DDR Extreme (Japan) Scores and Commentary







This page is a bit unusual, in that it discusses the Japanese version of DDR Extreme rather than the US version of the same title. This mix is almost certainly the best DDR home mix of all time, however, regardless of what language it might be in!

First of all, just to avoid any confusion: as I said above, everything that follows relates to the JAPANESE version of DDR Extreme. Anyone who is looking for the version with "YMCA" and "Like a Virgin" is in the wrong place. Now this is not the time or place to discuss all of the relative merits of the different versions, but in short, there were some rather serious changes made in the American version of DDR Extreme that in my opinion were not for the better. That is not to say that the US Extreme is a bad game, just that I find it inferior to the monster 111-song Japanese version that contains no fewer than 10 different sets of 10-footer steps (compared to 1 in the US version). For a very intelligent discussion of the two games, I will direct the reader to yyr's Gamefaqs review. For me, it was worth the money to import the Japanese version. With no further ado, here's the song table:

DDR Extreme (Japan) Scores
Name Score Points Grade Dance Points Max Points Percentage Missing DP Comments
1998 (Heavy) 70,000,000 AAA 658 658 100% 0 "AAA" #44!!!
321 Stars (Heavy) 80,000,000 AAA 658 658 100% 0 "AAA" #183!!!
A (Challenge) 88,972,875 AA 662 670 98.8% 8 SDG (8) Surprised myself
A (Heavy) 80,000,000 AAA 676 676 100% 0 "AAA" #184!!!
A Stupid Barber (Heavy) 70,000,000 AAA 692 692 100% 0 "AAA" #8!!!
Across the Nightmare (Challenge) 88,967,355 AA 721 744 96.9% 23 Quick feet needed
Across the Nightmare (Heavy) 76,953,760 AA 655 682 96.0% 27 -
Afronova (Heavy) 89,988,865 AA 739 740 99.86% 1 SDG (1)
After the Game of Love (Heavy) 50,000,000 AAA 414 414 100% 0 "AAA" #54!!!
air (Heavy) 70,000,000 AAA 498 498 100% 0 "AAA" #97!!!
Aoi Shoudou (Heavy) 80,000,000 AAA 594 594 100% 0 "AAA" #56!!!
Baby Baby Gimme Your Love (Heavy) 60,000,000 AAA 326 326 100% 0 "AAA" #92!!!
Bad Routine (Heavy) 60,000,000 AAA 594 594 100% 0 "AAA" #23!!!
Be Lovin' (Heavy) 87,246,270 AA 605 632 95.7% 27 -
Burnin' the Floor Momo Mix (Heavy) 80,000,000 AAA 764 764 100% 0 "AAA" #5!!!
Brilliant 2U (Challenge) 70,000,000 AAA 528 528 100% 0 "AAA" #59!!!
Brilliant 2U (Heavy) 60,000,000 AAA 450 450 100% 0 "AAA" #55!!!
Brilliant 2U Orchestra (Challenge) 80,000,000 AAA 618 618 100% 0 "AAA" #174!!!
Brilliant 2U Orchestra (Heavy) 70,000,000 AAA 452 452 100% 0 "AAA" #57!!!
Can't Stop Fallin In Love (Speed Mix) 90,000,000 AAA 886 886 100% 0 "AAA" Number FIFTY!!!
Cartoon Heroes (Heavy) 89,383,410 AA 870 876 99.32% 6 I "AA"ed the most difficult 9-footer!!!
Colors (Challenge) 90,000,000 AAA 900 902 100% 0 "AAA" #175!!!
Colors (Heavy) 70,000,000 AAA 674 674 100% 0 "AAA" #53!!!
Crash! (Heavy) 80,000,000 AAA 844 844 100% 0 "AAA" #166!!!
Daikenkai (Challenge) 80,000,000 AAA 962 962 100% 0 "AAA" #189!!!
Daikenkai (Heavy) 80,000,000 AAA 946 946 100% 0 "AAA" #188!!!
Dance Dance Revolution (Challenge) 87,245,725 AA 729 738 98.8% 9 SDG (9)
Dance Dance Revolution (Heavy) 90,000,000 AAA 704 704 100% 0 "AAA" #197!!!
Destiny Lovers (Heavy) 89,219,550 AA 794 800 99.25% 6 SDG (6)
Drop the Bomb (Heavy) 60,000,000 AAA 608 608 100% 0 "AAA" #172!!!
Dynamite Rave (Challenge) 89,864,340 AA 759 760 99.87% 1 SDG (1) Black Flag
Dynamite Rave (Heavy) 89,697,160 AA 791 796 99.37% 5 SDG (5)
Ecstasy (Heavy) 70,000,000 AAA 552 552 100% 0 "AAA" #91!!! Love this song
Feeling of Love (Heavy) 70,000,000 AAA 698 698 100% 0 "AAA" #89!!!
Forever Sunshine (Heavy) 50,000,000 AAA 500 500 100% 0 "AAA" #3!!!
Frozen Ray (Heavy) 90,000,000 AAA 808 808 100% 0 "AAA" #180!!!
Gamelan de Couple (Heavy) 80,000,000 AAA 596 596 100% 0 "AAA" #159!!!
Graduation (Heavy) 70,000,000 AAA 554 554 100% 0 "AAA" #43!!!
Happy Wedding (Heavy) 70,000,000 AAA 564 564 100% 0 "AAA" #39!!!
Healing Vision (Heavy) 79,190,400 AA 701 706 99.3% 5 SDG (5)
Healing Vision Angelic Mix (Heavy) 49,907,765 AA 957 958 99.90% 1 SDG (1) Wanted It SO MUCH!!!
Heaven Is A '57 Metallic Gray (Heavy) 79,551,765 AA 709 712 99.58% 3 SDG (3) Love this song
Higher (Heavy) 60,000,000 AAA 492 492 100% 0 "AAA" #94!!!
Hold On Me (Heavy) 60,000,000 AAA 594 594 100% 0 "AAA" #37!!!
Hyper Eurobeat (Heavy) 70,000,000 AAA 682 682 100% 0 "AAA" #162!!!
I Do I Do I Do (Heavy) 80,000,000 AAA 584 584 100% 0 "AAA" #52!!!
I'm Gonna Get You (Heavy) 70,000,000 AAA 662 662 100% 0 "AAA" #161!!!
I Need You (Heavy) 50,000,000 AAA 504 504 100% 0 "AAA" #58!!!
Irresistiblement (Heavy) 90,000,000 AAA 728 728 100% 0 "AAA" #60!!!
JaneJana (Heavy) 70,000,000 AAA 606 606 100% 0 "AAA" #42!!!
Jet World (Heavy) 80,000,000 AAA 716 716 100% 0 "AAA" #101!!!
Kakumei (Challenge) 80,000,000 AAA 676 676 100% 0 "AAA" #186!!!
Kakumei (Heavy) 90,000,000 AAA 784 784 100% 0 "AAA" #187!!!
Keep On Liftin' (Heavy) 50,000,000 AAA 534 534 100% 0 "AAA" #62!!!
Keep On Movin' (Heavy) 60,000,000 AAA 366 366 100% 0 "AAA" #65!!!
Kiss Kiss Kiss (Heavy) 79,038,655 AA 837 850 98.5% 13 Detest this song
Kiss Me All Night Long (Heavy) 80,000,000 AAA 692 692 100% 0 "AAA" #88!!!
L'amour et la Liberte (Heavy) 76,763,525 AA 606 628 96.5% 22 -
La Bamba (Heavy) 80,000,000 AAA 670 670 100% 0 "AAA" #6!!!
La Copa De La Vida (Heavy) 70,000,000 AAA 474 474 100% 0 "AAA" #10!!!
La Senorita (Heavy) 70,000,000 AAA 588 588 100% 0 "AAA" #177!!!
La Senorita Virtual (Heavy) 80,000,000 AAA 718 718 100% 0 "AAA" #178!!!
Last Message (Heavy) 70,000,000 AAA 730 730 100% 0 "AAA" #61!!!
Love Shine (Heavy) 70,000,000 AAA 750 750 100% 0 "AAA" #7!!!
Love Sugar (Heavy) 70,000,000 AAA 504 504 100% 0 "AAA" #9!!!
Love This Feelin' (Heavy) 80,000,000 AAA 484 484 100% 0 "AAA" #182!!!
Luv to Me (Heavy) 90,000,000 AAA 716 716 100% 0 "AAA" #173!!!
Mahou no Tobira (Heavy) 80,000,000 AAA 592 592 100% 0 "AAA" #66!!!
Make It Better (Heavy) 70,000,000 AAA 424 424 100% 0 "AAA" #179!!!
Max 300 (Standard) 76,122,100 AA 929 956 97.2% 27 -
Maxx Unlimited (Standard) 77,635,130 AA 998 1038 96.1% 40 Hardest Standard song out there
Memories (Heavy) 80,000,000 AAA 616 616 100% 0 "AAA" #163!!!
Mikeneko Rock (Heavy) 79,004,840 AA 678 682 99.4% 4 SDG (4)
Miracle Moon (Heavy) 70,000,000 AAA 580 580 100% 0 "AAA" #164!!!
Mobo Moga (Heavy) 70,000,000 AAA 562 562 100% 0 "AAA" #41!!!
more deep ver.2.1 (Heavy) 60,000,000 AAA 624 624 100% 0 "AAA" #63!!!
My Summer Love (Heavy) 90,000,000 AAA 520 520 100% 0 "AAA" #40!!! First 9-footer "AAA"
Orion Civilization Mix (Heavy) 88,328,730 AA 781 796 98.1% 15 This used to be hard.
Paranoia (Heavy) 80,000,000 AAA 638 638 100% 0 "AAA" ONE HUNDRED!!!
Paranoia Evolution (Heavy) 80,000,000 AAA 750 750 100% 0 "AAA" #192!!!
Paranoia Eternal (Heavy) 90,000,000 AAA 792 792 100% 0 "AAA" #194!!!
Paranoia KCET (Heavy) 90,000,000 AAA 702 702 100% 0 "AAA" #191!!!
Paranoia Max Dirty Mix (Heavy) 80,000,000 AAA 680 680 100% 0 "AAA" #190!!!
Paranoia Rebirth (Heavy) 90,000,000 AAA 866 866 100% 0 "AAA" #193!!!
Pink Rose (Heavy) 80,000,000 AAA 636 636 100% 0 "AAA" #47!!!
Put Your Faith In Me (Heavy) 60,000,000 AAA 406 406 100% 0 "AAA" #93!!!
R3 (Heavy) 70,000,000 AAA 538 538 100% 0 "AAA" #181!!!
Sakura (Challenge) 83,494,200 AA 670 718 93.3% 48 -
Scorching Moon (Heavy) 70,000,000 AAA 550 550 100% 0 "AAA" #64!!!
Sexy Planet (Heavy) 70,000,000 AAA 524 524 100% 0 "AAA" #169!!!
Silent Hill (Heavy) 70,000,000 AAA 530 530 100% 0 "AAA" #95!!!
SP Trip Machine Jungle (Heavy) 80,000,000 AAA 490 490 100% 0 "AAA" #98!!!
Speed Over Beethoven (Heavy) 80,000,000 AAA 750 750 100% 0 "AAA" #165!!!
Stay (Organic Home) (Heavy) 70,000,000 AAA 448 448 100% 0 "AAA" #48!!!
Stoic (Heavy) 90,000,000 AAA 702 702 100% 0 "AAA" #199!!!
Super Star (Heavy) 80,000,000 AAA 578 578 100% 0 "AAA" #168!!!
Sync (Challenge) 90,000,000 AAA 704 704 100% 0 "AAA" #198!!!
Sync (Heavy) 80,000,000 AAA 650 650 100% 0 "AAA" #167!!!
Tears (Heavy) 90,000,000 AAA 756 756 100% 0 "AAA" #170!!!
The Least 100 Seconds (Heavy) 76,153,325 AA 827 870 95.1% 43 Weird
The Legend of Max (Standard) 87,616,800 AA 871 888 98.1% 17 Full combo; Easier than Maxx Standard
Think Ya Better D (Heavy) 50,000,000 AAA 474 474 100% 0 "AAA" #171!!!
Tomorrow Perfume (Heavy) 70,000,000 AAA 714 714 100% 0 "AAA" #21!!!
Trip Machine (Heavy) 80,000,000 AAA 460 460 100% 0 "AAA" #90!!!
Trip Machine Climax (Heavy) 90,000,000 AAA 684 684 100% 0 "AAA" #195!!!
Trip Machine Luv Mix (Heavy) 80,000,000 AAA 586 586 100% 0 "AAA" #99!!!
Trip Machine Survivor (Heavy) 90,000,000 AAA 706 706 100% 0 "AAA" #196!!!
Try 2 Luv U (Heavy) 50,000,000 AAA 480 480 100% 0 First Heavy "AAA"
TwinBee (Heavy) 80,000,000 AAA 574 574 100% 0 "AAA" #49!!!
un deux trois (Heavy) 70,000,000 AAA 600 600 100% 0 "AAA" #51!!!
V (Challenge) 90,000,000 AAA 920 920 100% 0 "AAA" #185!!!
V (Heavy) 80,000,000 AAA 802 802 100% 0 "AAA" #96!!!
Vanity Angel (Heavy) 78,883,440 AA 745 752 99.07% 7 SDG (7)
We Are the Champions (Heavy) 70,000,000 AAA 480 480 100% 0 "AAA" #45!!!
We Will Rock You (Heavy) 70,000,000 AAA 382 382 100% 0 "AAA" #46!!!
White Lovers (Heavy) 70,000,000 AAA 630 630 100% 0 "AAA" #38!!!
Wild Rush (Heavy) 60,000,000 AAA 494 494 100% 0 "AAA" #176!!!
Xenon (Heavy) 87,710,400 AA 796 816 97.5% 20 Weird but Fun


10-Footer Scores
Name Score Points Grade Dance Points Max Points Percentage Missing DP Comments
bag 5x (Heavy) 97,269,800 AA 741 764 97.0% 23 Not fair to do this on 5x, but I hate bag
Max 300 (Heavy) Invisible Text Here!! 46,972,480 AA 1064 1122 94.8% 58 OMG! "AA" on Max 300!
Maxx Unlimited (Heavy) 86,435,845 A 1180 1446 81.6% 266 An "A" on Maxx! DDRMax2 Japan
Paranoia Survivor (Heavy) 96,743,500 AA 988 1042 94.8% 54 A true ten-footer "AA"!!!
Paranoia Survivor Max (Heavy) 82,442,065 B 905 1164 77.7% 259 Close to an "A"
Sakura (Heavy) 94,742,605 AA 845 898 94.1% 53 Finally got the "AA", can still improve
The Legend of Max (Heavy) 82,706,620 B 720 1018 70.7% 298 Getting better, respectable range
Not attempted/completed: Max Period (Heavy/Challenge), Paranoia Survivor Max Oni

Heavy/Challenge Totals (Non-Ten Footers): 94 "AAA"s, 106 SDGs, 21 "AA"s
Highest Song Score: bag 5x (Heavy) - 97,269,800

A couple notes about the table... Most of the songs are Heavy, except as in DDRMax2, there are a number of songs with an additional Challenge difficulty. I also stuck a couple of Standard songs from the 10-footers in there as well for fun. The point scoring is the same as in DDRMax2, a maximum of 10,000,000 times the foot rating for the song. As before, "SDG" stands for "single-digit greats" and I have used "Almost/Miss" to avoid confusion surrounding the word "Boo". Finally, the Perfect window is a little more generous in this mix compared to previous ones, which is why so many of my best scores come from DDR Extreme. The "AAA"s say that I'm not complaining.

Songs

Unusual song here. A starts out very slowly (90bpm) and goes through some relatively simple patterns at the beginning. Lots of double-steps though. Then halfway through the song, the music stops for a second and resumes by speeding up to 190bpm. That's when the fun begins. Lots of eighth note runs comprise the rest of the piece, and the Challenge steps throw in some nasty step-jump patterns. This remains a very popular DDR song today.

Now this is one of my all-time favorite songs. Fast (170bpm), straightforward, and fun. It also has this crazy freeze note where the tempo accelerates to a really fast speed and then drops back to the original pace again. Fun stuff, and it looks much harder than it reall is. This is one of my favorite songs to play as the Extra Stage. "AAA"ing the song only made me like it that much more.

Oho, I definitely had to mention this one. Definitely the best song from 5th Mix, Can't Stop Fallin' In Love is a fantastic 9-footer that basically embodies the concept of "eighth note runs." Flying along at a speedy 170bpm, the song puts you through long run after long run of notes and never really gives you any kind of a break whatsoever. It also likes to have you hit the same arrow over and over again for some reason (this is harder than it sounds!) Just a great, great song - and pretty challenging too!

Cartoon Heroes is widely considered to be the most difficult 9-footer in all of the DDR games, and I'd have to agree with that sentiment. It's another fast (170bpm again) song like the ones above, but Cartoon Heroes has some almost ridiculously complex step patterns that require extremely intricate foot movement. This song forces the player to do a little of everything - crossovers, gallops, step-jumps, chaos galore - and do it at a very quick tempo. Try downloading the file below and see for yourself. It's HARD.

This song isn't the most difficult in DDR Extreme, but it is one of my favorites. Heaven is a '57 Metallic Grey (strange name) is actually a SWING song; to do the steps properly, they have to be stepped with a swing beat. This gives most people all kinds of fits, but I don't seem to have much of a problem with it. This is one of the few songs where the steps actually resemble dancing in some ways (shocking!). Very entertaining to play.

Another neat song. Speed Over Beethoven is a remixed verion of Beethoven's Fur Elise - done to a techno beat with Japanese lyrics. Errm, yeah, you need to hear this one. Steps aren't exactly easy, but they're pretty reasonable. Not every song I talk about here has to be impossibly difficult, after all. One of my favorites.

Sixteenth notes. Lots and lots of sixteenth notes. V is another classical remix, this time of "Winter" from Vivaldi's The Four Seasons composition. The Heavy steps aren't that bad, but the Challenge steps to this song have bunches and bunches of sixteenths packed together. Don't take on this song unless you're proficient in crossovers (or are as stubborn as a mule like me). It's a fun song, but don't look for "easy" here.

Legend of Max - not for the faint of heart! This worthy successor to the other Max songs flies along at an even faster tempo - a ridiculous 333bpm. The steps start out fairly simple, but then continue to get more and more complicated, still at that outrageously fast speed. Then the double-steps start appearing, and the player is in trouble. There is a long freeze note in the middle of the song, after which the tempo slows down for a couple of measures - only to leap back up to 333bpm and hurl itself back into frenzied eighth note runs. Towards the end, there is one run of 34 notes which is virtually impossible for anyone but the best DDR players in the world to string together. Proceed with extreme caution on this one.

The Paranoia Survivors... This is actually a group of three different step patterns. All of these songs feature fairly chaotic steps patterns and long runs at the end of the song that involve a great deal of turning. Paranoia Survivor is the "easiest", running along at only 270bpm. The music slows down at several different points in the song, and the rhythmic patterns are quite complex, but aside from the long runs at the end it is quite doable. Paranoia Survivor Max is the same thing as Paranoia Survivor - only faster (290 versus 270bpm), backwards (the steps are the Mirrored version of the other song), and with an additional, harder ending section. Then beyond that there are the Challenge steps to what is most commonly called Paranoia Survivor Max Oni (PSMO). These are flat-out absurdly difficult, bordering on the impossible; aside from some user-created song you might find on the Internet, DDR songs do not come any harder than this. And yet - there are a fair number of DDR players out there who have conquered this monstrosity. Let that be your inspiration if you decide to pursue this beast. I'll get it someday. Someday...

The next page goes into my results on some of Oni Mode's difficult courses.