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Intro
 Konami's
mega-successful Dance Dance Revolution series has finally found its way
onto Sony's PS2 as DDRMAX. With over 65 songs - roughly half of which must
be unlocked -- there's plenty to keep you hopping. For long-time fans of the series,
finally getting a DVD-based title means a game slammed full of tunes and a perfect
port of the DDR MAX arcade machine with a couple of hooks into the older
PS1 title DDR Konamix.
Gameplay: 9.5/10
For those who have no idea what the DDR series
is, try to picture Twister meets Simon says with a pounding dance beat thumping
along at 200 beats per minute. To put it in perspective, the human heart at rest
beats 70 times per minute on average, dance club mix music plays at 180 beats
per minute and DDR has songs as fast as 300 BPM! Don't worry; there are
three progressive skill levels for you to work up to: Light, Normal, and Hard.
For those that master these, there is an even tougher mode called ONI which I
think is Japanese for "dancer with feet of Fred Astaire and speed of hurricane".
ONI mode is strictly for Die-Hards, and I mean that in the most literal possible
sense. If you're playing the "right" way, which means investing in a
couple of DDR floor mats to actually jump around on, you'll need some serious
stamina or a good heart specialist on standby to survive Oni mode.
For
the rest of us mere mortals, Light mode offers the best intro to the series. You'll
pick up the basics of the game rather quickly. There are four arrows pointing
out the cardinal directions - Up, down, Left, Right - and is positioned at the
top of the screen. If you watch, they pulse to the beat, giving the rhythmically
challenged a much-needed visual cue. As your selected song starts you'll see a
continually scrolling screen of arrows marching their way to the top of your TV.
The trick is to get the timing down so that when an arrow passes through its "gate"
at the top of the screen you step on the correct arrow on your pad (or if you're
playing the "wrong" way hit the right button on your DualShock2). You'll
be scored on each and every step, from "Perfect" to a "boo".
The idea is that you're being judged on your moves and there is an audience watching.
Score "good" or better and your life meter will stay full or increase,
but if you start hitting poor or get booed, it will fall. Once it's gone, it's
game over and you'll receive a ranking from AAA to E. To score a AAA you'll have
to rank "perfect" on every step. It's
this simple gameplay mechanic coupled with the driving music beat that makes DDR
Max - and in fact all of the DDR titles -- so addictive. Replay value
is also off the charts thanks to the endless variety of play modes and unlockable
songs. You can play alone in any of the 4 skill levels or in a workout mode that
keeps track of your exertion in terms of both time and calories burned, or in
one of three multiplayer modes: Versus where you'll compete to see who is the
best dancer (players can select different skill levels to compensate for varying
abilities), Dual where the idea is that you work as a team to complete the song,
or Event, which is perfect for parties as it doesn't rank players and just lets
everyone play and have fun. For those
who think this all sounds a bit too easy, it's important to point out that with
the release of MAX, Konami has added a few twists on the dance steps. Now
you have "hold" arrows which require you not only to step on the arrow
at the right time, but also to step off the arrow at the correct moment. All the
while, your other foot may be dancing along on its own. When the difficulty level
goes past Normal, things get way out of hand with multiple foot stomps and multiple
holds of varying lengths. I've seen combos that required the right and up arrows
to be held and then forced the up arrow to be released while holding the right
arrow and holding the down arrow as you release the right arrow. If this all sounds
way too hard, rest easy. There's now a great step editor you can use to customize
the songs to match your skills, or cripple that DDR super-freak down the
street.
Graphics: 6/10
DDR MAX isn't anything to write home about,
from a graphical perspective. It's pure middle of the road fare and really offers
nothing that you couldn't do on the PS1. But it's presentation that counts here
and most of the graphical cues have a certain MTV video flair to them that make
them appear better than they really are. The animations also seem to match the
music fairly well, adding the feeling of being in a club and dancing your butt
off. For those that have played DDR MAX at the mall or your local arcade,
the PS2 version looks like a perfect clone of the hulking machine you're used
to, minus the buck a play price tag.
Sound: 9.5/10
This is what
it's all about, and with over 65 songs to dance to - only 30 are available at
first, the rest must be unlocked - DDR MAX has plenty of them. Some may
notice that the game is lacking in instantly recognizable tunes, but that's because
it's packed with club mixes and mainstream techno tracks that aren't likely to
appear on US radio stations. No matter, as they're all catchy tunes and more than
a dozen will stick in your head and never come out again. The announcer voice-overs
are well done, if a little too upbeat. The guy sounds just a bit too hyper for
my tastes but it's a minor gripe. His comments are usually witty and well placed,
though they do repeat quickly. Control:
10/10
With a game entirely based on perfect timing, controls are the game
and DDR MAX has some of the best around. It's instantly responsive and
very easy to pick up, as there are only four buttons to worry about. Playing with
the Dualshock2 is possible and will allow you to cheat on some songs by simply
smashing all the buttons to the beat. However, any DDR fan worth their
salt will opt to pick up one of the dance mats designed specifically for the game.
Konami makes one as do several other companies; I used the Mad Catz pads and they
worked fine, though my dancing ability is another matter entirely. A tip for parents:
if you're buying DDR and the mats for your kids, make sure the PS2 is in
the basement. Do not let them play this upstairs, unless you always wondered what
it was like to live through an endless earthquake. I have a crawl space under
my house and two people jumping in front of a 300 pound 55" TV produced enough
vibration to move it a solid two inches in just an hour of play.
Super-freaks
should check out the internet for schematics on how to build your own full-sized,
all-metal DDR pad that looks and acts exactly like the arcade pads. Even
if you aren't handy with power tools, you can find pre-built versions of these
monsters, but be ready to shell out over $250 for each.
Overall:
9.5/10
DDR isn't a game, it's an addiction and for true addicts, any
addition to the series is a must buy. Sure, there are a couple of things I'd like
to change, like the use of some PS2 graphical power to beef up the visuals a little
and more variety in the announcer's comments, but it's nice to see that Konami
has gone to considerable lengths to ensure that the home experience is every bit
as fun as the arcade experience. In fact, it's actually better, because at home
you aren't shelling out buck after buck or waiting for the guy with the five water
jugs and the beach towel to finally give up the machine and go home. The DDR
craze is a little tough for people to understand because the perception of games
and those who play them is one of general sedentary living. DDR makes you
move, sweat, smile, and just generally have a blast. LET'S MAX! [
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