Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA

"A great addition to the Dance Dance Revolution Series, with minor flaws."

Before I get too much into the review, let me warn you about MINOR SONG SPOILERS! There are MINOR SONG SPOILERS in this review.

As you are probably aware, the new Dance Dance Revolution game, entitled SuperNOVA, was released on 9/27/06. I was fairly hyped up for this game. I just couldn't wait to play those great songs that everyone was talking about from the arcade version of this game. Once I got it, I popped it into my PS2 and plugged in my Cobalt Flux. I was amazed at the amount of American licences there were. I'll get to those in a minute. Here are the specs of the game.

Graphics: 10

For now, let's talk about the graphics. Basically, it is pretty much the same theme as the arcade version, which is to be expected. But I was still blown away of how cool they looked. (Note: I have not been able to play this in the arcade.) The basic layout of the theme hasn't changed at all since DDR: EX2. The life bar is almost the exact same thing. Although, there is not a character select screen anymore. You now choose characters in the options before you choose your song. Now for background visuals. If you have played DDR: SN in the arcade, you know already how much these have changed. Now, instead of just a boring 2D backround movie, you see a 3D stage, with your character dancing on it! It looks really good! The arrows have not changed the way they looked ever since DDR MAX came out. But, just like DDR: EX2, you can change the theme of the noteskin by unlocking new noteskins through Stellar Master Mode, and then buying them in the shop. I'll get more into SMM and the shop later. I seriously found nothing wrong with the way this game looks.

Gameplay: 9

It's DDR! What do you expect me to say about gameplay? Although I should tell you something. This mix introduces the first beginner charts that are 4 footers. Fascination MAXX and Chaos if I remember correctly. Stunning isn't it?

Sound: 8

Most of the music sounds really good. Maybe it;s just me, but some of the older songs (Video Killed the Radio Star, Girls Just Want To Have Fun) sound just a little bad in quality. Some people might disagree with me, but it's just what I think. Maybe it's just my TV...

Songlist: 8

Woah. Lot's of American licences. Okay. So most of you know that the song Dance, Dance is in this game. And I know a lot of you are going "Ugh... Fall Out Boy in DDR? It will never work, they suck!" Well, if that's what you think, don't play the song. Although I was very surprised as to how much fun the song can be to dance to. Those heavy steps are awesome! The only problem I have with the licences, is the song Shout. It is god awful. It has to be the worst cover I have ever heard of the song. My ears bled after playing it. But, all in all, if you like licences, this is the game for you! Okay, now about the Konami Originals (KO's). There are no repeats of songs from the previous PS2 mixes. (Max 300 Super Max Me Mix doesn't count, since that was XBOX) It has almost all of the new KO's from the arcade mix. No Wookie Wookie though. A lot of people seem to hate the songs Monkey Punk and Midnight Special. This is probably because they are punk rock songs. I like punk rock, so I like these songs. There are a lot of good Bemani crossovers. AA is a good one. And most of you are probably really excited about Xepher being in this. I don't blame you though. The songs I hate that are not licences are Centaur (elevator music in DDR!?), Brazilian Anthem, Flow (both mixes), and Fly Away (both mixes). Lot's of people may disagree with me though.

Unlocking System: 6
Well, I don't feel like typing anymore, so here is what I wrote on my website about the unlocking system (not exactly what I wrote though, since I made a few mistakes)

"Ugh... okay. Remember how in DDR:EX2 you had to go through that Mission Mode to unlock songs faster? And you bought songs from the shop? Yeah, it's kind of like that. It's called Stellar Master Mode (SMM). Except this unlock system will not unlock ANY songs if you are playing Game Mode except for the boss songs, unlike every single DDR out there (including Extreme 2). SMM isn't good, but it isn't bad either. It's just extremely tedious. I won't go into much detail about it, but when you complete a few challenges, you can challenge a showdown, which is exactly like mission mode from the Extremes. Also, you dance to some DDR menu music in some of these showdowns. Damn it was fun to dance to the select a style theme to DDRMAX. ^_^ Also, here's something that I should tell you before you go "WTF? Where the hell are all the default songs?" You know how you select a style then select difficulty in the past DDR's? Well, this isn't exactly like that. You select style, then select the difficulty of the songs themselves. NOT the difficulty you want to play. So if you chose easy, only the easier songs will show up. At the bottom of select difficulty, there is an All Music option. Choose that. Think of this as the select music type that were in the older DDR's. Also, about the Extra Stage. The song you play will depend upon the difficulty you pick at the select difficulty screen. Selecting easy will get you MAX 300 (SMMM), selecting difficult will get you Healing-D-vision, selecting hard will get you Fascination MAXX, and selecting all music will get you Fascination ~eternal love mix~."

Well there you go. That's the unlock system. I didn't enjoy unlocking all the songs doing this, but hey. It's over for me now. Good luck to you guys who are just about to buy the game! ^_^

Anyways, I thought this was a very good mix. This isn't as good as DDR: EX2 in my opinion, but it's pretty damn good. I like the fact that there are six (well, technically eleven) 10 footers.

Rent or Buy?

It all depends on if you are just getting into DDR or if you are familiar with the game. If you are just getting into it, I suggest you buy DDR: Extreme 2. That mix has a whole bunch of really great songs that are much easier.

Overall Score: 8

I loved this mix. A few flaws were found, but I can work around those. Not the best mix, but certainly not the worst either. ^_^

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/05/06