Dance Dance Revolution: SuperNova 2

Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA 2 is an arcade game in the Dance Dance Revolution series of music video games. It was produced by Konami and released through Betson Enterprises. The game was released in Japan in August, 2007, while the North American version was released several months later. The Japanese version is its 10th traditional arcade release. A European arcade release was canceled due to a EU sanction preventing the export of the original PlayStation 2 (which SuperNOVA utilized as its hardware).

Gameplay
Core gameplay in SuperNOVA 2 did not change much from previous versions, although the scoring system received another major overhaul:

The maximum points available for a song is 1,000,000 points in multiples of 10 (In multiples of 1 when in NonStop or Challenge). The value of each step or freeze is equal to 1,000,000 / (number of steps [A jump is considered a step in scoring] + number of freezes [A pair of freeze that starts and ends at the same time will be considered as one freeze in scoring]). Marvelous/O.K. are each worth this value. Perfects are worth that value - 10, and Greats are worth that value/2-10; or roughly half the value of perfects. Country ranking has disappeared, but personal ranking and machine ranking is still displayed. The Marvelous step judgment, which was previously only used in Nonstop and Challenge mode, is now used in regular play, and the count for missed freezes (N.G.) is also shown on the results screen.

Additionally, the requirements for a 'AAA' grade have changed. Previously, a player was required to get all possible O.K.s and to obtain a Perfect or Marvelous on every step. Now, all that is required is for the player to obtain 990,000 points; thus, it is possible to get a 'AAA' with greats, or even steps that break combo. A 'AAA' is still obtained for getting all perfects or better, but underneath the 'AAA' graphic a message of "Perfect Full Combo!" is displayed. Getting all possible O.K.s is not a requirement of getting a Perfect Full Combo however.

Also, several songs have had their step charts re-rated; the 10-foot Expert singles chart for Sakura is now a 9, and the 9-foot Challenge chart is now an 8. The doubles charts have been re-rated from 10 to 9 for Expert and from 9 to 10 for Challenge (this is generally regarded to be an error, although it is present in the final build of the game). Flow (Jammin' Ragga Mix) has also been changed from 8-feet to 9 on Single Expert.

A separate Doubles Premium option similar to what was offered by In the Groove 2 has been added, charging one credit per player (allowing doubles for one credit), but still requiring 2 credits for 2 player play. The ability to change UI text based on payment method (coins, token, swipe cards or keys) has also been added.

Extra stages
SuperNOVA 2 features a completely new system for Extra Stages. If the player earns an A during the first or second stage, the songs Unreal by Black Rose Garden, NGO by Keiichi Nabeshima, TRIP MACHINE PhoeniX by DE-SIRE alterative, PARANOiA ~HADES~ by αTYPE-300, Pluto by Black∞Hole, or Pluto Relinquish by 2MB are unlocked for play on the final stage for whatever difficulty the player earned the A on (e.g. earning an A on Difficult will unlock the song on Difficult). Earning AA or higher will unlock the songs for all difficulties instead. These special final stage songs can be played to earn the Extra Stage.

If the player scores an AA or higher on Unreal, NGO, TRIP MACHINE PhoeniX, PARANOiA ~HADES, Pluto, Pluto Relinquish, or any song chosen by Random with difficulty same as what Unreal or NGO has (e.g. if only Basic is available, Basic would be chosen for Random), the player earns the Extra Stage. At this point, the songs NGO by Keiichi Nabeshima,  TRIP MACHINE PhoeniX by DE-SIRE alterative, PARANOiA ~HADES~ by αTYPE-300, Pluto by Black∞Hole and Pluto Relinquish by 2MB becomes available for play. As above, earning an AA or above will unlock with the difficulty same as the final stage. Any song can be chosen as Extra Stage, but only NGO, TRIP MACHINE PhoeniX, PARANOiA ~HADES~, Pluto, Pluto Relinquish or any other song chosen by Random will earn the Encore Extra Stage.

Unlocking Final Stage boss songs can also be obtained in the Beginner Mode. Fulfilling the requirements in the Beginner Mode opens up Peace and Flowers as "Boss" songs, even they are not hidden or normally are boss songs.

If the player scores an AA or higher at Extra Stage, the player earns the Encore Extra Stage, and the songs TRIP MACHINE PhoeniX by DE-SIRE alterative, PARANOiA ~HADES~ by αTYPE-300, Pluto by Black∞Hole and Pluto Relinquish by 2MB become available for play at whatever difficulty the player completed Extra Stage. However, the player may choose to play any song. Triggers over e-Amusement or through unlock codes cycled the extra stages sequentially, cycling Encore Extra Stages into the Extra Stage position, Extra Stages into Final Stage position, and ultimately into regular play.

In addition to the new Extra Stage system, the modifier selections have changed. On Extra Stage, the player can choose any modifiers, but the player is given the Challenge Mode battery with "lives" to attempt the stage, instead of the previous "pressure mode" dance gauge (which could only decrease). The number of lives is determined by the score on the final stage:


 * Earning at least 990,000 or more points (a AAA) will give the player four lives
 * Earning at least 975,000 points will give the player three.
 * Earning at least 962,500 points will give the player two.
 * Any score lower than 962,500 points will give the player one life.

As with Challenge mode, any step judgment lower than "Great" causes a loss of life. In Versus, if the Extra Stage is earned by one player but not by the other, the other player will still be given a chance at Extra Stage with one life on the battery. Encore Extra Stage retains the Sudden Death mode and the player may not change any other modifiers. In addition, extra stages can now be played on any difficulty level.

e-Amusement
SuperNOVA 2 retains e-Amusement information from SuperNOVA; in addition, e-Amusement is now able to keep track of weight and calories burned. When play is over, the player can see how many calories are burned in that session and how many Enjoy Points were received; Enjoy Points are a form of experience points, achieving specific Enjoy Levels can trigger unlocks for different features and songs. The player can also see their statistics before and after play, including a Groove Radar display indicating their strengths and weaknesses in the 5 Groove Radar categories.

SuperNOVA2 is also the first e-Amusement game to provide the service outside of Japan, with the first and currently only publicly accessible e-Amusement enabled machine in North America located at a Brunswick Zone bowling alley in Naperville, Illinois. Konami's offices in El Segundo, California also have a machine on the e-Amusement network, as well as an unknown location listed on internet ranking pages as "Midtown 7F". For machines not connected to e-Amusement, unlock codes were released that could be executed on the title screen to unlock certain songs.

Zukin Wars
On September 5, 2007, Konami introduced the Zukin Wars "story" to SuperNOVA 2 with Zukin Wars - episode 1, a special event done over e-Amusement. Each player is assigned to one of three teams - Red, Yellow, and Green. Before the Final Stage, a special mission will appear with special instructions. If the player completes this mission with certain criteria, he or she will "defeat" a given number of "Dark Dancers" (which are just Robo-Zukins in a black shade with the letter D). The total number defeated dancers is kept in record. Defeating a specific amount of Dark Dancers will automatically unlock a new song, and anyone who was on the winning team also received the song. The song earned, became available for standard play when the next event begins.

The Zukin wars ended on September 27 and the winner was announced to be the Green Team. They, and anyone who had beaten more than 840 Dark Dances, were rewarded with the song: L'Amour et la liberté (Darwin & DJ Silver remix) by NAOKI in the MERCURE 

Episode 2 started on October 18, 2007 and L'Amour et la liberté (Darwin & DJ Silver remix) was unlocked for everyone to play. Episode 2 ended on November 8, and the winner was announced to be the Yellow team. They, and anyone who had beaten more than 380 Dark Dancers, were awarded STARS★★★ (Re-tuned by HΛL) -DDR Edition- for normal play.

Episode 3 started on November 29, 2007 and STARS★★★ was unlocked for everyone to play. Episode 3 ended on December 20, 2007, and the winner was announced to be the Green Team. They, and anyone who had beaten more than 320 Dark Dancers were awarded 木星～組曲『惑星』より by PLEIADES PRODUCTION (Jupiter (The Bringer of Jollity) when translated) for normal play.

Episode 4 started on January 10, 2008 and 木星～組曲『惑星』より was unlocked for everyone to play. Episode 4 ended on January 31, 2008, and the winner was announced to be the Yellow Team. They, and anyone who had beaten more than 330 Dark Dancers were awarded Uranus by Tatsh SN2 Style for normal play.

Zukin Wars events were later done for North America, even though there was still only 1 machine connected.

Music
The following is the complete list of new songs on SuperNOVA 2.

This song list is based on the Japanese arcade version's songlist. Some songs may not be immediately available on all North American machines, as some songs require either access to e-Amusement or entry of special step codes to unlock them. All songs present on Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA except for the 8 songs mentioned (all of them from the Japanese PS2 version of SuperNOVA) at the end of the article are also present. The American PlayStation 2 release of SuperNOVA 2 also features a completely different songlist.

Home version
On February 21, 2008 Konami released Dance Dance Revolution SuperNova 2 in Japan on the Sony PlayStation 2. The PlayStation 2 game is a direct port of the arcade release. An American home version was released on September 26, 2007. As with other recent DDR games in North America, it is not a direct port of the Arcade version, and features a mixture of songs from SuperNova 2 and other previous versions, and other licensed music.

An Official Soundtrack is available in Japan on compact disc, and also in the United States as an MP3 download on Amazon MP3, or as an AAC download on iTunes.