DDR's ridiculously strict rating system.

Chagen

Fuuuuuuuuckkkkk, I've been getting like 95% Marvelous steps on this song, WHY AM I STILL GETTING A B.

nohaynicklibre

You didn't put all your soul into dancing J-Pop

BaronGrackle

DDR!

DYRE

Because more strict rating systems are more fun.

It's better than the alternative anyway.  Like how in Guitar Hero or Rock Band you can get 5 stars on every song without even trying (though, full combos are still difficult, depending on the song).

Nyarly

I didn't experience it, being born too late, but according to the stuff one can hear about it, it was really strict. Apparently, you could get imprisoned even for small things if you didn't watch your mouth in public.

I wonder how many will get this, without clicking on Baron Grackle's link...

Vorpy

^^ That's only Rock Band.

glennmagusharvey

I rarely try harder to get higher scores.

I think the only tune in Stepmania that I've done this with is the Kiddy Grade ending theme "Future".  And maybe Marisa Stole the Precious Thing.

Though that latter one was mainly because I was wondering whether I could even survive it.  Same with Nana Mizuki (i.e. Nanoha)'s "Take a Shot".

All Nines

I almost wish I still played DDR. Thems was good times. But eventually I moved onto Guitar Hero, where 5-starring shit was much easier.

Icalasari

DDR: Where you have permission to flail around like a seizure monkey

glennmagusharvey

I can't believe I just picked up Stepmania again (haven't touched it in a few months) and actually survived the insane version of Marisa Stole the Precious Thing.

DYRE

^^ That's only Rock Band.

Nah, it's both of them. They actually have more or less the same requirements for getting 5 stars, which is fairly low actually (2.8 average multiplier, meaning you only need to be at a 4x multiplier for like three quarters of the song.  Less if you get a lot of Star Power/Overdrive). Rock Band is actually more difficult this way since they have a gold star rating, which actually is pretty hard to get depending on the song. At the very least, sometimes you have to do more than full combo the song to get it.

Chagen

Then go for 5+ stars.

(A GH/RB fansite, Scorehero, used the averages in the game to come up with hypothetical star values for all the songs higher than 5. The max I've heard of was 8 stars, can't remember the song)

DYRE

I know Scorehero has extended star ratings.  But it's just that since they aren't part of the actual game, I have a bit less motivation to try for them.  Like how I don't worry about full combos as much in Rock Band since it doesn't record that you got them in the game.

Oh, and there are a few songs you can get 8 stars on.  And there's one song (in Guitar Hero: Aerosmith) where it's possible to get 9 stars in co-op.  And of course, in Guitar Hero: World Tour's vocals, people can get 20+ stars because of the scoring system being terrible.

All Nines

Now I wish my Rock Band drumsets didn't keep breaking.

DYRE

I am completely amazed that mine still work.

Well, I'm on my second set, but still, they work pretty well considering they're the regular Rock Band 1 drums, and I played that a lot...

At any rate, they work well enough that I can pass a lot of the harder songs (Visions, Panic Attack, etc.  I can't do some of the really hard DLC songs though) with them, and at least kind of keep a combo (and most of the combo breaking is my own fault).

All Nines

I wish I still had the Rock Band 2 set. And it bugs me that it's ALWAYS the yellow pad and pedal that break. Aesthetics of Hate and Clouds Over California on Expert come to mind when I think of hitting the drumset too hard.

DYRE

Well yeah.  Yellow is the one you hit the most after all.  Though, actually, I think my red pad is in worse shape than yellow.  Since red doesn't have anything supporting it underneath, and I think I hit harder with my left hand anyway (since I'm right handed, so I'm not as good at controlling my left hand, or something).

And of course, stuff like Run To The Hills and the R-G blast beats in Visions and other songs, make you do a lot of hitting your red pad pretty hard...

All Nines

I know. Oddly, the red pad has stayed intact except for the most recent set. Damn it, I wanna play Visions or some Dream Theater again. I could still only 4-star Visions, because most of the blasts are too fast.

I never liked Run to the Hills. Repetitive AND exhausting. As for hard DLC, I can't pass most of the Mayhem set, but I feel like I could pass Embedded with a good drum set.

DYRE

Embedded is hard...

I've passed it before (and I could even pass it consistently.  Well... as long as I was able to get most of the Overdrive near the start.), but I don't think I'd be able to do it now, since I haven't played Rock Band much in a while.

I've never been able to pass "Conquer All" or "What A Horrible Night To Have A Curse" or "This Is Exile", though, and I suspect that no matter how much I play, I never will be able to.  Because holy crap those songs are hard.

All Nines

Those guys are tough, yeah. I feel like I could get "Conquer All" if my foot were a bit faster. But the other two are not happening. And "Conquer All" is easy as balls in comparison to every other Behemoth song ever written.

And I won't know if I could get "Embedded" because I only played it when the set was broken and I had No Fail mode on so I wouldn't lose as soon as yellow notes came up.

DYRE

So, this thread made me download Stepmania.

GOD DAMN IT NOW I HAVE TWO RHYTHM GAMES ON MY COMPUTER THAT I'LL BE PLAYING ALL THE TIME INSTEAD OF DOING HOMEWORK!

It's a good thing Frets On Fire is hard to play without a guitar controller (or a keyboard that is not a laptop...), because otherwise I'd totally play that all the time too.

glennmagusharvey

I once downloaded Frets on Fire but it didn't seem to work for some reason.

Also, what is "What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse"?

All Nines

^ A Black Dahlia Murder song referencing one of the Castlevania games.

Vorpy

Castlevania: Simon's Quest implemented a system where Night would fall upon the map you are on and it would bring up that message.

DYRE

I would tell you to try downloading FoFiX, instead of the main Frets on Fire thing, since Frets on Fire itself hasn't been worked on in a while and kind of sucks.  FoFiX is an actually playable and good game based on the same code.  But it's been so long since I've paid attention to the Frets on Fire community and I think by now there's at least one other similar game in development that seems like it's better or equal to FoFiX, and... I dunno.

"What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse" is a song by death metal/metalcore band The Black Dahlia Murder.  It was DLC for Rock Band.  The drum part is hard as hell.  It's named after that quote from Castlevania 2, which I assume is why you asked about it, but it doesn't actually have anything to do with Castlevania.

EDIT: Double ninja'd.

All Nines

It's also one of the few death metal songs that I appreciate more after looking at the lyrics.

glennmagusharvey

Yeah, I was hoping it had to do with Castlevania 2...

Vorpy

CV2 = CV S's Q

glennmagusharvey

I know that.

I said I was hoping the song had something to do with Castlevania II: Simon's Quest.