Dance Dance Revolution X3 vs. 2ndMix

Lore & Background

Development on X3 began shortly after X2 was released. X3 was the final entry in the 'X' Trilogy. From June 8 to June 10, 2011, a location test was held in Akihabara, Tokyo. This location test revealed new songs and features including Target Score and BEMANI folders. The menu screens are now blue instead of green. Konami announced a new 2ndMIX mode where the player could play a full HD recreation of DDR 2ndMIX. This game is notably the first BEMANI game to feature a modernized version of an older game as a game mode. In 2ndMIX MODE, characters no longer perform their original dancing moves; they employ new moves from DanceDanceRevolution X and DanceDanceRevolution SuperNOVA. The same camera angles used in the main game are also used in 2ndMIX MODE. The dancers consequently appear very little in the game.

Reader's Guide

2ndMIX mode includes an HD remaster of DanceDanceRevolution 2ndMIX, including all licenses except 'STRICTLY BUSINESS'. Quick Play mode is similar to Marathon Mode from DDR X2. Target Score allows players to view machine and e-Amusement records without playing the song. BEMANI Title sort allows songs to be sorted by the BEMANI title they originally appeared in. DRILL COURSE has been removed. DDR X3 is the last Dance Dance Revolution game with Course mode until Dance Dance Revolution A20. The game uses an Enjoy Level unlocking system requiring e-Amusement. Extra Stage uses a star system: AAA = 3 stars, AA = 2 stars, A-D = 1 star, E = 0 stars; full combo adds 1 star (except AAA and E). Additional stars are awarded for clearing a song on a specific difficulty depending on dance title, and from February 2, 2012, e-Amusement players receive a star after their first play of the day. 9 stars grant access to Extra Stage. For e-Amusement players, unused stars carry over. The new song available for Extra Stage is Amalgamation. Encore Extra Stage requires scoring AA or better under Expert on the specific song during Extra Stage. Scoring AA or better on Amalgamation on Expert grants access to UNBELIEVABLE (Sparky remix) on Expert. Two additional Encore Extra Stage songs were added: NEPHILIM DELTA (from January 25, 2012) and SILVER☆DREAM (from April 25, 2012). All Encore Extra Stage songs were unlocked as of July 23, 2012. The EXTRA Tour event started on May 14, 2012, adding songs including tokyoEVOLVED, osaka EVOLVED, New York EVOLVED, and London EVOLVED. After playing all Extra Tour songs at least once, scoring AA or better on Expert on any of these songs unlocked the Encore Extra Stage Tohoku EVOLVED. The event ended on July 22, 2012. The Crossover DDR event started on August 2, 2012, allowing players to unlock 2ndMix-exclusive songs for use in X3 mode by playing charts in 2ndMix mode. Three boss songs could be unlocked: TRIP MACHINE EVOLUTION, PARANOiA Revolution, and LOVE IS THE POWER Re:born. The event ended on November 5, 2012. Internet Ranking used courses and e-Amusement to upload scores.

Did You Know?

• The game's full name includes 'vs. 2ndMix' due to the new 2ndMIX mode.
• The system backdrop music is based on the TAG-composed default music selection from DanceDanceRevolution II.
• Some arcade machines of DDR X3 have judgment of streaked notes and combo quantity placed under the note strip, while others have them on top.
• Selecting a song folder will either show song selections under it and hide other folders, or show other folders and hide the song selection under it.
• The Extra Tour event involved songs appearing in specific regions and moving to other regions each day.