In the Groove (abbreviated ITG) is a rhythm game developed & published by Roxor Games, and is the first game in the In the Groove series. The game was shown in an official beta-testing preview on July 9, 2004, and was officially released in arcades around August 30, 2004. A PlayStation 2 port of In the Groove was released on June 17, 2005 by RedOctane. Gameplay The game mechanics of In the Groove are similar to Konami's Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) series. The game involves the player moving their feet to a set pattern, stepping in time to the general rhythm or beat of a song. During normal gameplay, arrows scroll upwards from the bottom of the screen and pass over flashing stationary arrows (referred to as the "guide arrows" or "receptors"). Similar to DDR's gameplay, there are 4 flashing stationary arrows. When the scrolling arrows overlap the stationary ones, the player must step on the corresponding arrows on the dance platform. Longer arrows referred to as "holds" must be held down for their entire length for them to count. Successfully hitting the arrows in time with the music increases the amount of health on the life bar, while failure to do so decreases it. If the life bar is fully depleted during gameplay, the player fails the song (unless the fail at end of song setting is on), usually resulting in a game over. Otherwise, the player is taken to the Results Screen, which rates the player's performance with a letter grade and a percentage score, among other statistics. The player may then be given a chance to play again, depending on the settings of the particular machine (the limit is usually 3-5 songs per game). Stepcharts on In the Groove are a predefined sequence of arrows and other items mapped to the timing of a song, and they vary depending on the song's difficulty. Stepcharts can sometimes contain 3 or 4 arrow combinations (supposed to be hit with hands but usually hit by placing one or two feet between two arrows making them hit both). Stepcharts can also contain Mines. If a player is on an arrow when a mine passes through the step zone for that arrow, it will explode and health on the life bar will be lost. Modifiers (also referred to as mods) change the display of how arrows and other items in a stepchart