24
The big surprise in this song is that, despite the fact that it's not the sort of song you usually hear in DDR, and despite the fact that it's very, very slow, neither of these is an issue. The steps, while fairly average, do have a lot of potential; I particularly liked the Standard chart. The 32nds in Heavy are a big stumbling block, the main detriment to this file. They really should have been 16ths. I'll also mention I found the background to be creative, and the banner to relate well without being a cut and paste.
steps- 4.5/6
other- 3/4
overall- 7.5/10
Action Radius
I hate to say it, but the banner was about the only good thing in this file. Where to begin? The background is white on gray on more gray; bo-ring. The song you chose is not only over 2 minutes long, but only has one pattern of beats; this was definitely your first mistake. The Heavy chart is marked by patterns which are extremely repetitive, a ton of jumps, and a goddamn Dynamite Rave jump (16ths going 1-2-jump). 138 BPM songs should not be 10s, and this one is no exception; the huge gap in the middle really cuts down on the 10ness, if nothing else. Your Light and Standard charts are each rated one foot too low, and Standard was far too similar to Heavy. Also, you copied a section from Light to Standard, replacing it with freezes and forcing spins out of it.
steps- 1/6
other- 1/4
overall- 2/10
Ai~n! Dance no Uta
Augh. Crazy Japanese music with crazy Japanese videos. Unfortunately, your steps are good enough that the whole thing comes together into one multihued, hyper-kawaii package of fun. The big thing I hated about this file, though, is the "Ai~n" parts. I really got tired of hearing them, and the corresponding steps don't always work out. Granted, I like 4th-8th bounces, but too many spoil the broth, so to speak. They were, however, done well in Standard, done well enough to improve my impression as well as my score. Overall, the steps were a little too karaoke'd, but as a whole, this is quite the good file.
steps- 5/6
other- 3.5/4
overall- 8.5/10
Blow Me Away
An excellent song, good hard rock and a track I happen to like. It's also a good example of why rock doesn't work very well in DDR. Now, you've got a well-placed slowdown, and some good freeze patterns. However, in most of the freeze sections, I ended up missing one or more steps. The 16th runs are neither necessary nor well done. I'd hate to do the double tap runs on a pad. And your LDLU/RDRU runs were a bit too long, they needed some variation. Frankly, I could have stood to see more flat-out 8th runs, the song really suggests them. As for the other steps, Light was far too difficult to be just a 3, as well as being jumpy and overly karaoke'd. Standard was also too hard, far too much like Light, had too many step-jumps, and featured a copied second chorus which isn't even mirrored. In short, they both looked like afterthoughts, made simply for completeness.
steps- 2/6
other- 3/4
overall- 5/10
Disco Dog
Well, you caught my attention with some classic Beatmania and a background full of LOLs. And while your Light and Standard charts are good, Heavy fell a little flat with a combination of good and bad patterns. Honestly, it would have benefitted from some pauses, taking advantage of those suggested by the song. A lot of the 16th runs don't fit very well; I especially hated the long up-arrow string, despite the fact that I really liked the ending jumps. Go figure. So while my first impression wasn't great, I can see what you were trying to do. Unfortunately, I don't like a lot of older steps, so you lucked out there.
steps- 3.5/6
other- 4/6
overall- 7.5/10
Domino
While the videos were very impressive, they did not blind me to what a train wreck this file turned out to be. I mean, eurobeat really lends itself to DDR songs, this should have been a cinch. A lot of things like, oh, the RANDOM AND UNNECESSARY BPM CHANGES, sort of ruined it, not to mention opening 16ths that follow nothing, a godawfully long song intro, a hand right before the speedup, and Light and Standard charts that would not be danceable by players of either difficulty level. In short, this had promise, and it was thoroughly wasted.
steps- .5/6
other- 3/4
overall- 3.5/10
Dragostea Din Teď
Just so's you know, it really should be "Dragostea Din Teď", with umlauts. Alt+0237.
Okay, so I'm one of the few people on the internet who hasn't become completely tired with "TEH NUMA NUMA SONGX0RZ LOL" and I was looking forward to this. I hate to echo what others have already said, but it's oh so boring. I was saddened to find out how slow the song is to begin with; the steps simply don't make for it. I would have liked to see some freezes in the mai-ya-hi parts. Also, I thought Light was too hard for a 3, and you ought to have left out the extra step after "numa numa iei". I'm pretty sure your BPM was incorrect as well, because the sync seems to get off towards the end. And one more thing I docked you for was the inclusion of edit steps which are completely blank.
And why'd you have to put the fat kid in this?
steps- 2.5/6
other- 2.5/4
overall- 5/10
Dream of You
Hands down, this is the best file in the tournament. I was impressed by just about everything: the background is great, Light was awesome and reminded me of R&P, and Heavy made me think of Flash in the Night. This file is just fantastic, and will join the ranks of my collection.
steps- 6/6
other- 4/4
overall- 10/10
Emoticons
This is the second file I'm keeping. The graphics were all very cute and appropriate. The file is lots of fun, though the sync was really off the first time I played it. Light features good use of jumps, and Standard is fairly hard, if fun; Heavy should be an 8 though. Great file.
steps- 5/6
other- 4/4
overall- 9/10
Geno's Woods
While your graphics were very nice, the rest of the file I found sorely lacking. I mean, sure it's a good remake of a good song from an awesome game, but that doesn't help the steps one bit. First off, I knew precisely where just about every single note was going to go. The entire Heavy chart just feels like one big 2-bar pattern, over and over again. Almost every single 16th run was LDUR or RUDL; there was far too much LRLR as well. You have inexplicable easy parts with freezes... and inexplicable hard parts with repetitive 16th runs. Light and Standard suffer from the exact same freeze patterns to the harpsichord hits, as well as the 8th jumps in the latter. To top it all off, this should be a 9; think My Summer Love. Or rather, don't, because that's a good song, and this just isn't.
steps- 0/6
other- 2/4
overall- 2/10
Go Berzerk
Here's another song that suffers from repetitive music. I won't mention the graphics, since you already said you didn't spend any time on them (it shows). Now, Heavy features lots of stream: this is good, I likey, it fits the song. It needs more, though. And not the 1-2-2 combos, which this file features far too many of, either. You've got a jump-step-jump (not a good idea at this speed), and more jump-steps in general than Broken My Heart. Oni is honestly worse, despite the fact that I liked the opening runs better than Heavy, 16ths included. The triple streams fail; the jumps in the streams fail; and the freezes in the middle break the entire file and undermine the 10-foot rating. Light and Standard are more of the same: too hard (Light could be a 6!), too much step-jumping and double-tapping. This could have been way better, and doesn't live up to its potential hardly at all.
steps- 2/6
other- 2/4
overall- 4/10
Golddiggers
Gunther. WHYYYYYYYYYY? The song is just... terrible, ugh. And despite how laid-back it is, you've got a ton of steps; it's far too busy, in other words. I was very confused by the 16ths during the "na-na" part; what are they supposed to be going to? Standard also suffers from odd rhythms in the beginning. Finally, the sync was quite a ways off; in all, this was pretty bad.
steps- 3/6
other- 2/4
overall- 5/10
Hikari
Cute furry girl in cd-title. <3
You know, that's about the only thing good about this file, other than the inclusion of the video. The steps are really just terrible: they don't fit the song at all, be they jumps or 16ths. Not to mention your song isn't the best quality, and you shouldn't have put the anime title in the subtitle area. I can't even give any constructive advice on this, except to redo the entire thing.
steps- .5/6
other- 3.5/4
overall- 4/10
Kagekiha
First, a note: Ranatalus sent this to me a while back, so most of my comments are comparative to what I already know. That having been said...
WTF DID YOU DO TO THE SYNC? D: OMGWTFPMSBBQ! It really killed this official release for me. Seriously, in my version, the gap is -.031, versus the new .025. WTF. D:
All chatter aside, the videos really make this freaking awesome. Awesome, do you hear me? I'm stealing the BGCHANGE tag and putting it on the old one.
Now, to be fair, despite the fact that I like the file, it *is* fairly double-steppy. And I think the 32nds ought to be 16ths. Standard has a few issues (the second set of bounces just didn't work). And I do still like it, because it's very old school, and the parts which aren't double-steppy are lovely and twisty. And the song rocks a ton. I feel weird rating down a file I actually like, but there you have it. Realize, half the downgrading is just from the sync.
steps- 4/6
other- 2/4
overall- 6/10
Last Regrets
If I had to sum this one up quickly, I would say "obviously fanmade". The song was fairly light on the beat, it wasn't very danceable; the Light and Standard charts both felt like random collections of arrows, and followed very little. As for Heavy, well, it had far too many jumps (it's a soft song, c'mon!), though I did like the jump-jump-jump that heads off the streams at the beginning of the chorus. Your graphics were wonderful, though.
steps- 2.5/6
other- 3.5/4
overall- 6/10
Let Me Stay
The song was a good choice, but the guy's voice is really annoying. Your background is very washed-out looking, and the banner is a squished cut and paste of it. With that out of the way, the steps were mediocre at best. Light was underrated; all the step-jumps in Standard were bad, and the rest was boring. As for Heavy, you were very wise as to where you karaoke'd and where you didn't, and I give you kudos on mostly avoiding it. It was, however, a tad heavy on the jumps.
steps- 4/6
other- 2/4
overall- 6/10
One Heart
This is ALMOST the least appropriate song for DDR in the bracket. Almost. You made a good decision in not shooting for higher than a 6; if this were faster, I'd say it was a 7, so the foot rating fits perfectly. I called your Light steps "ballsy" in my notes; I don't remember why. It says here that even with all the blue, you can't call it a 4.
Okay, I hold it in no longer. Fuck freeze spins, and fuck Celine Dion. D: You see those two points I took off? Yeah, boom and boom. (Oh, actually, I took off a good bit for the banner being a background rip.)
steps- 5/6
other- 3/4
overall- 8/10
Parasite World
I don't think there's much I can say about this that hasn't already been said. I think you had the BPM wrong, because the sync gets worse as it goes. Even if this hadn't been offsync and incomplete, I wouldn't have liked it. That's all there is to it. Why is your readme a word doc?
steps- 0/6
other- 0/4
overall- 0/10
Radio Star
It's not bad, it's just boring. That's the gist of everything going into the score here. I will say, Light's 8th notes are very gimmicky and don't fit the rest of the step, and Standard often feels like Light + jumps. You repeated far too many patterns between the three charts, as well. I mean, I'm all for revisiting old steps throughout the life of a song, but there is a limit to its effectiveness. Your graphics are all very nice and clean. DJ Miko FTW.
steps- 3/6
other- 4/4
overall- 7/10
TeMP it UP
Whoever pointed out the artist thing was entirely correct. Also, you shouldn't have the game title in the song title. Honestly, between this and the Kirby track, it seems like it's just not worth trying to use direct video game music rips in DDR, no matter how good the song is. The background, despite being RO-related, doesn't fit the song at all. The song was also cut too long. As for the steps, there wasn't nearly enough juicy stream; what there was was far too much high-speed double-stepping and jump-freezes. Both your less-than-Heavy steps were underrated, and every freeze section in Standard is freaking crazy. In short, not good.
steps- 3/6
other- 2.5/4
overall- 5.5/10
Rock Steady
Let me put it this way: once I delete the Oni chart, I'm keeping this one. It's a good song, karaoke'd to perfection, with lots of wonderful streams (needs more). Oni, on the other hand, is an 11. This is not ITG, I'm sorry. I was far too busy failing to notice if the steps were any good; I surmise from the high-speed 16ths and jump combos they weren't. Light and Standard, surprisingly, were exceedingly well done. I especially liked how Standard gets progressively difficult as the song goes on.
steps- 3/6
other- 4/4
overall- 7/10
Seven
Okay, is it "Seven" or "7"? Because something is mislabeled either way. You know, there's really not anything I can say good about this file. You ruined an SM staple, pure and simple. Light and Standard both remind me of the corresponding Holic steps, but you seriously fouled them up. And the 16th runs? The DRU/DLU 16th triples? Double jumps in the middle of a quiet area? Honestly, what were you thinking? I was bitching about Rock Steady Oni, but seriously, gb2 /ITG/.
steps- 2.5/6
other- 1/4
overall- 3.5/10
Shake It Down
My one real complaint with this is that you somehow found a good-cool song I don't really like. That's it. Everything is brilliant, your steps are 90% original Konami. The videos were great, the Light and Standard were great. One of the best files in the bracket. Oh yeah, except for some sync problems.
steps- 5/6
other- 4/4
overall- 9/10
The Great Blue Sky and the Stars Above
Despite how much I like the song, it was a really bad choice. You kill this file by giving yourself only one pattern to follow. The graphics are ugly, the intro is long, the song's cut too long, and you put freaking 16th notes in Light. The whole step is just entirely repetitive, enough so that I can't wait for it to end.
steps- 1/6
other- .5/4
overall- 1.5/10
These Emotions
THIS is the worst choice of song for bracket. But let's not even start there. Your background? It sucks. You took an album and just stretched it out to the required dimensions. The title isn't even very obvious. The steps? Nothing good about them. Light has 8th notes that drove me bonkers. The first 15 or so measures of Standard seemed to be exactly the same as Light. 16th doubles, slow or not, fail. And in Heavy, there's a nice laundry list: too many freezes, too much double stepping, too many steps within freezes, a slowdown so quiet I can't tell what the steps are going to, and fucking steps after the fadeout. I can say one nice thing to you: you synced this very well. But when the best compliment I can give this file is "you synced it very well", you need to try again.
steps- 0/6
other- 1/4
overall- 1/10
Tori no Uta
To think, I had this song for years and it was labelled incorrectly the whole time ("Tori no Shi" by I've, from the game Air). But once again, we've got a quieter song without a really strong beat; it's not as bad as some of the others in that vein, but it still fits the genre. The steps were very average, honestly. Light needs more freezes and less jumps. The Heavy patterns are nicely varied, and the one section of gallops was placed well. And honestly, I like the forced spin at the end. The 16ths stood out, though, as fitting with the music but not the rest of the steps. I think "uniformity" has already been bandied about in regards to other files.
steps- 3/6
other- 3.5/4
overall- 6.5/10
Under the Sea
I hate you for making me like this song. The graphics are nice; the song makes me want to hit my head against hard things. Yet the steps are pretty damn fun. Something is wrong here. Light and Standard have a few flaws: the one blue freeze, and the 16th placements. Otherwise, this was pretty darn good.
steps- 4.5/6
other- 3.5/4
overall- 8/10
You Raise Me Up
I was very glad to see this wasn't the Josh Groban version; I think, after all the slow, quiet songs in this bracket, it would have broken me. As it is, Deja Vu featuring Tasmin FTW. Granted, the steps at the start of the song suffer from lack of beat, and are hard to follow. But the rest is very old-school, very clean and nothing fancy. That's really what I liked about this one. It had a few too many jumps, as I think someone else has already said.
steps- 5/6
other- 3.5/4
overall- 8.5/10