| DJMAX Online | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Pentavision |
| Publisher(s) | CJ E&M |
| Platform(s) | Windows |
| Release | May 22, 2004 |
| Prequel | N/A |
| Sequel | DJMAX Trilogy |
| Previous Installment | N/A |
| Next Installment | DJMAX Portable |
DJMAX Online is the first installment of the DJMAX series, released for Windows on May 22, 2004 in South Korea, Japan, and China. Although the game's online server was shut down in March 2008, Online can still be played through a fan-operated private server under the name DJMAX COME BACK.
Gameplay
DJMAX Online is a rhythm action game with gameplay that would soon be emulated by future DJMAX games. Notes drop down the screen during the song, and the goal is to hit the key that the note falls on as it hits the line. Accuracy is provided after a note is hit, and can vary from 1% to 100%, depending on the timing. Hitting multiple notes in a row creates a combo which can accumulate until the end of the song. If a note is missed altogether, a Break occurs and the combo resets to 0.
Completing songs award the player with EXP (used to rise in level) and MAX (the game's currency). Players also have "Credits" which are used to play Premium Songs and Courses, which are obtained by either being a premium member or buying them in the shop.
There are 2 key modes in DJMAX Online:
5-Key: Uses 5 lanes. Only two notes can be pressed at one time, so 5-key charts never use combinations of three or more notes (with the exception of MX difficulty charts).
7-Key: Uses 7 lanes. The inner five lanes allow only two notes to be pressed, similar to 5-key mode. However, the outer two lanes ignore this rule, allowing as much as four notes to be pressed at once (with the exception of MX difficulty charts).
MX difficulty charts do not enforce the two-note rule, meaning that as many as five and seven notes can be pressed at once, respectively.
Game Modes
- Free Mode: Allows the user to play any song that they have unlocked. EXP and MAX is earned when the song is completed with no penalties, and you can quit the song at any point.
- Ranking Mode: Puts the player through 3 stages of songs. Songs in ranking mode are unlocked earlier than in Free Mode, but only at the later stages. In addition, higher level songs are unlocked at earlier stages by leveling up. Unlike Free Mode, you can't quit in the middle of a song and leaving early resets the score. Accuracy is also much stricter than in Free Mode.
- Course Mode: DJMAX Online's version of "Mission Mode". The player can choose a course of songs to play, sometimes with a requirement to complete. If the condition is statisfied and all songs are cleared, the player is rewarded. The rewards consist of an EXP/MAX multiplier, a special Course Disc, and a random booster item. When a course is cleared, the top 50 scores of that course is displayed. Scores are wiped after 1 month. Some courses require premium "Credits" in order to play.
- DJ Battle: The main multiplayer component of DJMAX Online. Unlike other DJMAX games, which only use 1v1 battles, DJMAX Online allows for up to 6 players to compete at once. DJ Battles also allow for 2v2 or 3v3 team battles and can be selected to include all difficulties, or only a specific one. DJ Battle has 3 game modes:
- Score Battle: The player or team with the highest score wins. If all players fail, the player with the highest score wins.
- Item Battle: The player or team with the most HP (or the last ones surviving) wins. Throughout the song, items are randomly positioned at certain notes and are upgraded as you hold them for a certain duration. A player can then press a number key on the keyboard to launch an item at a specified player, or at themselves. A player can hold up to 4 items at once.
- DJ Mission: These are special missions that occur at random when the room master selects "Random". DJ Mission can be rated at level 1, level 2, or level 3 and appear in a specific order. However, the number of songs needed to advance to the next mission is random, but assumed to be a 1/6 chance. During the mission, effectors will be randomly applied to the song onto all players. The level of the mission determines the strength, frequency, and duration of the effectors applied to the players.The player with the highest score is rewarded with a "Mission Disc." All players who complete the mission recieve bonus MAX currency. The max multipliers are as such:
- Level 1: +100% MAX for clear.
- Level 2: +200% MAX for clear.
- Level 3: +300% MAX for clear.
- Level 3 missions can only be obtained if the room master has a play count of over 40. If all players fail the mission, the song ends and nobody receives the reward. Missions appear in the order 1, 1, 2, 1, 1, 2, 1, 1, 3. However, the number of songs that it takes to reach the next mission is random.
Styles/Difficulties
There are five difficulties in DJMAX Online:
- Easy Style: The most basic difficulty. Easy Style songs are never higher than Level 6.
- Normal Style: A bit tougher than Easy Style. Every song in DJMAX Online has a Normal Style chart. Normal Styles range from Level 3 to 10 in 5K, and Level 4 to 11 in 7K.
- Hard Style: A much more difficult style for advanced players. Hard Styles range from Level 5 to 13 in 5K and 7 to 15 in 7K.
- Maximum Style (MX): This difficulty is much different from the others because it doesn't follow the two-note rule (only two notes pressed at one time). This difficulty also uses "Faults". Faults occur when a note is mistimed (too early, to be exact). It does not reset the combo, but it does reduce HP. MX Styles range from Level 7 to 13 in 5K and Level 8 to 16 in 7K.
- Super Crazy Style (SC): The hardest difficulty in the game. SC Style has a more narrow accuracy window than any other difficulty. SC Styles range from Level 11 to 17 in 5K and Level 11 to 19 in 7K.
Tracklist
Songs Unique to DJMAX Online
- Say My Love
- Angel (Jeppet)
- Windy
- Too Fast
- Yu-Young
- Arabian Night
- Cool Running
- Carmen Fantasy
- Sweet Love
- Disco Time
- RAIN+
- Hypersonic
- Angelic Tears
- The Tokyo
- Far East GlassField
Trivia
- SC Style was originally named "Secret Style".
- In other versions of the game, certain songs were removed. Such songs include RAIN+, Dreadnought and Angel (Jeppet). RAIN+ and Angel's music videos were recycled for other songs, namely Cherokee and Yellowberry (respectively).
- Dreadnought originally had an uncensored music video, which removed the black dots and has the A in America upright. However, due to the nature of the video, it was censored and removed from all other versions of the game.
- In the Alpha version of DJMAX Online, there was a mode called "DJ QUEST SYSTEM". It is unknown what this feature was and why it was removed. Course Mode replaced it in the finished product.