DDRMAX (Dance Dance Revolution)
Review of DDRMAX (Dance Dance Revolution)
The DDR franchise has been around for sometime. DDRMAX is a sequel of the Dance Dance Revolution title but new to the PS2. Konami sold millions of copies of DDR in Japan as well as the US. It is now also one of the highest grossing Arcade game around.
DDRMAX is just oozing with high-energy. I never played the original Dance Dance Revolution and I only saw the Arcade version down at the SEASHORE on the boardwalk. There were always kids surrounding the Arcade game watching someone play or they were just hanging around jamming to the music. The game in the Arcades has a big screen along with a large dance pad. The player moves his feet mimicking the directional arrows on the screen. The faster the song, the faster the arrows move. I am thinking to myself, this is supposed to be dancing? Some people look like they are having an epileptic fit trying to keep up. Needless to say, It’s pretty entertaining. Anyway, I used to pass by the Arcade and was drawn by the music as everyone else was. That is how I first stumbled on the DDR craze. I was thrilled when I was asked to review the PS2 version.
I was pleasantly surprised as I began testing it out. It is almost as good as the Arcade version. When I say “almost”, it is only because the Arcade version is like an INDUSTRIAL size machine; nothing beats that in my opinion.
The songs are put into color categories. Green songs are available immediately. Yellow and Red songs need to be unlocked. The player has the option of sorting them alphabetically, speed of song, etc. You can even use the roulette feature to select songs at random. In any event, there are tons of songs to choose from ranging from slow to insanely fast tunes. It was like having a jukebox at your disposal and you didn’t need to feed it with coins.
Here is the kicker though, DDRMAX is a dance genre. For you lazy bums that just want to sit on the couch and exercise your thumbs you can utilize the PS2 controller. For those of you that really want to get into the game and maybe shed some calories, buy yourself a decent dance pad and boogie!
The game is simple to setup. Like I said before, you can use the controller and thumb it or hook up a dance pad and jam. Choose a mode, a song, and difficulty level and bada bing….your dancing! The objective is to strive to hit either the directional button or arrows if playing with the controller or use your feet to step on the corresponding button on the dance pad (the dance pad resembles the layout of the controller). Timing is everything. The player will be rated with each movement, with either a good, almost, perfect, bad, u-suck, etc. After the song is over, the player can see how he or she was rated.
Gameplay offers a few different modes: Game mode (ONI Mode Challenge) which is new to DDR is the main mode and identical to the Arcade version. The songs play nonstop with no break between songs. This mode takes a lot of skill and energy so I advise to test out the lesson and training modes, and maybe even get a doctors approval before trying this mode out. I felt like I was going to have a heart attack. Work Out mode adds fitness goals and will even count the calories burned, Lesson and Training modes will give the player a chance to learn the basics and practice difficult songs, and finally the EDIT mode which allows the player to design their own steps. I thought Edit mode was a cool feature you can use any DDRMAX song, save your moves, and then replay them. You can even play with a friend in the 2- player mode, which could be dangerous, imagine two people jumping around like nitwits! Make sure you have plenty of room so you don’t get a nosebleed.
The graphics are boasting with color offering a nice 60-frames per second frame rate. The menus utilize high-resolution graphic displays. There is not a whole lot to say about the graphics because it is mostly backgrounds and some music videos to view. A different background is displayed for each song. Some have cartoon like characters or some kind of colorful design flowing in the background. It’s all-good!
The music is the main focal point and just plain awesome SO CRANK IT UP. Some of the songs are licensed tracks and some I never heard before but were just upbeat and pleasing to the ear. Hopefully you have your PS2 connected to a receiver, it sounds fantastic. I am telling you, when you hear the music you just want to party.
OUR PLEDGE: We promise that we have fully played 'DDRMAX (Dance Dance Revolution)' before writing this review. The scores given above are our honest opinion and were not influenced in any way by the manufacturer or distributor of the game.
This review was written by Loretta Mattie © Absolute PlayStation
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