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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zfwlgvb.jpg]]
2
3-> ''Listen to all the music and select your song!''
4
5''[=DJMAX=]'' is a RhythmGame franchise by Pentavision, spanning different versions across consoles.
6
7* ''[=DJMAX=] Online'' -- The original game, released as a freeware game on PC with additional pay-to-play content. The game plays suspiciously like ''VideoGame/{{beatmania}}'', though this is due to be being a [[AlternateCompanyEquivalent clone]] of ''[=Ez2DJ=]'', which was even more like ''beatmania'' (complete with turntable) to the point where Creator/{{Konami}} [[ScrewedByTheLawyers stepped in and sued]]. Suffers from a partial case of NoExportForYou; you couldn't play the Korean version since you need a Korean residence number (which is a ''crime'' to falsify); you could play the Japanese and Chinese versions, but the Japanese version... is... well... in Japanese, with mostly Japanese players (which means good luck communicating to other players if you don't speak nihongo), and the Chinese version ran on a rather slow server. The latter two versions shut down some time ago.
8** ''[=DJMAX=] Trilogy'' -- a recent PC game revival with music from ''[=DJMAX=] Online'' and early ''[=DJMAX=] Portable'' games, but due to some ExecutiveMeddling (namely, its producer, Forte Escape, leaving Pentavision), updates to it have been put on hold indefinitely, and the inclusion of certain features and bugs further drove it into the ground.
9* ''[=DJMAX=] Portable'' -- By far the most popular ''[=DJMAX=]'' series, partly for being one of the first--if not ''the'' first--successful portable RhythmGame series. Originally released on ([[SuperTitle64Advance as its title implies]]) the [[Platform/PlayStationPortable PSP]] in 2006, it saw success not only in Korea, but [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff non-Korean countries]] as well, leading to an "International" release with English text (albeit with [[SoundEffectBleep poorly-censored songs]] and the replacement of the song ''Dreadnought'', whose background animations mocked former U.S. President UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush).
10** ''[=DJMAX=] Portable 2'' -- released in 2007 and held up its ever-growing fanbase.
11** ''[=DJMAX=] Clazziquai Edition'' -- released in 2008 as a somewhat LicensedGame with songs from the Korean band Clazziquai, and is geared towards newer players.
12** ''[=DJMAX=] Black Square'' -- released about a month and a half later, and is targeted at more experienced players.
13** ''[=DJMAX=] Fever'' -- released in late January 2009 as the first ''[=DJMAX=] Portable'' title to be released outside of South Korea, and its songlist is a mix of the first two ''Portable'' titles.
14** ''[=DJMAX=] Portable 3'' -- the first ''Portable'' game since ''Fever'' to be released outside Korea (and on the same release date, too). With around 40 songs to choose from (a mix between old returning songs, ''Technika 2'' songs, and new ''Portable 3'' songs), the game is meant to be a return to the roots of the ''Portable'' series, hence the numerical naming. The game also features a new mode that utilizes the analog nub to switch to two "turntables" at appropriate times to in a sense remix the song. It was released on October 14, 2010 for the UMD version and October 19 on the [=PlayStation=] Network.
15* ''[=DJMAX=] Technika'' -- The GaidenGame (gameplay-wise) to ''[=DJMAX=]''. Taking a departure from its ''beatmania''-like sibling series, its gameplay is a combination of ''VideoGame/OsuTatakaeOuendan [=/=] VideoGame/EliteBeatAgents'' and ''VideoGame/{{Lumines}}'' -- a "timeline" passes over notes on the screen, which you touch as the timeline passes over them. Brings in songs from all [=DJMAX=] games, with a few new ones. A sequel appropriately named ''[=DJMAX=] Technika 2'' reworks the system, making overall improvements and updates while adding two new modes and many brand new songs alongside more oldies that weren't in the first game.
16** ''[=DJMAX=] Technika Tune'' -- A sort of GaidenGame to a GaidenGame, released on the Platform/PlayStationVita in 2012. While the touch screen allows for standard Technika gameplay, the rear pad allows players to perform hold notes and repeat notes without letting go of the Vita. Due to the small screen, the number of lanes on screen is reduced to 3 from 4, with brand-new charts to match.
17** ''[=DJMAX=] Technika Q'' -- A spin-off developed for the iOS and Android systems and released in Korea in October 2013 and internationally in March 2014. Like ''Tune'' above, the number of lanes in gameplay is reduced to 3, but also supports a two-lane mode. Unlike ''Tune'', ''Q'' features a new UI. New charts have been made for returning songs to match the altered gameplay, although they are more akin to their arcade counterparts this time around.
18* ''Tap Sonic'' -- Another spinoff, released for iOS in 2011 and later to Android. Gameplay is similar to the main series, but with the addition of slide notes, where the player slides from one key to off to the side or to another key.
19** ''[=DJMAX=] Ray'' -- [[DolledUpInstallment The sequel to Tap Sonic in all but name]], released in 2012 for iOS.
20** ''Tap Sonic World Champion'' -- Released in 2017, this installment visually resembles ''VideoGame/{{Deemo}}'' with variable-sized notes and diagonal slide notes.
21** ''Tap Sonic Top'' -- Also released in 2017, this installment is closer to ''VideoGame/LoveLiveSchoolIdolFestival'' than its parent series, complete with a button layout resembling the former and an emphasis on [[AllegedlyFreeGame requiring gacha pulls for the best ranks]].
22** ''Tap Sonic BOLD'' -- Released on Platform/{{Steam}} on October 2018 (but technically still in Early Access), ''BOLD'' eschews the usual touch screen gameplay in favor of a home row key layout (SDF and JKL), much like the original ''[=DJMAX=] Online'' and ''[=DJMAX=] Trilogy''.
23* ''[=DJMAX=] Respect'' -- The first ''[=DJMAX=]'' game to be released on home consoles. The title of the game is meant to pay “respect” to the creators of the original [=DJMAX=] game, as well as the fans who have been waiting for a new entry in the series, and serve as a "revival" of the franchise. The studio is hopeful this will have high sales, which would mean more entries. So far the songlist includes all songs from the first 2 Portable games as well as some originals. Songs from the other games in the series will be released as DLC.
24** ''Trilogy'' Pack - A DLC add-on that adds songs that were first introduced in its namesake game. Also adds one ''Trilogy''-themed gear skin and main menu theme. Lastly, one new song for ''Respect'', "Nevermind", is also added to the song list.
25** ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' Pack - Originally a PreOrderBonus exclusive to the Japanese version, this pack is the first of many third-party collaborations. Adds three songs from the series - two songs from the ''Guilty Gear Xrd'' series and one from ''Guilty Gear 2: Overture''. Also adds a gear skin and note skin, both named "GUILTY".
26** ''Clazziquai Edition'' Pack - Adds most songs from ''Clazziquai Edition'', minus a few non-Clazziquai licensed songs [[note]]Mutu, Touchin' My Body, Motion, DARK ENVY, Hard to Start[[/note]]. Also adds one new gear skin and note skin based on the song "First Kiss", which was not in the original ''Clazziquai Edition''. This pack also comes with one new ''Respect'' song, "Rising the Sonic".
27** ''Technika'' Pack - Adds songs from the first ''Technika'' game, a ''Technika''-themed UI skin, a gear skin based on "Son of Sun", and one new song for ''Respect'', "Do You Want It".
28** ''Black Square'' Pack - Adds songs from ''Black Square'', one gear skin based on the music video from "Fermion", and one new ''Respect'' song, "ANALYS". The patch that made this DLC available also added two songs free of charge - "Always" (new to ''Respect'') and "Fly Away" (from ''Technika Q'').
29** ''VideoGame/GirlsFrontline'' Pack - The second third-party collaboration. Adds three songs from the titular game along with multiple note and gear skins themed after various factions. The DLC also comes with a menu UI skin that is modeled after the mobile game's main menu.
30** ''Technika 2'' Pack - Adds songs introduced in ''Technika 2'', a ''Technika 2'' UI skin, a gear skin based on the song "D2", and one new ''Respect'' song, "End of Mythology".
31** Christmas 2018 - [[https://www.facebook.com/DJMAXglobalofficial/posts/968181646715008?__tn__=C-R Patch 1.20]] added one new song from ''Tap Sonic Top'', "Tok! Tok! Tok!", as well as a ''Tap Sonic Top'' gear and note skin, all free of charge.
32** ''Technika 3'' Pack - Adds ''Technika 3'' songs, a gear skin, a UI skin, and a new song for the ''Respect'' tab, "Alice". Unusually, the new gear skin is based off the new song rather than a ''Technika 3'' song.
33** ''VideoGame/GrooveCoaster'' Pack - Adds [[https://www.reddit.com/r/djmax/comments/bw9lnw/djmax_x_groove_coaster_jun5th_gmt_0900/ ten songs]] from the franchise, a main menu theme, and a gear skin (with fancy TronLines appearing whenever Fever is activated). Unlike the other collab DLC packs, this one is priced closer to the main series of DLC to match its content (14,800 ''won''), and is the first of many to be treated as such.
34** ''VideoGame/{{Deemo}}'' Pack - Adds [[https://i.imgur.com/v8NHQ6b.jpg ten songs]], a main menu theme, and a gear skin resembling a piano. The same patch also added two songs free of charge for all players - "Over Your Dream", ''Trilogy''[='=]s opening theme, and "Void", one of ''VideoGame/BraveNine''[='=]s opening themes.
35* ''[=DJMAX=] Respect V'' -- An UpdatedRerelease of ''[=DJMAX=] Respect'' for Platform/{{Steam}}, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvRIC9Vx7BY teased]] on November 2019, with [[https://youtu.be/2-x8-QbKGUA?t=1812 the official trailer]] following shortly after. Released as an Early Access title on December 19, 2019, with the official release sometime in Q1 2020. Mostly a direct port of ''Respect''[='=]s base game, save for the returning [[HarderThanHard Super Crazy difficulty]], which features charts designed specifically for keyboards. The game also supports 7 player online play, a la ''[=DJMAX=] Online'', and a 1v1 "Ladder Match" mode that forces both players to play a song of the game's choosing. Lastly, the new "Air Mode" adds a ''Website/NicoNicoDouga''-like chat overlay over the music video, and an optional Autoplay mode can be enabled, should the player simply wish to socialize with their audience. This particular version was later released for Platform/XboxOne on July 7th, 2022, and was also added to the Xbox Game Pass lineup.
36** ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' Pack -- ''Respect V''[='=]s first DLC pack, featuring two songs from the game, "Get Jinxed" and "POP/STARS", along with a [=LoL=]-themed gear skin and note skin. Exclusive to ''V'' due to licensing issues.
37** ''Emotional Sense'' Pack -- A small DLC pack consisting of eight songs from ''[=DJMAX=] Online'', containing a mix of returning songs and songs not represented by any prior [=DJMAX=] game besides ''Online''.
38** ''V'' Extension Pack -- DLC pack featuring 20 songs. Unlike prior mainline [=DLCs=], this one is mostly comprised of original music and [[RequiredSpinoffCrossover crossover songs]] from ''TAP SONIC BOLD''. Also includes new missions and a UI and gear skin based off of one of the new songs, "Dream It".
39** "The Clear Blue Sky" Pack -- Despite its price point of $9.99, this pack actually contains ''no'' songs, only a gear skin, note skin, and nameplate based on the titular song. This pack coincided with the re-release of the ''Clazziquai Edition'' DLC for ''Respect V''.
40** ''VideoGame/{{Cytus}}'' Pack -- Contains 12 songs from the first ''Cytus'' game, with its main menu skin, gear skin, note skin and music videos being themed after ''VideoGame/CytusII''.
41** ''VideoGame/{{Chunithm}}'' Pack -- Crosses over six songs from the titular game series as well as a ''Chunithm''-themed main menu theme, gear skin and note skin.
42** ''Portable 3'' Pack -- Ports 22 songs from ''DJMAX Portable 3'', two remixes of 'glory day' from Mintorment and JHS, a "Hanz Up" themed skin, and a ''Portable 3'' main menu theme. The game's remix mode also makes a return as part of the pack's new missions. Finally, it came with a new song, a licensed song and an "Online" song for free.
43** ''[=ESTiMATE=]'' Pack -- A small DLC pack that adds five songs composed by series regular [=ESTi=]. It also includes its own original main menu theme and a gear skin based on the music video for one of the DLC's songs, "Obelisque".
44** Creator/{{Nexon}} Pack -- A DLC pack containing 21 songs representing a good number of Nexon's games.[[labelnote:List]]''VideoGame/BlueArchive'', ''VideoGame/DungeonFighterOnline'', ''[[https://kartrider.nexon.net/en/announce KartRider]]'', ''VideoGame/{{Mabinogi}}'', ''[[VideoGame/{{Vindictus}} Mabinogi Heroes]]'', ''VideoGame/MapleStory'', ''VideoGame/MapleStory2'', ''[[http://www.nexustk.com/ NEXUS: The Kingdom of the Winds]]'', ''[[http://tales.nexon.com/ Talesweaver]]''[[/labelnote]] Also includes a Nexon-themed main menu skin and gear skin.
45** ''V'' Extension 2 Pack -- Contains 20 original songs from both new and returning artists, plus a main menu theme, note skin and gear skin centered around the game's two mascot characters, Clear and Fail.
46** ''VideoGame/MuseDash'' Pack -- Contains 15 songs from ''Muse Dash'', plus a main menu theme, gear skin, note skin, and combo font themed after the game.
47** ''Technika Tune & Q'' Pack -- Contains 19 songs from ''Technika Tune'' and ''Technika Q'', plus a Respect-exclusive track by Paul Bazooka. It also includes a main menu theme, note skin, and gear skin mainly based off of ''Q''.
48
49In December of 2008, [[http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.konami-korea.kr%2Fannounce%2Fannounce_081224.html&sl=ko&tl=en Konami filed a lawsuit against Pentavision]] for infringing on {{Creator/Konami}}'s patents with the ''[=DJMAX=]'' series. While Konami had successfully used lawsuits to terminate ''[=Ez2DJ=]'' and ''[[VideoGame/DanceDanceRevolution In The Groove]]'', it doesn't look like anything progressed in Konami's favor. The two corporations settled out of court, apparently letting Pentavision off the hook and Konami retaining the rights to distribute ''Technika'' in Japan.
50
51Eventaually, Pentavision was bought by Neowiz sometime before Clazziquai Edition, and sadly, it marked the fall of the franchise. While each installment was still well regarded and highly praised, eventually Neowiz dissolved Pentavision assigning everyone to different areas. Planned DLC for Technika Tune was dropped and Neowiz switched development to focus only on mobile games. Thankfully Techinika Q is getting new updates, and hopefully averted for good if Respect sells well enough.
52
53Though it should be noted that the [=DJMAX=] team has quit Neowiz, and have created Nurijoy. Under this new name, the team created two {{Spiritual Successor}}s to [=DJMAX=]. One is known as Beatcraft CYCLON, an arcade game that has gameplay similar to VideoGame/{{maimai}}. The other is called Superbeat XONIC for the PS Vita (which contains all the songs from CYCLON plus a few new ones, and songs from Creator/ArcSystemWorks games), which Nurijoy released worldwide. A version of XONIC on Platform/PlayStation4 and Platform/XboxOne (with a Platform/NintendoSwitch version upcoming as indicated by the ESRB's website) with all the Vita version's DLC songs (minus the Arcsys songs, and Rackin Gravity, which the latter was later added as free DLC), and new DLC to be released as well, with the Switch version getting the first 2 packs free.
54
55NOTE: Due to the similarities and them being [[SpiritualSuccessor successors to the series,]] please put all tropes from ''Beatcraft CYCLON'', ''Superbeat XONIC'' and ''Tap Sonic'' here.
56
57-----
58!!TRY YOUR ABILITY! DO IT!
59* AllThereInTheManual: The names of ''Respect'''s {{Mascot}} characters, Play and (El) Clear (and her DarkerAndEdgier counterpart, Fail), are only mentioned on the [=PlayStation=] Network store in avatar names and in-game DLC concept art.
60* {{Animesque}}: The vast majority of animated [=MVs=] feature an anime aesthetic despite being a Korean franchise.
61* AnnouncerChatter: While almost all games have this, they're usually relegated to the menus and the result screen, except the multiplayer battles, where it'll call out whenever you hit higher fever levels, overtake your opponent, or take a combo bonus.
62** ''Trilogy'' has the announcer comment when you reach certain combo milestones, and reach certain combo multipliers (As a part of a "Live Mode" that you can turn off) as well as your grade in the results screen.
63** ''Ray'' has the announcer call out the Fever level when it is activated.
64** ''Respect'' has no announcer whatsoever, except in its ''Portable 2'' and ''Trilogy''-themed DLC menus, and even then, it's only on the main menu. Interestingly, Black Square's announcer is also present when choosing which button mode to play in Arcade Mode.
65* AntiFrustrationFeatures:
66** Holding a note for too long will simply give you a MAX 1% instead of a Break. ''Black Square'' and ''Clazziquai Edition'' have the "Easy Long" effector that makes these overheld notes 100% instead.
67** In ''Trilogy'' and ''Respect,'' The player's freestyle combo counter doesn't reset when restarting a song, unlike past games where one had to [[SaveScumming reset the game]] to preserve their combo, and even then, it didn't work for Portable or Portable 2. (It still gets reset when ''switching'' songs in ''Respect'', though you can change freely in ''Trilogy.'')
68** In ''Trilogy'', going up to x3 or x4 Fever will increase your speed multiplier to the next step, unless you are already at speed x5.0 or above, in which case your speed multiplier will not be affected.
69** Everything can be unlocked at some point simply by racking up the number of songs played, avoiding [[PermanentlyMissableContent impossible-to-unlock]] songs (For example, in ''Respect'', unlocking MASAI for playing 10 online matches when the lack of a [[Platform/PlayStationNetwork PlayStation Plus]] subscription makes that impossible).
70** In ''Respect'', The final song in mission mode, [[spoiler:We're All Gonna Die [[HarderThanHard XB (10 buttons)]]]], is preceded by a mission unlocked right before it with relatively easier [[spoiler:XB]] notecharts, giving players a chance to get used to the gimmick. There's also a popup briefly illustrating what [[spoiler:L2 and R2 notes]] will look like in-game, so nobody is caught by surprise. Other missions with a possibly UnexpectedGameplayChange have similar popups, like the [=4BFX=] and [=5BFX=] songs in the ''Clazziquai Edition'' and ''Black Square'' packs and the [[spoiler:TB]] songs in the ''Technika'' packs.
71** Several collaborations songs with 200+ BPM, such as music from xi, t+pazolite and [[VideoGame/GuiltyGear Daisuke Ishiwatari]] had their BPM changed to half of the original so that players didn't have to deal with insane scroll speeds.
72** Respect has had a number of quality-of-life changes added over its various patches:
73*** One update saves the Hi Speed option you last used on a specific song so you won't have to change it whenever you change the song. If the speed is different from the saved one, or if there is none saved, it'll be grayed out on the options menu.
74*** v1.08 added the ability to favorite songs by pressing R3 and have easy access to them from the Favorites tab in Freestyle mode.
75*** The ''Black Square'' patch (v1.14) [[https://www.facebook.com/DJMAXglobalofficial/posts/844829639050210 added a truckload of them]], with notable changes revolving around mission mode - players can practice individual songs they've seen at least once (very handy for mission-exclusive button modes) and restarting a mission places the player at the beginning of the current song rather than at the beginning of the mission's playlist.
76*** The Arcade mode song list was changed from a fix selection to [[RandomNumberGod random songs]] per stage in order to make "play 3 songs from the same game" Trophies not UnintentionallyUnwinnable.
77*** The ''VideoGame/GrooveCoaster'' update moved {{Crossover}} songs in Freestyle mode from the rather lengthy ''Respect'' tab to its own dedicated "Collaboration" tab to make them easier to find.
78*** An update added song categories to the rather lengthy Freestyle list of songs.
79*** By turning off the "Freestyle Combo" toggle, you can freeze your current combo and then pick it back up later by turning it back on.
80** ''Respect V'' threw a bone to both ends of the CasualCompetitiveConflict. For the casual end, there are 7 player lobbies and "Air Mode" which facilitates socializing, and for the competitive end, the 1v1 multiplayer from ''Respect'' was expanded upon to include stat tracking and a more structured best-of-three match format.
81* TheArtifact: Charts in ''Respect'' are designed with the assumption that one will be using the stock [=PS4=] controller to play, and as such certain combinations of keys will not appear (for example, left+right) unless modifiers that alter the chart (such as Random) are enabled. ''Respect V'' has these charts largely unmodified, with only the ''V''-[[VersionExclusiveContent exclusive]] charts and songs (most notably the [[HarderThanHard Super Crazy]] charts) having patterns that work fine on keyboard but would not on a gamepad.
82* AscendedMeme: Enemy Storm SP/MX in ''Technika'' was [[ThatOneBoss so reviled]] that in the background video for "Raise Me Up", a character can be seen screaming "ENEMY STORM SP PATTERN IS DIRTY I HATE THAT PLEASE HELP ME".
83* AffectionateParody: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUtBq5okZls Someone at Pentavision]] was playing too much ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' when making the BG animation for Showdown. The titular Showdown is even subtitled "Farming in Midlane", poking fun at the jungle grinding aspect of [=MOBAs=].
84* AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever: ''Respect V''[='=]s opening video has Fail turning into a giant monster and decimating the Game Graveyard from ''Respect''. Clear goes on to fight the thing, while Play is cowering helplessly behind some gravestones watching the battle unfold.
85* AttractMode: ''Technika 2'' has a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYEu5c7Hlr0 very interactive attract demo]].
86* AwesomeButImpractical: Fever in ''Technika 2''. Normally, green [=MAXes=] have the point value of rainbow [=MAXes=] but minus 1 point. In Fever, you get 1 point of Fever bonus for each green MAX you hit basically making it a rainbow MAX. Useful for reaching 300,000 points, the maximum score for a song. The impracticality comes in trying to activate Fever while dealing with a lot of notes, probably messing up your play for what's basically a tiny amount of additional points. Even one COOL renders the bonus useless, as it's not enough to offset the potential score lost.
87** Plus, Fever mode is disabled in Crew Race. Any Fever bonus is disregarded when submitting a course for Crew Race, so there's really little point in activating Fever if you're making such a course.
88** Auto Fever mode pre-Respect. It does ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin, auto activating Fever when the gauge is filled. However, it lowers the rate the gauge is filled, making it harder to chain Fevers together, something ''vital'' to getting high scores in the game! While you can totally play the game without any regards to score, just focusing on combos or accuracy, for example, you might as well play it with the option turned off, if possible.
89** The ability to build up Fevers in CE and BS. This essentially means that instead of unleashing a fever after the gauge is full, you can fill it up again to make it so that you can go straight to Fever 3, instead, and so on. However, it becomes harder to fill after you fill it up the first time, plus it makes it more difficult to score more points until then. Not to mention the Fever 7 effector in BS prevents you from doing this period. This was probably why this mechanic didn't stick after the games, since it didn't appear in Hottunes or Fever.
90* BalanceBuff: Auto Fever was improved in ''Respect'' to no longer have a penalty to the rate at which the Fever gauge increases.
91* BeachEpisode: The Season 2 RewardsPass in ''Respect V'', appropriately released during the summer of 2021, is themed around this. All of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdFdIyvkTVc its cosmetics]] are beach-themed in some way, and the unlockable main menu theme has Clear, Fail and Play stand in for various characters featured in beach-themed music videos found throughout the game.
92* BlindIdiotTranslation:
93** The English language options in every ''[=DJMAX=]'' game. And then there's any number of songs with English lyrics or text in the vids, such as "Fallen Angel": [[{{Narm}} "Don't walk you away!"]]
94** WordofGod stated that the team aimed for accurate translations with the international release of ''Portable 3''. However, there are a few typos in the menu, and the videos still had their Engrish text.
95** ''Tap Sonic Top'' is plagued by grammar errors and figures of speech that are interpreted [[LiteralMinded too literally]], from the loading screen tips to the story mode. Also, character and location names are inexplicably rendered in [[CapsLock ALL CAPS]].
96* BossRush: The Conqueror Set (sort of); all of the songs that can be used for the first 3 stages are boss songs from other Technical sets.
97* {{Bowdlerization}}:
98** The MV for Funky People was originally more smoother animated, but it also had large homosexual overtones, so the US version is changed although some of the original appears in the Song Select and MV screens.
99** When "Dreadnought" was resurrected in ''Respect'', it got a completely new music video due to the original video being a mockery of former U.S. President George W. Bush.
100** [[https://youtu.be/7OlWE_I9gCE The original MV of Vortex]] for [=DJMAX=] Technika Q has animated red blood sprite and amputations in the scene when the heroine on the carriage slayed zombies using her chainsaw, finally the game released version have put a mosaic filter of zombie body part scattering scenes and the red blood sprites removed with particle bits of black dots.
101* BrandX: In ''Respect V'', the Platform/PlayStationPortable that was depicted on loading screens for ''Portable'', ''Portable 2'' and ''Portable 3'' songs [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1vDHHA7tos had its design genericized.]]
102* BribingYourWayToVictory
103** A very, very mild example in ''Respect'' - the "glory day"-themed gear and note skins are awarded as a BraggingRightsReward for clearing 60 missions. Considering how NintendoHard those missions eventually get, this is no small feat. Fortunately, the game is pretty LiteralMinded and counts the comparatively easier DLC missions for the unlock requirement.
104** A more straightforward (but still relatively mild) example would be the [[https://twitter.com/DJMAX_global/status/1011791353011826689 "Unlock All Songs" DLC]] for ''Respect'', which automatically unlocks every song and mission in the base game.
105** ''Tap Sonic Top'' plays this trope completely straight. Like [[VideoGame/LoveLiveSchoolIdolFestival the game it borrows heavily from]], the player's score is determined by the number of points each Star in their unit gives, plus whatever skills they may have, with priority often going to score-increasing and accuracy-increasing skills. Unsurprisingly, the best Stars [[RandomNumberGod only come once in a blue moon in the Star Casting gacha]].
106** Also specifically parodied in the background video for "Don't Die". A mobile gamer is playing a phone RPG, but then falls into the pitfall of microtransactions to revive their character, and [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome subsequently draining the bank account dry]].
107* BruceLeeClone: The star of the Astro Fight and Kung Brother [=MVs=].
108* TheCameo: Lots of [=MVs=] in the [=DJMAX=] universe contain characters and references from previous songs. Examples include:
109** The "Taekwonburi" duck as a statue in the background of "Son of Sun".
110** The "Hard to Start" apple on a book in "First Kiss".
111*** The "Hard To Start" faces appear in Lite Mode for ''Technika''... even in the International version, in which [[CutSong the song was cut due to licensing issues.]]
112** "NB Power" in ''Portable 2'' is chock full of cameos, from the "Light House" animals to "Ladymade Star" + "[=STORM=]".
113** Remixing mode in ''Portable 3'' is full of this, sampling songs from all over the series (including ''Portable 3'' itself).
114** The current background for "Cherokee" borrows the background sky from "Rain+", a song exclusive to the Korean version of Online. It also includes several references to "Electro Sensibilibity", another Online exclusive.
115** "Blythe" references (amongst others) "Ask the Wind", "Piano Concerto No.1", "Eternal Memory", "Luv Flow", "Enemy Storm", "Triple [=ZOE=]" and "[=OUT LAW=]". There are even references to ''VideoGame/{{EZ2DJ}}'' music videos like [[https://youtu.be/8Uakbdb8vxw the black haired girl with a katana (Named Santa Fe) from Black Market]], [[https://youtu.be/uKnj37E1k-I Hayate (the pink haired girl agent) from Tokyo 9 P.M.]] and [[https://youtu.be/QnwDrawvKf0 Caroline (the girl with semi long black hair) from JMJ]] - all three songs' music videos were illustrated by D, like Blythe itself was.
116** "Hello Pinky" has Pinky turning into characters from "Ask to Wind" and "Luv Flow".
117** "[=BEE-U-TIFUL=]" from ''Technika 2'' follows suit, with references to the wolves from both parts of "Proposed, Flower, Wolf", the aforementioned "[=BlythE=]", "Dark Envy", "Eternal Fantasy" and even a few of the series' composers.
118** "Glory Day" in ''Respect'', the game's opening song, as well as "Black Cat", has characters from several [=MVs=] rising from a "Game Graveyard". The most obvious one and the one with the most screentime is a zombified El, the girl who appears as the "lead singer" in ''Portable'''s opening movie. According to WordOfGod (and some unlockable ''Clazziquai Edition'' DLC gallery pictures), the "Glory Day" version of El is called El Clear, while the ''Black Cat'' version is called El Fail, and the girl with the witch hat is called Play.
119*** El Clear and Play exploring the graveyard take InstantCosplaySurprise up a notch and flat out replace certain characters in a quick montage of old [=MVs=] at the end of the video.
120*** Those [[FreezeFrameBonus with a keen eye]] will notice that the gravestones are marked with a variety of artist and illustrator names throughout the series's history.
121*** The "Game Graveyard" also appears in the menu's 8 button background, with the gravestones engraved with Portable 1, Portable 2, Portable 3, and Technika.
122** The MV for "Rolling Girl" has the seal penguin... thing from "Raise Me Up".
123** ''Respect'' has gear and notes based on almost all of the previous entries, excluding ''Ray'' and ''Online''. Trilogy's skin requires the DLC. There's even UI skins for the title screen!
124** Outside of the ''DJMAX'' series, ''Tap Sonic Top'' has a few ''DJMAX'' characters appear as Stars the player can use. Namely, Suee from "I Want You" ([[SpellMyNameWithAnS as Sui]]), the two girls in the music video for ''In My Heart'' (as Shirley and Lupine, [[ArtShift in their original art style, no less]]), the "Taekwonburi" duck (as Hip Duck), and El Clear from the aforementioned "glory day".
125** The music videos for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtEmR9zdTGY "glory day (Mintorment Remix)"]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fdu3kT2aAi4 "glory day (JHS Remix)"]] are basically one large ClipShow featuring various music videos throughout the series, including from ''Respect V'' and its promotional trailers.
126** The music video for [[VideoGame/{{Chunithm}} Trrricksters!!]] is similar to the glory day remixes above, with a decidedly VHS like SelfDeprecation vibe.
127* CanonDiscontinuity: ''Respect'' does not seem to acknowledge ''DJMAX Online''. Tracks that debuted in ''Online'' instead are categorized by the next oldest they appeared in (for example, "Miles" first appeared in ''Online'', but it did not appear again until in ''Portable 2'', so it's classified as a ''Portable 2'' track). ''Respect V'' eventually rectified this by introducing the ''Emotional Sense'' DLC (and retroactively offered for ''Respect''), and it's meager offering of eight songs just goes to show how few ''Online'' songs were left unrepresented by either game by then.
128* CensoredForComedy: Some DLC missions in ''Respect'' use a gameplay modifier that causes the screen to get more and more pixellated the higher the player's combo climbs. A later update made this a Fader modifier in other game modes, calling it "Pixel". There's also a "Pixel 2" modifier that makes the pixellation ''even worse'', to the point where the game looks like something that came out of the Platform/Atari2600 era. Playing anything harder than 4 button mode becomes an exercise in futility when everything is an unidentifiable, jumbled mess.
129* ComebackMechanic: ''Portable 2's'' multiplayer mode causes the losing player's fever gauge to increase at a faster rate, while the winning player's has their fever rate reduced.
130* TheComputerIsALyingBastard: In ''Online'', the BPM for "ON" is listed as 72. However, the chart scrolls as if it's a 144 BPM song, causing unexpectly fast scroll speeds for many players.[[note]]This is likely to [[AntiFrustrationFeatures prevent the chart from scrolling far too slowly for most players even at x5 speed]].[[/note]] Recitified in ''Respect'', where it has a display BPM of 144 to match the scroll BPM.
131* {{Crossover}}:
132** ''Respect''[='=]s initial song list has two (eventually three) songs that cross over from other games that [[RequiredSpinoffCrossover fall under Neowiz's publishing umbrella]]. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXSaYsP_vME "The Lost Story"]] is lifted straight from the now-defunct ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bless_Online Bless Online]]''[='=]s OST, complete with gameplay footage from said game as its music video, while Lena from ''Tap Sonic Top'' appears [[FreezeFrameBonus very briefly]] in [[https://youtu.be/FJiWn8TMP08?t=100 "Don't Die"]]. One of Lena's [[ImageSong image songs]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbYBwOsnoh4 "Tok! Tok! Tok!"]], is also in the game. There's also the ''V'' Extension Pack in ''Respect V'', which has ''TAP SONIC BOLD'' songs mixed in. Last, but not least, Lena gets a fully animated appearance in the music video for "U-NIVUS", a ''TAP SONIC BOLD'' song found in the [=ESTiMATE=] DLC pack.
133** Both ''Superbeat [=XONiC=]'' and ''Respect'' feature ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' songs as DLC. The crossover even extends into the gameplay elements, with the GG gear skin's health bar being exactly as it appears in ''Guilty Gear Xrd'' and the GG note skin's visual effects using the same ones that appear when landing a hit in ''Xrd''.
134** ''Respect'' also has a ''VideoGame/GirlsFrontline''-themed DLC. Like the ''Guilty Gear'' crossover above, the crossover extends into the gameplay elements, with the G&K Girls gear skin [[https://youtu.be/c_FStAV1dQo?t=40 changing the featured character portraits into their "critically damaged" versions]] when the player has less than full health.
135** Starting from ''Respect'''s second year of support, Neowiz and Rocky Studio seem hellbent on [[UltimateShowdownOfUltimateDestiny crossing over with every popular East Asian music game under the sun]]. The full list of these crossovers is in the game list at the top of this page. In preparation for an ever-expanding list of crossover songs, the patch that introduced the ''Groove Coaster'' pack added a "Collaboration" tab to Freestyle mode.
136** Creator/{{Sega}} has included at least two songs from ''Respect'' in ''VideoGame/{{maimai}}'' (no word yet on whether this will be reciprocated by Neowiz).
137** ''VideoGame/{{Cytus}}'' ''α'' released with an unlockable [=DJMAX=] [[https://cytus.fandom.com/wiki/Chapter_DJMAX chapter]] containing ten songs spanning the series from ''Portable 1'' to ''Respect''. The favor was eventually returned in ''Respect'' with the ''Cytus'' Pack DLC, featuring songs from the first ''Cytus'' and a UI based on ''Cytus II''.
138** ''VideoGame/GrooveCoaster'' received "U.A.D." and "Don't Die" upon the release of ''4EX'', with a later event adding "I Want You", "Fermion", "Oblivion", and "Glory Day", as well as letting you unlock El Clear, El Fail, and Suee as avatars and navigators. ''Respect'' received a DLC pack containing 10 songs, and a UI, note, and gear skin.
139* CopyProtection:
140** Trilogy comes with a USB drive, which contains data needed to run the installation and the game itself, as well as save data.
141** The ''Portable'' games, save for Portable 1 and its International Version, have a feature that won't load save data if it wasn't on the PSP it was created on.
142** ''Portable 2'' (and, by extension, ''Fever'') has a particularly memorable one - if the game detects that you're not playing on official PSP firmware (e.g. homebrew or on an emulator), the game [[https://www.reddit.com/r/djmax/comments/k3whqj/djmax_fevers_antipiracy_measures_couldnt_find/ becomes an increasingly glitchy mess]] until it just flat out freezes.
143** ''Clazziquai Edition'', ''Black Square'' and ''Portable 3'' reportedly attempted to delete the PSP's ISO and seplugins folders as part of its anti-piracy measures.[[note]]Those folders hold game executables and homebrew code, respectively, which would deal a huge blow to people who don't remember to back up their data.[[/note]]
144** ''Respect'' doesn't inherently have copy protection by itself, but as a digital-only console game, it still becomes unavailable to play on non-primary [=PS4s=] that don't have an Internet connection to verify ownership with.
145** ''Respect V'' requires a persistent internet connection to Platform/{{Steam}} to play, even in single-player. The game also refuses to continue running if its bundled anti-cheat software, [=XIGNCODE3=], is tampered with.
146* DarkerAndEdgier: "Black Cat's" [=MV=] is exactly like "Glory Day", but El is a bit more sinister. The crown and ''Respect'' logo are more red in the video, as well.
147* DesignStudentsOrgasm:
148** A few different [=MVs=] qualify, but "Kensei" is a beautiful, colorful mess of typography and vector graphics.
149** "BLACK GOLD" isn't nearly as colorful (as the title implies), but focuses on an elaborate Art-Deco pattern that gets increasingly, ''incredibly'' complex as time goes on.
150* DiscOneNuke: In ''Trilogy'', reaching Level 24 unlocks a mission that in turn, upon completion, unlocks one of the best pieces of equipment you can buy: the LPG Note. Its enhancements are +2 in Tech (the judgment window) and +3 in Fever ([[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin which increases the rate the Fever gauge is filled]]). With it, acquiring SSS ranks becomes a complete breeze. Not only that, but getting to that level is much easier than it seems, and in addition, the mission is not that difficult to pass at all.
151* DistractedByTheSexy: Some songs' videos feature some pretty hot ladies, which might make you stare at them instead of the notes you're supposed to be playing.
152* DoWellButNotPerfect:
153** Several discs in ''Portable'' and ''Portable 2'' require getting a particular Rate on a track, such as [[NumberOfTheBeast 66.0-66.9%]] or [[LuckySeven 77.0-77.9%]]. One disc in particular requires you to have ''less than 10%'', and it still counts as this trope because your Rate is nullified if your LifeMeter drains out.
154** ''Trilogy'' has the Self-Injury mission, which requires the player to clear each song with an accuracy rating between 60-70%.
155** ''SUPERBEAT [=XONiC=]'' has several missions where the player needs to get to the end of the course with ''more than'' a set number of Breaks.
156* DoublePlay: One of the instructional cabinet attachments for ''Technika 2'' explains that in addition to using Duo Mixing as a 2-player mode, you can also play both sides by yourself.
157* DoubleUnlock:
158** ''Portable 2'', ''Fever'', and ''Trilogy'' have you leveling up and completing missions to unlock new characters, interface styles, and notes... or rather, ''the right to unlock them''! You then have to use Gold to be able to use them.
159** ''Trilogy'' is the worst example of this. You'll need to complete many different songs just to get the gold and points needed to unlock ''one'' avatar, let a lone notes and gear! Not to mention that you need to buy songs, but at least those are the cheapest unlocks...
160* DramaticDisappearingDisplay: On some songs in ''Clazziquai Edition'' and ''Black Square'', there are note-free sections in which the HUD vanishes, giving you a clear view of a climatic part of the song's MV.
161* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
162** ''Online'' is far different from the later games:
163*** There's no 4- or 6-button modes, due to the game being designed around keyboards.
164*** 5- and 7- button modes have cosmetic configurations designed around using the spacebar for the center column, and only one key can be mapped to center. The next two PC ''DJMAX'' games instead have two regular keys used for the center column in odd-number button modes.
165*** There's no Fever mode.
166*** Hold notes are counted as one note each.
167*** The default timing windows are stricter.
168*** You have to pay a fee to play MX and SC charts.
169*** When playing MX and SC charts, pressing keys without notes to hit results in a "FAULT" judgement that decreases your health.
170*** There are two receptables that are positioned at the last two columns you hit. Notes that land in these receptables without being pressed will become MAX 1%'s.
171*** There are missions you can play in which, among other things, you have to avoid "mine" notes that decrease your health a lot if hit (keep the aforementioned receptables in mind!).
172** From ''Portable 1'':
173*** Still no Fever mode or combo inflation with hold notes.
174*** There's no level system, and there's nothing to spend your MAX currency on. Instead, you get unlocks as you build up MAX, making it effectively a form of ExperiencePoints.
175*** There's no mission mode; the closest there is is courses of several songs in a row.
176*** It is the only PSP ''DJMAX'' game to lack some sort of protection against copied saves.
177** ''Online'', the first two ''Portable'' games, and ''Trilogy'' use background animations that are rendered in real time, saving on storage space at the expense of higher CPU usage and limitations imposed by hardware and the game engine. ''Clazziquai Edition'' onwards, as well as songs introduced in ''Trilogy'' updates, instead use video files, allowing for a greater range of visual styles.
178** ''Technika'' also lacked Fever, instead having the options to boost music and note sounds. Its [[ScoringPoints scoring system]] was also different, not having a basic scoring cap of 300,000 points, making higher note charts ''imperative'' to getting a high score.
179* EarnYourFun:
180** With the exception of Portable 1, you need to play songs in ''Arcade/Stage Mode'' to unlock it in Free Style. ''Trilogy'' unlocks the song for every mode once cleared in stage, but you'll need to unlock each song in each button mode separately in ''Portable''.
181** Portable 3 requires you to unlock the ''Hard Style'' charts by clearing ''Normal Style'' charts first, provided the song has one to begin with. Same goes for ''Turntable Sets'' to unlock a song's ''Sampler Set'' chart, and ''Workstation Sets'' require you to clear a specific mission or unlock it via leveling up.
182** ''Respect'' requires you to unlock the song itself to play it in Free Style, but most of the songs are available to play in Arcade Mode from the start.
183** ''Technika'''s unlocks are temporary; unlock a song or course via a Platinum Crew mission and you'll get three chances to play it. Once you're out of chances, you have to unlock it again, via the same manner. From ''Technika 2'' onwards, unlocks were made permanent.
184* EasierThanEasy:
185** On ''Technika'' machines with Platinum Crew enabled, charts on Lite Mode have [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvUXXSnqjE0 three lanes]] instead of four.
186** A fanmade chart makes fun of this by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZuiEAy8jOs having only one lane of notes]].
187** It may have become a FakeDifficulty due to the notes not fully on beat with the wipe, so it can get a bit difficult the first time for people who already play ''Technika'' if they decide to give Lite Mode a shot.
188** ''Clazziaquai Edition'' has a 2 button mode.
189** ''Portable 3'' had 3.2 Trax, where both the main chart and the remixing segments are controlled with the same three buttons to ease players into the game's exclusive Remix Mode gimmick.
190* EasyModeMockery:
191** The "Easy" difficulties from ''Portable 2'' onward. While it'll increase the judgement window, as well as make the life meter more lenient to mistakes, it locks you at Level 30, decreases how many points you earn, and prevent you from unlocking certain songs on free play. Games after ''Portable 2'' remove the level and song unlock limit, but they still dock you points, so you might as well just stick to Normal Mode unless you're ''really'' struggling.
192** Using Auto Fever (With exception to ''Respect'') lowers the rate at which the Fever Gauge increases.
193* ElegantGothicLolita: Featured in the music videos of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-sP0lVFi14 Oblivion]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vhIi7FiWgw Heart of Witch]].
194* EveryEpisodeEnding: Almost every installment in the series closes out an Arcade Mode run with a ten-second snippet of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9qN4t1Zw9k "Yo Max"]].
195* EverythingsBetterWithRainbows:
196** ''DJ Max Technika 2''. From the teaser to actual gameplay, ''DJ Max Technika 2'' just SCREAMS this. This extends even to the ''Technika 2''-themed note and gear in ''Respect'', replacing blue notes with rainbow ones and the normally black background with a rainbow splash.
197** With the opening of the Crew Race online system, players can buy items to modify the game interface... ''and this includes notes with rainbow-colored explosions.''
198* FanService: Elle's CleavageWindow on the box art of ''Portable 2'', panty shots in the animation for "Memory of Beach," JigglePhysics in "Star Fish"'s animation, just to name a few examples...
199* FakeDifficulty:
200** ''Technika'''s Technical/Club mode requires you to finish the first stage with more than 75% life, the second stage with more than 50%, and the third stage with more than 25%. When you combine this with a LifeMeter that gets harder to recover each stage...
201** Some missions [[InterfaceScrew screws around with the notes and the gear, sometimes in the form of effectors that activate/deactivate when Fever occurs, or just ones that aren't regularly selectable at all.]] Hope you enjoy having your gear constantly shift back and forth or have it ''[[SpectacularSpinning spin in a circle!]]''
202** ''SUPERBEAT [=XONiC=]'' on Switch, due to the Switch's controller not being horizontally symmetrical (the left stick is above the D-pad/buttons, the right stick is ''below'' the ABXY diamond), meaning that it's easy to shift your thumbs in the wrong direction and miss directional notes as a result. You'll have to purchase a symmetrical third-party controller to get around this.
203** Some of the series' installments [[DifficultyByAcceleration crank up the scroll speed]] as your Fever multiplier goes up. Usually, it goes up by 0.5x at 4x or 5x Fever. ''Portable 3'' takes this a step further by increasing it by ''another'' 0.5x at 7x Fever, making it necessary to start a song at a slower scroll speed than one may be uncomfortable with (or just [[TakeAThirdOption unequipping the 7x Fever]] to sidestep the issue completely). Fortunately, ''Trilogy'' and ''Respect'' completely drop this mechanic.
204** In the older games, the timing windows are tied to track BPM, rather than being based on a timer. The faster a song is, the more accurate you have to be for a MAX 100%.
205* FakeOutFadeOut: ''Out Law'' does this. It seems to end, but the final verse of the song occurs after about a second of dead air.
206* FlawlessVictory:
207** Most games in the series acknowledge hitting every note with a Max Combo [[AnnouncerChatter announcement]] at the end of a song. [[ZigzaggedTrope Zigzagged]] in that it's possible to get a Max Combo [[DoWellButNotPerfect with blatant disregard to accuracy]], since a Max Combo [[ExactWords really just means "missing zero notes"]].
208** Played straighter in some of the later games, where a 100% accuracy rating is marked by either [[RankInflation an S+ rank]] (''Clazziquai Edition'', ''Black Square'', and ''Portable 3'') or a "Perfect Play" image (''Respect'').
209* ForegoneConclusion: In ''[[https://youtu.be/D7eAytiBtlQ Divine Service]]'' MV, the fans expected Joe Nevious (the main protagonist) [[spoiler:to die at the end and reunited with his wife in the afterlife]], after the beginning shows that [[spoiler:Joe’s wife was already passed away]] and the ending shows that [[spoiler:Joe was dying after his severe injuries resulted after a struggle to defeat a demonically possessed deceased man]]. It’s confirmed to be true, the WordOfGod from MV artist, [[https://twitter.com/grandyoukan S.R. (a.k.a. Grandyoukan)]] stated that in a form of ''[[https://youtu.be/PW685B-kwLY An Old Story]]'' from [[VideoGame/{{EZ2DJ}} [=EZ2ON=]]], the continuation for ''Divine Service''. Also it’s confirmed that he’s the same guy from former song mentioned above.
210* FranchiseCodifier: ''DJMAX Online'' is the first game in the series and [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness is markedly different from subsequent games]], being an [[AllegedlyFreeGame "free-to-play"]] MMO-infrastructure game with a "last two keys to be pressed will auto-play notes for MAX 1%" mechanic and a 7-lane mode that would be rarely used in later installments. ''DJMAX Portable'' sets the formula for many subsequent games by being a thumb-based game and being a retail product instead of an [=F2P=] MMO, but still has a lot of the design DNA of ''Online''. ''DJMAX Portable 2'' establishes a lot of the series' current conventions such as [[SuperMode Fever mode]], Mike Blunck as the announcer, multi-song missions with objectives beyond just "clear the song", and the now-standard selection of 4-, 5-, 6-, and 8-button modes.
211* GameBreakingBug:
212** In ''Portable 2'', DEF UP gear actually ''reduces'' your defense (i.e. you lose more health when you miss notes).
213** In ''Clazziquai Edition'' and ''Black Square'', the current song will occasionally skip, becoming clearly out of sync with the chart. And just to make things more insulting for those who play with [=UMDs=], these bugs don't happen if you're using an ISO to play.
214** In ''[=DJMAX=] Trilogy'', "Remember" is ''off-sync to begin with.''
215** ''Portable 3'', at least the digital version, can cause the chart to go off sync when you pause or go into sleep mode.
216** An unknown bug in ''Portable 3'' creates an issue regarding unlocks from missions and the alternative method for obtaining them being playcount. If you reach a playcount number that would unlock something that a mission would also do, the game may bug out and you don't get the unlock. Even if you get the mission, the unlock will still not appear and is {{Permanently Missable|Content}}.
217** Inserting credits during ''Technika 2'''s tutorial attract demo can cause the machine to freeze up.
218** Drag notes in ''Technika Tune'' have a nasty habit of randomly killing all the keysounds, leaving players with nothing but the background music for the remainder of the song. Doubly so if a drag note shows up with a hold note.
219** ''Respect'' had a few, although they've long since been fixed by patches. One annoying bug that was around during the game's launch turned MAX 90% through MAX 10% judgements into MAX 1%, making high accuracy clears harder than they really should've been.
220** ''Respect V''[='=]s launch reportedly had some players being completely unable to play the game as it would consistently crash with certain video cards, although thankfully it was fixed during the first week of Early Access.
221** The ''Protable 3'' DLC added a few new bugs to ''Respect'', such as the game crashing when quitting out of a favourited song, and the remix charts in Mission Mode not remapping the scroll speed buttons if they were remapped.
222* GetOut: A song title.
223* GreenEyedMonster:
224** The NB Rangers ("NB" being a {{pun}} on "envy"). A group of men presumably unable to get themselves significant others, they spend their days putting on {{Sentai}} transformations and beating the loving hell out of couples. The NB Girls are similar in origin, but their methods involve trickery and causing couples to break up due to the resulting [[PoorCommunicationKills miscommunication]]; at least the Rangers make it obvious that it's them causing trouble.
225** Despite both these games aren’t made by Neowiz, VideoGame/{{O2Jam}} and VideoGame/{{EZ2DJ}} (now [=EZ2AC=]) also have their own envy-based squads, [=O2Jam=] has their own SpiritualSuccessor, [[https://youtu.be/VrEXFyQ7t4Q Couple Breaking]], Where the girl in the middle of the eyecatch image is implied to be the leader or founder of the envious squad where her underlings are victims of being forever-single men. While [=EZ2DJ=] has [[https://youtu.be/QYA7u880ne0 Envy Mask]] as a predecessor of NB Rangers, who is a solitary envious superhero who will ruin every couple’s life when he saw a couple... and he even becomes [[TheCameo a cameo]] in [=DJMAX=]’s [[https://youtu.be/1A9UUCXHeFc NB Power BGA!]]
226* GroinAttack: In "NB Rangers: Returns", [[spoiler:NB Red is about to show off his affections to the villain (a woman wearing a pink version of the NB Rangers outfit, presumably some sort of warrior of romance) when all of the other Rangers kick him in the crotch ''all at once'']].
227* GuideDangIt:
228** Unlocking Heart of Witch in ''[=DJMAX=] Trilogy.'' In Free mode, break your combo at 2011.
229** One of the AntiFrustrationFeatures in ''Respect'' allows you to dim the background with the touch pad, though the game didn’t tell you this until a later update added a tip that can appear in the loading screen, [[SubvertedTrope subverting]] this example.
230** The ''Technika'' DLC for ''Respect'' has a trophy that involves clearing all songs with a [[{{Retraux}} TB]] pattern at least once. Problem is, the last stage's song selection is pretty iffy, unlike the more straightforward ''Technika'', since you can't pick the songs you want to play in ''Respect'''s mission mode - making it unnecessarily hard to even ''get to'' every TB song. [[spoiler:[[https://www.reddit.com/r/djmax/comments/87x8le/anyone_figured_out_how_to_get_both_songs_in/dwgfogb/ Turns out it relies on whether the combo counter is odd or even.]] ]]
231* HardModePerks: ''Hard Mode'', in most games past ''Portable 2'', is a setting in the options menu that makes the timing window stricter, as well as ''severely'' increase the damage taken to your life bar, but it not only gives you more points, it will allow you to play 8 button mode (and in Portable 3's case, 6.2 Trax) before you unlock them on Normal Play, which takes quite a bit of level grinding.
232* HarderThanHard:
233** MX (Maximum) and SC (Super Crazy) in ''Online'', ''Trilogy'', and ''Respect V'' MX and RD (Redesign) in ''Portable'', SP (Special Pattern) in ''Technika'', and WS (Workstation Set) in ''Portable 3''. SC Style in ''Respect V'' deserves a special mention, as while existing charts are designed not to break the limitations of the [=PS4=] controller (such as no simultaneous left+right or square+O), SC charts can and will throw any kind of chord at you since keyboards are not bound by the same ergonomic restrictions. ''Respect V'' eventually introduced a new rating scale for SC Charts since the regular 1-15 difficulty scale doesn't, let alone cannot, properly represent their difficulty. For example, what used to be 11 on the normal scale for SC is now a '''1''' in the SC scale.
234** ''[=DJMAX=] Respect'' has 6 songs in Mission mode that's [[spoiler:in "XB" mode. As in 10 button mode. It's like the 8 button mode, [[OhCrap except with L2 and R2 on top of that]]. Granted, the first 5 are mainly there [[AntiFrustrationFeatures to get the player used to the mode]], but they're still pretty complex.]]
235* HaveANiceDeath:
236** "YOU NEED MORE PRACTICE! NEVER GIVE IT UP!"
237** ''Technika 2'' and ''3'' go with the more [[BrutalHonesty brutally honest]] "YOU FAILED! GAME OVER!"
238** ''Ray's'' announcer tells you to "TRY AGAIN!"
239** ''Superbeat XONIC'' tells you "STAGE FAILED"
240* InconsistentDub: "Ask to Wind" was originally called "Ask the Wind" in the International Version of ''Portable.'' ''Trilogy's'' is the worst for this in terms of the titles originally written in Korean, like "Every Morning" into "Morning Person", as well as "Ask to Wind" being called "Ask to the Wind", among others.
241* IdiosyncraticDifficultyLevels: This series has quite a few...
242** ''Online'', ''Portable'', and ''Trilogy'' had Normal Style (NM), Hard Style (HD), Maximum Style (MX), Super Crazy Style (SC; ''Online'', ''Trilogy'', and ''Respect V'' only) and Redesign (RD; ''Portable'' games only).
243** The original ''Technika'' had the difficulties based on the modes: Lite Pattern (LP), Popular Pattern (PP), Technical Pattern (TP), and Special Pattern (SP). They could only be played on their respective mode.
244*** Later arcade variations use the original difficulty names, and let you change the difficulty regardless of mode..
245** ''Portable 3's'' Remix Mode used Turntable Set (TS), Sampler Set (SS), and Workstation Set (WS).
246** ''Technika Tune'' once again used the game modes for difficulties: Star, Pop, and Club, and they could only be played on their respective mode and Free Style.
247** ''Technika Q'' had Original, Premium, and Signature. They could also be played on 2 or 3 lines.
248*** The reboot of ''Q'' averts this with Normal, Hard, and Expert, though the 2, 3 and, for certain songs, 4 lanes are still available.
249* IdolSinger: The IdenticalTwins starring the ''Ladymade Star'' [=MV=] are this.
250* LaterInstallmentWeirdness:
251** '' Clazziquai Edition'' and ''Black Square'' had many differences.
252*** First ''Portable'' games to have full motion videos.
253*** Replaced ''Mission'' with a ''Club'' mode, where you go through in game clubs to earn songs, gear, notes, and effectors.
254*** Changed the analog notes so they do not have to be spun, though it's still the best way to hit them.
255*** You can build up Fevers before activating them, as well as limited to 3 in Clazziquai Edition, and up to 7 (Though it can't be built up) in Black Square. They also have auto variations, [[EasyModeMockery but the gauge will go up more slowly when using them.]]
256*** Notes, Gear, and Characters are purely cosmetic. The Auto bonus is a separate effector.
257*** Effectors, with the exception of the basic speed ones, are locked until you unlock them in Club Mode, whereas previously, they were available from the start.
258*** 8b has been renamed to 6bFX, so as not to confuse it with 4bFX (Left, up, Triangle, Square, L, and R) that's in the game. (6bFX is only available in Black Square)
259*** The only game with 2 button mode. (Clazziquai only)
260** ''Portable 3'' has many differences, as well.
261*** Removed the ability to build fevers up.
262*** Like ''CE'' and ''BS'', the Notes and Gear are cosmetic. Unlike those games, however, characters have abilities, once again. 2 characters can be equipped at once to balance out the lack of bonuses on Notes and Gear.
263*** Speaking of abilities, ''Auto Fever'' and ''Fever Plus'' (Increases the maximum Fever level to 7x) have been added to characters.
264*** The shop system has been replaced by a random drop system when you level up. Clearing a mission gets you that item immediately.
265*** ''MV Edition'', ''OST'', and ''Album'' are merged into a ''Lounge'' menu.
266*** Removed Analog notes completely.
267*** The ''Buttons'' have been renamed to ''Trax''. 5 and 8 button modes have been removed.
268*** Added the ''Remix Mode'' in ''3.2'', ''4.2'', and ''6.2'' Trax modes, which allows you to remix the music with the analog stick.
269*** MX (Maximum Style) is absent.
270*** With exception to the basic Speed modifier, you need to unlock the different [[SelfImposedChallenge effectors]].
271** ''Technika Tune'' also had plenty of differences.
272*** First game in the Technika subseries that isn't an arcade game.
273*** Only has 3 lanes instead of 4, due to the Vita's size.
274*** Note Skins and Characters have bonuses, like ''Portable.''
275*** The difficulty names have been renamed to ''Star, Pop,'' and ''Club''.
276** And then there's ''Respect...''
277*** The first, and so far, only [=DJMAX=] game on a [[Platform/PlayStation4 console.]]
278*** Once again, Gear and Notes are cosmetic.
279*** Completely removed [[AnnouncerChatter announcer from the menus]]. (The {{Retraux}} DLC main menus still have it on their title screens, though.)
280*** Fever can be turned off altogether or set to auto, similar to ''BS'' and ''CE''.
281*** Fever also got a few tweaks. It's no longer a score multiplier like usual, but you no longer need to get Max 100% to fill the gauge. Any judgement works. Auto also doesn't decrease the rate the Fever gauge fills, but you can't strategically use it while it's on.
282*** The "Auto" modifier, which automatically hits a certain number of missed notes, was removed completely. Good luck with missions requiring high combo counts!
283*** The "Mirror" modifier, which [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin mirrored the chart from left to right]], and the "Random" modifier, which [[LuckBasedMission shuffled the song's notes around]], were both also removed - probably to dodge the issue of attempting to press left and right on the [[Platform/PlayStation4 DualShock 4]]'s d-pad at the same time.
284*** The caps for level and combo have been increased.
285*** [[ScoringPoints Scoring]] got drastically reworked, most likely for a fairer multiplayer experience. Like ''Technika,'' every song scores exactly 300,000 points at 100% accuracy and no Fever usage, no matter how many notes are in the song. 5x Fever and 100% tends to average 320,000 to 350,000 depending on the song.
286*** [[spoiler:The first, and so far only game featuring the XB mode, only available in the last two missions of the game]]
287*** While all songs are unlocked in Arcade mode, playing it there won't unlock it in Freestyle, like before. You need to fulfill an accomplishment of some kind to unlock the song for Free Style.
288*** The only game so far to have paid DLC. (''Technika Tune'' on the Platform/PlayStationVita was supposed to have it too, [[WhatCouldHaveBeen but that got canned]].)
289* LevelGrinding: ''Portable 2'' and ''Trilogy'' had you unlocking some things (including songs) through a level system.
290** ''Portable 3'' dialed this up to eleven, with the first unlockable song appearing at ''Level 30'', not including the RNG you need to get it. Enjoy your 30-song songlist for the first 10+ hours.
291** ''Technika'''s Platinum Crew works the same way, with the DJ level determining the bonus Max Points acquired and the Challenge Missions that become available.
292** The tradition continues on in ''Respect'', with songs and missions becoming available at certain levels.
293* LicensedGame:
294** ''[=DJMAX=] Portable Clazziquai Edition''. Interestingly, like the single-band-centric ''VideoGame/GuitarHero'' games, Clazziquai isn't the only licensed band to appear in the game; other licensed musicians include [=015B=], Garion, and Cooly's Hot Box.
295** Clazziquai and company would appear again in ''Technika'' and ''Respect''.
296** ''Technika 3'' brings us songs from Music/{{KARA}} and ''Liberty Music Trax''.
297* LivingToys: The MV for Seeker is full of this trope
298* LuckBasedMission:
299** The Randomizer Set in ''Technika'', which randomly picks 4 songs for you to play. Somehow, it has local and international leaderboards, so getting a high-scoring set is a matter of praying that you get songs with high note counts.
300** Games with Mission Modes typically have at least one mission that randomly chooses songs for you.
301* MomentKiller: The NB Rangers are a group of {{Sentai}} "heroes" who ''intentionally'' cause this for couples, often in violent ways. Several of their music videos show them going after and attacking couples on dates, such as kicking away and burning the flowers a man hands his girlfriend, or bumping a couple's heads together as they're about to kiss.
302* MoreDeadlyThanTheMale: The NB Girls. Sure, the NB Rangers use violence on couples, but at most, the couples just find them a pain in the ass and presumably go back to enjoying each other's company. The Girls, on the other hand, manipulate the environment around couples in order to create miscommunication scenarios that lead to couples breaking up, without ever knowing why, for example, that bottle of perfume the boy gifted ended up being feces-scented or why that other woman got a photo message from her boyfriend of some other woman. The Girls also easily kick the Rangers out, as if to show them who's the real masters of envy.
303* {{Multiplayer}}:
304** ''Portable 2'', ''Black Square'', ''Clazziquai Edition'', ''Fever'', and ''Hot Tunes'' allow a two player battle mode.
305** ''Trilogy'' and ''Online'' allow more than 2 players in a lobby, but only the latter allows you to play with all players at once.
306** ''Respect'' allows online ''and'' local multiplayer modes
307** ''Technika 2'' had two variants:
308*** Duo Mixing is CoOpMultiplayer, in which the screen is split into two and the two players have their own parts to play with the music. [[SelfImposedChallenge The option to play by one's self with both screens is available.]]
309*** Crew Race is MetaMultiplayer, where players challenge various courses set up by other players. Crews are formed with up to 10 members each, and they all race to top the leaderboards of the best crews by earning Crew Points, which are earned for simply playing or beating a crew's course (which is created by a crew member's best Pop Mixing set and score).
310* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: [[ThatOneBoss "D2"]] stands for "Dance of Death".
311** Technika 3's hardest club set is called "Fatality". If its name doesn't make you run, then maybe its skull-filled logo will.
312** "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin We're All Gonna Die]]" in ''Respect''. [[spoiler:The hardest version of it appears in Mission mode, with a playlist of other songs throughout the series that are notorious for being ThatOneBoss. It's also the hardest song in the game utilizing the mission-only [[HarderThanHard XB (10 button) mode]].]]
313* {{Nerf}}: Fever in ''Respect'' was considerably toned down in ''Respect V'' to have a much smaller bonus multiplier, and the base score before Fever bonus is additionally increased to 350,000, with a "good" score being around 370,000 points (as opposed to 300,000 base max score and about 350,000-370,000 when using Fever in the original ''Respect''). Fever is also disabled entirely in Ladder matches, removing the implicit combo bonus aspect of versus multiplayer.
314* NintendoHard:
315** Pretty much any song in any game that's level 11 or higher. Before the release of ''Clazziquai Edition'', the highest possible difficulty was 12. [[SerialEscalation Nowadays, it's 15.]]
316** ''[=DJMAX=] Technika 2'''s Crew Race mode. [[ComplacentGamingSyndrome Most of the crew courses so far consist of level 8-10 songs]], so good luck passing any of them. Barring that, good luck beating any crews' scores, unless you've been playing for many months.
317*** Except if you know where to look. Sometimes crews design [[SelfImposedChallenge "Low Score Attack"]] courses, wherein the director of the course intentionally got as ''low'' a score as they could without failing. Challengers are intended to try and score even lower, but the game still counts a higher score as a win and a lower score as a loss. As an added bonus, the extra challenge of skirting failure encourages the players making these courses to use easier songs than they normally would play. However, there are also low score sets which use those 8-10 difficulty songs people have been avoiding, and some crews even use effectors in such courses, sometimes in conjunction with these high-tier songs.
318* NoEnding: The [=MV=] of "[[https://youtu.be/ifrUmkn8Oz0 My Jealousy]]" ends with the image consists of title of the song itself with the silhouette image of Marin (the blue angel girl) right after the scene where [[spoiler:Marin [[DivingSave rushed in to rescue the man (whom she always follow) when the truck was moving fast towards him on the street and he helplessly stared at the truck]]]]. Leading many fans to guess the ending by their own interpretations if [[spoiler:the man survives, thanks to Marin or she fails to save him]].
319* NoFairCheating:
320** ''Portable 3'' doesn't allow you to do missions with ''Fever'' requirements while Auto Fever's equipped, but the lower rate that the Fever gauge fills while it's equipped makes it harder, if not impossible, to obtain, anyway.
321** ''Respect'' locks you into Manual Fever for missions that allow it.
322* NonIndicativeDifficulty:
323** Some of the SP charts in ''Technika'' are ''easier'' than their TP counterparts. "HEXAD" [SP] is regarded by some to be easier than [TP] as a result of the easier beginning and ending.
324** Compare "End of the Moonlight" [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf7aIvPIJ4o TP]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRdzqzrzu9E SP]].
325* NotTheIntendedUse: Air Mode in ''Respect V'' has an [[GameplayAutomation autoplay]] mode that can be switched on and off at will and is primarily intended as a tool for more social ''DJMAX'' players to interact with their audience. However, players soon found out that all Air Mode songs still net EXP, even if the whole song was on autoplay. Certain players took advantage of this by leaving the game on autoplay for hours and coming back to a level 99 account, unlocking all of the songs with virtually no effort on their part.
326* OhCrap: Encountering a song that players either find very difficult or are unfamiliar with as a boss in Technika's Randomizer set will evoke this. Even if you play a set consisting of nothing but NM charts, you might be unlucky enough to run into something like Cypher Gate MX.
327** In ''Technika Tune'', starting up the Club version of "Emblem" may invoke this, as it moves 2.5x as fast as its Star and Pop charts.
328** The Three-Lane Signature/Expert chart in ''Q'' for "Leave Me Alone" is a similar case, with the timeline scrolling at a speed that matches the song's actual BPM in the chorus.
329** How about getting to the penultimate mission in ''Respect'' and feasting your eyes on [[spoiler:XB mode (10 buttons)! And even that doesn't compare to ''We're All Gonna Die's'' chart in the last missions...]]
330* OldSaveBonus: This series has quite a few examples, often in the form of a "Link Disc" feature:
331** Owners of ''Portable 2'' and ''Portable 1'' can play the latter's songs using the former's game mechanics.
332** Similarly, owners of both ''Black Square'' and ''Clazziquai Edition'' can play ''CE'' songs with ''BS'''s game mechanics, complete with new MX and 8 button charts (which the original ''CE'' lacked both of). Running any of the other prior games through the Link Disc feature nets the player some exclusive unlockables in both ''CE'' and ''BS''.
333** The patch that brought the ''Black Square'' DLC for ''Respect'' introduced a few extended versions of existing DLC songs, depending on which DLC packs the player already owns. [[spoiler:There's also a hidden set of "White Disc" and "Black Disc" missions unlocked when players complete all of the ''Clazziquai'' and ''Black Square'' missions.]]
334* OneStatToRuleThemAll: Auto in the ''Portable'' games; it determines how many Breaks (missed notes) will be converted to MAX 1%. A MAX 1% is only marginally better than a Break in terms of contributing to your accuracy rating, but at least it doesn't break combo, in a series where several elements (namely Fever mode and score multipliers) rely on maintaining a combo. This carries over to ''SUPERBEAT [=XONiC=]'', where the Shield stat is Auto in all but name and missing a single note not only kicks you out of Fever mode if you're in it but also takes away the 10,000-point All Combo bonus. Shield also trivializes Break- and combo-related missions, as you regain all of your Shield at the start of each new song (for example, if you're using a 30-Shield character, and you're playing a three-stage mission, you can go a total of ''90 Breaks'' and still All Combo the entire thing).
335* OptionalBoss:
336** In ''Technika'', if you can get 95% MAX judgment overall in Technical mode for the first three songs (not 95% for each), you can play a different boss song than you normally would. For example, you would normally get "Come To Me" as a boss song in First Step, but achieving 95% MAX will give you "Lover" instead.
337*** The Conquerer Set has ''two'' bonus bosses. The first one, "Thor" [Technical] , is unlocked at 95%. The second one, "[=BlythE=]" [Technikal] is unlocked at 98%.
338*** However, some songs' alternate bosses actually have ''less notes'', so you deliberately need to avoid getting a high enough accuracy to play the higher scoring song.
339** ''Technika 2'' changed the way bonus songs appeared. Instead of requiring 95% MAX, it is based on which songs are selected to play within each set. The songs are "numbered" from 1-6 based on the order they are listed in the set. Each set has a total number related to the difficulty, such as First Step having an 11. If the three songs chosen total to a number below that set number, the first boss song is chosen. If the total is equal or higher, the second boss song is chosen.
340** ''Technika 3'' has (or had) a true Bonus Boss: a 2011 rendition of Supersonic (of S4 League fame). It's playable in one of two ways: as a boss in the Sound Lab Club Mixing set or in one of the three Summer Special Missions.
341** ''Respect'' has a couple:
342*** Under certain (currently unknown) conditions, Mulch will appear on the third stage of 8B Arcade Mode.
343*** The ''Black Square'' DLC has this with the mission "Enter the Rocky Studio". [[spoiler:After completing the mission proper, players get a shot at Son of Sun [[MarathonLevel (Extended Mix)]] [[HarderThanHard XB]]. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e34Yf88OCJI See it in action here.]] ]]
344* OverlyLongGag:
345** The ending of "The Guilty".
346** The second half of "[[VideoGame/S4League SuperSonic]] (Mr. Funky Remix)" consists almost entirely of "SUPERSONIC!"
347* PaintingTheFourthWall: The splash screen for "Ventilator" in ''Respect'' is rendered entirily like the video, including the generic ''Trilogy'' backdrop.
348* PerfectPlayAI: VS AI missions in ''Respect''. The AI works the same way the AI in VideoGame/StepMania does[[labelnote:*]]for those curious, [[https://github.com/stepmania/stepmania/blob/master/Data/AI.ini here]] is some details about it[[/labelnote]] - it [[AIRoulette randomly misses notes]] based on a percent chance. Unfortunately, in the one and only VS AI mission in the base game, that percent chance is ''zero'' and the player would have to Max Combo every song in the playlist just to have a chance at winning. Fortunately, it's averted in [=DLCs=]; one mission in the ''Trilogy'' pack has an AI that breaks its combo often (it's even lampshaded by being explicitly called an AI prototype), and another in the ''Black Square'' pack that only breaks its combo when the player does to give some semblance of an even match.
349* ProductPlacement: In the Korean, Japanese and East Asian versions of ''Respect'', the song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeNk6oN65dY "Only On"]] can be downloaded for free. You know, just in case it wasn't obvious what [[Platform/PlayStation4 platform]] the game was on.
350* RandomlyDrops: The leveling system in Portable 3 works differently. Instead of currency, every level up lets you choose one of 3 blocks, which contains either a new note, a new gear, a new character, a new MV, a new background, or a new song, though, some unlockables require you to reach a specific level, first. Once the player reaches the level cap of 99, any locked items are immediately unlocked.
351* RandomEvent: In ''Respect'', when picking certain songs, there is a small (about 10%) chance that the BGA will be replaced with an alternate one, usually an older BGA of the track (like in "[=WhiteBlue=]") or an unused version (like in "A Lie"). Achieving a Max Combo or Perfect Play on the song unlocks the BGA in the Collection.[[note]]If you drop your combo, you can just restart to try again, since the game rolls for the hidden BGA upon song selection rather than every time you play.[[/note]]
352* RealLifeWritesThePlot: The last two missions of the ''Clazziquai Edition'' DLC in ''Respect'' have song lists that are based off the tournament and live concert held during the DJMAX G-STAR 2017 event.
353* RequiredSpinoffCrossover: ''Respect'' has a few songs from the GaidenGame series ''Tap Sonic''. Entries from the earlier games (e.g. ''TOP'' and ''World Champion'') have slowly been added to the base game over the years, while ''Respect''[='=]s V Extension DLC has a number of songs from ''Tap Sonic BOLD'', the latest game from the series at the time.
354* {{Retraux}}:
355** A number of games in the series has gear skins that are lifted almost wholesale from older entries' default gear skins. ''Respect'' takes this to its logical conclusion, being a celebration of the entire series in game form - main menu themes, truckloads of gear and note skins, and a song list that represents every game.
356** The DLC missions in ''Respect'' feature gameplay throwbacks to their namesake game whenever possible.
357*** The ''Clazziquai'' pack has a few missions that are played in 4BFX mode[[note]]4B with L1 and R1[[/note]].
358*** The ''Technika'' pack has [[spoiler:TB charts, which [[https://youtu.be/Bf3hV5qF6J8?t=4235 have a UI similar to the real Technika]], with a Superbeat [=XONiC=] control scheme standing in for the touch controls. It even shows your profile information in the top left corner of the screen]]. The ''Technika 2'', ''Technika 3'', and ''Technika Tune & Q'' packs [[spoiler:bring the concept closer to the authentic arcade experience by adding in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESCuKe0KHtA joystick-controlled "drag" notes and one bar of Fever]] like the original game. These missions even make it so the judgment line moves and the notes don't, unlike the ''Technika'' missions.]]
359*** The ''Black Square''' pack has one mission that brings back all of the RD (Redesign) songs from the original ''Black Square'', sounding exactly as they did in its namesake game.
360*** The ''Portable 3'' pack has six missions revolving around said game's remix mode.
361** ''Respect V''[='=]s first RewardsPass has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmEP29yLfOQ all manner of]] ''Portable 1'' and ''Online''-themed cosmetics on its premium rewards track, including a ''Portable 1'' combo and judgment font, the "RG MK-3" skin (a pearl white skin styled after an [=MP3=] player), an ''Online''-themed note skin, and even a whole ''Portable 1''-style main menu theme as its final unlock.
362* RewardsPass: ''Respect V''[='=]s [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Htn1TXp4hFY Season 1 Update]] added one, offering an assortment of gear skins, note skins, profile customizations, emoticons, and combo fonts (a new addition to ''Respect V''). The paid rewards track gives more of the same.
363* SequelSong:
364** "Proposed, Flower, Wolf" and "[=HeartBeat=]" have sequels, labeled "Part 2".
365** "Never Die" is a direct follow-up to "Don't Die", with the same composer, BGA artist, and genre.
366* SerialEscalation:
367** Thought Customizer Set in ''Technika'' was the end of the game's challenges? Well, thanks to the Platinum Crew system, you can unlock even more agonizing courses, such as the Challenger Set and the Conqueror Set. The latter of which consists ''entirely of boss songs.''
368** Thought "Son of Sun" was the fastest a chart could go? [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_yVCYoo0bo "D2"]] is 75% faster than "Son of Sun".
369** How hard can the Crew Race missions get? Take level 8-10 songs, and add forced mods.
370* ShoutOut:
371** Besides the [[TheCameo cameos]], {{shout out}}s to other things not [=DJMAX=] appear in a few [=MVs=]. "Hanz Up" is notable, however, for having a ShoutOut to the song [[Music/ElectricSix "Gay Bar"]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1uiu3yUYUI in the MV]]; [[FreezeFrameBonus blink and you'll miss it]] (1:30).
372** The "NB Ranger" series music videos are an AffectionateParody of ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' and ''Franchise/PowerRangers''.
373** ''Trilogy''[='=]s "Ventilator" has a monochrome pixel art-styled video that looks a lot like [[TurnOfTheMillennium mid-2000s]] animated [=GIFs=] made in Easytoon, [[https://danbooru.donmai.us/posts/108934?tags=ren_%28multilockon%29 like this one]].
374** One to ''[=EZ2DJ=]'', the announcer will tell you [[HaveANiceDeath "You need more practice!"]] when you get a game over, similar to the tagline that shows up on the Game Over screen of the arcade game should you fail a stage.
375** ''[=DJMAX=] Respect'':
376*** The title screen prompts you to start the game with [[VideoGame/CallOfDutyAdvancedWarfare "Press X to Pay RESPECT"]].
377*** The line shows up again in the music video for "Don't Die" [[ItMakesSenseInContext right as a mobile gamer bows in front of a grave]]. Speaking of which, the entire video itself is one huge TakeThat at NintendoHard mobile games that are designed to sap the player's money through revival-based microtransactions.
378*** Mycin.T's "Groovin Up" is a homage to the general aesthetic of TheEighties, both in sound design and visuals.
379*** [=HAYAKO=]'s "U.A.D" does the same for video games, referencing ''VideoGame/DanceDanceRevolution'', ''VideoGame/PumpItUp'', ''VideoGame/{{Qix}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Twinbee}}'', ''Gals Panic'', ''VideoGame/BubbleBobble'', ''VideoGame/AceCombat'', and ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1''.
380*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mySRjt6BPR0 "ALiCE"]] is one huge homage to the concept of the MagicalGirlGenreDeconstruction. The song itself wouldn't sound out of place in a show of its genre, and the music video features a [[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica Madoka]] {{expy}} (and parts of the video evoke said show's surrealist animation), a DarkMagicalGirl [[Franchise/LyricalNanoha that needs rescuing]], and the Madoka expy [[Anime/YukiYunaIsAHero getting hospitalized by the end of the video]].
381*** One of the player titles awarded in ''V''[='=]s Season 2 RewardsPass is [[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventure "WRYYYYYYYYYYY!"]].
382* SocializationBonus:
383** ''Portable 2'' has ''Network Battle'' mode, which allows you to battle against another player. Doing this will allow you to play all songs, no matter how many you have yet to unlock, as well as play the normally Extra Stage Exclusive ''Your Own Miracle'' whenever you want. It's also how you unlock certain images without having to rack up play counts.
384** ''Respect'' has an entire category of unlockables dedicated to playing Online Matches. Once again, these can be obtained via Play Counts as well. Players can also play every DLC song while online even if they don't own the appropriate DLC pack, as long as their opponent picks the song for them. Open lobbies even show what DLC packs the host owns to facilitate this. This feature gets carried over to ''Respect V'', although it doesn't apply to the 7-player Lobby Mode.
385* SomeDexterityRequired: Obviously, since it's a music game. Notably, the games never had a dedicated controller, with part of the gameplay for the PSP titles being managing ''how'' to hit the buttons.
386** ''Respect'' has a more straightforward example. [[spoiler:XB mode. Good luck having your pointer fingers on L1 and R1, your middle fingers on L2 and R2, your thumbs on the face buttons, and trying desperately not to have the [=DualShock=] 4 controller slip through the remaining ring and pinky fingers.]]
387* SpiritualSuccessor: ''SUPERBEAT [=XONiC=]'' was this until ''[=DJMAX=] Respect'' was released; now ''[=XONiC=]'' is more of a GaidenGame.
388* StatusQuoIsGod: Don't expect any [=NB=] Rangers' member to have a girlfriend, because it will be [[YankTheDogsChain yanked out]] at the end.
389** The entire plot of the video of "Dark Envy" (of the ''NB Ranger'' series) is that NB Red has left the love-hating NB Rangers and found himself a girlfriend. Naturally, the remaining Rangers are ''pissed off'', transform, and beat the crap out of him. Red's new girlfriend, confused at all this, leaves him, leaving him dejected and rejoining the Rangers to fight romance once again.
390** "NB Ranger: Virgin Force" has NB Red doing his usual thing, although the rest of his team is suspiciously absent. After he gets chased out of town by an angry mob (supposedly his victims), he [[CrashIntoHello runs into a girl]] and has a brief ImagineSpot of living a relatively normal life with her, including [[BabiesEverAfter a kid]]. [[FloatingAdviceReminder Ghosts of his team]] show up to snap him out of his delusion and encourage NB Red to blast the girl with their superweapon. [[spoiler:Turns out she was actually a {{Kaiju}}, which NB Red and the ghosts of the others promptly fight with their HumongousMecha.]]
391* StockFootage:
392** Several songs in ''Technika'' share the same generic animation clips done by Kimys. It gets a little silly in "Thor"; its loading screen claims that the background animation was done by a different person, but when the song loads up, it's Kimys' generic clips that show up instead with a few shots of a sillhouette inside.
393** Most likely due to memory space issues, 8b mode in ''Portable 1'' and ''2'' use generic backgrounds instead of the usual [=MV=]s.
394** In ''Respect'' and ''Respect V'', the later DLC packs stopped including music videos in their compatibility data downloads (to enable their SocializationBonus). If a player has to play a song they don't own in Ranked Match, they'll most likely see the floating ''Respect'' logo on a gray background used for the random song selection "video".
395* StylisticSuck:
396** Manifests in the form of "Low Score Setlist". The players intentionally tries to score as low as possible without failing.
397** The MV for "Ventilator" in Trilogy has a similar style to stick fighting animations. When the song was brought back in ''Respect's'' Trilogy DLC, the ''splash screen'' gets a makeover in a crudely hand-drawn style, as well.
398** The hidden BGA for "NB Ranger: Virgin Force" [[spoiler:is just the normal BGA's storyboard]].
399* SuperMode: Fever mode. It's typically triggered manually by pressing a specific button when the Fever gauge is filled, and effects and behavior of Fever mode vary from game to game:
400** In the ''Portable'' games and ''Trilogy'', notes hit while in Fever mode contribute extra to your combo; a x2 Fever multiplier means each note hit will raise your combo by 2, x3 means each note hit will raise it by 3, etc. However, the specifics vary from game to game:
401*** In the ''Portable'' games, Fever drains on a timer, meaning that if you're in a section of the chart that's lacking in notes, you're wasting the duration. Additionally, once you get Fever to x4, [[FakeDifficulty your scroll multiplier will increase]].
402*** In ''Clazziquai Edition'' and ''Black Square'' with the Fever x5 setting, Fever gauges can be stacked and then deployed all at once (for example, you can charge up two Fever gauges and then deploy both at once to go straight to x3 Fever). In addition, the scroll rate increase will not kick in if you are using Fever x5.
403*** Also in ''Black Square'', you can change the maximum Fever multiplier from the traditional x5 to x7, but in exchange you won't be able to stock multiple Fever gauges. It also brings back the scroll rate increase, this time triggering when you reach x7.
404*** In ''Trilogy'', Fever's duration works based on how many notes it's been used on and judgements, rather than time, giving it an advantage on sparse sections but making it useless if you end up in a difficult section of the chart since your Fever duration will empty out almost immediately. Also, you not only get a speed increase at x4 Fever, but also x3, and after the patch that added speeds beyond 5.0, [[AntiFrustrationFeatures your speed won't increase if it's at 5.0 already]].
405** In ''Technika 2'' and ''3'', Fever makes your gauge recover more per note and adds 1 point for every green MAX judgement (100% of note value minus one point; a rainbow MAX instead just straight up gives 100% of note value), effectively serving as a shield against these imperfect [=MAXes=]. However, this also means that if you get even a single Cool, the Fever bonus becomes useless due to making up such a tiny fraction of your score (maximum 300,000).
406** In ''SUPERBEAT [=XONiC=]'', Fever is activated automatically, and basically doubles the points you get while it's active. It lasts until you get a BREAK, but characters with Fever Shield will protect Fever mode for up to a set number of Breaks.
407** In ''Respect'', it applies a subtle multiplier to the points earned from every note hit while it's active, the multiplier increasing with each Fever level (however, it is ''not'' equivalent to the current Fever level, it is much lower). It also inflates combo like in previous ''DJMAX'' games, but combo has no influence on scoring in this particular game.
408* TakeThat:
409** The MV for "Dreadnought" makes fun of UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush. When ''[=DJMAX=] Portable'' got an "International" release with English text, [[{{Bowdlerise}} it got replaced by "River Flow"]], didn't return ''[=DJMAX=] Trilogy'', then finally reappeared in ''[=DJMAX=] Respect'' with a completely different music video - [[https://youtu.be/8jkkoqX3ktA?t=695 in the middle of a big DJMAX tournament]], no less.
410** The music video for "Don't Die" is basically "How mobile games can ruin your life: The Music Video".
411* ThisIsGonnaSuck:
412** On the loading screen for ''Technika'''s Specialist Set, a [[TheMenInBlack Man in Black]] appears to take on three [[TheMenInBlack Men in Black]] with circular target-like things. On the screen for The Specialist Set 2, the same Men in Black faces against three monsters in suits, with sweatdrops of nervousness on his head.
413** A common reaction for ''Technika'' players doing Randomizer whenever [[ThatOneBoss That One Song]] decides to show up.
414* TitleDrop: ''[=DJMAX=] Technika'' 's subtitle is "Beyond the Future". Late into ''Technika'' 's "Platinum Crew" service, a song called "Beyond the Future" became available.
415* TooLongDidntDub:
416** When "Heartbeat/Flutter" was introduced in ''Portable 2'', the English translation simply left it as "Seoleim". "Taekwonburi" is a big example, since it has yet to get an English title since it first debuted.
417** The English version of "Fate" omits the bridge portion of the lyrics.
418** "[=XLASHER=]'s" music video only has Korean subtitles.
419* TrailersAlwaysSpoil:
420** The video for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RYTgFia0RU "Marionette"]] makes the assumption that ''DJMAX'' players [[LateArrivalSpoiler already know]] about [[spoiler:Elphelt]]'s FaceHeelTurn at the end of ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' ''[=Xrd=] ~SIGN~'' and prominently features said character's EvilCostumeSwitch.
421** In a similar fashion, the video for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RH_8HOfRmp4 "Frontline"]] casually spoils a ''truckload'' of major plot events from ''VideoGame/GirlsFrontline'''s campaign that weren't even released in the English version yet[[spoiler:, like [[TheHero M4A1]] post-CharacterDevelopment and in Team DEFY, said character's DarkAndTroubledPast as a war refugee, [[SacrificialLion AR-15]] being NotQuiteDead, and [[FaceHeelTurn Sangvis Ferri!M16A1]] in a FreezeFrameBonus]].
422* TrueFinalBoss:
423** ''Your Own Miracle'' in ''Portable 2'' has a Hard Style chart, but the requirements to play this version are unknown.
424** In ''Technika'' 's Technical/Club Mixing courses, if you fulfill certain requirements, you'll get an alternate fourth stage.
425** In ''Respect'', the song "Mulch" doesn't show up in stage 3 of 8B Arcade Mode unless you fulfill certain (currently unknown) requirements.
426* UncommonTime: ''VideoGame/GrooveCoaster''[='=]s "Got more raves?" is the only song in ''Respect''[='=]s entire song list that's in 5/4.
427* UnintentionallyUnwinnable: ''Respect'' has had a few day 1 DLC charts in the past that were impossible to [[FlawlessVictory Max Combo]] due to note placement. Namely, it was physically impossible to hit both left and right on the [=DualShock=] 4's d-pad at the same time, since they're not actually separate buttons. [[SubvertedTrope Some persistent players managed anyway]] by hitting one note, pausing and unpausing the game (which rewinds the song by 3 seconds), then hitting the other note. People with [[TakeAThirdOption a dedicated third-party controller or who remapped the buttons to accomodate the limitation]] had an even easier time working around this.
428* UniversalAdaptorCast: ''Respect''[='=]s mascot characters (Clear, Fail, and to a lesser extent Play) get this treatment in ''Respect V'', showing up in a number of music videos in the base game and ''V'' Extension Pack in a variety of art styles and settings.
429* UpdatedRerelease:
430** ''Portable 1'' got one in the form of ''DJMAX Portable International''. While the game is still Korea-only, it is designed to be imported, featuring Japanese and English language options. It also replaces the track "Dreadnought" with an entirely different one, "River Flow".
431** ''Respect V'' is this to the ''Respect''. It has a 7-player multiplayer mode and exclusive SC charts that are designed specifically for keyboards (notice that SC charts have patterns that would not work on a conventional gamepad, such as chords on columns 1 and 3 in 6- and 8-Button modes).
432* VersionExclusiveContent:
433** ''Respect'' on [=PS4=] has XB mode, which is not available on ''Respect V''.
434** ''Respect V'' has SC charts that are designed around keyboard play that are not in the [=PS4=] version, and the missions that have XB charts are replaced with entirely different missions.
435* VillainProtagonist: The "NB Ranger" series of songs features the titular rangers, who go around beating up couples out of [[MeaningfulName envy]].
436* VirtualYouTuber: The Season 7 RewardsPass in ''Respect V'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6l5_dDOLz2Y a main menu theme]], gear skin and note skin centered around the concept. Clear, Fail and ''Tapsonic TOP''[='=]s Lena are seen "streaming" on a [[BrandX nondescript streaming platform]], complete with UsefulNotes/Live2D animations.
437* VocalDissonance: "sO [=mUCH=] iN [=LUV=]" features 2 girls hanging out in its animation, yet JC, one of the vocalists for the song is male.
438* WakeUpCallBoss: "Area 7" in ''Technika'', which has notes that follow an awkward rhythm.
439* WrongfullyAttributed: In VideoGame/{{O2Jam}} [[https://www.facebook.com/854841154678889/posts/1050993638396972/?d=n collaboration song pack]] for [=TWC=], "Please Give Me a Lover" (“애인을 내려주세요“ in Korean) isn’t originated from [=O2Jam=] itself, but more like originated from one of [=O2Jam=] series game which has VideoGame/AuditionOnline style animations, called ''VideoGame/PopStage''. [[https://youtu.be/NNu2H4vVyas Watch this for the evidence, especially if you’re not Korean]].
440* XtremeKoolLetterz:
441** ''SUPERBEAT '''X'''[=ONiC=]''.
442** ''Respect V'', where the ''V'' seems apropos of nothing in particular. The game's debut developer livestream [[https://steamcommunity.com/app/960170/discussions/0/1754645970776271181/ (translated here)]] has the game's lead producer say that "V" stands for "versus", which was the main focus of this installment.
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