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DDRMAX2 Dance Dance Revolution Review for PlayStation 2 (PS2)
Posted on Tuesday, December 23, 2003 @ 02:56:21 am E.S.TDance Dance Revolution, or DDR, has been a tremendous hit in arcades everywhere, Japan and US alike. Konami's "interesting" game has been causing both kids and adults to become highly addicted to this original concept, myself being one of them. It's almost like karaoke for your feet, and with DDR machines popping up in malls and arcades everywhere, it's a good chance to show off your mad skills in public.
The game is played with a floor mat that has four arrows pointing in all directions. As a song begins, arrows fly up from the bottom of the screen, and when they reach a specific spot on the top of the screen, you are supposed to step on the corresponding arrow on your mat. At first, you'll find this task to be exceedingly difficult, but fortunately the game includes beginner modes and a series of training modes that will get you used to this unusual style of gameplay.
If you are, in fact, a veteran player then you'll find that this game is strikingly similar to every other Dance Dance Revolution installment and, sadly enough, features many repeats from older DDR games. On a happier note, the repeated songs are mostly from the first two Playstation DDR games, so if you've never played a DDR game before, this is the perfect pick for you.
There are numerous modes to choose from, but most of the time you'll be playing the regular "Game Mode" so you can unlock a high count of songs. You can even unlock different modes of play and, surprisingly, every single on-screen dancer (from the older titles) in beautiful cel-shaded goodness. A maximum of three characters are now able to dance on screen simultaneously, as opposed to two in previous installments.
The party element of this game adds for an immensely enjoyable experience. Bringing DDR to any party will draw attention to the zany looking players jumping on the mats, and believe me - they'll be enticed to play every time. While there are a good number of modes to choose from, it would have been mighty nice if Konami had included some sort of tournament mode, but to date, there aren't any such modes in existence. Online play would've brought this game to the top, but only Xbox owners will be able to enjoy that mode in the upcoming title, DDR Ultramix.
After unlocking everything (which only takes time, not skill) you will have a number of songs available for play, totaling sixty-five tracks. With this large selection, people of all tastes will find at least one song for their liking, but if you're not a fan of rave and techno-type music, you'll be skipping through a good majority of the playlist. Dolby surround sound of some sort would have been an amazing addition to this game, but the developers crapped out on that idea as well, keeping it simple with only stereo sound, like the original DDR MAX2 arcade game.
Since you start out with around 30 songs, there will more than one-half left to unlock, and you'll always have a track that you either haven't played, or haven't beaten on the toughest difficulty.
The list of songs you will start out with include: (in order of appearance)
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A Little Bit Of Ecstasy (Jocelyn Enriquez)
- BREAK DOWN! (Be For U)
- Busy Child (The Crystal Methop)
- CONGA FEELING (VIVIAN)
- D2R (NAOKI)
- Days Go By (Dirty Vegas)
- DESTINY (NAOKI featuring Paula Terry)
- DREAM A DREAM (CAPTAIN JACK)
- DRIFTING AWAY (LANGE featuring SKYE)
- Get Down Tonight (K.C. & The Sunshine Band)
- GHOSTS ~ VINCENT DE MOOR REMIX (TENTH PLANET)
- Heaven (DJ Sammy & Yanou featuring DO)
- I feel… (AKIRA YAMAOKA)
- IN THE NAVY '99 ~ XXL Disaster Remix (CAPTAIN JACK)
- Keep On Liftin' (dj naguero)
- LET'S GROOVE (TIPS & TRICKS VS WISDOME)
- LONG TRAIN RUNNIN' (BUS STOP)
- Love At First Sight (Kylie Minogue)
- LOVIN' YOU ~ ROB SEARLE CLUB MIX (VINYL BABY)
- Rain of Sorrow (NM featuring Ebony Fay)
- SO DEEP ~ PERFECT SPHERE REMIX (SILVERTEAR)
- STILL IN MY HEART (NAOKI)
- Take Me Away ~into the night~ radio vocal (4 STRINGS)
- THE WHISTLE SONG ~ Blow My Whistle Baby (DR ALIGATOR PROJECT)
- TSUGARU (RevenG vs DE-SIRE)
- TWILIGHT ZONE ~ R-C Extended Club MIX (2 UNLIMITED)
- Will I?(Ian Van Dahl)
Graphically, this game has almost nothing to look at. Each song has a few background animations behind the arrows, that will sometimes even throw you off-step. While the game runs at a constant sixty frames per second, there won't be much that will catch your eye. With that being said, the game still pulls off visuals exactly like the arcade version, and even includes low-quality music videos for songs like Days Go By, by Dirty Vegas and IN THE NAVY '99, by Captain Jack. These music videos are fun to watch, especially if you aren't the one dancing, and are a very nice addition to the game.
Possibly the best part of this game lies in the replay value. Once you become addicted, you'll play as much as you can, and any time an arcade machine is spotted, it'll almost be second nature to put in a few quarters and show off your moves. And if you are a part of Fat America™, then you'll be happy to know that DDR MAX2 includes a workout mode that keeps track of your weight, the number of songs you've played, the amount of calories you've burned, and even the equivalent number of jump-rope jump's you've completed. There are a great number of stories on how people have lost over sixty lbs playing this game!
Overall, this is a very basic game that keeps true to the "practice makes perfect" principle. With many dance modes and the basic, yet interesting, dance pad, the game will keep you occupied for hours at a time; and you'll be just fine with that. Because of the addition of the music videos and dancing characters, it's a step up from the previous PS2 installment, but still leaves much to be desired. When you boil down to the core of DDR MAX2 for the PS2, the only thing that makes this a truly wonderful gaming experience is the large playlist and near-infinite replay value. Review By: Dacvak - 3260 Reads
DDRMAX2 Dance Dance Revolution Review Scores for PS2 :
| Gameplay |
| 8.3 |
| Graphics |
| 5.7 |
| Sound |
| 8.3 |
| Replay |
| 9.4 |
| Overall |
| 7.9 |
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