Archive for the 'Flash Flash Revolution' Category
Songs of the Week (January 10th, 2013)
If the near-constant radio and television advertisements that have been taking up a disproportionately massive amount of airtime as of late haven’t already made you more than well aware, today marks the fiftieth anniversary of a day that will forever live on in FFR infamy. It all began as a routine celebration by the bourgeois and ruling classes, one to honor the traditional Christmastime festivities with a quaint twelve day-long song release event. At the beginning of the event the rest of the populous was enthusiastic enough, but as time grew on people began to grow increasingly wary. The songs, which were initially promised to be intended for all, resided at the upper end of the difficulty spectrum and were often times inaccessible to the lower rung of society due to outlandish unlock requirements. When it seemed that all was lost, a ray of hope appeared in the form of a secretive sect comprised of both the working class as well as a select few from the upper echelon who were displeased with how their contemporaries were running their beloved country. The group’s scheme to topple the oppressive regime quickly gained momentum and within a matter of days they had earned nearly unanimous support. It was then, on the eve of the final release, that the Synthlight Castle was treated to a violent uprising. Flames engulfed what was once a proud and noble structure, effectively reducing centuries of history and cherished memories into nothing more than a smoldering pile of darkened ash and formless rubble. Blood tainted Dance2 Avenue a vibrant crimson, and the disembodied heads of all the staff members were carried out on pikes for all to mock and bemoan. Although we as a populous have incurred many hardships since then, the sacrifices made by all those brave stepmen, women and children have nevertheless paved the way for a brighter future for all, a future in which the inequality between players has been made essentially negligible. It is on this day, the eleventh of January, that we celebrate our ancestors’ good deeds with a release of songs that are considerably easier than those that had been featured in the Twelve Days of FFRmas event.
Glaciate by Phantasma (DarkZtar) – Standard [28] / 1:31 / Dance / Artcore
Do-Re-Mi-Fa-Rondo by 40mP (Zakvvv666) – Tricky [33] / 2:19 / Dance / Happy Swing Pop
Garden Party by Blarsa (ichliebekase) – Tricky [34] / 0:53 / Dance / Bouncy House
Dragon Slayer by Richard Jacques (Silvuh) – Tricky [35] / 2:30 / Classical / Orchestral
I See You Staring by Lisa Lavie (psychoangel691) – Very Difficult [48] / 3:58 / Hip-Hop / RnB
Colors of the Wind by Marilyn Byrnes (iironiic) – Challenging [53] / 2:15 / Classical / Piano Solo
Our memorial release kicks off with a little bit of past meets present action. Those of you who are well-versed in FFR history should recognize Phantasma as being the artist behind such classics as Over the Frail Dream and Illumination of the Sky. DarkZtar, who made his FFR stepfile debut in 2008 with a single file but then remained dormant until 2012, brings us a short and sweet file for the song Glaciate. Being the easiest of our easy releases, this file doesn’t feature anything too difficult other than a couple of minijacks and polyrhythms at a relatively slow speed that should be perfect for introducing novice players to some of the sorts of patterns that they’ll be facing as they move their way up the FFR ladder. Check out the Dance section to give this one a try.
Next up on our list of releases is Do-Re-Mi-Fa-Rondo, an upbeat and cheerful piece by Vocaloid artist 40mP that features vocals from the (presumably) fictional idol Hatsune Miku. Don’t be led astray by the fact that stepartist Zakvvv666 has the number of the beast in his username; rather than featuring any outlandish patterns that would engender inexperienced players to flip over their table or desk in a fit of unbridled rage, the steps are exceedingly comfortable irrespective of play style and, aside from a couple of trills and grace notes, are straightforward enough to leave you feeling just as happy as the song itself is. Luckily for those who are lazier than most, Do-Re-Mi-Fa-Rondo can be found just a few spaces beneath our previous release under the Dance section.
It’s a Garden Party! Yes, that’s right folks, gardens from all across the American midwest have become sentient, removed themselves from the yoke of the earth, revolted against their respective homeowners and have gathered at some rich kid’s McMansion to drink Jagermeister and talk about assorted vegetables into the early hours of the morning! Or, at least, that’s what the tone of our next song may lead you to believe. Clocking in at just under a minute, Blarsa’s Garden Party is as blithe and airy as a light garden salad is. Thanks to the somewhat sluggish BPM, ichliebekase’s arguably treacherous decision to include hands, swipes and rainbow notes should be much more manageable for novice players than if they were in, say, a blisteringly fast speedcore file. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, Dance is the location of this file as well.
For those of you who were unlucky enough to play through Sonic and the Black Night for the Wii, our next release may be familiar to you. Richard Jacques’ Dragon Slayer, an orchestral piece that sounds akin to something out of a Hollywood fantasy blockbuster, is both stereotypical yet at the same time unique. Since we’re dealing with relatively easy files this time around, getting a decent score on this file thankfully won’t be as difficult as battling a monolithic fire-breathing monster would be; rather, it’s more like attempting to slay a sickly komodo dragon with a really blunt stick. Silvuh keeps the difficulty low while at the same time maintaining a high amount of energy in his steps that will surely keep players of all skillsets fully engrossed for the entirety of the song. Check out the Classical section for this piece.
When all of the FFR genres meet up and hangout with each other, poor ol’ Hip Hop always seems to be left out of the fun. Even Funk, the suave middle-aged man with dreadlocks all the way down to his waistline, is still respected thanks in part to his service of being the drop-off point for every single new release back in the day. Thankfully for the often cruelly neglected Hip Hop, forum moderator and stepartist psychoangel691 has not remained ignorant to its plights. Although its offerings may not be as vast as its contemporaries Dance2 and Misc, Hip Hop nevertheless has a new addition to its repertoire with I See You Staring. If you’re after intermittent jumpstream runs, minijacks and smooth RnB lyrics courtesy of Lisa Lavie then you’re definitely in the right place, while if you’re not then…uhh…whoa, look over there!
Our final and most difficult file from this batch of releases is Colors of the Wind, brought to us by piano-file extraordinaire and on-again-off-again forum goer iironic. Just as the song style suggests, this is a piano solo piece and thus possesses many of the prevalent features of such sorts of files: variable BPMs, rainbow notes, polyrhythms, grace notes and even a surprise cameljack right at the end. If you’re a fan of pretending that you’re a brilliant composer performing your landmark piece in front of a fully-booked auditorium of men wearing luxurious suits and women draped in the most exquisite of dresses imaginable then you’re definitely in luck. If you haven’t already guessed, the Classical section is your destination if you’re jonesing to play this one.
And with that we wrap up our commemorative releases. As always, stop on by either the respective Songs of the Week topic on the forums or the comments section of this post and share with the other denizens of FFRland your thoughts, opinions or even scatterbrained ramblings about the releases and the like. Keep in mind as well that sign ups for 8th Official Tournament are now underway! Sign up today, lest for some strange reason you actually desire to miss out on what will surely go down in FFR history as being “The Beginning of the End.” What exactly does such an ominous statement mean? Hell if I know.
FFR Eighth Official Tournament: Sign-ups open!
(props to PrawnSkunk for the neat banner!)
GAME ON.
Yup — everyone’s favorite FFR tournament is back after a few short months! That time has come again, where users doubt themselves, complain about sandbaggers, whine about division placements, and play the song a single time before mentioning their resignation from the tournament – only to play the song another two hundred times. Word has been going around about this event starting, and some members have been anxiously waiting for this to begin. In a few short weeks, it will be here. A huge change has been made to the tournament structure, and it is a change that users have requested for years now. For the first time ever: this tournament will be based off of RAW SCORING! No longer will you be victim of falling into the yellow peepee water of doom because your keyboard trashed your best run and you can’t come anywhere near it. A fun fact: had the previous official tournament been raw scoring, powerfull would have slammed the competition with his 17-2-1-4 run on that violent D5 final…
…but that won’t be a problem this time, will it?
For full details on the process of the tournament, involving prizes, signups, and other miscellaneous rules and regulations, visit the official tournament thread, or click the image on the top of the page if you’d like to enter the thread with style.
Happy keysmashing, and good luck! 
-TC_Halogen and the FFR staff
FFR Forum Awards & Local Mod Applications!
That’s right that time of year has come again where you have the opportunity to vote for your favorites and even some of your least favorites of 2012. We’re using the same form we did last year for voting which you can find here. If you’d like to see a list of the current nominees based on votes so far you can find those here. Make sure you check all the rules in the Forum Awards thread. Remember, no voting for yourself.
On another note we are accepting applications for local moderator positions. Please check the announcement here for all the details.
Good Luck Everyone!
-psychoangel691 and the FFR Staff
Happy New Year!
It’s that time of the year again. Let’s welcome 2013 with open arms, meaningful (or meaningless) resolutions, and a new song that everyone can enjoy!
Trinity by Step (TC_Halogen) – Expert [68] / 8:01 / Classical / Soundtrack
This lengthy but epic orchestral piece will take you on a journey through a medley of songs from the Monster Hunter series. Despite its length, the steps created by TC_Halogen are reasonable and will provide many opportunities for you to enjoy this musical wonder.
I’ll keep this short, so without further ado, please join me in celebrating the new year!
- bmah and the FFR Staff
Twelve Days of FFRmas 2012 – Day 12 & “Create a Token Image” Contest
This is it everybody. I don’t think that there exists any combination of words that I can put here that can serve to accurately convey the gravity of our Twelve Days of FFRmas event’s twelfth and final release, so I think that I’ll just let the title speak for itself.
The Games We Played (Full Edition) by aspergian (Rebirth0) – Guru [76] / 17:02 / Token / Piano Medley
She gave him the will…to go back and perfect his seminal piece of Stepman history. All of aspergian’s seventeen minute long rendition of twenty-two different video game melodies and Rebirth0′s painstaking efforts to accurately sync and convey them in the four key format is finally here for you to bask in its full, unabridged glory. In order to unlock this not only record breaking but record shattering file, you’ll have to have achieved a full combo on The Games We Played Part 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 before checking your levelranks.php page. After you unlock the file, practice some deep breathing exercises, do some hand stretches, empty your bladder to the best of your abilities and, perhaps most importantly of all, enjoy the end of what we hope was an immensely gratifying experience!
See you next time!
Note:
You may have an offset issue with The Games We Played (Full Edition). Playing this song with velocity engine using offset adjustment is recommended. We’ll try to fix this issue as soon as possible.
[Create a Token Image Contest]
Hi everyone!
As you may have seen, many tokens and skills tokens have been added to the game in the past month or so. But wait, they don’t have any token images! What ever are we going to do? That’s where all of you come in. For the next two weeks, we are going to be holding a Create-A-Token-Image Contest that is open to everyone who wants to participate. The top three entries for each token will win some awesome prizes!
You don’t need much artistic experience, because they’re simple images. However, creativity and awesome designs will stand out for sure. Head on over to the contest, at HERE!
- plopadop and FFR Staff
Twelve Days of FFRmas 2012 – Day 11
Now that the subtle tingling feeling that had been brought about from having successfully survived the apocalypse is starting to wear off for most people, it would make sense that the vast majority of our population will transfix their focus on some other landmark instead. Thankfully for them, today just so happens to be the eve of Christmas Eve, or Christmas Eve Eve. In addition to being within the home stretch of the big day, you FFR-saavy individuals also get to experience the thrilling conclusion to yesterday’s release. I know – awesome, right?
White Walls, Part 2 by Between the Buried and Me (dore) – Brutal [89] / 7:15 / Skill Token / New Age Metal
Even on its own, with its length of 7:15, White Walls Part 2 is nothing to scoff at. However, when you also take into consideration the fact that Part 1 has a length of 6:53, White Walls as a whole hits a combined length of over 14 minutes which, in FFR terms, is nothing short of staggering. Can you handle such a grueling marathon, both physically and psychologically? Of course you can! All you have to do is exactly what the song says: step back, evaluate and recognize! Oh, and you have to unlock the second part as well. In order to do so, you’ll need to achieve at least a 2500 combo on White Walls Part 1 while also keeping your miss count in the single digits. Good luck!
- plopadop and FFR Staff
Twelve Days of FFRmas 2012 – Day 10
Congratulations! If you’re reading this message, then that means that you’ve survived the apocalypse! Hooray! Now go out and buy yourself a commemorative mug or something as you’ve definitely more than earned it. Now, while things might be fine and dandy on your end of the spectrum, those of us behind the scenes at FFR had honestly been expecting something a bit grander to occur. I mean, jimerax showed up to work wearing a fuzzy pink bike helmet and aperson spent the day hiding under a cardboard box that had “No Apocalypses Allowed” written on it! Although I hate to admit it, I almost wish that civilization really did crumble. Oh well, I guess there’s always next year.
White Walls, Part 1 by Between the Buried and Me (dore) – Guru [79] / 6:53 / Rock / New Age Metal
Fans of the both Between the Buried and Me as well as the Rock genre in general are going to adore this release. Before you get too wrapped up with your worrying, let me assure you that there aren’t any white 192nd burst walls in this file. What the chart does contain, however, is plenty of polyrhythms, extended jacks, jumpstreams, trills of both the one hand and two handed variety, runningmen, BPM changes, jump jacks and jump gluts that will be sure to leave you crying in the fetal position as you struggle to comprehend what exactly just happened. Like the vast majority of the charts that you’ve faced throughout the course of your Twelve Days of FFRmas adventure, this one is quite a formidable opponent as well. However, do not be deterred, because if you do then one of the FFR staff members will be legally required to come to wherever you live and whisper hurtful things in your ear until you muster up the courage to try your hardest!
- plopadop and FFR Staff
Twelve Days of FFRmas 2012 – Day 9
We over here at FFR would like to take a moment to solemnly apologize for our actions. You see, at the onset of our journey, we held every single intention of delivering unto you twelve fantastic new songs for you to enjoy, but it appears that along the way we forgot one minor detail that in the end has proven to be our downfall. I can quite vividly recall a moment that occurred a couple of weeks ago in which bmah angrily slammed his fists down onto the FFR boardroom table, spilling his yoghurt everywhere, and screaming at the top of his lungs, “The only thing that’s gonna keep us from releasing these songs is the end of the world!” Well thanks a lot bmah, you apocalypse-causing jerk. Either way, now that the doomsday is upon us, we figured that the best way to simultaneously celebrate and lament our impending demise is to release not only one, but two new files! Now, I know what you’re thinking: “Didn’t you guys say that we were only getting one release a day?” and the answer to your question is an emphatic no, we never said that. Ever. Go back and check the records if you feel so inclined.
The earth blew up v2 by S.I.M. on kor Funkle (Choofers) – Expert [68] / 2:26 / Skill Token / Noizecore
World End’s Yama Xanadu by t+pazolite (0) – Guru [82] / 6:50 / Token / Freeform Hardcore
Those of you who were active on the forums when bob bob’s chart for The earth blew up was released back near the start of the year may remember the heated debate that it engendered. Some players proclaimed that it was an incredible piece of art that deserved every last nuance of the perfect score that one judge had bestowed it, while others spat on it and attested that they happily agree to placing their heads into a filthy public toilet and remaining there for several days if it meant that they’d never have to play through the file ever again. Since he had gone through the effort of bringing us his own take on this noizecore selection, it would appear that Choofers had sided with the latter of the two factions. Although relatively similar in terms of difficulty with its predecessor, version two features a slightly longer cut of the song itself as well as a completely different conceptualization of its various bleep and bloops. If you wish to give this file a try, then you’ll have to achieve a score that has less twelve goods, twenty-one averages, twenty misses and twelve boos (or, in simpler terms, better than 12-21-20-12) on The earth blew up v1.
Both 0 and t+pazolite are no strangers to the realm of difficult files. World End’s Yama Xanadu, a hardcore remix of Shikieiki Yamaxanadu’s theme from Touhou Kaeitzuka ~ Phantasmagoria of Flower View, achieved infamy in the western rhythm gaming community thanks in part to Malice’s Stepmania chart. Even by looking at the file statistics alone, it definitely goes without saying that 0′s rendition of this fervid piece is nothing to scoff at: clocking in at nearly 7 minutes and possessing 4501 arrows, this file boasts a higher note count than all of its publically released predecessors and falls short of the present record holder Vertex Beta vROFL’s total by a hundred and fifteen notes. If you thought that your fingers were in pain after yesterday’s marathon release, then you’re probably going to want to keep an ambulance at the ready for this one. If you want to try your hand at this modern masterpiece then you’re going to have to find the profile relevant to this day and ask a very important question: “End of the world?”
Today is the day in which we as a species are going to be meeting our inescapable doom…or are we? It’s always good to reassure yourself of the most important things, especially when it comes to something as substantial as the end of the world. Go ahead and interrogate the guy – I’m sure that he’s around here somewhere.
- plopadop and FFR Staff
Twelve Days of FFRmas 2012 – Day 8
We’re now two thirds of the way through our Twelve Days of FFRmas exploits. Remember when I asked where time went earlier on in the event? Well, I really mean it this time. Tell me where the time goes or I will permanently delete one Legacy file from the game every hour on the hour! Wait, what? You want that to happen? Oh come on, you’re crazy! Yes, I honestly believe that Uber Rave is a masterpiece! Wait, no, hang on! Don’t you hang up on me! I just…hello? Oh goddammit.
Mega Man 9 Rock Medley by FreddeGredde (MarioNintendo & megamon88) – Master [72] / 7:26 / Arcade / VG Rock
Whoa, hold on a second here…a chart by megamon88 that isn’t pony-related and MarioNintendo that isn’t a piano solo? Maybe the world really is going to end after all. Well, regardless of humanity’s inescapable fate, two of our very own simfile judges have nevertheless teamed up with one another in order to bring you FreddeGredde’s aptly-titled Mega Man 9 Rock Medley. Play through the file and relive fighting Wily’s eight robot masters to the tune of wicked guitar solos and a driving beat that will make you want to stand up, attach a cardboard tube to your arm and pretend that you’re the Blue Bomber himself. Even though this file isn’t as densely layered as the previous few releases have been, its colossal length will definitely test the endurance, stamina, and concentration levels of even the most seasoned of Stepmen.
- plopadop and FFR Staff
