SuperNOVA: The Breakdown

[The Crowing]

SuperNOVA: The Breakdown
Steven Bui

Now, I understand that there are a fair number of you out there who are large bemani fans, yet have still not purchased nor experienced the console version of DDR SuperNOVA (to be referred to henceforth as just “SuperNOVA”). Being a candid supporter of all things awesome, I’ve taken it upon myself to give you a comprehensive run-through of everything that this groundbreaking release has to offer. By comprehensive, I also mean “spoilers to the max.” However, I am a thoughtful person, and have decided that I’ll be putting the spoilers (how to unlock/the song list) at the end of this article. Unfortunately, though, online will not be covered in this article. Not in its entirety, at least. I don’t have a network adapter.

And now that the formalities and such are over and done with, we can get to the actual content.

Interface
First things first: This game is very, very red. I’m sure this much is apparent just from box art and any screenshots that you may have already seen. I am personally somewhat aroused by how awesome the red looks with everything. Throw in the random spherical shapes and color contrasted grid designs, and it’s like a party in my pants. I’m not sure if you share the same sentiment, though.

At first glance, you’ll see that the SN interface itself is actually hugely reminiscent of the EX2 design. Everybody’s favorite Song Wheel interface is still intact, as is the Groove Radar. However, there are some key changes that have been put in place. One of which is a minor tweak in the options system. While it is still accessed in the same manner as in its predecessor, it is of mention that scrolling through the list of options and then exiting the screen will no longer lock you into playing the song that you had selected. Instead, the list of options wipes away and you are taken back to the Song Select screen. I find this very handy, because I am notorious for neglecting to read BPMs before selecting a song, and then being completely unawares as to which speed mod I should use.

Other changes include the reappearance of selectable dancers, inclusion of IIDX background videos, and a completely reworked Dance Master Mode, which is now called Stellar Master Mode. The design for Stellar Master Mode pretty much has a space theme, and it’s actually quite pleasing to the eyes, what with the jumping from planet to planet. Actually, “planet” isn’t quite the right term. In SuperNOVA, they’re referred to as “Stellar Joints”. Silly name, cool concept. I’ll explain in the next section.

Offline Gameplay
I’ll tell you now – this section may very well be massive. And I say “may very well” because I’m writing this completely on the fly, and really have no ultimate direction whatsoever. I’ve just got a gut feeling that there’s going to be a lot of text. Get your reading hats (or boots, gloves, ponchos, whatever) on. Onward!

Skipping past this Stellar Master Mode business for a second, we’ll cover the Free Play Mode first. It’s divided into Easy, Medium, Hard, and All Music. Depending on which difficulty you pick, you’ll be given access to a different selection of songs. Your decision determines which song you’ll unlock as an Extra Stage, should you have an adequate sense of timing. Speaking of timing, in SuperNOVA it feels significantly different than in previous releases. If I had to make a real comparison, I’d compare it to the Extreme AC timing. Very loose, compared to… let’s say 4th Mix CS. If you’re worried about the timing and syncing issues from SuperNOVA AC being apparent in the home version, you really needn’t. As far as I can tell, the timing is dead on (or at least close to) on every song, and the timing feels completely natural, as opposed to the awkward early-steps from the AC release.

The results screen is basically what you’d expect from a home version DDR. Grade (from AAA to E), judgment counts, score, dance points, etcetera. The awesome thing about this game is that if you fail, you’re not taken back to the main menu. Rather, you’re taken back to the Song Select screen, to continue rockin’ those arrows. This is wicked for saving time when you absolutely have to pass that Extra Stage (or OMES, if you’re crazy hardcore).

Moving beyond that, let’s talk about Stellar Master Mode. There are not enough good things I can say about this mode. First of all, it’s great to be able to tell you that you will not be made to play “Get Busy” on Light 10 million times in a row. This alone should make you wet your pants in happiness. However, there is more! The way Stellar Master Mode works is that you’re placed on a map of “Stellar Joints”. Each of these Joints represents an area of challenges. Initially, you only have access to three Joints, as well as a Tutorial Joint. You can probably tell that I love being able to use the word “joint” so often in a DDR article. Anyway, each of these Joints contains a list of challenges, which range from simplistic to moderately stressful in difficulty.

The best new feature is that with each challenge, you are not forced into playing a specific song. Rather, you can play any song, as long as you fill certain challenge requirements. Some challenges will have restrictions on what difficulty you can play songs on, and whether or not you can use modifiers, but the point still stands that you can play any song you want. Any song that’s available, that is. Each Joint gives you a list of songs to work with. These lists could be as small as 5 songs, and as large as 20 to 25. The challenges also stack on top of each other, so if you happen to clear a requirement for 2 or 3 challenges at once, you will receive credit for every achievement.

After having completed a certain number of challenges in any particular Joint, you will be given access to something called a “VIP Showdown”. There are three of these in every Joint, called the “Showdown”, “EX Showdown”, and “Diamond EX Showdown”. You’ll need to complete nearly every challenge in a Joint to unlock the Diamond EX Showdown, and about half to two-thirds for the EX Showdown. The showdowns are basically a sequence of smaller challenges given to you. These sequences are either 4 or 5 challenges in length, and the number of challenges that you must successfully complete vary depending on the showdown. As you collect the VIP Cards that are awarded for completing Showdowns, you will unlock more Stellar Joints.

The Stellar Master Mode is the key to unlocking almost all of the hidden songs in SuperNOVA. I’ll be explaining how the unlock system works in the Unlocking/Song List section later on. That’s pretty much all you’ll need to know about how Stellar Master Mode works. Moving on!

I’ve just tried Edit Mode on SuperNOVA for the first time. Like, maybe 5 minutes ago. What I can tell you is that it works almost too well. I’ve never actually touched the Edit Mode in Extreme 2, so I really couldn’t give you a comparison if I tried. However, I can tell you that this mode works superbly. The option to place steps as triplets gives you a greater variety of step placements to work with. Instead of the usual 1/4th, 1/8th, and 1/16th that you’re given, you can now place steps to such finite values that I don’t even know what they’re called. I’m sure someone will call me on my step measure ignorance, and I’m fine with that. I have a severe handicap in that area.

Online Gameplay
SuperNOVA improves upon Extreme 2 in the fact that you can configure your network settings in-game, so you can still play online, regardless of whether or not you have the configuration disc that comes with your PS2 (slim) or network adapter. Konami decided to give the Online Mode some incentive this time around, with the inclusion of at least one online only song. I’d love to be able to get further in-depth with this feature, but due to my lack of connectivity, I’ll have to cut it short here.

Unlocking/Song List (Spoilers Aplenty)
The unlocking system in SuperNOVA is really nothing special. All you have to do is go into Stellar Master Mode and play the songs that you don’t already have in Free Play. As long as you play and complete the song in the Joint that it first appears in, it should become available in the Shop for purchase. The only exceptions are the 5 boss songs. I’ll color code the songs. Blue is default stuff, green is unlocks, and red is boss songs (which all need to be unlocked). I’ll also add unlock descriptions to notable songs. They’ll be divided in a very familiar way.

Battle Without Honor Or Humanity – Tomoyasu Hotei
CENTERFOLD (130BPM move it remix) – CAPTAIN JACK
COME CLEAN – NM featuring Susan Z
Dance, Dance – Fall Out Boy
Do You Want To – Franz Ferdinand
FRECKLES (KCP Re-Edit) – TIGGY
Funkytown – Lipps’s. Inc
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun – Cyndi Lauper
HEAVEN IS A PLACE ON EARTH (German Election Mix) – JULIA
JERK IT OUT – CAESARS
L.E.F. (Loud Electronic Ferocious) – Ferry Corsten
Let’s Dance – DAVID BOWIE
MR. DABADA (Groove Wonder Remix) – CARLOS JEAN
Robogirl – The Crystal Method
Shivers (Radio Edit) – Armin van Buuren
Shout – Lulu
SINCE U BEEN GONE – KELLY CLARKSON
The Other Side (radio mix) – Paul van Dyk feat. Wayne Jackson
Turn On the Music (Axwell Radio Edit) – Roger Sanchez
Video Killed The Radio Star – The Buggles

Baby’s Tears – MIKI ROBERTS
Flow (Jammin’ Ragga Mix) – Scotty D. revisits U1
Flow (true style) – Scotty D. revisits U1
Fly away – ChiyoTia
Fly away -mix del matador- – Shawn the Horny Master feat. ChiyoTia
INNOCENCE OF SILENCE – nc ft. NRG factory
My Only Shining Star – NAOKI feat. Becky Lucinda
PEACE (^^)v – BeForU
Star Gate Heaven – SySF feat. Donna Burke
Star Gate Heaven (FUTURE LOVE Mix) – SySF feat. Donna Burke
True <3 Love – jun

AA – D.J. Amuro
CAN’T STOP FALLIN’ IN LOVE (super euro version) – NAOKI with Y&Co.
CENTAUR – Jimmy Weckl
CURUS – D-crew
DYNAMITE RAVE (super euro version) – NAOKI with Y&Co.
Gekkou chou – Asaki
HAPPY (Star) ANGEL – jun
KAGEROW (Dragonfly) – Des-ROW & UNITED special+r
MOON – dj TAKA feat. Erika
Mugen – TERRA
murmur twins – Yu_tokiwa.djw
No.13 – TAKA respect for J.S.B.
Quick Master – act deft
rainbow rainbow – Ryu(Star)
RED ZONE – Tatsh & NAOKI
Ska Ska No.3 – ANNETAI MAJI-SKA BAKUDAN
TIERRA BUENA – WILMA DE OLIVEIRA
Tino’s White Horse – Morning Blue Dragon
Xepher – Tatsh

Balle Le Samba – Big Idea
BALALAIKA, CARRIED WITH THE WIND – Julie ann Frost
BLUE IMPULSE (for EXTREME) – NAOKI feat. YUKI
Brazilian Anthem – Berimbau ‘66
DoLL – TERRA
Gamelan de Couple – TOMOSUKE
GORGEOUS 2012 – THE SURRENDERS
GRADUATION – BeForU
Hit ‘n’ Slap – Asletics
iFUTURELIST (DDR VERSION) – AKIRA YAMAOKA
KI • SE • KI (DDR edit) – BeForU
Knock Out Regrets – MAKI @ TOGO BAND
Love Is Dreaminess – L.E.D.-G vs. GUHROOVY fw/ Asuka
LOVE <3 SHINE – RIYU KOSAKA
MATSURI (J-SUMMER MIX) – RE-VENGE
MIDNIGHT SPECIAL – Love machineguns
Monkey Punk – Big Idea
PUT YOUR FAITH IN ME (SATURDAY NIGHT MIX) – UZI-LAY
The Least 100 sec. – Hirofumi Sasaki

MAX 300 (Super-Max-Me Mix) – Jondi & Spesh (*)
Healing-D-Vision – DE-STRAD (*)
Fascination ~eternal love mix~ – 2MB (*)
Fascination MaxX – 100-200-400 (**)
CHAOS – DE-SIRE retunes (***)

* Acquire these by completing them in Extra Stage in their respective Free Play categories.
** Acquire the Showdown VIP Card at the last Stellar Joint (appropriately titled, “The Last”)
*** Complete this in One More Extra Stage

I have yet to figure out how to unlock courses and stages. Sorry. Yes, yes, I know, I’m a terrible person for leaving this information out. When I figure it out, though, you’ll be the first to know! Feel special.

Sweet Goodbyes
While I had a total blast writing this, and had to change my pants many a time, there’s only so much one can write about SuperNOVA. In fact, I’ve more or less completely expended my SuperNOVA knowledge well. Hopefully my work has served you well. Thanks for reading!

Note: This was written primarily as a piece for Keith’s writer-call. Just in case I needed to outright state that or something. Ta-ta!

[Kimo]

Excellent review (no seriously, it's REALLY GOOD =D ), but...there's kinda a DDRSN CS review already. =|

(and if Keith doesn't hire you something's seriously wrong.)

[*Motoko*]

wow, this really is good!

I'd like to see more reviews from you soon!



If you were graded, I would give this review an A++++!!!