Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party

Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party
Also known as: Dancing Stage Hottest Party (EU/AU) Developer: Hudson Soft Publisher: Konami Platform: Wii Released in JP: October 24, 2007 Released in US: September 25, 2007 Released in EU: March 28, 2008 Released in AU: April 11, 2008 This game has unused areas. This game has unused graphics. This game has unused music. This game has unused sounds. This game has debugging material. This game has regional differences.

The first of the long-running Hottest Party series of Dance Dance Revolution games.

It can be best described as an arguably cursed amalgam between DDR SuperNOVA and DDR Mario Mix. In fact, it even uses the latter's engine.

Debug Menu

Swapping the ddrmodeseldll.rel and ddrmodeseldll.str files with selmenuDll.rel and selmenuDll.str makes the game boot into a debug menu.

Other

Sometimes, pressing - on the main debug menu will display a system font.

Alternatively, pressing + on the main debug menu will redirect to a series of options, which determines the selection parameters should any of the "DDR" functions in the first page, the "STG TEST" or the "SSQ TEST" functions be chosen.

PAGE 1

Function	Present in US?	Present in JP?	Description
DDR_22	Yes	No	Plays the song Caught Up on the Wave Cell venue.
DDR_35	Yes	No	Plays the song will on the Sensor venue.
DDR_41	Yes	No	Plays the song Movin' On on the Wave Cell venue.
DDR_27	Yes	Yes	Plays the song Lesson by DJ on the DDR venue.
DDR_51	Yes	Yes	Plays the song tokyoEVOLVED Ver.B on the Axis venue.
DDR_52	Yes	Yes	Plays the song tokyoEVOLVED Ver.C on the Axis venue.
DDR_53	No	Yes	Loads the song TRUE♥LOVE (Clubstar's True Club Mix), but freezes due to the game trying to load stage data that does not exist.
DDR_54	No	Yes	Loads the song Pluto the First, but freezes due to the game trying to load stage data that does not exist.
DDR_55	No	Yes	Loads the song DOUBLE TORNARD, but freezes due to the game trying to load stage data that does not exist.
DDR MODESEL	Yes	Yes	Reboots the game.
DDR RESULTS	Yes	Yes	Warps to a mockup results screen, but softlocks the game because it's impossible to get out of.
DDR WORLDSEL	Yes	Yes	Freezes the game.

PAGE 2

Function	Present in US?	Present in JP?	Description
STG TEST	Yes	Yes	Loads the game's stages, as well as charts for the songs with the same ID.
DANCE VIEW	Yes	Yes	View a still frame of each of the characters' animations. Automatically plays the song 1, 2 Step upon entering. Controls: 1 / 2 - Change character Nunchuk Stick - Move camera Nunchuk Up / Down + C / Z - Zoom in/out Nunchuk Left / Right + C - Zoom in/out (faster) Nunchuk Left / Right + Z - Move camera left/right Nunchuk Up / Down + C + Z - Move camera up/down
Camera Test	Yes	Yes	A viewer for the camera animations. Controls: - / + - Change animation Nunchuk Stick - Move camera Nunchuk Up / Down + C / Z - Zoom in/out Nunchuk Left / Right + C - Zoom in/out (faster) Nunchuk Left / Right + Z - Move camera left/right Nunchuk Up / Down + C + Z - Move camera up/down
RESULT TEST	No	Yes	A viewer for the Groove Circuit mode messages.
MES TEST	Yes	Yes	A viewer for some of the system messages.

PAGE 3

Function	Present in US?	Present in JP?	Description
SSQ TEST	Yes	Yes	Views a chart, with a blank stage setting.
MAT CHECK	Yes	Yes	Some sort of input test, which only seems to detect Dance Pad inputs.

Unused Charts

To do: The other 44 (45?) different chart files

The file ssq.bin can only be found in the game's American release and contains early variations of the game's stepchart files. Notably, there are eight different versions of the song Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now), each using different gimmicks, and having an additional intro section.

Variant 1

• Basic
  • Absolute Notes: 137
  • Freeze Arrows: 7
  • Gimmick: Foot Confuser
  • Gimmick Notes: 29

Chart Data

• Difficult
  • Absolute Notes: 217
  • Freeze Arrows: 7
  • Gimmick: Foot Confuser
  • Gimmick Notes: 44

Chart Data

• Expert
  • Absolute Notes: 363
  • Freeze Arrows: 13
  • Gimmick: N/A

Chart Data

• Beginner
  • Absolute Notes: 111
  • Freeze Arrows: 1
  • Gimmick: N/A

Chart Data

Variant 2
Its charts notably contain Hand Missiles in the Up and Down arrows, which never happens in any of the final charts.

• Basic
  • Absolute Notes: 142
  • Freeze Arrows: 7
  • Gimmick: Hand Missile
  • Gimmick Notes: 52

Chart Data

• Difficult
  • Absolute Notes: 217
  • Freeze Arrows: 7
  • Gimmick: Hand Missile
  • Gimmick Notes: 54

Chart Data

• Expert
  • Absolute Notes: 363
  • Freeze Arrows: 13
  • Gimmick: Hand Missile
  • Gimmick Notes: 53

Chart Data

• Beginner
  • Absolute Notes: 112
  • Freeze Arrows: 1
  • Gimmick: Hand Missile
  • Gimmick Notes: 53

Chart Data

Variant 3

• Basic
  • Absolute Notes: 137
  • Freeze Arrows: 7
  • Gimmick: Screen Stomper
  • Gimmick Notes: 45

Chart Data

• Difficult
  • Absolute Notes: 217
  • Freeze Arrows: 7
  • Gimmick: Screen Stomper
  • Gimmick Notes: 54

Chart Data

• Expert
  • Absolute Notes: 363
  • Freeze Arrows: 13
  • Gimmick: Screen Stomper
  • Gimmick Notes: 52

Chart Data

• Beginner
  • Absolute Notes: 111
  • Freeze Arrows: 1
  • Gimmick: Screen Stomper
  • Gimmick Notes: 49

Chart Data

Variant 4
The Basic chart is very similiar, albeit not the same, to this video footage from when the game was first announced. Most charts also contain Hand Markers on the Up and Down arrows, which none of the final charts have.

• Basic
  • Absolute Notes: 137
  • Freeze Notes: 7
  • Gimmick: Hand Marker
  • Gimmick Notes: 24

Chart Data

• Difficult
  • Absolute Notes: 217
  • Freeze Arrows: 7
  • Gimmick: Hand Marker
  • Gimmick Notes: 43

Chart Data

• Expert
  • Absolute Notes: 363
  • Freeze Arrows: 13
  • Gimmick: N/A

Chart Data

• Beginner
  • Absolute Notes: 111
  • Freeze Arrows: 1
  • Gimmick: Hand Marker
  • Gimmick Notes: 12

Chart Data

Variant 5

• Basic
  • Absolute Notes: 163 (counting a single overlapping note)
  • Freeze Notes: 7
  • Gimmick: Double Stomp
  • Gimmick Notes: 26

Chart Data

• Difficult
  • Absolute Notes: 169 (counting eight overlapping notes)
  • Freeze Notes: 7
  • Gimmick: Double Stomp
  • Gimmick Notes: 32

Chart Data

• Expert - same as Variant 1
• Beginner - same as Variant 1

Variant 6
These charts are structurally the same as Variant 2, though they use a different gimmick.

• Basic
  • Absolute Notes: 142
  • Freeze Arrows: 7
  • Gimmick: Foot Missile
  • Gimmick Notes: 52

Chart Data

• Difficult
  • Absolute Notes: 217
  • Freeze Arrows: 7
  • Gimmick: Foot Missile
  • Gimmick Notes: 54

Chart Data

• Expert
  • Absolute Notes: 363
  • Freeze Arrows: 13
  • Gimmick: Foot Missile
  • Gimmick Notes: 53

Chart Data

• Beginner
  • Absolute Notes: 112
  • Freeze Arrows: 1
  • Gimmick: Foot Missile
  • Gimmick Notes: 53

Chart Data

Variant 7
The Basic chart is structurally the same as Variants 2 and 6, albeit it uses another different gimmick.

• Basic
  • Absolute Notes: 90
  • Freeze Arrows: 7
  • Gimmick: Foot Destructor (Yellow)
  • Gimmick Notes: 52

Chart Data

• Difficult - same as Variant 6.
• Expert - same as Variant 6.
• Beginner - same as Variant 6.

Variant 8
Much like Variant 7, the Basic chart is structurally the same as Variants 2 and 6.

• Basic
  • Absolute Notes: 90
  • Freeze Arrows: 7
  • Gimmick: Foot Destructor (Blue)
  • Gimmick Notes: 52

Chart Data

• Difficult - same as Variant 6.
• Expert - same as Variant 6.
• Beginner - same as Variant 6.

Unused Graphics

All of these take in consideration the folder data.

Early Warning Screen

boot.bin contains assets for a different, untranslated warning screen.

Minigame Mode

ddrmodesel.bin contains graphic assets for a scrapped "Minigame" mode.

Image	Description
	Would be shown in the left side of the screen. The style shown here is much different from the other modes.
	A description, roughly translating to "Master the minigames!!".

Locked Default Stages

ddrmodesel.bin also contains graphics indicating that the first 8 dance stages are locked, though this never happens as they are already available by default.

Mario Mix Leftovers

win.bin still contains many leftover graphics from Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix.

Dialog

Button Prompts

Miscellaneous

(Source: tikal.)

Unused Music

sound/stream/TESTMUSIC_32.brstm is an unused loop.

(Source: tikal.)

Unused Sounds

To do: Doublecheck and verify further

sound/ddr.brsar, the main sounds repository, contains many unused files within its filesystem.

Announcer

GR/VOICE/ARCADE
These voice files wouldn't look out of place in an arcade installment or an arcade-like gamemode, though Hottest Party is not one and does not contain such a thing.

File	Sound	Transcription
VO_NAR_179		"Insert Coin"
VO_NAR_180		"Game Over"
VO_NAR_181		"Stage Clear"
VO_NAR_182		"Congratulations"
VO_NAR_183		"All Clear!"
VO_NAR_184		"Mission Complete"
VO_NAR_185		"Alright, thanks for playing DDR"
VO_NAR_186		"You're ooooooutta heeere!"
VO_NAR_187		"Press Player 1 Start"
VO_NAR_188		"Press Player 2 Start"
VO_NAR_372		"Are you sure?"

GR/VOICE/INSTRUCTION

File	Sound	Transcription
VO_NAR_307		"When Hand Markers appear..."
VO_NAR_308		"...shake your Wii Remote and Nunchuk."
VO_NAR_309		"Hand Markers only appear on the left and right."
VO_NAR_310		"Shake your Wii Remote for right Hand Markers."
VO_NAR_311		"Shake your Nunchuk for left Hand Markers."
VO_NAR_312		"Keep shaking your hand during Hold Markers."
VO_NAR_313		"You will fail the Hold Marker if you stop shaking your hand."
VO_NAR_314		"Your feet and hands will be used to play this game."
VO_NAR_315		"When the arrows rise to this point, step on the matching panels."
VO_NAR_316		"Step on both panels if two different marks appear at the same time."
VO_NAR_317		"If you misstep repeatedly, the Dance Gauge will decrease until the game is over."

GR/VOICE/GIMMICK

File	Sound	Transcription
VO_NAR_344		"Don't miss the U.G. Arrows, or Uncle Glyde will take over the screen!"
VO_NAR_345		"Use a hand controller to send the gimmicks over to your opponent's area. Accuracy counts!"
VO_NAR_346		"Many gimmicks will appear; pay attention to your accuracy!"
VO_NAR_347		"Don't step or the gimmicks, or your Dance Gauge will decrease."

GR/VOICE/FREEZE/EXPLAIN

File	Sound	Transcription
VO_NAR_348		"When the arrows rise to this point, step on the matching panels."
VO_NAR_349		"Step on the sensor continuously during freeze arrows."
VO_NAR_350		"Lifting your foot up during a Freeze Arrow will result in a misstep."
VO_NAR_351		"Step on both panels if two different marks appear at the same time."
VO_NAR_352		"If two Freeze Arrows are displayed simultaneously, step on both sensors at the same time."
VO_NAR_353		"If you misstep repeatedly, your Dance Gauge will decrease until the game is over."

GR/VOICE/GAME/EXPLAIN

File	Sound	Transcription
VO_NAR_354		"Your feet will be used to play this game."
VO_NAR_355		"Your hands and feet will be used to play this game."

GR/VOICE/DECIDE

File	Sound	Transcription
WORKOUT/VO_NAR_357		"Enjoy burning off those calories!"
GCM/VO_NAR_358		"Use your groove to set the crowd on fire!"
FREE/VO_NAR_359		"Heat up the floor with your hot dancing!"
OPTIONS/VO_NAR_361		"Use options to set your own temperature!"

GR/VOICE/SELECT/STYLE

File	Sound	Transcription
VO_NAR_039		"Versus Style"
VO_NAR_040		"Double Style"

GR/VOICE/SELECT/PLAYER

File	Sound	Transcription
VO_NAR_041		"Enter your information"
VO_NAR_042		"Give us your info"
VO_NAR_044		"Select Stage"
VO_NAR_047		"Select Character"
VO_NAR_048		"Select Music"
VO_NAR_049		"Random Music"
VO_NAR_050		"Request Music" Audibly a placeholder.
VO_NAR_362		"Select Dancing Stage"
VO_NAR_363		"Select Difficulty"
VO_NAR_364		"Select Mode"
VO_NAR_365		"Select number of players"
VO_NAR_366		"Select Venue"
VO_NAR_367		"Player addition"

GR/VOICE/SELECT/DIFFICULTY

File	Sound	Transcription
VO_NAR_051		"Easy or hard?"
VO_NAR_052		"How good are you?"
VO_NAR_053		"Let's push it!"
VO_NAR_054		"Challenge yourself."

GR/VOICE/CHAR

File	Sound	Transcription
VO_NAR_368		"Uncle Glye" Possibly an early name for U.G..

GR/VOICE/STAGE
Because Hottest Party does not have any sort of stage system, these go unused.

File	Sound	Transcription
VO_NAR_298		"First Stage"
VO_NAR_299		"Second Stage"
VO_NAR_300		"Third Stage"
VO_NAR_301		"Fourth Stage"
VO_NAR_302		"Final Stage"
VO_NAR_303		"Extra Stage"
VO_NAR_304		"One More Extra Stage"
VO_NAR_305		"Encore Stage"
VO_NAR_306		"Seriously, this is the last Extra Stage."

GR/VOICE/EMOTION

File	Sound	Transcription
VO_NAR_281		"Alright!"
VO_NAR_282		"So nice!"
VO_NAR_283		"Uh-oh!"
VO_NAR_284		"Oh, man!"
VO_NAR_285		"Sweet!"
VO_NAR_286		"Not good."
VO_NAR_287		"Yeah!"

GR/VOICE/BATTLE/SELECT

File	Sound	Transcription
VO_NAR_266		"It's time to get serious."
VO_NAR_267		"Alright, c'mon."
VO_NAR_268		"Let's enjoy this."
VO_NAR_269		"I'm waiting for you."
VO_NAR_270		"Don't push your luck."
VO_NAR_271		"Show me your strength, if you can!"

GR/VOICE/RESULT/FHARD
Since the lowest grade one can achieve in this game is E, these go unused.

File	Sound	Transcription
VO_NAR_133		"You blew it! Big time!"
VO_NAR_134		"Oh man, you gotta redeem yourself!"
VO_NAR_135		"You got burnt!"
VO_NAR_136		"For real? That was all you got?"
VO_NAR_137		"Okay, stop joking around!

GR/VOICE/GCM/STAGECOMPLETE
These are audibly placeholders.

File	Sound	Transcription
VO_NAR_247		"Alright, that's great! Now let's move on to the next event."
VO_NAR_248		"GCM tip 2"
VO_NAR_249		"GCM tip 3"
VO_NAR_250		"GCM tip 4"
VO_NAR_251		"GCM tip 5"

GR/VOICE/RANDOM

File	Sound	Transcription
VO_NAR_278		"Press the A button"
VO_NAR_279		"You're the best of the cool dancers!"
VO_NAR_280		"Caution"

GR/VOICE/TEST

File	Sound	Transcription
VO_NAR_272		"Test"
VO_NAR_273
VO_NAR_274
VO_NAR_275		"Check"
VO_NAR_276
VO_NAR_277

Miscellaneous

Found many times within the filesystem is a short beep.

(Source: Dreemii27, tikal.)

Regional Differences

Songlist

Each version has exclusive songs, as listed below, with most of the Japan-exclusive songs later appearing in Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party 3 or the 2010 release.

US/Europe	Japan
B4U (The Acolyte mix) Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now) Rhythm Is A Dancer unappreciated	B4U (Rising Sun mix) DOUBLE TORNARD TRUE♥LOVE (Clubstar's True Club Mix) Pluto the First

Song Banner

The song Gypsy woman received an updated banner in the game's Japanese release, which uses a different font. This was undone in the European release, however.

US/Europe	Japan

Gameplay

The Hand Marker notes received an updated design in the game's Japanese release, which was also carried over to the European release.

US	Japan/Europe

Groove Circuit Mode

To do: Pluto the First is unlocked in the middle of the second circuit, but where specifically?

Some missions' unlocklists were also altered, mostly due to the new songs:

US/Europe	Japan
VENUE ERU 1 - Mission 3
LOVE SHINE (Body Grooverz 2006 mix)	will
STARGAZE VENUE 1 - Mission 2
Mess With My Emotions Moving On	DOUBLE TORNARD Mess With My Emotions Moving On
VENUE U-MATIC 1 - Mission 2
the beat will	TRUE♥LOVE (Clubstar's True Club Mix) the beat let it out
VENUE U-MATIC 1 - Mission 3
let it out	LOVE SHINE (Body Grooverz 2006 mix)
EV VENUE 1 - Mission 2
1998 (Sparky 2006) Confession B4U (The Acolyte mix)	1998 (Sparky 2006) Confession B4U (Rising Sun mix)

Error Screen

Whenever the game crashes, it will display a basic handler.