Dance Dance Revolution Extreme

"Think DDR. Take out Dancemania. Add more KO's. The result:"

If you don't know what DDR is then you probably have no eyes. It is that dancing game in your arcade. The DDR series has been around for 5 years. For its 5th anniversary, DDRExtreme was released. It's a good mix, but not as good as I first thought...

Gameplay - 8
The DDR gameplay hasn't changed over the years, which is good. You step on arrows when they fly up to the screen... that's honestly the best way to quickly describe it. It's good gameplay that never needed changing. Most songs have 3 difficulty levels; some have 4 and 5! Unfortunately, there isn't all that much new... the new arrow modifiers are only available on a new Oni Course. That reminds me, Nonstop mode and Oni mode are back. That is definitely a good thing. Nonstop is where you play 4 songs in a row, and Oni is where you play any number of songs in a row and must keep a good combo. Get 3 non-combo steps in any given song and YOU LOSE!

Story - N/A
There is no story. Get over it.

Graphics - 7
Hardly relevant. There are arrow graphics that look like arrow graphics flying up a screen to outlines of arrow graphics. Also some little music video plays in the background. The video is mostly repetitive, but if you're watching it, then you are most likely not playing DDR.

Music - 5
Supposedly it's the best music-wise since it has over 200 songs. And it does have some good songs, like classics such as Butterfly, B4U, Captain Jack, Dynamite Rave, Dam Dariram, etc. Unfortunately a good number of the songs on Extreme are old, easily over 100, taken from all the mixes. There are also about 20 new songs, and surprisingly most of them are good, including Cartoon Heroes, Irresistiblement, Crash!, The Legend of Max, Speed Over Beethoven, etc. Also, there were some imports from other Bemani, which include great songs like Aoi Shoudou, Heaven is a 57 Metallic Gray, Matsuri Japan, Burning Heat!, Across the Nightmare, etc. No real problem here except the other Bemani isn't all good dance music. There are five reasons why I deducted points.

1) Some of the old DDR songs are mediocre at best. They got all the Paranoias and Trip Machines when many older songs are far better. Also songs like Jam Jam Reggae, Be In My Paradise, Let Them Move, and Healing Vision Angelic are among the most despised by the DDR community.
2) Like I mentioned earlier, the songlist is mostly recycled and DDR veterans are probably sick of half the songs already.
3) The other Bemani tracks aren't really dance music, which, last time I checked, is what belongs in a dancing game.
4) Covers of We Will Rock You, the Cup of Life, and We Are The Champions should not have been made, especially the last one.
5) Blast it all where is the Dancemania? There are only two Captain Jack songs, one Smile.dk (butterfly), no e-rotic, and about 1000000 songs by Naoki, the guy who makes DDR music... and stuff. I seriously miss songs like Dub-i-dub, Together & Forever, Oh Nick Please Not So Quick, Justify My Love, Flash in the Night, etc. So many good songs gone.

Fun - 10
DDR is fun. Enough said.

Replay - 10
DDR will still be fun a year later.

Pros:
-Still great fun
-Arrows look like arrows
-New songs are good
-Great replay
-Midnite Blaze

Cons:
-Some tracks overplayed, not really dance music, etc.
-Mediocre graphics you shouldn't be watching anyway
-No new modifiers available for casual play
-Lack of dancemania is a bad thing
-Let Them Move

Overall: 8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/31/03, Updated 01/20/04