Dance Maniax

Dance Maniax
Developer(s)	Konami
Publisher(s)	Konami
Release	2000
Genre(s)	Music
Mode(s)	1 player, 2 players, 1 player (Center), 1 player (Doubles)

Dance Maniax is a game from the Bemani series of rhythm games, published by Konami, with songs mostly from the Dancemania series of music, and shares many songs with Dance Dance Revolution. Instead of using physical contact to activate sensors, it uses optical switches to allow hands, feet and legs to be used in gameplay by passing them above or below the sensor.

Gameplay

Dance Maniax is a dance game that uses four optical sensors to determine player movements. Sensors are positioned such that there are two top and two bottom sensors on each side. In addition, special options (such as center play, doubles, speed modifiers, etc.) are accessible by holding the left arrow button and the start button after credits have been inserted but before the game has begun. Center play is where one player controls the middle two pairs of sensors. Also, doubles play is where one player controls all eight sensors at once. By default, players are presented with a set of predefined courses, and are able to select one per game, or should they have started the game into the "options" menu, they may also define their own course, or Internet Ranking or Marathon courses(In Dance ManiaX 2nd Mix Append J-Paradise Songs in Dance ManiaX 1st where included in Marathon Course)

In-game, the songs are played immediately in sequence: as soon as. Notes scroll in a similar fashion to Dance Dance Revolution: four circles ascend and the player must move their hand over or under the appropriate sensor in time to receive an "OK!" The outer "blue" lanes are the lower sensors, and the inner "pink" lanes correspond to the upper sensors. Should they miss or not hit the sensor in rhythm with the song, their life meter will immediately decrease. Play continues until either all songs in the course have been passed, or it ends as soon as the life meter is fully depleted.

Versions

Japanese Releases:

• Dance Maniax - Released in 1999, and features 26 songs.
• Dance Maniax 2nd MIX - Released in 2001, and features 54 songs. 28 of these are new, and the other 26 are those in the original Dance ManiaX.
• Dance Maniax 2nd MIX append JPARADISE -- Released in 2001, and features 67 songs. 14 of these are new - the other 53 include every song featured in Dance ManiaX 2nd MIX with the exception of Happy Hopper.

Korean Release:

• Dance Freaks - Released in 2000, and features 32 songs. 26 of these are from the original Dance ManiaX - the other 6 are Korean liscensed songs exclusive to this version.

Note: Unlike most other Bemani games, no home versions of Dance ManiaX have been developed. This is likely due to the expense and difficulty of constructing an arcade-accurate peripheral controller. As well, Konami has stopped active development of the Dance ManiaX series.

External links

• Konami DanceManiax Official Site (Japanese)
• Konami DanceManiax 2ndMIX Ofiicial Site (Japanese)
• Konami DanceManiax 2ndMIX append JPARADISE Official Site (Japanese)
• System 573 Information--the hardware Dance Maniax runs on