"Album" has been removed from "Collection". "MV" mode now has more videos, and some descriptions have been changed. There is DJ Max Fever exclusive song called "Hip Hop Rescue" by "D.O" which uses the same music video as "Let Go". Soundtrack of the game is a selected combination of song from DJMax Portable and DJMax Portable 2. Also the level cap of 30 for Easy difficulty has been removed and the score penalty for Easy difficulty has been reduced. Most mission songs have been changed, and the requirements have been toned down. The game is also toned down to be generally easier to play than most of the other DJMax games.
Since this is the first DJMax game released in Northern America there was no need for "the Link Disc" function and was removed for the Fever. Also some of the "achievement discs" have been changed. 8B mode loading screens don't show the name of the song unlike in DJMax Portable 2. There is the auto-correct function, as for example if you hit the ◄ with ▲, your hit will be auto corrected deducting however 20% of the score the note would normally get.
The game is mostly based on DJMax Portable 2 but uses the DJMax Portable Black Square Entire Control System, meaning the green notes that appear will stop the music track if missed. There are 50 songs to go through and there are many varieties of songs to choose from, ranging from Techno to Pop, Rock to Hip-Hop, and more. On the right side of the screen is the healthbar. When the Fever bar is full, tapping X will double the combo and score, then triple if it is maintained properly and will continue to increase. As that combo count climbs, a Fever Gauge will fill. When the notes are pressed in time, the combo counter will increase, missing the note will cause the combo counter to "break" which will reset the combo. In terms of gameplay, DJ Max Fever is similar to other music games like Beatmania. The objective of the game is to earn a high score and ranks in order to unlock more items such as avatars, songs, gears and more. As the notes cross the line in the gear, player must hit the corresponding button, to score points. A player chooses a song, a video will start to play in the background, and the gear screen will display falling notes.