It involves timing and balance by having players use their feet instead of their hands like typical video games.

If they reach it, players step on the pad and the game will then judge the accuracy of the timing, ranging from "Perfect", "Great", "Good", "Boo", to "Miss".

An on-screen life meter, known as the Dance Gauge, begins halfway full at the start of each song.

If a player accumulates too many Boos or Misses, and the Dance Gauge becomes empty, the song fails and the game ends.

They also get a letter grade that is dependent on the judgments received during play, ranging from SS, all steps Perfect, to E, failure, which is only seen in Couple mode when the other player passes.

If players manage to pass all their songs a cumulative results screen is given, totaling the stats from all played stages.

Each difficulty is rated on a scale of 1 to 7, each labeled with a name: Simple (1), Average (2), Novice (3), Expert (4), Professional (5), Genuine (6), and Hero (7).

Another step code enables the "Mirror" option, which rotates each arrows to their opposite directions.

If they manage to fill the dance meter to maximum in Final Stage while playing Basic difficulty in Single Play, players will be granted access to Extra Stage, where they may choose another song set to Another difficulty.

A new song will also be added, which varies depending on whether players selected Normal or Hard modes.

After a playthrough ends, the game gives a code which can be inputted to the official website for high score purposes.

Finally, arrows now disappear within the Step Zone if players score Perfect or Great (the original version made no distinction regardless of timing), which has since become a staple in the series.

Through step codes, two players may also select different difficulty levels while playing in Versus and Couple modes.

This version came with a PlayStation memory card reader, installed in the middle of the arcade cabinet.

The game adds an "All Music" mode, making it the first time players can access the entire song list from the start.

However, these required different home games to produce different Link Data formats: 3rdMix, 4thMix, 4thMix Plus, 5thMix and New Version.

Soft, a replacement of Easy, activates the Little option permanently and only allows one song to be selected.

Couple Style has been replaced by Unison, where two players play a unified stepchart featuring parts where they have to step on the same direction at the same time.

2ndMix Mode is an updated recreation of DDR 2ndMix, featuring 37 songs in a 3rdMix interface and enables all three difficulties to be selected.

Other new options added include Sudden (arrows appear midway through while rising up towards the Step Zone, a reverse of Hidden) and Stealth (arrows are invisible, requiring memorization) 3rdMix was reissued as Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMix Plus on June 21, 2000.

This title, exclusive to Japan, adds 17 songs: three new DanceMania licenses, seven K-Pop tracks from VER.KOREA and seven Konami Originals.

[14] The first release in 1999 removed four new songs, made "Strictly Business" unavailable outside of 2ndMix mode and had a bug when trying to enter the Shuffle modification.

EuroMix with Internet Ranking and USA share four licenses and 15 Konami Originals in common, including two 3rdMix Plus tracks: "Love This Feelin'" and "TRIP MACHINE ～luv mix～".

After choosing a song, players will be prompted to select a difficulty level, instead of having to input step codes to toggle it.

Double Maniac stepchart has been added for songs lacking it in the previous game.

Finally, in Versus Play, players can access "Battle" stepcharts from the difficulty selection, which replaces Unison Mode.

An All Music category is added, enabling players to access the entire song list from the start.

This so-called "song wheel" interface would become a mainstay for many DDR games in the future.

Categories has also been removed, though characters are still selected through a dedicated menu after Play Style.

[28] The successful DDR series began with the 1998/1999 release of this game, and its popularity can be attributed to the innovative connection between a dancing stage and the need for the player to move their body to match the instructions on the screen.