life DDR. This is such a favorite of mine that I play it at least once a set.
Suggested Speed Mod: x2
Difficulty: 2/5/9
Chosen difficulty: Standard
BPM: 140
One of my absolute favorite songs in all of DDR, Rain of Sorrow has all that I'm looking for in a DDR song. The lyrics are cool, the vocalist - Ebony Fay - shines like a diamond here and the stepchart is fun to step to on the Standard difficulty. Because I've learned the lyrics and the melody of the song over the years, even when I don't play for a long time, I still can pick this and do well on Standard. The Standard step chart matches the lyrics and melody perfectly, so it's easy to understand. Rain of Sorrow is a perfect example of jumps, runs and twists along with Freeze steps that will teach you about mid-life DDR. This is such a favorite of mine that I play it at least once a set.
Suggested Speed Mod: x2
Look for past issues of
Gaming Insurrection's
DDR Spotlight on YouTube!
Gaming Insurrection's
DDR Spotlight on YouTube!
