{"id":1401,"date":"2025-07-05T18:25:35","date_gmt":"2025-07-05T22:25:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gaminginsurrection.com\/reviews\/?p=1401"},"modified":"2025-07-07T21:12:32","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T01:12:32","slug":"dance-dance-revolution-extreme-jp-issue-53","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gaminginsurrection.com\/reviews\/index.php\/2025\/07\/05\/dance-dance-revolution-extreme-jp-issue-53\/","title":{"rendered":"Dance Dance Revolution Extreme (JP<\/span>) \u2014 Issue 53"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Dance Dance Rev\u00ado\u00adlu\u00adtion Extreme (JP<\/span>)
\n<\/span><\/strong>Kon\u00ada\u00admi, 2003<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Gold\u00aden Age of DDR<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not ashamed to say I have a favorite Dance Dance Rev\u00ado\u00adlu\u00adtion mix. For any\u00adone who knows me, they know it\u2019s the Japan\u00adese home ver\u00adsion of DDR<\/span> Extreme. While it\u2019s the mix I played the least in the arcades, by the time it came home and I got a copy of it, it quick\u00adly grabbed the top spot in my heart.
\n<\/span>
\nThere is a gold\u00aden age of DDR<\/span> and Extreme is the pin\u00adna\u00adcle. Hit\u00adting the sweet spot as the last game of the gold\u00aden age, JP<\/span> Extreme is a sol\u00adid home port with the nec\u00ades\u00adsary arcade songs and a fan\u00adtas\u00adtic mix of con\u00adsole old and new songs. All the per\u00adti\u00adnent Extreme songs are on the ros\u00adter: 1998, A, Across the Night\u00admare, DDR<\/span>, Saku\u00adra, Para\u00adnoia Sur\u00advivor &<\/span> Sur\u00advivor Max, The leg\u00adend of Max and V. Unlike the Amer\u00adi\u00adcan port of Extreme, it\u2019s as if some\u00adone played the arcade ver\u00adsion and thought an accu\u00adrate port was the right thing to do.
\n<\/span>
\nThe home ver\u00adsion plays exact\u00adly like the arcade ver\u00adsion and, if you\u2019re savvy enough, you can find a way to enable Mar\u00advelous tim\u00ading, arcade tim\u00ading win\u00addows and the Boost and Wave mods found in the arcade ver\u00adsion only. Gen\u00ader\u00adal\u00adly, the Japan\u00adese ver\u00adsions of DDR<\/span> are spot on, and this port \u2014 even with\u00adout the addi\u00adtions \u2014 is still faithful.
\n<\/span>
\nThe home ver\u00adsion fea\u00adtures all the usu\u00adal fea\u00adtures that you\u2019ve come to expect: Diet Mode, Edit Mode, Les\u00adson Mode and Train\u00ading Mode. One of the best things about the mix, how\u00adev\u00ader, comes in the options. If you have save data from Par\u00adty Col\u00adlec\u00adtion, you can unlock all the songs in Extreme, and if you need to, you can unlock all the songs in DDR<\/span> Max and Max 2. That saves time and gets you to the meat and pota\u00adtoes of what you came here to do: play awe\u00adsome DDR<\/span> songs.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

And the ros\u00adter is awe\u00adsome. There is nary a repeat in sight that drags the mix down (ahem, we\u2019re look\u00ading at you AM-3P<\/span> and your var\u00adi\u00adous remix\u00ades). The qual\u00adi\u00adty of songs is high, and a lot of the Kon\u00ada\u00admi orig\u00adi\u00adnals added here are wel\u00adcome addi\u00adtions and crossovers from Beat\u00adma\u00adnia IIDX<\/span>. Of note is Max.(period), which was new as of Extreme JP\u2019s home release. Max.(period) is one of the new Boss Songs and is a great addi\u00adtion. Boss Songs in this mix are indeed all the Boss Songs from the arcade ver\u00adsion, which lends cred\u00adi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty to the mix and its authenticity.
\n<\/span>
\nThere isn\u2019t much wrong with this mix. The unlock sys\u00adtem, if you don\u2019t have sup\u00adport data from Par\u00adty Col\u00adlec\u00adtion, is kind of aggra\u00advat\u00ading but it\u2019s not so ter\u00adri\u00adble that the mix isn\u2019t worth your time. It\u2019s time con\u00adsum\u00ading but it only means play\u00ading more DDR<\/span>.
\n<\/span>
\nIf you\u2019re going to play a home ver\u00adsion and don\u2019t have Step\u00adma\u00adnia, take the time to import DDR<\/span> Extreme JP<\/span>. Extreme JP<\/span> is the clos\u00adest port of Extreme to the arcade short of Step\u00adma\u00adnia and well worth the mon\u00adey to track down a copy, a PlaySta\u00adtion 2 and swap discs.
\n<\/span>
\nA great ros\u00adter, sol\u00adid mechan\u00adics and peak DDR<\/span> in its gold\u00aden age form makes it a must-buy if you\u2019re at all into dance games and Bemani. DDR<\/span> Extreme JP<\/span> was a good final step in the series.<\/span><\/p>\n

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DDR<\/span> Extreme JP<\/span> ver\u00adsus DDR<\/span> Extreme NA<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The DDR<\/span> Extreme ver\u00adsions released in Japan and Amer\u00adi\u00adca are wild\u00adly dif\u00adfer\u00adent. DDR<\/span> Extreme JP<\/span> is the clos\u00adest port of the arcade ver\u00adsion that you\u2019re going to get unless you have Step\u00adma\u00adnia and fine tune your instal\u00adla\u00adtion to match that arcade version. <\/span>
\nThe Amer\u00adi\u00adcan ver\u00adsion, released in 2004, is not an accu\u00adrate port. It fea\u00adtures dif\u00adfer\u00adent graph\u00adics that replace the well-known song wheel and Groove Radar fea\u00adtured in DDR<\/span> Max and Max 2 and a song ros\u00adter that did not resem\u00adble the arcade ver\u00adsion with a lot of licensed songs and few Kon\u00ada\u00admi orig\u00adi\u00adnals and Bemani crossovers that were intro\u00adduced in the arcade ver\u00adsion. Also, the com\u00adbo and grad\u00ading sys\u00adtems are dif\u00adfer\u00adent: A com\u00adbo break auto\u00admat\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly results in a max A grade, Extra Stage requires clear\u00ading an 8\u2011footer on Heavy instead of AA<\/span> grade on any song\u2019s Heavy dif\u00adfi\u00adcul\u00adty, and Encore Extra Stage\/One More Extra Stage was removed. <\/span><\/p>\n

To cor\u00adrect the mis\u00adsteps of Extreme NA<\/span>, Extreme 2 was released in 2005 for the PlaySta\u00adtion 2 with a slight\u00adly more accu\u00adrate song ros\u00adter to match the arcade ver\u00adsion of Extreme.<\/span><\/p>\n