FAQs - DDR 5th Mix

Unlock Codes

Machine owners/operators have the ability to unlock new songs for the game through the operator menu. Here are the instructions you need to follow to unlock an arcade machine. Please note that if you do not have access to the panel behind the coin door (ie - if you don't own the machine nor are you responsible for it), you cannot enter the unlock codes. Thanks go to Brian Ho of IndyDDR.com for providing the images of his own machine.

To enter the operator menu, you must hit the Test button. The pictures above show the two styles the operator panel can come in - the lefthand one in original Japanese machines, and the righthand one in Korean/Asian/US machines. In the picture on the left, the Test button is the top one in the column of three buttons (the other two, in order, are Service and Degauss). In the picture on the right, the Test button is the red one in the upper-righthand corner, and the white button next to it is the Service button.

Once you hit the Test button, you'll see a menu as follows:

Use the and buttons to select GAME OPTIONS (*not* MEMORY CARD OPTIONS as is highlighted in the picture), and then, while holding the 1P and the Service Button, hit the 1P button to enter the SECRET menu.

From here, hit the 1P button to select APPEND.

You can now type in the unlock codes. Use and to select the spaces, and to change the letters in each space. When you've entered in the password, hold and and then push to confirm the password.

The unlock codes for this game are as follows:

• Unlocks 1-11 (All): FQEOVXT-KCURWWJ

If you've done this correctly, you will unlock the following songs: ABSOLUTE, Abyss, DXY!, Electro Tuned (the SubS mix), I Was The One, Mr.T. (take me higher), Radical Faith, SANA MOLETTE NE ENTE, and THE CUBE. Also, after entering the code, two additional dancers will be selectable: Naoki (on the 1P side) and N.M.R. (on the 2P side), for a total of 14 dancers. The 5th Mix PSX characters (U1 and 2MB) are not available in the arcade.

Song List Organization
At the song selection screen, you can hold down both and and press to re-organize the song list. Each subsequent press of while and are held down will cause the song list to cycle through 4 different types of lists:

• Default: lists all of the unlocked songs first in yellow, then all of the songs exclusive to DDR 5th Mix in green, and then songs that have been in a previous version of DDR in blue.
• ABC: lists all of the songs in alphabetical order.
• BPM: lists all of the songs from slowest to fastest.
• Player's Best: lists all of the songs in terms of how often certain songs are played on the particular machine. The 3 most popular songs on that machine will be marked with a 1, 2, or 3 next to them.

Step Modes and other codes
Step modes can be chosen before selecting any song. You may choose to play edit data for a song by pressing . 5th mix does not have any alternate steps for songs like 4th Mix/4th Mix Plus, so a memory card with edit data for a song on 5th mix must be inserted and loaded before you hit to play your game. If you change your mind and decide to play the official steps for a song, press .

You can also press to change the difficulty from Basic to Trick or from Trick to Maniac. You can press to change the difficulty to an easier difficulty.

To cancel Left, Right, Mirror, and Shuffle, input the appropriate code again.

Hidden:
Sudden:	after choosing Hidden
Stealth:	after choosing Sudden
Left:
Right:
Mirror:
Shuffle:
Little:
Flat:	after choosing Little

Grading and Score
Grades: AAA - AA - A - B - C - D - E
Even though this info is incomplete, thanks to EnoOn for his information on the scoring system for 5th Mix. The main thing missing is the exact formula for calculation of your Bonus at the end of each song.

• Perfects are worth twice as much as Greats.
• The higher your combo, the more your Bonus will be at the end of the song.
• The harder the song, the more points you can get for the song (i.e., 9-foot songs are worth more than 8-foot songs).
• Getting a full combo guarantees you at least 1,000,000 on your Bonus.

There are several factors that contribute to your score on a particular song:

Difficulty of Song
Let F be the number of feet in the rating of a song that is not a long version. For example, for Dynamite Rave on Maniac Single, F = 9. Let M be the maximum base score you can get on a song (i.e., your score without a bonus). Then, M is equal to:

If the song is a long version, then the value of M is doubled.

Let N be the number of steps in the song you are playing. Let [x] be the greatest integer function (i.e., [x] = the greatest integer less than or equal to x). Then define b, the point value on which the point value for every step in the song is based, to be:

Then, the point value for the ith step in a combo is:

The only step that deviates from this formula is the last step, or Nth step, of the song. If you get a Perfect on the Nth step, you get the appropriate points for that Perfect, plus a bonus B:

Grade for Song
Depending on what grade you get for completing the song, you get a certain amount of points added to your Bonus:

Max Combo
I do not know the formula for calculating the rest of the bonus, but it seems to be related to the length of your max combo. In other words, the longer the max combo, the bigger your bonus is. This means that to get the highest scores possible, you must play the song with the greatest number of steps for the entire game and get a AAA each time.

High Score Lists
There are six high score lists on a DDR 5th Mix machine: A, B, and C Ranking for Single, and A, B, and C for Double. The high score list for which your score is considered is determined by the following formula:

If a long version of a song is played, the foot value for the song is doubled when calculating R.

For example, a game of 3 songs was played. The difficulties for the 3 songs were 4, 6, and 7. Then, R would equal [(4+6+7)/3] = [17/3] = 5.
For another game, 2 songs were played, one with a difficulty of 5, and a long version of a song with a difficulty of 8. R would equal [(5+8+8)/3] = [21/3] = 7.

If R is 1-3, your score is eligible for the A list.
If R is 4-6, your score is eligible for the B list.
If R is 7-9, your score is eligible for the C list.

Thus, the first example above would have a score that would be considered for the B list, and the second example would have a score to be considered for the C list.