To start, you are in OLR's hometown of Sacramento, California (woot)... play the battle here and the follow-up battle to get the easiest unlock of all, Think Ya Better D
After this is done, you have the freedom to move around the map from city to city, "claiming" a state (or province because Canada is here too) in varioud battles. "Claiming" a state will allow you to travel to an adjoining state.
First rule of the "battles". They're pretty much in these types (that I've seen so far):
Combo -- Get a certian Combo
Jump Combo -- Successfuly land a # of jumps in a row (As they fall in the song, so if there are long breaks of single arrow steps between jumps you will not be penalized, but you should pick a song with a lot of jumps)
Freeze Combo -- Successfuly land a # of freeze arrows in a row (Same as above, and Twist on Expert is your friend here)
Dance Battle -- You will battle another opponent in a city. This is important... when picking the song do NOT pick one that has an upside down note on the right side... this gives your opponent an advantage because they "own" that song. If you want an advantage, pick a song you "own" (Correct looking music note on the left side). You'll own at least one-- The first unlock you got, Think Ya Better D. More later.
Fanbase -- Get a certian # of "fans" in a city... basically, pick an Expert song and get a shitload of greats & perfects.
Here's a great time saver. On any of these challenges, once your bar has filled up and turned rainbow, you're DONE. If you don't feel like playing anymore, hold start and quit out back to the map. Get your reward and get moving. Conversly, if you "Fail" a mission at the end of the song, you most likely haven't truly failed... especially in a dance battle. Let the game roll into the next random song, you'll get to continue the dance battle with the meter you had before. Oh this reminds me, if you DON'T quit out, the thing will keep going and going with random songs -.-; . Although this is useful in the "Fanbase" mode, because you get extra money for all the fans you get. So honest, do a fanbase battle one time and play through like 10 expert songs and you'll have a crapload of cash.
Most of the fanbase battles actually appear randomly on the map. A little envelope will appear in a random state you've claimed. You don't *have* to do these but if you're hard up for cash, go play a bunch of songs.
Here's other random things that might happen on the map:
Buy a backup dancer -- For some $$ you can buy a backup dancer. Keep in mind the dancers do not travel with you, they stay in the city where you bought them. They will help increase your bar faster in the Dance Battle & Fanbase battles. Frankly, I think it's a good idea to buy them, they aren't that expensive if you've stockpiled a lot of cash and you might need them to keep you from throwing your controller through the screen... ERM I MEAN DANCE PAD OF COURSE ;D in a regional battle.
Buy a new song -- This will give you the music note or advantage on a particular song. It appears to be offered in songwheel order (how inventive), so honestly, unless you feel like playing Don't Play Nice expert about 5,000 times (don't get me wrong the song rocks but you'll be playing your claimed songs a lot), I'd buy the other songs as you are offered them.
Buy a new movie clip -- I haven't completely figured this one out yet but I believe this gives you "Fever" which is similar to having a claimed song, but only when the movie clip you just bought is showing on the screen. So for instance, if you end up buying the movie clip with the dancing penguins, Nightshade is a good song to play in Dance Battles because you'll get a few "Fevers" during it. Playing Cascada or Jamaroqui won't give anyone crap (Keep that in mind for early dance battles though)
OK great so now you know what happens, what should you be doing?
Claim Regions! Notice how the states (and canada) are sectioned off in different colors. When you claim all the states in a certain region, the "regional battle" will open up in a random state in that region. Travel to the regional battle for the *drumroll* ultimate dance battle! These dance battles are a pain in the fucking ass because your opponent will have half the songs "claimed", so make sure you're picking a song that you own. Hope you got good at "Don't Play Nice" expert! You probably won't beat the opponent in one song but remember what I said above... if you go into another song you keep your bar. However, it's no fun at all to go randomly into a song where the computer "owns" it because you're likely to lose a big chunk of what you've earned, which is what makes these battles so damn frustrating
![Evil or Very Mad :evil:](http://www.orangeloungeradio.com/forumsbb3/images/smilies/icon_evil.gif)
Pacific Region (green) -- Unlocks Bongo!
Southern Region (red) -- Unlocks Return of the Toe Jam
(I'm relying on other users to tell me what the other regional unlocks are, this is as far as I've gotten so far)
I'm sure I don't have EVERYTHING so other users, please reply here and I'll ammend my post. Maybe we can build something sutible for FAQ-style publication as a community.