Challenge Round - Public Review

[BLueSS]

Public Review for the Challenge Round.


RATE THE FILES OUT OF 20 *unless* if you made significant changes to the file itself, people can rate the chart out of 15 and changes out of 5.

There will be no rating for appropriate difficulty, but bugs are -5 to your score.

Unlike the original which said "is it fun?", the songs should be judged by factors like:
* Technical accuracy
* Workability of chart relative to song
* Playability in the assumed environment (pad for DDR and ITG, keyboard for KB)
* Use of the extra arrows
* Enjoyability of the song - if you just didn't like it you should not be afraid to drop the score a little.

Please indicate on your post the different sections reviewed by using something like
[DDR SECTION]

This thread will close Monday Night (the 4th).

[discovolante]

First done, as usual.

How I'm rating-

How well does it fit your theme (ITG, KB etc.)? Possible 2 points
How well do you utilize the solo layout? Possible 3 points
Is it technically well made (good flow, etc.)? 5 points
Is it enjoyable? 10 points

For files with changes, the last 10 points will be split up, so 5 to enjoyability, 5 to the overall rating of the changes. For new Oni files this will not apply because they are different songs entirely. Also I'm not really gonna count art towards "change" points because that's not being judged here.

Well? GANBARE!

[KB DIVISION]

Arti - Paranoia Sky
Theme: 2/2 Very solid in this department. True, it's not a very hard KB simfile, but it's a really 9-like nine. I'd prefer o play it on keyboard over pad, so I guess that's my main sway here. Good job.
Use of Solo: 3/3 Good job, I could see myself pouding away happily here on the keyboard. Goes all over the place.
Technical: 4/5 You say this is pad-doable, but honestly I think some of the crossovers would be too difficult to manage even for indexers. Fine otherwise.
Enjoyability: 9/10 Really liked the use of hands, mines, and the corner arrows. A lot of fun!
Overall: 18/20 Good.

Eggman - Domino
Theme: 2/2 Yep, this is very solid keyboard stuff. 32nds and long runs everywhere.
Use of Solo: 3/3 Obviously really good. All the crossovers work here as they would on pad, while that was not necessary it was a very nice touch.
Technical: 5/5 Perfect. No issues here at all.
Enjoyability: 5/5 HAHA THIS IS FUN JUST TO WATCH! Good job in this department!!
Changes: 5/5 Basically what I would've done, all the BPM changes taken out. Nice. : P
Overall: 20/20 Very fun file.

[ITG DIVISION]

Akira - Inner Universe
Theme: 2/2 It's got hands and mines. Seems to be everyone's bare-bones description of ITG stepfiles here, but this is still accurate.
Use of Solo: 2/3 Good in some parts, not in others. There's a very long stretch of 8th notes with no use of corner arrows, then they come up randomly. Fun with the hands though.
Technical: 2/5 Some very ugly crossovers here. This would fly in the KB division but not here. Some of these would have you facing worse than backward. Same with the hands.
Enjoyability: 3.5/5 The hands were a little much, and I didn't like a lot of the direction, but overall I think I would have some fun playing this.
Changes: 3.5/5 Okay, for one thing the "proper synching" here is not correct. It's still off, though not as bad as it was to begin with. Video's nice though.
Overall: 13/20 Could be better.

alphabet55 - Jum (should there be a P here? haha)
Theme: 2/2 Hands and very inventive use of mines.
Use of Solo: 3/3 Good with the jumps.
Technical: 2/5 One of the run ends reaaal gross here, but it goes into a jump so I guess it works. Really don't like the rhythm you're using during the chorus, it's like an 8th note off if you ask me. Kind of fangly backwards hands. Technically fine otherwise.
Enjoyability: 3/5 LOVE what you did with the "little bit higher now" part. The rest was pretty mediocre or just kind of dumb (the choruses).
Changes: 5/5 New art's pretty good, sync doesn't seem any different but if it works better for you then fine by me.
Overall: 15/20 Not bad.

discovolante - Little Little Princess

Amazing file, creator should be serviced orally.

hamm - Together
Theme: 2/2 ITG-like to a T! The one hand didn't really fit but you don't get docked in this category for that. : P
Use of Solo: 3/3 Super creative, nice job.
Technical: 4/5 Good, no doublestepping and very fluid crossovers. As usual your file flows very well. 32nds almost felt too accurate... like they were unnecessary. Hand seemed totally extraneous here. Minor qualms though.
Enjoyability: 10/10 Jumps were very creative in parts. Loved the runs. This is just fun overall. I like it!
Overall: 19/20 Hamm is a G!

Ike Pie - Tori no Uta (Noise Rave)
I just want to say that this the funniest remix I've ever heard. Why make a speedcore remix of such a pretty song? I laughed out loud when it got to the original sample.
Theme: 2/2 ITG like fo sho.
Use of Solo: 3/3 Good use of arrows overall, not 100% wow but still good.
Technical: 4/5 Basically good. Nothing stands out to me as technically poor except for the ends of some runs.
Enjoyability: 7/10 Well, some of it is fun, but a some of the time I wasn't really feeling it. I did enjoy it though.
Overall: 16/20 funniest remix ever.

jammitch! - Kagekiha
Theme: 2/2 Super ITG
Use of Solo: 3/3 Good use of the arrows in a very different way than all of the ITG files so far: you have a lot of fun crossovers here.
Technical: 5/5 Fine mostly. Couldn't find anything wrong.
Enjoyability: 3.5/5 I think you probably should've eased up on the crossovers here, because this is actually feeling like a borderline 12 to me. Not bad, though, just could've been toned down verrry slightly.
Changes: 5/5 Appropriate and somewhat superior to the original.
Overall: 18.5/20

Rob00996 - Video Out C
Theme: 2/2 ITG, sure. Very ITG.
Use of Solo: 1.5/3 At times too sparse and at others too overdone. I didn't like any of your hands with the solo arrows.
Technical: 5/5 New BPM halving is perfect, should've been there to begin with.
Enjoyability: 3/5 Mostly fun, some parts were very repetetive and I can't see anyone not cursing that BPM trick at the end. Also a few of the hands were very unenjoyable.
Changes: 2.5/5 BPM gimmicks suck. The stupid little burp in the middle was no different. The negative BPM trick was, while unnecessary, and at least a little retarded, kinda cool.
Overall: 14/20 Alright I guess.

sanchny - DREAM OF YOU
Theme: 1.5/2 Way too DDR during the verses. Fine otherwise.
Use of Solo: 1.5/3 Nothing particularly interesting or unorthodox here.
Technical: 2/5 Gigantic gap in difficulty. Goes from being from an 11 to like an 8. More pronounced than in the original steps, which is saying something. Ok otherwise.
Enjoyability: 5/10 I find it very hard to enjoy a chart that doesn't know how difficult it is, or should be. Seriously, from stepping easy 8th notes to retardedly hard 16th-note runs does not a solid 11 make. Or a solid stepfile. Sorry.
Overall: 10/20 Not so good.

Xythar - Inspiration
Theme: 2/2
Use of Solo: 3/3 Very good with the runs. Creative patterns.
Technical: 4/5 Good, but the hands are really forced. Shouldn'tve been there if you ask me.
Enjoyability: 5/5 Must be fun. Love the runs...
Changes: 5/5 New end is basically perfect. Nice cutting to ITG length.
Overall: 19/20 Almost perfect...

[DDR BRACKET 1]

alphabet55 - 24
Theme: 2/2 Very DDR... except this is a 6 that is actually easier than a 7, which as you know DDR has none of. : P
Use of Solo: 3/3 Good, though not mindblowing.
Technical: 5/5 Really good, everything feels tight.
Enjoyability: 10/10 Wow. A solo chart that I can pass. Finally. This is fun, I'd probably pick playing it over anything else here.
Overall: 20/20 Excellent, I love it.

Ike Pie - Have you ever been Mellow
Theme: 2/2 Solid. 4th note doublestepping even.
Use of Solo: 3/3 Good but not supercreative. Nothing to dock points on.
Technical: 5/5 Really feels like a ddr chart, so I guess that counts for a lot here.
Enjoyability: 9/10 I personally had a few problems with the long 8th note runs but it was really fun otherwise.
Overall: 19/20 Fun fun fun in the sun.

jammitch! - Identity
Theme: 2/2 Supersolid DDR. I could really feel it.
Use of Solo: 3/3 Good.
Technical: 5/5 Nothing wrong here.
Enjoyability: 5/5 Yep basically I can see myself playing this frequently, even though the song really bugs me. Good stuff.
Changes: 5/5 Just fine. The cut really works.
Overall: 20/20 Hooray

PkerUNO - Emoticons
Theme: 2/2 Good.
Use of Solo: 1.5/3 Uhhh could've been a little more here. As in I could've seen this as a non-solo chart too, which is a no-no. Didn't quite grab me as a solo chart.
Technical: 4.5/5 Well made if slightly inconsistent.
Enjoyability: 8.5/10 Fun except for some questionable jumps.
Overall: 16.5/20

sanchny - Disco Dog
Theme: 2/2 DDR enough.
Use of Solo: 3/3 Good.
Technical: 3/5 Didn't go for the doublestepping here. At all.
Enjoyability: 8/10 Fun minus some doublestepping...
Overall: 16/20

Blox/TheBaldOneMpls - Gasolina (Delaction Remix) (Solo Style)
Theme: 2/2 Very DDR.
Use of Solo: 3/3 Good, some crossovers we haven't seen yet.
Technical: 2.5/5 Oh man right during the part after the slowdown there is some heinous doublestepping that I can't not dock points for. It's very uncomfortable. Also I felt like the music wasn't being followed very well during that part. Basically it's fine pre-slowdown and during the slowdown, but after that it gets kind of hairy.
Enjoyability: 3/5 I really don't go for doublestepping. If you couldn't tell.
Changes: 3/5 Didn't see the point in the new BPM stuff. It's not bad, but it was hardly necessary.
Overall: 13.5/20

the_ditz - Fuku Wa Uchi
Theme: 2/2 Quite DDR.
Use of Solo: 3/3 Good. I like it.
Technical: 5/5 Fine. Some crossovers were questionable but upon replaying them they are fine.
Enjoyability: 4/5 Some of the crossovers were uncomfortable, which I didn't really like. The rest was pretty good.
Changes: 5/5 Feels more onsync now, which is good.
Overall: 19/20 Awesome

[DDR BRACKET 2]
#Infinity - fffff
Theme: 2/2 DDR fo sho.
Use of Solo: 3/3 Good, liked the jumps and the runs.
Technical: 4/5 Way too much emphasis on stream, like more than necessary. Good though.
Enjoyability: 8/10 Mostly fun except for that long ass stream of 8ths.
Overall: 17/20

Akira - High School Love
Theme: 2/2 DDR to da max.
Use of Solo: 3/3 Ok you obviously tried to make a bonafide solo chart here and you succed madly. Would give extra if I could.
Technical: 5/5 Great.
Enjoyability: 10/10 So enjoyable... one of the best I've played so far.
Overall: 20/20, but FYI the art isn't a huge step up from before. : P

Dark Luke - Over There
Theme: 1.5/2 Hmm, I actually wasn't feeling the DDR too much here. Which is a shame because it's a pretty good file.
Use of Solo: 3/3 Good stuff.
Technical: 5/5 Feels like a good hard solo chart. Makes waves which is very nice.
Enjoyability: 9/10 Mostly fun. Liked the slowdown a lot more than the speedup however.
Overall: 19.5/20 JUST shy...

pokecapn and Azure Haights - Radio Star
Theme: 2/2 Does a good job of making a 4th mix Solo chart.
Use of Solo: 3/3 Yeah, for sure. Love the jumps
Technical: 5/5 Good stuff, nothing bizarro here thank god.
Enjoyability: 10/10 Haights and capn 4 lyfe.
Overall: 20/20 hooray

Shortysnmn2010 - Bad Boy (Alex M vs Marc Van Damme Remix)
Theme: 1/2 DDR like mostly, though I think there was alternately too much emphasis on stream and syncopation to be 100% ddr-like. ;(
Use of Solo: 3/3 Nice, so flowy.
Technical: 5/5 GREAT! Nice stuff, this is very solo styled, which is funny because you didn't try any beforehand, haha.
Enjoyability: 4/5 Those is some wacky jumps. And some sweet freezes. I liked it mostly but there were some parts that didn't quite grab me. Good though.
Changes: 5/5 Boo creepy foot doctor. Hooray on sync stepfiles.
Overall: 18/20 Fun fun.

will-i-am - Love is Eternity (SF Synth Trance Mix)
Theme: 2/2 More DDR-like than the original heavy chart so GFJ there.
Use of Solo: 3/3 Good, fun.
Technical: 3.5/5 Some of those gallops were quite off. Fine otherwise.
Enjoyability: 8/10 Could've been a bit more fun but still very good otherwise.
Overall: 16.5/20 Sidenote: I never realized how out of sync this song was. Did you do anything to it accidentally?

zeh - Samba Brazil
Theme: 2/2 Sure, very DDR.
Use of Solo: 3/3 Nice, I liked it.
Technical: 5/5 Good.
Enjoyability: 9/10 I enjoyed it but it wasn't 10 quality. That's all...
Overall: 19/20 Good!

Phew... that took a LONG time.

[hamm]

Originally Posted by Discovolante

First done, as usual.

Ahem, see ITG Bracket PR.

First off, how I'm rating. I'm stealing Discovolante's rating system but changing some of the amounts.

How well does it fit your theme (ITG, KB etc.)? Possible 1 points
How well do you utilize the solo layout? Possible 3 points
Is it technically well made (good flow, etc.)? 4 points
Is it enjoyable? 12 points

For files with changes, the last 12 points will be split up, so 7 to enjoyability, 5 to the overall rating of the changes. For new Oni files

this will not apply because they are different songs entirely. Also I'm not really gonna count art towards "change" points because that's not

being judged here.

Copy-pasted. Hell yeah.

And, I've worked myself up to be able to play and pass most of these files. I can't pass either KB files, but I got the rest down.

OH and also, I'm definately not suited to judge the DDR division, I don't play DDR anymore, and I tend to find it all the same. So, ITG division and KB division here it goes.

KB bracket division dealie

Arti - Paranoia Sky

Theme: I can't pass it, but it does seem a lot easier than any other KB files, but still 1/1
Extra arrows: They're there, and they're used a lot. Unfortunately not in any really original ways. 2/3
Tech: Tech is good, all the arrows have something to em. 4/4
Funliness: It's good, but it's almost paddable. That and I didn't like the little 16th run at the end to the very quiet notes. 8/12
Overall: 15/20

Eggman - Domino

Theme: Once again, I can't pass it, but this one seems more on par with other KB files. 1/1
Extra arrows: They're used really well, especially in the first set of 16th note runs. 3/3
Tech: Tech is also good, not much to say about KB files 4/4
Changes: I'm glad you fixed the BPM and Gap. 5/5
Funliness: It's fun and it's really quite hard. Basically nothing I didn't like 7/7
Overall: 20/20

ITG Bracket

Akira - Inner Universe

Theme: Yup, It's ITG. 1/1
Extra arrows: They're used, but not really as anything special. 2/3
Tech: There's a couple of really unnecessary hands, and like one shady crossover. 2/4
Changes: Good video, synching fix is always good 5/5
Funliness: It really reminds me of a DDR chart with hands added. Didn't like it. 2/7
Overall: 12/20

alphabet55 - Jump

Theme: ... 1/1
Extra arrows: I like em, especially in your runs, they're quite good. 3/3
Tech: Eh... I see what you were trying to do with the "Jump!" but I think it would have gone better if there weren't 8th notes after the

mines, they're hellish to time. 2/4
Changes: Bleh your BG is better than mine was. Looks a lot like the ITG Wannabe background for Jump. 5/5
Funliness: Streams were fun but I didn't like what you did with the 2nd chorus 4/7
Overall: 15/20

Discovolante - Little Little Princess

Theme: Gadzooks! This looks like ITG to me! 1/1
Extra arrows: Yeah, they're really used nicely, and not in excess either 3/3
Tech: Good good. It's like a happy Machinae Supremacy chart. Love what you did during the instrumental. 4/4
Funliness: Good, I like it with the exception of the hands that were meant to be cheated. so, 10/12
Overall: 18/20

(Note: I didn't use the category for changes because the only change he made was removing an arbitrary speedup in which he has no arrows. If I

did, it'd just be 5/5 and 5/7 resulting in the same overall score.)

Hamm - Together
My file is win-good.

Ike Pie - Tori No Uta
Theme: Yup. 1/1
Extra Arrows: Used and used well, they present some interesting crossovers 3/3
Tech: Works. Nothing's too bad. 4/4
Funliness: Only qualm was the ending where you're like backwards 10/12
Overall: 18/20

jammitch! - Kagekiha
Theme: Do I really have to say anything here? 1/1
Extra arrows: Used, balanced, and not bad. 3/3
Tech: Eh, some of the more complicated crossovers are kinda bad, and the first slowdown, I think is unnecessary. 2/4
Changes: Looks like the syncing is better and the stop is gone, but where is the video? And.. what's with the arbitrary speed up? 3/5
Funliness: Eh, it was pretty fun. 7/7
Overall: 16/20

Rob00996 - video Out C
Theme: 1/1
Extra arrows: Thery're used, but not used until the end during the freeze-turns 2/3
Tech: what's with the speed up in the middle and the one at the end? 2/4
Funliness: I'm really not feeling this one, I don't find it too fun, and it's way too gimmicky 8/12
Overall: 14/20

sanchny - DREAM OF YOU
Theme: 1/1
Extra arrows: Eh, no interesting things here, for the most part this song cam be done without turning yourself. 1/3
Tech: One really hairy crossover at a high BPM and then like 8th notes for most of the song. no like. 2/4
Funliness: Eh, it's kinda fun with the runs, but it only has two and isn't very solid. 9/12
Overall: 13/20

Xythar - Inspiration
Theme: 1/1
Extra arrows: Wow, if there were extra credit for creative use, this would get it. 3/3
Tech: There were one or two short runs in the beginning that didn't seem right to me. 3/4
Changes: ITG song length eh, it's a legitimate change. No real opinion on it though 5/5
Funliness: Seems a bit offsync. aside from that no real complaints 6/7
Overall: 18/20

So there you go everybody. PR #2.

Edit: I can now pass both KB files.

[pokecapn]

okay, i'm not ranking the keyboard files because i can't do them and they're going to advance anyway. i will share my thoughts on them, though.
I though Domino was technically well done, but to me, the only interesting parts were the 16th runs. While the long 8th UDUD runs are accurate to what's going on, it isn't very fun for the player. Paranoia Sky was the opposite. The steps were very varied and enjoyable, but a lot of the time 16th runs and where they were placed didn't always correspond to what was happening with the song. Both files had patterns that are a royal pain if not impossible to someone who's playing with 789462.

here's how i'll grade since we have more discrete criteria:
if you made changes, changes count for 4 of your score, otherwise they're thrown into the enjoyability category since that's pretty much what changes are anyway.

4 points for technical accuracy
4 points for making the difficulty/patterns appropriate to the song
4 points for how well you worked in the solo arrows
8 points for overall enjoyability, including changes made

if i play and doublestep a lot in the file, and there's nothing in the readme saying you put them in on purpose, i'll assume that they were unintentional and that you did not have a good grasp of how to work in the solo arrows. There's really no other way to judge how familiar you are with foot placement.

[itg files]
inner universe
technical accuracy: i have to say putting arrows during the big speedup is really mean, especially because they're surrounded by mines. I know robotix does it, but then again they just have LRLR and it's not so bad. 2/4
patterns: they seem fine given the song 4/4
solo: big issues with doublestepping. the multipanel holds didn't seem to violate any rules of being impossible but at the same time were not fun at all to do. 1/4
enjoyability: the changes were all for the better, 4/4, however, i just think this song is not meant for a dance game in any way, shape, or form. 0/4
overall: 11/20

jump
technical accuracy: everything was synced. however, putting the mines directly before and after those 16th offset jumps made me trigger them on keys, i can only imagine what would happen on a pad. 3/4
patterns: sorry, but putting the mines on the 4th and the actual jumps on the 8ths just doesn't work. 1/4
solo: a little bit of doublestepping but for the most part the big runs were handled well. clarification: what i'm doublestepping is the end of the first run, which happens an 8th note away from a jump, so it's doubly tricky 3/4
enjoyability: the song is very enjoyable, the offset hurts it a lot 3/4 the background change was for the worse, lots of empty space 2/4
overall: 12/20

little little princess
technical accuracy: much better handling of the bpm changes. i thought the huge minefield section made it really really hard to read the arrows, in fact, i missed a couple. 2/4
patterns: i think these worked out okay but might have been a little fast paced 3.5/4
solo: mixed opinions, a lot of time you had runs that didn't integrate the arrows, but the quad jumps were really fitting 3/4
enjoyability: fixing the bpm was good yes 4/4, but i don't find the song enjoyable to dance to, and making several parts difficult to read made it not fun to play 1/4
overall: 13.5/20

together
technical accuracy: was a bit surprised that you went down to 32nds in that one part. i don't think that it contributed to the file very well as it only happens once. 3/4
patterns: i thought the minefield 16th runs were really disjoint compared to the difficulty of the rest of the song, kinda broke the file in my opinion 2/4
solo: i thought the integration was well done 4/4
enjoyability: taking this out of 8 since you didn't make any changes, once again the minefield 16th runs didn't work given the rest of the song :/ 6/8
overall: 15/20

tori no uta
technical accuracy: fine 4/4
patterns: i can tell this is going to be one of my favorites of the bracket, the only thing i didn't care for was that one large minefield with no steps 3/4
solo: i thought it was well done 4/4
enjoyability: great job on re-doing everything, well worth the effort 8/8
overall 19/20

kagekiha
technical accuracy: to me, i think the steps should have remained not so complex in the second breakdown like they were in the first. 3/4
patterns: switching up the locations of the 16ths was a good idea in theory to make the file more interesting but i didn't really like it 2/4
solo: solo was well added 4/4
enjoyability: this was pretty fun, but i didn't like the second slow down section. i was also caught off guard both times the song started back up for some reason. 6/8
overall: 15/20

video out c
technical accuracy: okay, the freeze thing at the end was dumb and you know it. i also felt that the 32nds during the beginning were unecessary and too difficult to read 1/4
patterns: i was liking the whole "almost spin" freeze sections until you switched it up to partially using solo arrows. it caught me off guard and made the song more difficult than it should have been. 3/4
solo: this was okay, but see above 3/4
enjoyability: i liked it aside from the above gripes which hurt the enjoyability of playing it. 6/8
overall: 13/20

dream of you
technical accuracy: i though this was fine 4/4
patterns: one thing. i absolutely love the freeze mine "dream of you" section. that said. there is a huuuge disjoint between the synth runs and the rest of your file. it hurts the enjoyability, especially having to do crossovers in the second half of the first synth run. going from ddr-easy to 16th run is not fun. 1/4
solo: this was fine 4/4
enjoyability: despite the difficulty issues, this is my third favorite from the itg set 8/8
overall: 17/20

inspiration
technical accuracy: fine 4/4
patterns: one thing i really liked about this is how i almost felt like i was playing doubles at times, you do some really neat stuff with twisting around. 4/4
solo: however, i was unsure on two of the runs whether or not it was just too tricky for me or if i was doublestepping 3.5/4
enjoyability: the new cut was really appropriate, this is my favorite entry of the itg bracket despite the high difficulty 8/8
overall: 19.5/20

[DDR BRIZZLE UNO]
24
technical accuracy: this was good 4/4
patterns: i didn't care too much for the short freezes in the second bridge, but that's more personal preference and they match the mood of the song 3.5/4
solo: this was pretty good 4/4
enjoyability: slow but fine, it makes sense for this to be easy 4/4, oddly enough i liked the banner change but not the background change even though they're pretty much the same thing 3/4
overall: 18.5/20

have you ever been mellow
technical accuracy: i agree with !JAMMITCH that the way you lined up runs in the beginning didn't work out 3/4
patterns: didn't care for the runs into jumps 3/4
solo: you did some fun stuff with turns 4/4
enjoyability: like i said, i don't like runs into jumps 6/8
overall: 16/20

identity
technical accuracy: i don't agree with making the buildup as literal as you had it the first time, if you kept it how it was done subsequent times it would have been a more consistent file 3/4
patterns: in some spots there was a bit too much downtime, which didn't mesh with the rest of the song 3/4
solo: i can't figure out how not to doublestep the part right before the speedup unless i start with the wrong foot, and you don't do that anywhere else in the file 3/4
enjoyability: the twistiness aside from the part before the speedup was pretty fun 7/8
overall: 16/20

emoticons
technical: i like what you did with the synth part, i think it was a better idea than just doing the synth line straightforward 4/4
patterns: i didn't care for the freeze jumps, they weren't really necessary where you put them and just made it seem like you were trying to fill space. also, i thought the inconsistency in putting a freeze for the first line of the verse but not for the second line was really strange. 2/4
solo: it's about as twisty as identity but more predictable 4/4
enjoyability: kinda felt like it was going on for too long and some patterns were repeated too much 6/8
overall: 16/20

disco dog
technical: messed up one of the steps on the barks 3/4
patterns: i felt that some of the breaks could have been padded with 4th notes 3/4
solo: this worked out 4/4
enjoyability: aside from the messup with the barks i liked this 7/8
overall: 17/20

gasolina
technical: okay, there was a really really good reason why i spent an hour or so bouncing numbers off of haights so we could make a gradual slowdown. it's to keep the player as comfortable as possible during the whole song. when you drop the bpm low like that, it's not as easily predictable when the song's going to start back up again (see max 300, maxx u, sakura). this, along with the higher difficulty in your file, means to me that you've made a boss song out of something that was never supposed to be a boss song. 1/4
patterns: the two jump freeze things during the speedup don't work out. 3/4
solo: some pretty bad doublestepping and to me a bit too much emphasis on the solo arrows 2/4
enjoyability: it's a boss song that shouldn't be, but i guess it's okay given that context 3/4. that said, your bpm change makes perfect sense given what you stepped, but i think the hue changes on the graphics made them too dark. 3/4
overall: 12/20

fuku wa uchi
technical: this fits 4/4
patterns: i think you used freezes during the verse as a crutch in this file, they didn't really match any change in the song's tone. Also for claiming to use your "trademark twistiness", I didn't think there was much to that aside from the end of one run and a bunch of standard crossovers. 2.5/4
solo: there wasn't much use of the solo arrows in a lot of runs, almost as if you didn't want to use them. 2.5/4
enjoyability: the freeze part at the beginning, lots of [r/l][u/d][l/r][u/d][r/l], and the freezes during the verse made this not so fun for me 5/8
overall: 14/20

[DDR BRIZZLE DOS]

ƒƒƒƒƒ
technical: i think the way some of the 16th runs were set up were a bit confusing, and the ending jump after a freeze might require too much travel 3.5/4
patterns: a lot of repetition, but it's a very repetitive song, i think it works out okay 3/4
solo: there were some interesting turns in there 4/4
enjoyability: this is kinda like the last 100 sec back from the grave, i like it 4/4, also thought the graphics were a good improvement 4/4
overall: 18.5/20

high school love
technical: way way too many jumps 2/4
patterns: the 16ths weren't really appropriate given that this was a fast song already 3/4
solo: because you have so many jumps, it's really easy to get twisted up for the wrong reasons because you don't know what foot to start with. not exactly specific to integration with the solo arrows, but it's there 2/4
enjoyability: your graphics manage to be just as ghetto fresh as the original graphics, so there's no real improvement, but it was a good effort 2/4. the jumps and 16ths really hurt the enjoyability of the steps 1/4
overall: 10/20

over there
technical: woah woah woah, are you sure you entered this in the right bracket? the beginning gets really aggravating to read, and you don't put up, and there's maybe one chance to cool down during the entire song, and it's right near the start of the fast part. 1/4
patterns/solo: there is a massive amount of doublestepping, enough that i was more confused playing this song than the harder itg entries. 3/8
enjoyability: i'm sorry, but it just isn't there. everything's either way too tricky to turn at this speed, or the steps are just poorly laid down. i don't enjoy hvam or end of the century, and i certainly don't enjoy them at 250bpm. 3/8
it really doesn't feel right giving you this score, but honestly i wouldn't give these steps good marks even if it was in the itg bracket
overall: 7/20

radio star
my only regret was that i am not genius enough to make the amazing graphics that are the graphics for don't clock me

bad boy
technical: syncing so close with the synths in the second part was a bad idea 2/4
patterns: other than the above, i thought the patterns were okay 3.5/4
solo: i think there were too many advanced turns in this, i ended up facing the complete wrong way once, and had to doublestep a lot of parts. 1/4
enjoyability: i still like the song but i think it's too tricky for its own good 5/8
overall: 11.5/20

love is eternity
technical: either the syncopation was wonky or the file was out of sync, things didn't feel right 3/4
patterns: i think these were okay 4/4
solo: steps were really really solo-phobic, so i can't really say you integrated the solo arrows well 2/4
enjoyability: pretty decent but i would have liked to have seen more solo, props on not putting any freezes in the file 7/8
overall: 16/20

samba brazil
technical: this was okay 4/4
patterns: having to crossover on that 8th note part while holding the freeze is bad 3/4
solo: probably too tricky, i couldn't figure out how to step the first part of the first verse 2.5/4
enjoyability: i did like this file a lot though 8/8
overall: 17.5/20

thus here are my picks for moving on
itg: xythar, ike pie, sanchy
ddrb1: alphabet55, sanchy
ddrb2: azure haights and pokecapn, #infinity, [zeh]

[jammitch!]

* Technical accuracy, song- and division-appropriate - 10 (full credit requires inventiveness too, changes draw from here)
* Use of the extra arrows - 5 (full credit requires sublime mastery)
* Enjoyability of the chart - 5 (full credit is just plain hard to get)
I define new terms for solo using ::colons::.

[ITG]

Dream of You - 9/4/3 = 16
Padded on 0.8x. Steps should start a few bars later. Fast runs were fun, but the difficulty spikes make for an unbalanced chart. Freeze crossovers were a nice touch. Patterning is excellent.

Inner Universe - 8/2/0 = 10
Speedup is weak. Hands are nasty. Step-jumps turn you around way too much to be any good. Song is STILL either too desolate or too busy to work.

Inspiration - 10/3/3 = 16
Back off the ::sideslides:: (going back and forth between the sides, see above) in the sixteenths, please. Not fun to read and not fun to get tangled in. First run is waddly (see above). Also, kill the jumps in the sixteenths, especially if you want to be an actual 10. I like the mines to keep the hands honest. Not too bad most of the way.

Jump - 6/4/2 = 12
While I always appreciate a good, clever step-to-the-meaning simfile, the jumps would have worked a lot better if they didn't make you land where there wasn't a note - if you just mined the player off the pad and then came back on the next beat it'd work a lot better. Sixteenth runs don't fit in the flow. Mines a sixteenth after a step aren't a good idea. Neither are sixteenth jump-steps. Too clever by half, I say.

Kagekiha - 12/7/9 = 28
ZOOMGUH AWWSOME

Little Little Princess- 8/4/3 - 15
Minefields are nasty to read and totally unnecessary, and I'd really, really rather see this be a mid 10 than have so many 212 BPM extended sixteenth note runs (after the mauling I took for a few short bursts at 240...). One of the hand parts was really twisted up. Drop the sixteenth-note step jumps. Needs steps during the outro.

Together - 7/4/3 - 14
Why does this start so early? Why does it have so many step-jumps? What is such a happy song doing with so many minefields? Why does this try to be too hard to be a 9, when the end is the only part that can do it (and sans the minefield)? All this and more, tonight on Unsolved Mysteries.

Have You Ever Been... uh... Tori no Uta - 9/4/3 - 16
Back off the sixteenths (and the twenty-fourths) a smidge, and keep them a little cleaner. The parts that were less spazzy were pretty fun. I did really like the minefield parts.

video out c - 5/4/3 - 12
Negative BPM tricks = instant fail (or at least instant -5 on technical accuracy).
Your BPMDISPLAY is a lie. Steps aren't too bad, but the hands are really messy with all those mines. A three-panel hand is also going to be quite hard to hit.

[DDR1]

24 - 9/4/2 = 15
Song's still as boring as last time. Some of the jumps towards the end were interesting, although I think a lot of them weren't quite warranted. Don't really like freeze walks.

Disco Dog - 8/4/4 = 16
Pretty fun. A little too much ::waddle:: (def: upleft-right-left-upright repeated, keeps the legs spread wide) early on. A few step-jumps could go, notably the one early on where the bark step is on the eighth (it should be on the sixteenth).

Emoticons - 7/3/3 = 13
Misses the rhythm of the synth pretty bad. Too many jumps for the song. Freeze parts were interesting. Lots of advanced sides here - too many for the level, I think - and yet during the synths you don't mingle the solo arrows with the regular ones.

Gasolina - 8/3/3 = 14
Song still channels the worst of the Whistle Song (sans the misogyny). Jumps in the middle would be better served by sixteenths. Step-jumps towards the end were nasty. Be careful with the sixteenths on upleft-left - that's quite difficult. At least one part got me completely lost.

Have You Ever Been Mellow - 8/4/3 = 15
Can't find reasoning for the gaps in your early runs. Patterning's okay, but there's a lot of same-foot-led runs (seems by design but I still don't have to be a big fan). Took me a minute to hear the end part (the very end should probably not have
that last mini-run).

Fuku Wa Uchi - 8/3/3 = 14
Down-left to upleft-left is a LONG way to go at gallop speeds, especially when it's a bit of a cross. The down-pivoted crossover to left followed by a forward run on upleft was also not nice. Just too ugly in parts. Not much actual double-stepping though. Should start after the lead-in.

Identity - 1/2/-5 = -2
Ugh, this sucks. Like, real bad. I can't fathom the kind of reprobate that would dare accost us with such dreck.

[DDR2]

Bad Boy - 9/2/3 = 14
I'd like it a little more balanced. Jumps early were interesting, but you throw the player to the ::sides:: (patterns with upleft-left and upright-right) too much, especially in sixteenths. Note for everyone else: that's an advanced pattern, and overuse seems to be a common element here.

fffff - 9/4/3 = 16
Pretty boring early on with the basic eighth note runs. Got more interesting later, but not a good choice for pad regardless. Thanks for the gentle (low-motion) sixteenths. End crossjump's a nice touch.

High School Love - 8/3/2 = 13
Too many step-jumps. Heck, too many jumps period. Like Candy without the charm. Missed one of the sixteenth rolls (consistency). Desperately needs legitimate pauses.

Love is Eternity - 8/3/4 - 15
A little shy about using the corners. The three consecutive yellows don't sound quite right to me. Rest is nice.

over there - 9/3/2 - 14
Really complex and confusing, probably too much so. Too many sideslides (see above). Slow part is really hard when it's so complex, which is why complex slow parts are so annoying.

Radio Star - 8/3/4 - 15
I still don't get why everyone's so gaga over the same old Eurodance I've heard a trillion times before. Anyway, mostly solid, if a little turn-phobic and waddly early on. However, the eight note drum is more than drowned out by the quarter note drum, so all the blues feel quite awkward. Yes, DDR's done this. I still don't have to like it.

Samba Brazil - 9/3/4 - 16
The beginning had some really well-placed crossovers and long twists using the corners. The end lost it a little bit. The up-upright crossover is messy, and there's a few more awkward posititons throughout. That one eighth note during the hold is too
far too. Still fun regardless.

[#Infinity]

I will grade songs in the division based on:

A. Would the song fit in its assumed environment? - 2 points
B. Good usage of solo arrows - 4 points
C. Technical Accuracy - 6 points
D. Is it fun? - 8 points

Keyboard

Domino - Eggman

A. 2/2 - You don't see very much eurobeat in keyboard simfiles, but as a master at creating keyboard stepcharts, you made this one work marvelously.
B. 4/4 - Very good usage of both corner buttons. You threw them in unique patterns, as well as the runs.
C. 6/6 - Nothing wrong here. Very solid and accurate to the song.
D. 5/6 - The 32nds really could've done without, but other than that, it's awesome!
Overall Score: 19/20

PARANOiA Sky - Arti

A. 0/2 - Um, is this supposed to be a hard ITG simfile? Its inclusion of mines and easiness made it seem far more suitable as a difficult ITG song rather than a keyboard simfile, not to mention the hands make it impossible to MA the song.
B. 3/4 - They're in there enough, but you don't put their potential into full use. Try interesting patterns that aren't anything like something from your average 4 panel stepchart.
C. 3.5/6 - Once again, hands do not belong anywhere in a keyboard simfile. The steps also don't always follow the music appropriately.
D. 6/8 - While pretty easy, this overall wasn't too bad, if just okay. It doesn't feel as natural as Domino.
Overall Score: 12.5/20

ITG

Dream Of You - sanchny

A. 1/2 - It's as hard as any ITG 10, but only because of the death runs, as the rest of it feels far too DDR-ish and easy.
B. 3/4 - Corner notes appear a bit infrequently, but usage of them is fine overall.
C. 3/4 - Difficulty is far too unbalanced. Outside of the death runs at the speed of Xuxa, only with worse patterns, it's just basic, simple patterns that even an 8 foot DDR player can handle fine.
D. 7/8 - These steps can actually be very fun, but only if you're able to handle the death runs and still be able to not get bored out by the rest of the song.
Overall Score: 14/20

Inner Universe - Akira

A. 1.5/2 - Works okay as an ITG song, but it feels rather unnatural.
B. 2.5/4 - Other than throwing some corner button hands that nobody's seen yet, this didn't show significant use of solo patterns.
C. 3/6 - First off, what in the world is with that stupid speed-up before the chorus? Nobody wants to have to memorize the steps just to be able to do them without hitting a mine or missing them completely. Also, I see that you're trying to be creative with the hands early on, but they were slightly overdone and felt very awkward to perform.
D. 3/8 - The new graphics and video were a good addition, but it's still a horrible song choice nontheless. The used patterns, including the hands and step-jumps during the chorus, felt awkward and just not fun to step.
Overall Score: 10/20

Inspiration - Xythar

A. 2/2 - Absolutely great as an ITG stepfile.
B. 4/4 - Definitely enough solo notes thrown in. Usage of them is marvelous and perfect for an ITG song.
C. 5/6 - Some of the streams had awkward and overdone foot movement, but otherwise, this it pretty good.
D. 8/8 - An ideal example of a truly enjoyable ITG 6 panel 10 block. Very nicely executed, and feels fun to play on the pad.
Overall Score: 19/20

Jump - alphabet55

A. 2/2 - Works fine.
B. 4/4 - Nice usage of solo arrows overall. Not much to complain about here.
C. 2/6 - Okay, the concept of throwing mines during the "jump" parts and throwing a jump on the following offbeat is seriously one of the most terrible mistakes in stepchart-making I've ever seen. It doesn't follow the song at all and just feels horribly off. Beyond that, I also disliked the backward hands, but loved the ones on the two corner buttons.
D. 4/8 - It had such a fun feeling overall in many parts, but the bad idea you already know I can't stand just completely ruined the whole file. Sort of liked the new graphics, though.
Overall Score - 12/20

Kagehika - Jammitch!

A. 2/2 - Very ITG-suitable.
B. 4/4 - Very nice. There are plenty of solo notes thrown in and their potential is well-executed.
C. 6/6 - Lots of interesting patterns are thrown in, but there really isn't anything to gripe about here. Good job!
D. 8/8 - Captures the ITG feeling while still being very unique and creative. Loved the 16th bursts throughout, the slowdown, and the HotN 24th drills throughout.
Overall Score: 20/20

Little Little Princess - Discovolante

A. 1.5/2 - Fits ITG fine, but it feels unnaturally hard in ways most ITG songs fail to achieve.
B. 4/4 - Very nice, especially during the slowdowns.
C. 3/6 - Many patterns abundant in this song are overdone, such as the step-jumps at 212 bpm, a few awkward patterns in the streams, and especially the 4-note handplants. Also wasn't a fan of the hands (surrounded by the freezes) during the chorus.
D. 6/8 - On the pad, this is actually a surpisingly fun stepfile. However, the technical annoyances prevent it from getting a full score.
Overall Score: 14.5/20

Together - Hamm

A. 2/2 - Fine.
B. 3.5/4 - This is fine, but the solo steps probably could've been used in a more refined way if you know what I mean.
C. 2.5/6 - First off, the random hands during the "you and I" parts are a big no. There were also too many mines, but I especially hated the measures during the verse that were just completely infested with them. That's not going to work, either.
D. 5/8 - Not too bad for the most part, but it felt pretty awkward to play because of the mines and step-jumps.
Overall Score - 13/20

Tori No Uta (Noise Rave) - Ike Pie

A. 2/2 - Works nicely in ITG.
B. 4/4 - Great usage of solo steps, nothing truly wrong at all.
C. 6/6 - No problems, really works nicely.
D. 8/8 - As this is a new simfile in all ways, I will count the graphics, which fortunately worked well. The song felt very fun to play on the pad.
Overall Score - 20/20

Video Out C - Rob00996

A. 2/2 - Pretty much fine.
B. 3.5/4 - Not bad. There are enough solo step patterns that it works, although they could've been executed in a more interesting way.
C. 4/6 - Some of the hands (the ones after a hold) did not work. The negative bpm trick is rather iffy.
D. 6/8 - Overall pretty decent. Sometimes it got a bit awkward or repetitive, but it's not bad.
Overall Score - 15.5/20

DDR Bracket 1

24 - alphabet55

A. 2/2 - No problems here.
B. 3.5/4 - Pretty good. I'd like to see you do a bit more with the solo steps, but they work fine.
C. 6/6 - No technical bugs to gripe about at all. An easy 6/6.
D. 6/8 - I took off two points because I see that this simfile really seems to be playing it safe, considering it's a slow song and all, but it's still decently fun. People are going to like it because it's a solo stepchart they can actually do and because of great jump placement.
Overall Score: 17.5/20

Disco Dog - Sanchny

A. 2/2 - Fine.
B. 4/4 - Very nice usage of solo steps.
C. 5/6 - I really didn't think the steps during the "yeah" part late in the song followed the song very well. Right when the first verse ended, you should've used a continuous 8th stream during the beats instead of just short 3-note streams.
D. 7/8 - Very fun and refined, I must say. The only gripe is that there was a little too many basic streams and not enough interesting, diverse patterns throughout the stepchart. Still very fun, though.
Overall Score: 18/20

Emoticons - PkerUNO

A. 2/2 - Not bad.
B. 3/4 - Solo steps are a bit scarce in this stepchart, but they're used in fairly interesting ways when they do show up.
C. 3.5/6 - There was some bad doublestepping during measure 51. Beyond that, the 8th patterns (and steps during the synth) felt a bit marginal and awkward. I also didn't like the gaps during the synth parts. Not terrible, though.
D. 5/8 - While not downright horrible, these steps felt lackluster compared to its competition, probably because of some weird or overdone patterns that didn't capture a natural, fun feel that most DDR songs have.
Overall Score: 13.5/20

Fuku Wa Uchi - the_ditz

A. 2/2 - Very suitable for DDR.
B. 3.5/4 - Usage of solo steps is a bit rare, but when they do show up, they're used pretty interestingly.
C. 5/6 - No doublestepping. The only things I didn't enjoy were the awkward patterns during the synth, which forced too much weird turning.
D. 8/8 - Very fun to play on pad. Lives up to the original simfile in every way (except for the technical bug I described above).
Overall Score: 18.5/20

Gasolina (Delacation Remix) - Blox/TheBaldOneMpls

A. 1.75/2 - Felt slightly too unnatural for DDR, but fine nontheless.
B. 4/4 - Plenty of neat usages of solo steps, so this rating is full.
C. 3/6 - While there isn't really any true doublestepping in this stepchart, the patterns often get so complex that it would cause most players to end up doublestepping. I had a hard time getting a comfortable feel with these steps because of their awkwardness.
D. 7/8 - Once again, this song feels extremely interesting with its diversity of patterns. I also enjoyed the new slowdown right before the beginning of the acceleration.
Overall Score: 15.75/20

Have You Ever Been Mellow - Ike Pie

A. 2/2 - Works well, really.
B. 4/4 - Absolutely fine. You put the solo steps into good use within the streams.
C. 5/6 - There is a bit of doublestepping involved, such as around the time the main synth comes into play. Other than that, this is fine.
D. 7/8 - Executes 8th streams and a few jumps in a fun way. I just wish the second synth part had more than just stream, more like following the melody directly and adding in a few jumps.
Overall Score: 18/20

Identity - Jammitch!

A. 2/2 - Perfect for DDR.
B. 4/4 - Very nice usage of solo steps in the streams and in general. Definitely a perfect score here.
C. 5.5/6 - The opening pause caught me by surprise more than I really wanted. Otherwise, very nice! The steps follow the song brilliantly.
D. 8/8 - Very nice usage of a diversity of DDR-ish patterns that make this stepchart very fun. I enjoyed it a lot, really.
Overall Score: 19.5/20

DDR Bracket 2

Shortysnmn2010 - Bad Boy (Alex M vs Marc Van Damme Remix)

A. 1.75/2 - This is fine for DDR, but there are some things in it that probably wouldn't really work in a DDR environment.
B. 4/4 - Lots of great solo patterns are used. Perfect score here.
C. 4.5/6 - First off, I thought the 16th jumps early on felt weird. Also, measure 18 led into some ugly doublestepping. The chaotic ending might be a bit much compared the rest of the song, slightly hampering difficulty balance.
D. 6.5/8 - Overall, it feels pretty fun to play, but some parts of the stepchart are forced and don't feel particularly fun.
Overall Score: 16.75/20

fffff - #Infinity

This is my simfile, so I'm not reviewing it.

High School Love - Akira

A. 2/2 - Good enough.
B. 3.5/4 - Also pretty good.
C. 4/6 - It was inconsistent in a few places, such as when you threw in a couple of 16th bursts that required foot movement. There was also doublestepping during measures 25 and 26, not to mention several jumps require you to completely retransition your feet to avoid doublestepping. Some step-jumps weren't a great idea, either.
D. 7/8 - This had a fun feeling to it, and I liked your new graphics. Certain forced parts caused me to take off a point, though.
Overall Score: 16.5/20

Love Is Eternity - will-i-am

A. 2/2 - Fits DDR fine.
B. 2/4 - There really weren't very many solo steps here, and they didn't really seem to use very many interesting patterns that can only be achieved using 6 panels.
C. 6/6 - No real problems here. I even find the song to be synced fine.
D. 6/8 - Decent overall, but not horribly fun and is hampered by its limited usage of solo steps, which also make the simfile less fun and more like a regular 4-panel stepchart.
Overall Score: 16/20

Over There - Dark Luke

A. 1/2 - This really feels too difficult and forced to truly work in DDR.
B. 3/4 - There were plenty of solo notes in this stepchart, but they were often overdone unfortunately.
C. 3/6 - Alright, first off, I got pretty sick of the slow beginning. Second, many of the patterns used in this simfile honestly feel overdone and weird to step. I also believe the abrupt pause should've been removed as well.
D. 4/8 - I'm not really feeling this one. Too hard, forced, and awkward to really work in my book as "enjoyable".
Overall Score: 11/20

Radio Star - pokecapn and Azure Heights

A. 2/2 - Perfect for DDR, especially Solo!
B. 4/4 - Not bad at all, really! Great patterns during the streams, jumps, and everything.
C. 5.25/6 - During the later parts of the verse, the steps on the offbeat honestly didn't seem to follow the music very well. The two 16th drills from the chorus could've been left out just as in All In The Way Challenge, but it's not really that big of a deal, do I took only a quarter of a point from your grade for that.
D. 8/8 - Really lives up to the original simfile very well. I once again found the steps to be very simple, yet fun. I also adored the redesigning of the graphics and complete lackage of freeze arrows to make it feel a lot more like something that came directly out of DDR Solo 2000.
Overall Score: 19.25/20

Samba Brazil - zeh

A. 2/2 - Very nice. No problems here.
B. 4/4 - Your specialty seems to be the inclusion of lots of interesting twists and turns to make simfiles fun, and you used them to make solo patterns feel extremely fun to play in this simfile.
C. 4/6 - There were a few technical mistakes in the stepchart, despite how fun it is. I really think it would've worked better had you added a step on the first beat of measure 24, as it felt very disjointed there. Measures 43 and 51 forced way too much twisting that led into doublestepping. The end of the song also felt very inconsistent, with the random 16th drill and ending freezes that missed the last beat of the song.
D. 7/8 - Once again, you make excellent use of twists and turns in your stepchart. If it weren't for the inconsistency of the stepfile, the song would be fun enough that the rating would've been perfect.
Overall Score: 17/20