Dance Dance Revolution A20

''Dance Dance Revolution A20'' (pronounced Ace Two Oh) is a music video game, the 17th installment of the ''Dance Dance Revolution'' arcade series in Japan (the 8th in North America), and the sequel to ''Dance Dance Revolution A''. The game was released on new, golden cabinets on March 20, 2019 in Japan. A software upgrade for older cabinets for Japan and Asia was released on July 24, 2019, with South Korea receiving a localized release on August 1, 2019, and North America on September 24, 2019. A location test in Europe began on October 7, 2019, and ended on March 16, 2020.

''Dance Dance Revolution A20 Plus'' is an expansion pack that adds 106 new songs, 19 new courses, and other content. It was released on July 1, 2020 for Japanese ''20th Anniversary'' cabinets and on July 6, 2020 for cabinets using an upgrade kit.

Development

On July 4, 2018, Konami opened a ''Dance Dance Revolution'' Twitter account in preparation of the series' 20th anniversary, which was celebrated on September 26, 2018. ''Dance Dance Revolution 20th Anniversary'' was announced at JAEPO 2019 as a placeholder. The game was first announced on January 26, 2019 during the ''Dance Dance Revolution A'' grand final of The 8th KONAMI Arcade Championship finals.

Features

The game features the notable return of courses, which was removed in '' Dance Dance Revolution (2013)''. There are two kinds of courses, only selectable on the first stage: Nonstop and Class. Unlike the previous main ''Dance Dance Revolution'' arcade games, courses are accessed from the song selection screen instead of a separate menu, similar to both ''Dancing Stage EuroMix'' games. Both Nonstop and Class play four songs back-to-back. All NONSTOP courses can be switched to CHALLENGE MODE if the LIFE GAUGE option is set to RISKY or LIFE4. Class, intended to measure the player's skill, places a stricter rules on the gameplay; the player cannot change Turn and Assist options and is forced to play on the "Grade" life gauge, which starts out full and depletes faster if it goes down. Players are given a martial arts-inspired "dan rank" certification based on the player's chosen course difficulty. Class is available for golden cabinets only and unavailable in Versus Play. With the installation of the blue interface, it's possible to switch languages in-game, including Japanese, English and Korean as options.

All 14 characters from ''Dance Dance Revolution A'' return in this game. Victory Concent is only available as a randomly selected character. Dark Alice, Dark Emi, Black Rinon and a 6th KAC costume for Yuni can be unlocked. Additionally, when playing the song Yuni's Nocturnal Days, Yuni wears her ''X2'' costume and is automatically selected as a character.

The game introduces a new cabinet design based on the Dance Rush cabinet, but colored gold.

Events

Extra Stage

The Extra Stage system retains the star requirement introduced in '' Dance Dance Revolution X3 VS 2ndMix''. The player is required to obtain 9 stars in a round to be allowed an extra song, the number of stars of which is determined by the player's grade. Extra Stages can only be obtained in Premium Mode. For players in Asia territories and North America, this requires "Premium Play" to be selected when the game starts. For players in Japan, Premium Play requires Konami's PASELI payment system.

Extra Exclusive

This folder is essentially a replacement for the traditional Extra Stage system of the previous games: the songs in this folder are marked in red and can only be played in Extra Stage.

Extra Savior Plus

Originally from ''Dance Dance Revolution A'', Extra Savior, now renamed ''Extra Savior Plus'', was added on July 16, 2020 and allows the player to unlock hidden songs by playing them in Extra Stage. These not only include new additions for this game, but also some hidden songs yet to be unlocked for the general public from previous games. This time around, EXTRA SAVIOR works more akin to ''EXTRA ATTACK'' from the 2014 game, where charts must be unlocked in order: BEGINNER (only in SINGLE and is unlocked by selecting song) → BASIC → DIFFICULT → EXPERT. Players will earn the same amount of unlock progress regardless of what difficulty is played during EXTRA STAGE. Unlocking a chart requires either clearing the song, or enough failed attempts to unlock it. EXPERT charts require two stage clears or equivalent progress from failed attempts. Using ASSIST options will lower clear progress.

Summer Dance Camp

The Summer Dance Camp event is a collaboration event between ''Dance Dance Revolution series'' and ''DANCERUSH STARDOM''. Stamps can be earned by playing either ''Dance Dance Revolution A20 (Plus)'' or ''DANCERUSH STARDOM''. Three stamps are offered once per day, one for the game being played and two for the opposite game. By collecting a certain number of stamps for a specific game, songs will be unlocked for the respective game. Part 1 was available from August 8, 2019 to September 30, 2019 and all songs are available by default in A20 PLUS. Part 2 started on July 7, 2020 and ended on September 7, 2020 and all songs are unlockables via EXTRA SAVIOR PLUS since March 8, 2021.

Dance Dance Revolution 20th Anniversary Grand Finale

The Dance Dance Revolution 20th Anniversary Grand Finale event began on September 5, 2019 and ended on December 31, 2019. By accumulating certain total numbers of score points, CHALLENGE charts for the Dance Dance Revolution 20th Anniversary songs could be unlocked.

Ichika no BEMANI Touhyou Senbatsusen 2019

Ichika no BEMANI Touhyou Senbatsusen 2019 (いちかのBEMANI投票選抜戦2019) is a collaboration event between ''beatmania IIDX 26 Rootage'', ''Dance Dance Revolution A20'', ''DANCERUSH STARDOM'', ''GITADORA EXCHAIN'', ''jubeat festo'', ''pop'n music peace'', ''SOUND VOLTEX VIVID WAVE'', and ''ノスタルジア Op.2''. The event started on September 12, 2019, ended on October 14, 2019 and all songs were unlocked for everyone on June 25, 2020.

The MANIFEST aspect of the event focuses on the total number of votes submitted by BEMANI players. Depending on the number of votes for a specific BEMANI game, certain bonuses will be acted upon in the future.

Dance Dance Revolution Challenge Carnival

The Dance Dance Revolution Challenge Carnival event began on December 19, 2019 and ended on March 30, 2020, allowing players to unlock CHALLENGE charts for ''無頼ック自己ライザー'', ''タイガーランペイジ'', ''腐れ外道とチョコレゐト'', ''ホーンテッド★メイドランチ'', ''Our Soul'', ''DOWNER & UPPER'', and ''Prey'' by collecting a certain number of stamps. The ''Dance Dance Revolution Challenge Carnival Plus'' event for ''Dance Dance Revolution A20 Plus'' began on August 3, 2020 and ended on December 8, 2020, allowing players to unlock challenge charts for ''Shiny World'', ''Sakura Sunrise'', ''Pierce The Sky'', ''バンブーソード・ガール'', ''HyperTwist'', ''Firestorm'', ''ΩVERSOUL'', ''び'', and ''Lachryma《Re:Queen'M》'' by collecting a certain number of stamps.

Floor Infection

The Floor Infection event between ''Dance Dance Revolution A20 (PLUS)'' and ''SOUND VOLTEX VIVID WAVE'' ran from February 27 to April 13, 2020, with retry from August 6 to September 7, 2020 and from November 26 to December 28, 2020. Similar to previous Floor Infection events, by playing SOUND VOLTEX, players can raise a meter, which upon reaching a certain level will unlock a new song in DDR. A total of 3 songs can be unlocked through this event. All past Floor Infection songs are available by default on February 27, 2020.

Course Trial

The Course Trial unlocking system allows players to unlock songs by clearing courses from the Course Trial folder. During the event duration, clearing the courses once will unlock new songs. Playing the course after the deadline will make it difficult for all players to unlock songs because EX-SCORE will be used for it.

Ichika no BEMANI Chou Janken Taikai 2020

Ichika no BEMANI Chou Janken Taikai 2020 (いちかのBEMANI超じゃんけん大会2020) is an event held between ''beatmania IIDX 27 HEROIC VERSE'', ''Dance Dance Revolution A20 (Plus)'', ''DANCERUSH STARDOM'', ''GITADORA NEX+AGE'', ''jubeat festo'', ''pop'n music peace'', ''SOUND VOLTEX VIVID WAVE'', and ''ノスタルジア Op.3''. The event started on May 7, 2020 and ended on August 31, 2020. All songs can be unlocked via e-amusement gate. All songs are moved to EXTRA SAVIOR PLUS on October 21, 2021.

Maishuu! Ichika no Chou BEMANI Rush 2020

Maishuu! Ichika no Chou BEMANI Rush 2020 (毎週！いちかの超BEMANIラッシュ2020) is an event held between ''beatmania IIDX 27 HEROIC VERSE'' (unavailable in ''beatmania IIDX 28 BISTROVER'' due to release on October 28, 2020), ''Dance Dance Revolution A20 PLUS'', ''DANCERUSH STARDOM'', ''GITADORA NEX+AGE'', ''jubeat festo'', ''pop'n music peace'', ''SOUND VOLTEX VIVID WAVE'', and ''ノスタルジア Op.3''. The event started on July 29, 2020 and ended on October 29, 2020. All songs can be unlocked via e-amusement gate (Nono's selection only), playing once from the origin game or 10 times from the destination game playing crossover songs (both lasts only from Ichika's selection). Only ''Sparkle Smilin is unlocked itself. ''狂水一華'' requires all Ichika's selection songs to be unlocked first. ''Jetcoaster Windy'' requires ''狂水一華'' to be unlocked first. The event folder is moved to EXTRA SAVIOR PLUS on October 21, 2021.

BEMANI MusiQ FES

BEMANI MusiQ FES is an event held between ''QUIZ MAGIC ACADEMY Kibou no Toki'' (''クイズマジックアカデミー 輝望の刻'') and the BEMANI games ''beatmania IIDX 28 BISTROVER'', ''DanceDanceRevolution A20 PLUS'', ''DANCERUSH STARDOM'', ''GITADORA NEX+AGE'', ''jubeat festo'', ''pop'n music peace'', ''SOUND VOLTEX VIVID WAVE'', and ''ノスタルジア Op.3''. The event started on November 18, 2020 and ended on January 12, 2021.

Busou Shinki BC×BEMANI Kadou Kinen Campaign

Busou Shinki BC×BEMANI Kadou Kinen Campaign (武装神姫BC×BEMANI 稼働記念キャンペーン) is an event held between ''Busou Shinki BATTLE CONDUCTOR'' (''武装神姫BC'') and the BEMANI games ''beatmania IIDX 28 BISTROVER'', ''DanceDanceRevolution A20 PLUS'', ''DANCERUSH STARDOM'', ''GITADORA NEX+AGE'', ''jubeat festo'', ''pop'n music 解明リドルズ'', ''SOUND VOLTEX VIVID WAVE'', and ''ノスタルジア Op.3''. The event started on December 24, 2020 and ended on January 22, 2021. All songs can be unlocked playing ''Busou Shinki ARMORED PRINCESS BATTLE CONDUCTOR'' (''武装神姫 アーマードプリンセス バトルコンダクター'') once or 10 times from the destination game.

BPL Ouen Gakkyoku Kaikin Stamp Rally

BPL Ouen Gakkyoku Kaikin Stamp Rally (BPL応援 楽曲解禁スタンプラリー) is an event held between ''beatmania IIDX 28 BISTROVER'', ''Dance Dance Revolution A20 PLUS'', ''DANCERUSH STARDOM'', ''GITADORA HIGH-VOLTAGE'', ''jubeat festo'', ''pop'n music 解明リドルズ'', ''SOUND VOLTEX EXCEED GEAR'', and ''ノスタルジア Op.3''. Players can unlock songs (and items for beatmania IIDX) by accessing and logging into the official event website, and then obtaining a stamp by watching streams or archived videos of the BEMANI PRO LEAGUE 2021 via the official site. Note that you don't have to watch the entire video, you can close the video anytime and still be awarded with a stamp. The event started on June 18, 2021.

BEMANI 2021 Manatsu no Utagassen 5-Ban Shoubu

BEMANI 2021 Manatsu no Utagassen 5-Ban Shoubu (BEMANI 2021真夏の歌合戦5番勝負) is an event held between ''beatmania IIDX 28 BISTROVER'', ''Dance Dance Revolution A20 PLUS'', ''DANCERUSH STARDOM'', ''GITADORA HIGH-VOLTAGE'', ''jubeat festo'', ''pop'n music 解明リドルズ'', ''SOUND VOLTEX EXCEED GEAR'', ''ノスタルジア Op.3'', ''QUIZ MAGIC ACADEMY 夢幻の鏡界'' and ''CARD CONNECT''. The event started on July 27, 2021.

At each stage, a new song comes from each of two teams, TEAM RED and TEAM BLUE. Each song is added to four games, except for the third stage where both songs from this stage are added to all eight games. Players can unlock the event songs by obtaining "Yells" for playing any of participating games. Yells cannot be used for songs from the opposite team, but the bonus yells can be used for any teams. The team that obtains more yells becomes the winner and will show a new song at the end of the event.

DDR SELECTION

The DDR SELECTION category retains the features introduced in ''Dance Dance Revolution A''.

The DDR SELECTION category has sub-folders based on different eras of the game, as well as EXTRA SAVIOR folder ''DDR 20th Anniversary songs'' and the ''Celebrations'' folder for brand-new songs. When playing a song under this category (marked in gold instead of white (a default song), yellow (an unlocked song), green (an EXTRA SAVIOR PLUS unlockable song) or red (an EXTRA EXCLUSIVE song)), the UI will change to match that of one of the games released in that period, including videos based on its original background animations (except for 4 songs of DDR (1st) and 2ndMIX which use their X3 VS 2ndMIX videos) or DDRMAX-EXTREME era's random movies (exc. for ''CANDY☆'', which uses EXTREME videos instead of DDRMAX or MAX2 ones), DANGER animations, scoring changes (Can switch the scoring to SuperNOVA2 score or EX SCORE via operator's intervention), and background images (''PARANOiA'' and ''DROP THE BOMB(SyS.F. Mix)'' have updated backgrounds) or banners, if applicable.

Selecting any of two DDR 20th Anniversary songs folders or other category retain the original UI. All options if the user plays with DDR (1st) UI are forced to FLAT and CLASSIC. SCREEN FILTER and GUIDE LINE are disabled. Only SPEED, TURN, Assist and LIFE GAUGE options are changed by the user.

Release

20th Anniversary Edition (Gold)

''Dance Dance Revolution A20'' was released on golden cabinets on March 20, 2019 in Japan. The release date was first confirmed by a flyer at a Japanese Round One Entertainment arcade on March 3, 2019. The flyer announced that the golden cabinets serve as a timed exclusive on these new cabinets, while upgrade kits released later. The game features revivals of classic licensed songs, NONSTOP and CLASS courses, and new Golden League events. Legend Licenses, Golden League, and CLASS courses are available for golden cabinets only; however, the phase 11 of the Golden League cannot demoted all players due to COVID-19 outbreak. New cabinets feature a 55" monitor at 1080p; however, the game operates at 720p.

On May 15, 2019, ''Dance Dance Revolution A20'' was imported in the United States at Round One. It ran on the Japanese software until September 24, 2019, when Round One implemented the localized software build in Dance Dance Revolution A20 cabs in the same month that Round One's competitor Dave & Buster's received the localization software build for its Dance Dance Revolution A cabs. On May 29, 2019, Round One confirmed that all of its American locations will receive ''A20'' in the form of imported golden cabinets. This initially introduced the game to 32 locations at the time of release, most of which also feature a localized version of ''Dance Dance Revolution A''. While players are free to select their own location on e-Amusement, the imported ''A20'' cabinets are registered to the Osaka Prefecture in Japan, rather than the player's state.

Upgrade Kits (Blue)

On June 2, 2019, Dave & Buster's vice president Kevin Bachus confirmed that ''Dance Dance Revolution A20'' is receiving a localized software build in North America, which can be installed on existing white cabinets in Canada and the USA. Bachus also announced that his company is considering the purchase of new cabinets. Software upgrades for the region were released on September 24, 2019, except for the state of Hawaii, which received a localized release on June 19, 2020. This North American release is unique for being a physical hardware upgrade kit, requiring a new license key and USB flash drive installation to upgrade the game software. This upgrade kit is only compatible with ''Dance Dance Revolution A'' cabinets, and the marquee from ''A'' remains unchanged. The Hawaiian and Asian song lists are identical, while continental North America features a smaller song list.

Upgrade kits for older cabinets were released on July 24, 2019 in Japan and Asia, except for South Korea, which received a localized release on August 1, 2019. The game operates at 720p on both X and white cabinets, and at 480p on legacy cabinets.

''Dance Dance Revolution A20 Plus''

''Dance Dance Revolution A20 Plus'' is an expansion pack available at no charge. It was released on July 1, 2020 to online ''20th Anniversary Edition'' cabinets, and on July 6, 2020 to other ''A20'' online cabinets. Konami marketed this release with a Twitter countdown teaser campaign from June 26 to 30, 2020. It is the third ''Plus'' release in the ''Dance Dance Revolution'' series, following the releases of ''Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMix Plus'' on June 21, 2000 and '' 4thMix Plus'' on December 28, 2000. Compared to previous ''Plus'' releases, ''A20 Plus'' has a longer support cycle and a larger catalogue of new songs.

Currently, ''A20 Plus'' features 105 new songs in ''20th Anniversary'' cabinets in Japan, 95 new songs in upgrade kits in Asia and Hawaii, and 78 new songs in North America. On all cabinets, ''A20 Plus'' removes a total of 21 songs: 19 licenses from ''Dance Dance Revolution A'', ''回レ！雪月花'' from the ''Dance Dance Revolution (2013)'', and '' only my railgun'' from ''Dance Dance Revolution X2''.

At launch, ''A20 Plus'' included 14 new songs and 4 new courses. On ''20th Anniversary'' cabinets, this update refreshed the 11 Dan courses. It included songs on Difficult play, which is easier than Expert and Challenge play, for the first time in some Dan courses.

''Dance Dance Revolution A3''

''Dance Dance Revolution A3'' (pronounced Ace Three) is the 18th installment of the ''Dance Dance Revolution'' arcade series in Japan, and the sequel to ''Dance Dance Revolution A20 Plus''. The game was released as an update on golden cabinets in Japan on March 17, 2022, including those imported in the United States. An upgrade for older cabinets was released in Asia (including Japan, South Korea, and several other countries), Australasia, and the United States (Hawaii only) on June 22, 2022.

This version now has the ability for players to switch between Single and Double gameplay styles on the same credit, done by pressing on the numeric keypad. Additionally, the "Premium Play" feature for 20th anniversary cabinets, once limited to users of the PASELI digital currency service in Japan, is now available in the United States. Due to style switches, the selected play style is now indicated on the MUSIC SELECT and TOTAL RESULT screens. Additionally, all 4-song courses prior to DDR A20 PLUS have been removed.

''Dance Dance Revolution A3'' featured 10 new songs at launch, for a total of 1,009. As of November 2022, an additional 86 songs were added to the game and 7 Japanese licenses were removed, bringing the song total to 1,088. On May 19, 2022, " Megalovania" by Toby Fox was added to the game. The song, which originates from the 2015 video game Undertale, has since been featured in several video games, including Gitadora High-Voltage by Konami on August 10, 2022, and StepManiaX by Step Revolution on December 20, 2020.

Music

''Dance Dance Revolution A20'' features 88 new songs, for a total of 897 songs. Among the new songs, 16 are exclusive to golden cabinets, while another 3 are exclusive to Asia and Hawaii. Another 4 songs from ''Dance Dance Revolution A'' are unavailable for online play in continental North America. These songs are exclusive to Asia, Hawaii, Local Mode and Maintenance Mode.

''Dance Dance Revolution A20 Plus'' features 106 new songs, for a total of 982. Among the new songs, 10 are exclusive to golden cabinets, while another 17 are exclusive to Asia and Hawaii. The 4 restricted songs from ''Dance Dance Revolution A'' are now available in North America, for online and offline play. On all cabinets, ''A20 Plus'' removes a total of 21 songs from prior releases.

Courses

Nonstop Courses

Course (コースから題ぶ) mode is reintroduced in ''Dance Dance Revolution A20'' for the first time since '' Dance Dance Revolution X3 vs. 2ndMix''. Similar to ''Dancing Stage EuroMix'', ''A20'' places course folders in the main music selection screen, and courses display once it is selected. ''A20'' offered six courses at launch, including four which are available on all machines, and another which was removed from ''A20 Plus'' on March 7, 2022. These courses and four brand new courses were featured in ''A20 Plus'' at launch, along with 19 courses added over time with online updates, for a total of 29 courses.

''Dance Dance Revolution A20''

''Dance Dance Revolution A20 Plus''

Dan Courses

Dan (段位認定, Dan Inintei, also known as CLASS) mode is a new feature in ''Dance Dance Revolution A20'', similar to the Beatmania IIDX series and Dance Dance Revolution X's Dance Drill Course mode. They are a series of courses ranked so that each course is harder than the last. Unlike the Beatmania IIDX series though, the starting level in DanceDanceRevolution is 1st Dan (初段). Since July 25, 2019, Dan courses allow for short breaks in-between songs, referred to as "Break Time". Dan courses are exclusive for golden cabinets. Courses marked in bronze requires bronze class in the golden league, in silver requires silver class and in gold requires gold class.

''Dance Dance Revolution A20''

''Dance Dance Revolution A20 Plus''

References

External links

Official website
In Japanese)

2019 video games
Arcade video games
Arcade-only video games
Dance Dance Revolution games
Video games developed in Japan
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the video game industry
Multiplayer and single-player video games