Entertaining.
The Japanese version is its ninth traditional arcade release, and the first since Dance Dance Revolution EXTREME in 2002. The North American version is its third arcade release, and the first since Dance Dance Revolution USA in 2000. The European version is its fifth arcade release, and the first since Dancing Stage Fusion in 2004.
The release contains 301 songs. Of those, 64 are completely new to DDR (including three Extra Stage songs and a One More Extra Stage), and a total of 57 songs are from home versions of DDR and are appearing on an arcade machine for the first time. Of the songs that are new to DDR, 19 are licensed. There are two sets of unlockable songs revealed on the section of the DDR SuperNOVA website labeled "Secret". The first set is accessed by choosing Expert Mode, and clearing FINAL STAGE with an AA or better. These songs are Healing-D-Vision DE-STRAD, Fascination MAXX 100-200-400, and Fascination - eternal love mix - 2MB. The second set is unlocked by clearing any Secret Song (a song unlocked by the first method) in EXTRA STAGE. The song unlocked by this method is CHAOS DE-SIRE retunes.
The game was initially released in an updated cabinet with a new CPU core and a 32-inch high-definition CRT. The new dedicated cabinets are considerably less deep than their predecessors. An upgrade to current JAMMA DDR cabinets were made available in October 2006.
The CPU core is actually a modified Sony PlayStation 2 with a hard drive upgrade and modified graphics processor to permit the HD signal display. One of the criticisms about the arcade port of Dancing Stage Fusion was that it was essentially the home version game with only very slight modification played in an actual PS2. DDR SuperNOVA, however, is a whole new game made specifically for the arcade powered on a modified PS2. It has, however, been ported to a home version, though the home version and arcade versions have slightly different songlists (the main difference being different licensed songs for the arcade and home versions).
The game's user interface is inspired by Dance Dance Revolution EXTREME 2, the Japanese counterpart Dance Dance Revolution STR!KE and its European counterpart, Dancing Stage MAX. The background of the selection screens rotate colors between red, blue and green, and has a wireframe motif. The three main difficulties of normal gameplay--Light, Standard and Heavy--have been renamed Basic, Difficult and Expert. Beginner and Challenge difficulties are the same.
The general premise of DDR SuperNOVA is the same as the previous Dance Dance Revolution games. There are four game modes in SuperNOVA: Single (one player, using one platform), Versus (two players, each using one platform), Double (one player, using two platforms), and Battle (two players, each using one platform). The Battle mode is similar to that which previously appeared in Dancing Stage featuring Disney's Rave, as well as that of In the Groove.
The player must step to the beat,while matching the beat to the arrows presented to them on screen by stepping on arrows on a dance stage. Depending on the timing of each step, the step is scored "PERFECT," "GREAT," "GOOD," "ALMOST" or "BOO". A health bar is on the screen, and starts half-full at the beginning of the routine. PERFECT and GREAT steps increase the health bar until it is full. Almost and Boo steps diminish it. GOOD steps have no effect either way. If a player accumulates too many Almosts or Boos in rapid succession, and the health bar drops to zero, then the song is failed and the game ends. If one player depletes their life bar in a two-player game, they can continue playing if the other player passes.
Freeze Arrows appear on the screen as long green arrows, and require the player to hold the corresponding arrow on the dance stage as long as the arrow remains on the screen (instead of just stepping on the arrow). A player who hits the arrow and keeps it held until the arrow disappears from the screen scores an "OK", which increases the health bar. A player who hits the arrow but does not hold it long enough scores an "NG", which decreases the health bar.
A player may play anywhere from one to five songs in one game (not including extra stages); the maximum number of songs can be changed by the machine's owner/operator. The default setting is three songs. At the end of each song, the game displays a Results Screen, which shows the score, the total number of PERFECTs, GREATs, GOODs, ALMOSTs, BOOs and OKs, as well as a letter grade, for each player. The letter grade ranges from E (which means that the player failed due to a depleted life bar) to AAA (all steps PERFECT). At the end of the game, the game displays each player's score, step breakdown and letter grade based on all stages, including Extra Stage.
SuperNOVA's scoring system has been greatly simplified from prior DDR versions. As in In the Groove and the Challenge or "Oni" Mode in DDRMAX2 and DDR EXTREME, all steps in the song are now valued equally; no longer will later steps in the song be worth more than earlier steps. All songs are worth a maximum of 10,000,000 points. Each Perfect step is worth 10M/n (where n is the number of steps plus three times of number of freezes in the song), and each Great is worth 10M/2n. Unlike DDRMAX through EXTREME, double steps ("jumps") only add 1 to the combo counter instead of 2. Songs are also scored invisibly to the player by "Dance Points," which determine which letter grade is given to the player; each Perfect step is worth 2 Dance Points, a Great step is worth 1 Dance Point, and an OK on a Freeze Arrow is worth 2 Dance Points. Goods, Almosts, Boos, and NGs are worth 0 dance points; unlike DDRMAX through EXTREME, they do not subtract from your Dance Point total. The maximum Dance Point score is therefore equal to double the number of steps plus two times of number of freezes in the song. Due to how SuperNOVA's score is calculated, it is possible to determine your Dance Point percentage by dividing your song score by 100,000. You can obtain an estimate of your dance points by dividing the score by 10,000,000 then multiplying the sum of twice of the number of steps and two times of the number of freezes in the song. Also worth noting is that each individual song has its own high score, which is briefly displayed when the song is selected, but before it loads.
The screen refreshes at a full speed of 60 frames per second. Unlike previous recent games, only previous songs from other mixes will have full motion video backgrounds. New songs will, instead, have live-rendered backgrounds with dancing characters, but are disabled if a song features an exclusive video. They are featured in an arcade mix for the first time since Dance Dance Revolution 5thMIX; Dancing Stage Fever (AC) in European countries. A selection of one out of eight different characters (six returning characters with two new dancers(Emi, Rage, Jenny, Disco, Baby-Lon, Robo-Zukin, Gus, Ruby)) can be selected by the player(s). A selection of crossover songs from the Beatmania IIDX series feature their original movies from their originating Styles (although the movie would be cut if the song itself was cut).
Debuting in the original Dance Dance Revolution, foot rankings have been the staple indicator for a songs difficulty. Originally on a scale of one to eight "feet," it has since then been expanded to a scale of one to ten, with flashing ten footers being used to indicate songs that are more difficult than can be displayed on the one to ten scale. SuperNOVA uses a mixed Difficulty Display which combines the Groove Radar, with the Foot Ranking display of that from Dance Dance Revolution 5th Mix, which shows all available step chart and rankings, instead of displaying the rankings one at a time, ala the DDRMAX-generation of games. However, the Groove Radar only displays graphical representations of the currently selected difficulty for each player.
Modifiers are changes that can be made to modify the step routine. A menu is available to make these modifications easily, and is accessed by choosing "Options" below the Challenge foot rating, or holding the start button when selecting your song. Some of the modifiers are: Speed mods, visibility mods, boost mods, and difficulty.
If the player receives an AA or better grade (a score of 9,500,000 or higher, and thus 95% or more of the total Dance Points possible) on their final stage playing on Expert or Challenge difficulty, an Extra Stage is earned. Any song may be chosen for the Extra Stage, although depending on the game mode chosen at the beginning of the game, an additional song which is not normally available is added to the song list. The Extra Stage may only be played on Expert difficulty. The song modifiers are pre-set and may not be changed. Finally, the Extra Stage's life meter follows different rules; instead of starting half-full and (re)filling as the player hits steps accurately, the life meter starts completely filled, but cannot recover. Approximately five "Almost" and/or "Boo" steps will deplete the meter and fail the song.
If the starting game mode was Easy or Medium, the Extra Stage song is Healing-D-Vision by De-Strad, a 10-foot difficulty song with a BPM of 180 which speeds up to 360 near the end. Note that this song was originally rated a "9" before the patch released in mid-September. If the starting game mode was Hard or All Music, the Extra Stage song is Fascination MAXX by 100-200-400, a flashing-10-foot difficulty song with a BPM which shifts between 100, 200, and 400. The patch for DDR SuperNOVA, released in mid-September of 2006, also added another challenging song selectable only as an Extra Stage song. Fascination ~eternal love mix~ by 2MB is a remix of Fascination MAXX that also has a shifting BPM, but it adds stops. The steps are simpler, but still difficult.
Regardless of song, the forced modifiers are 1.5x, Rainbow, and Reverse.
The 'One More Extra Stage', also known as the Encore Extra Stage, was introduced in DDRMAX and is always a fixed song to play, with a set of predetermined modifiers. One More Extra Stage uses a "Sudden Death" life bar; the player automatically fails if they get any Good, Almost, Boo, or NG steps. In SuperNOVA, it is obtained by passing Healing-D-Vision or getting at least an A grade on Fascination MAXX or Fascination ~eternal love mix~ during the first Extra Stage.
In SuperNOVA, the designated song for the One More Extra Stage is CHAOS by DE-SIRE retunes, a mid-tempo to moderately fast song with an unusual rhythm and erratic stops in the beat -- at least 43 of them -- making it very difficult to follow. This song has the most difficult steps out of all. It is the first One More Extra Stage to have a foot rating of 10. The predetermined modifiers for CHAOS are actually none at all - the song must be played at the default settings all around.
In addition to the four basic difficulty levels of Easy, Medium, Hard, and All Music, the following selections are available:
Tutorial Mode is significantly different than Extreme's Beginner Mode. A three-to-four minute tutorial about how to play the game is shown, giving players the opportunity to follow the announcer's instructions. Afterwards, one song is chosen. This time, the song selected in Beginner in normal gameplay does not show the background of a character on a DDR pad showing how to step. It is instead played like a normal Beginner Song.
Nonstop Mode allows the player to play one of several set courses without stopping. It is selectable when you are selecting the difficulty for the song. Its scoring is the same as a normal game.
Challenge Mode, also referred to as Oni Mode, requires you to complete a set course of songs, with difficulties set and, in some cases, different mods. You cannot mod any songs in Oni Mode, and must play them all at native scroll and whatever mod the machine deems is part of the course. Unlike Nonstop Mode, you have to be perfect with your steps. The life bar is replaced with a battery. If you get a GOOD, ALMOST, BOO or NG up to four times in any one song, it fails you out and the game ends. Life recovery is much more strict than prior versions -- you can only earn one life back every two songs. Your score is derived from the dance point system, and is the number of possible dance points you earned. ALMOSTs and BOOs do not take away from your dance points. This mode also has changed in that the player's combo increases with Greats, rather than having them not affect the current combo.
The game received a widespread US release at the end of June 2006, as final SuperNOVA machines started popping up throughout the country.