Challenge Mode

**CHALLENGE**

"***Challenge Runs** is where you get **to prove yourself**: get judged on your skills by playing through randomly picked tracks.*"
— VA official description

**Challenge Mode** (Also known as a **Challenge Run**) is the second gamemode in *Visual Arcade*. The gamemode can be accessed from the game's Main Menu.

It is a gamemode that aims for players who are willing to have a challenge, hence the name. It allows players to earn Visualpoints after completing levels as well as specific challenges (or goals) for the player.

## Mechanics

* The player can start Challenge Mode either alone or multiplayer (via controller support or Steam's/Nintendo's/Playstation's online service).
* Once the player is ready to take on the challenge run, they'll be given two options.
	+ Play the challenge in normal mode.
	+ Play the challenge in Hardcore Mode.
* Selection Phase: Three non-boss/non-special levels are chosen at random, the player can choose a level by moving to the level area before the timer runs out. Once it runs out, the player will start that chosen level.
	+ If there are multiple players in a Challenge run, the level that most players voted for a level will be the chosen level that will play.
* Play Phase: The level plays as normal. But there are changes:
	+ Should the player(s) lose all three lives, they will receive a game over as usual. Should they retry (either by quitting or failing the run), they will need to retry the entire Challenge run.
		- The Game Over scene is simplified.
	+ When the players are online, the players do not need to collect the triangle to end it, it will transition to the tally screen.
* Once the level is completed successfully, they will go back to the Selection Phase. This will also award extra visualpoints by doing certain feats (such as not dashing throughout the level).
* The process repeats to the Selection Phase, where three levels, excluding the levels that were already given in the first Selection Phase, will be chosen. The players will then choose the next level.
* Boss Phase: After the second level, the game will randomly choose any of the eight Boss Levels for the player(s) to challenge.
	+ Lunar during Press Start will simply sink out at the middle of the screen instead of shooting all of the players out. This also happens when this level is played in Freeplay Mode.

* If the Boss Level is successfully completed, the Challenge run is completed and any bonus Visualpoints will be awarded for its completion.
	+ If the Challenge run is completed in Hardcore Mode, the amount of Visualpoints will be doubled.
* The cycle repeats to the Selection phase until all of the players or the host decide to leave the game.
* It is not possible to earn Story Achievements (*Savior*, *Luna Nights*, etc.) when beating their respective Boss Levels in Challenge Mode.

## Trivia

* The music that plays during challenge level selection and during Visualpoint tally is *Patterns* by *KoyukiMusic*.
* The fanfare of a successful challenge run is composed by *S4TURN*.
* There is a bug in online challenge runs in which the game will choose the song that only one person voted for instead of the song the other 2-4 voted for.