Music Stages (ステージ, Sutēji, lit. "Stage") are the main gameplay mode in Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory. In a Music Stage, the player presses buttons to the beat of the music to earn a high score.

Music Stage types

Field Battle

In Field Battles, the party runs down a musical staff, defeating enemies to the beat of the music. The team leader and party members use the same set of buttons to attack, with simultaneous enemies necessitating two or three simultaneous button presses. A set of arrows will indicate when the team leader needs to jump, whether to attack an enemy in the air or dodge an attack. Glide targets require holding the jump button to glide. Ability crystals also appear on the track, and activating them will unleash powerful abilities

If an enemy or target is hit in time, points will be added to the score. Special star targets will award extra points when hit. If an enemy is missed or an oncoming attack is not dodged quickly enough, the player will lose HP, and losing all HP ends the Field Battle. Some stages also have boxes and barrels, which will add to the score on a successful hit but will not penalize the player for a mistimed attack.

Certain enemies require multiple attacks to be defeated, with the number of attacks being displayed as a number above their timing guide. Sometimes, a successful hit will stun the enemy, determined by the party's strength; stunned multi-attack enemies will not damage the player if subsequent attacks are missed.

On certain stages, guest characters will temporarily join the party by replacing one of the side party members. While the guest character is present, some enemies will be replaced by friend orbs, which give bonus Rhythm Points for hitting on time. Using a Summoning Star will add King Mickey as a temporary fourth party member, replacing some enemies with royal targets, which likewise provide a Rhythm Point bonus.

Controls

Memory Dive

In Memory Dives, the party glides down a music sheet as cutscenes from across the series play. Instead of defeating enemies, the player must hit floating targets. In addition to the ordinary hit targets, there are hold targets that must be held and released in time and slide targets that require tilting the analog stick. Any combination of hit targets, the start or end of hold targets, and slide targets may appear simultaneously.

Controls

Boss Battle

Boss Battles pit the party against a boss. Gameplay is mostly identical to Memory Dives, with the addition of ability crystals from Field Battles. During a Boss Battle, the track may sometimes enter a Dark Zone. When a Dark Zone is cleared, the boss will perform a powerful "special attack" that the party will defend against or evade; the player's performance affects the party's defense against the attack.

Controls

Styles

Basic

Basic (ノーマル, Nōmaru, lit. "Normal") style is the default, standard gameplay. All mechanics function normally.

One Button

One Button (ワンボタン, Wan Botan) style is a significantly easier mode of play. As the name suggests, only one button is required to clear Music Stages with this style. To accommodate this simple control scheme, horizontal movement when gliding and team members' attacks are automatic. High scores and Excellent Bars earned in the One Button style are recorded separately from Basic style scores, and progress toward many Records will not be counted.

Performer

Performer (パフォーマー, Pafōmā) style is a more challenging mode that adds additional performer targets. Performer targets must be hit in time using additional buttons, with the appropriate button being displayed over the performer target. There is no penalty for missing performer targets. Successfully hitting performer targets will not increase the score or increment the chain, but instead start a performer combo, which will contribute to the Performer Bonus for extra Rhythm Points.

Additional controls

Special modes

Co-op

Co-op (ダブルプレイモード, Daburu Purei Mōdo, lit. "Double Play Mode") is a cooperative variant of Field Battles in which two players share the field. The first player plays as Sora on the left half of the field, and the second plays as Riku on the right half, both in their Kingdom Hearts outfits. In addition to their normal abilities, both players have access to Friend Curaga. There are a total of 21 Co-op stages. No rewards are given for completing a stage in Co-op mode.

The charts for Co-op tracks are structured so that both players have roughly the same amount of enemies, ability crystals, and gliding sections. Instead of having one player press two buttons at once, simultaneous enemies require both players to attack in unison. Because the width of the field is smaller for each player than a normal Field Battle, all glide targets can be collected without moving from side to side (although horizontal movement is still allowed).

VS Battle

VS Battle (バーサスモード, Bāsasu Mōdo, lit. "Versus Mode") is a competitive variant of Field Battles. There are several types of VS Battles which allow the player to face off against computer opponents or other players online on existing Field Battle stages. In these matches, all players have access to Tricks which can give an edge by interfering with opponents' fields. Rewards are given as they usually would be for a Field Battle, and high scores earned in VS Battles are recorded as normal.

Mechanics

Scoring

Earning a high score depends on the timing of hitting each note; for the maximum score, hit the note when the outer circle of the timing guide aligns with the inner circle. The score of a note has four different ratings: "Miss" (which does not add any points), "Good", "Excellent", and rainbow "Excellent". Successfully dodging a ranged projectile or hitting a glide target in a Field Battle will always result in a rainbow "Excellent." The score value of each note changes depending on the note type, enemy type, and total notes in the song. Because they do not contribute to the score, performer targets have their own rating, "Cool".

A "Full Chain" can be achieved by clearing a song without a single "Miss" rating, and an "All Excellent" can be achieved by clearing a song with only "Excellent" and rainbow "Excellent" ratings. Each Music Stage also has an Excellent Bar, which can be filled by hitting all notes with at least an "Excellent" rating over multiple attempts.

At the end of a successfully cleared Music Stage, a rank is awarded based on the total score.

Rank		Score range
EN	JP
		9000000 – 9999999
		8500000 – 8999999
		8000000 – 8499999
		7000000 – 7999999
		6000000 – 6999999
		5000000 – 5999999
		4000000 – 4999999
		2000000 – 3999999
		0000000 – 1999999

Rewards

At the end of a Music Stage, Rhythm Points are awarded based on score and various other performance criteria. Music Stages will also drop several types of items upon a successful clear: Collector's Cards, synthesis materials, and consumable items. The number of materials earned can be increased by upgrading the Key Art Collector's Level bonus or equipping an Item Boost.

The Collector's Cards dropped by a given Music Stage are determined by the Collector's Card pack the stage belongs to. There are 37 different packs, each with a different set of Character, Enemy, and Keyblade Collector's Cards. There is also a random chance that a Treasure Chest will spawn at the end of a Music Stage, granting a random Key Art Collector's Card.

Nearly every Music Stage can drop three types of synthesis materials, but the advanced Crystal materials will only drop once they have been unlocked by reaching the appropriate Moogle Level. The number of synthesis materials earned is also dependent on score, with higher scores awarding up to 12 extra materials. Certain common material types are associated with a specific group of stages based on the origin of the songs: Pulsing materials are dropped by Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories songs; Writhing materials are dropped by Kingdom Hearts II, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, and Kingdom Hearts Re:coded songs; Betwixt materials are dropped by Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep songs; Twilight materials are dropped by Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance songs; and Mythril materials are dropped by Kingdom Hearts III songs and the bonus songs in World Tour.

The five consumable items are dropped at a fixed rate that is the same for every Music Stage:

Item	Drop rate
Potion	30%
Mega-Potion	20%
Item Boost	20%
EXP Boost	20%
Summoning Star	10%

• Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory
• Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory Memory Dives
• Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory Field Battles
• Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory Boss Battles
• Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory Co-op Field Battles