Oni (Dance Dance Revolution)

Oni mode or challenge mode is a special, unforgiving course mode in the game Dance Dance Revolution, first introduced in the Max 2 arcade version. In Japanese, "oni" is written with the character (鬼), meaning demon (see oni.)

The player selects a course with 5-10 preselected songs following a specific theme or genre, such as classical music or songs by Naoki Maeda. Gameplay is the same as in normal gameplay, but with some changes. The score at the bottom is replaced with a timer that counts up, showing how long you have lasted in the course. A different type of scoring is introduced, showing a percentage of dance points that the player has obtained in the course. (This was later changed to total dance points in DDR Extreme) The most notable part of Oni Mode is the absence of the life bar. In its place is a life battery with 3 pieces in it. Everytime a player obtains a step ranking of good, boo, miss, or NG (missed freeze arrow, or freeze was not held down completely for the entire duration) then a piece of the bar is taken away. If all 3 pieces are gone, the next missed step or missed freeze arrow ends the game. 1, 2 or 3 'lives' are restored when a song is cleared.

In Dance Dance Revolution EXTREME, Oni is a shorthand term used to describe Challenge steps. Challenge is a fifth difficulty that surpasses Heavy in difficulty on most songs. Paranoia Survivor MAX 's Oni steps are generally regarded as the most challenging set of steps in the series; but some songs, such as Sakura, have Oni steps that are easier than the Heavy steps.

All courses were played on the default options, with a few exceptions:

Max 2:

Demon Road: The last song, Maxx Unlimited Heavy, is played on 1x, Reverse (arrows scroll from top to bottom), Dark (Stationary arrows do not appear)

Demon Road 2: The last song, Kakumei Heavy, is played on 1x, Reverse, Dark.

Extreme:

Trick: All 5 songs have a pre-selected mod.

Matsuri Japan (From Nonstop Megamix) Oni: Boost (arrows start slow at the bottom, and scroll quickly as they go to the top) Sexy Planet (From Nonstop Megamix) Oni: Reverse, Boost Ecstasy (Midnight Blue Mix) Oni: Reverse, Brake (Arrows slow down as they reach the stationary arrows) AM-3P (AM East Mix) Oni: Fuwa-Fuwa (Arrows scroll upward in an accordion-like fashion) Max 300 Heavy: 0.25x (Arrows scroll at 1/4 of their normal speed)

Reveng-New-RevenG: The last song, Sakura Oni, is played on 0.5x (Arrows scroll at 1/2 of their normal speed)