"It's all good."

The biggest part to playing a game like this is simple in the respect that you have to have a little bit of rhythm and you have to know what your body limitations are. For weeks, I used to go to the local arcade and watch people play the row of Dance Dance Revolution games that were available. When the place was pretty quiet and I got enough courage to get up there and look like a fool, I found that the game is not only fun and addicting, but also a work-out for your legs and back!

New Features in Dance Dance Revolution 3rd Mix:

-New Re-Mixed Songs from Dance Dance Revolution 2.
-Some DDR 2nd Mix songs have been removed. {Available though with cheat input}
-Scoring levels remain at 5 {Perfect, Great, Good, Miss, Boo}

The Game Play

The game is really pretty simple to play through as long as you have the ability to use your ears and your eyes and keep your body in tune with the beat. There really is no change from other Dance Dance Revolution machines in the way that you have to play, so once you’ve played one machine, it is merely a choice on what type of skill level you’re going to undertake. Through a selection screen, you start the game with a series of arrows at the top of the screen and merely have to work with the game and step on a corresponding pad direction when the arrow is in the right spot. This will start a chain combination that is vital for you to get a top score.

The control interface is what will get most beginners to the game, in which you don’t use your hands, but more your feet and the rhythm of the game in order to get through. The song listing works with several different types of skill levels that range from easy one step maneuvers to the multiple stepping combinations that take a true expert to get the feel for. Probably one of the most challenging aspects that the game has to offer is not only the timing that you have to use with the game, but more with the fact that you’re doing this in front of a crowd of people. As long as you keep your eyes on the game and don’t worry about who is watching, you can amass quite a high score and make yourself out to be a DDR champ!

The Visuals

What you have to look at is pretty intensive if you’re really paying attention to what is going on with the characters in the background. Much like Bust A Groove, you can select a couple of different characters; each with their own style of dancing that is portrayed on the screen according to the way that you make the steps. The steps themselves really have nothing to do with what is going on in the game, as you’ll be concentrating more on the arrows and lining them up correctly rather than watching what the computer is doing with the character!

The Audio

The main feature of the game is the audio. In this version of the game, you have several different audio tracks that are more aimed for the trance and techno fans to dance to. While all of the music selections are neat to listen to, they can be somewhat distracting if you’re trying to play through the game with only the rhythm alone and not the arrows on the screen. All of the music that you find here is accompanied by a voice announcer that allows you to know just how well you’re doing and when you’re either messing up or starting a mega combination!

Why you might not like this game:

There are two reasons why you might not like this game. The first of these is relatively simple to figure out in which you have to perform in front of crowds sometimes, and that alone is enough to throw you off completely. Embarrassment is something that no one really likes, so you’ll have to learn to throw caution to the wind and simply play. The other factor is the amount of exercise you really have to throw off when you’re playing this game. With the amount of movement you do, you’ll be sweating on the medium songs and ready to pass out on the harder levels of the game if you’re not careful!

The Verdict

Most of the games in the Dance Dance Revolution series are simply added in features that have either more songs or somewhat improved visuals. If you’ve played one particular DDR machine, than you literally have played them all. With the increase in titles and subsequent sequels that are found in different arcades, you only have to choose different songs and different characters. The game play never really changes and the only thing that you have to work with is the way that the pad is set up and how you go about playing the game! Worthy of playing at least once, any of the DDR machines are fun to play and are costly once you get the dancing bug.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 05/14/02, Updated 05/14/02