Dancing Stage

Dancing Stage is a series of music video games developed and published by Konami. It is the European variant of Dance Dance Revolution. Several versions have been produced for the Sony PlayStation and PlayStation 2, and a number of arcade versions exist as well.

European releases

Arcade versions

Dancing Stage (1999)
Dancing Stage Internet Ranking (1999)
Dancing Stage EuroMIX (1999)
Dancing Stage EuroMIX Internet Ranking (1999)
Dancing Stage EuroMIX 2 (August 2002)
Dancing Stage Fusion (March 2005)
Dancing Stage SuperNOVA (2006)

Home versions

Dancing Stage EuroMIX (PlayStation; June 16, 2001)
Dancing Stage PARTY EDiTiON (PlayStation; November 15, 2002)
Dancing Stage Disney Mix (PlayStation; September 28, 2001)
Dancing Stage MegaMiX (PlayStation 2; May 30, 2002)
Dancing Stage Fever (PlayStation; October 2003)
Dancing Stage Fever (PlayStation 2; October 2003)
Dancing Stage Unleashed (Xbox; March 12, 2004)
Dancing Stage Fusion (PlayStation; November 5, 2004)
Dancing Stage Fusion (PlayStation 2; November 5, 2004)
Dancing Stage Unleashed 2 (Xbox; May 19, 2005)
Mario Mix (GameCube; October 28, 2005)
Dancing Stage Max (PlayStation 2; November 25, 2005)
Dancing Stage Unleashed 3 (Xbox; March 17, 2006)

Japanese releases

The Dancing Stage title has also been used for a handful of Japanese DDR games, which are separate from the European series.

Arcade machines

Dancing Stage featuring DISNEY'S RAVE (Arcade, 2000)
Dancing Stage featuring Dreams Come True (Arcade)
Dancing Stage featuring TRUE KiSS DESTiNATION (Arcade, 2000)

PlayStation

Dancing Stage featuring Dreams Come True (PlayStation)
Dancing Stage featuring TRUE KiSS DESTiNATION (PlayStation)

Gameplay

Like other dancing video games, Dancing Stage is best played with a special dance pad instead of a regular control pad. Each game features a number of different songs, and each song can be played on different difficulty levels; some games also include other modes such as workout mode, training mode, etc.

As a song is running, arrow icons scroll up the screen, towards a set of arrow markers; the objective of the game is to step on the matching arrows on the mat exactly when the arrow icons meet the markers. Each arrow will be awarded a score ranging from "PERFECT!!" to "BOO" (missed).

By getting hits right, the players increase their respective "dance gauge"; missing arrows will decrease the dance gauge, and if the gauge ever reaches zero, the song will end prematurely and the player will fail.

At the end of a song, the game will display a breakdown of how well the players performed, and will also rate their performance with a grade between "AAA" (best) and "E" (fail). The game will also save these grades on a memory card if possible, allowing the players to keep track of their high scores.

External links