Being able to dance on a DanceDanceRevolution game is as universal of a skill to nerds as being able to play Super Smash Bros. or Guitar Hero. It's just something we DO.
My family first obtained DDR when we got our PS2 the Christmas of 2003, I believe. Of course, since it was our first time trying out the thing, we all sucked, all the songs were slow, and it eventually turned into a contest between me and my younger sister of who could get better the fastest. But I trained. Oh, I trained.
And now I am the Standard/Heavy dancer I am today. The "I'm good, but not so good as to be called a complete DDR lunatic guy" kind of good. Because We all know we'd hate to end up like those guys.
So I am here to share my skills and tips with the small crowd of people who want to be good at DDR, but not so good that they would be receiving invites from the crazy wonders over at "DDR Freak".
Step 1: Footwear
In an arcade, wear shoes. Arcade systems are usually very hard to sense your step, so much stomping is required. Bring shoes that will stay on your feet, and don't wear baggy clothing that easily get sucked into or under the shoe.
At home, wear socks. When you are barefoot, your sweat builds up on your feet, making the surface of the dance mat sticky, and it becomes harder to quickly lift your foot from one panel to another. Socks solve all these problems. Also, same guide for the baggy clothing.
Step 2: Foot Placement
This is what defines the newbs from the real dancers. You can always tell if someone hasn't played DDR much when they keep both of their feet in the center of the game pad. This limits your movement terribly, and you will never progress past Light/4 Feet/Normal mode with this tactic. The game is programmed so that you can keep your foot on any panel. So if it says hit "Up", and you hit it, you CAN keep your foot there for when you gotta move to a different direction. Personally, I always begin each resting stance (before the song or in a quiet part of the song) with both feet on the left or right panels. This gives me easy balance, and I don't have to worry about trading feet when I need to move across all the panels.
Step 3: Rhythm
DanceDanceRevolution is, contrary to popular belief, A RHYTHM GAME. Let me first illustrate how NOT to play this so-called "rhythm game".
This guy is doing only what his eyes say: he is hitting the arrows when they approach the top of the screen. This is the point of the game. But he is neglecting another half of the human-sensory equation. There is music being played. That's right, a series of pitched noises with some phat beats for us to sway our appendages to in a fantastic fashion. And the programmers, the smart dapper fellows they are, were very kind to make the timing of the notes MATCH THE BEAT OF THE MUSIC. Oh, and it's not just every 4th beat, either. Oh no. They hit all the quarter notes, eighth notes and even the occasional dreaded sixteenth notes. Thirty-second notes exist, but only if you want to dance your way into the Limbo that is DDR Freaque.
My point is, dance TO the music. Don't just follow the prompts on the screen. The game's not trying to trick you, Scott.
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