maimai PLUS

maimai PLUS, released on December 13, 2012, is the second version of the maimai arcade series and the first "PLUS" revision. It significantly refined the scoring system by introducing granular Break note judging — Break notes can now award 2500, 2550, or 2600 points depending on timing precision, which means Achievement Rate can exceed 100.00% with sufficiently precise play, giving rise to the concept of a "theoretical maximum." Two new ranks were added: AA (90% AR, sitting between S and A+) and SS (100% AR or above). The card system now remembers the last-played song and difficulty, so returning players no longer always start from the default selection. MASTER charts were also given a major rebalance — almost all returning songs had their MASTER difficulty re-rated, and MASTER charts could now appear at level 9 or 8 rather than being locked at level 10.

The game expanded its feature set with cross-level Versus Play, allowing players of different skill levels to compete together while each plays on their own chosen difficulty. A trophy system was introduced that tracked and displayed detailed achievement milestones across all songs. The track selection interface also began showing a degree-of-achievement display in the trophy list after play. Total song count grew to 106 tracks, with regular content updates continuing through the spring of 2013.