DDRMAX2 Dance Dance Revolution

"A DDR for players of all skill levels."

Many people are familiar with Dance Dance Revolution, having seen at least one machine in their local arcade. Some of these people, as they watch expert players play very difficult songs, envy them with no skill of their own. DDRMAX2 brings the arcade experience home with 69 songs and several modes of play for players of all skill levels.

Gameplay
The idea behind DDR's (Dance Dance Revolution) primary Game Mode is that players stand on a 4-panel pad with the panels on each cardinal direction and an arrow pointing outward. The screen shows a succession of arrows in time with the beats to a song playing in the background moving from the bottom of the screen (or the top, depending on a changeable setting) and the player must step on the corresponding arrow when the on-screen arrow(s) aligns with its matching grey arrow(s) on the opposite end, known as the Step Zone. An amazingly simple concept, but only to people who haven't watched others step to songs with hundreds of arrows. Many advanced techniques must be applied to complete difficult songs. The dance gauge, which is the ''health meter'' for Dance Dance Revolution, increases with each properly timed step and decreases with every missed step. Too many missed steps will completely deplete the dance gauge and end the game. Should a player succeed and finish a song, he/she is given a grade based on his/her performance. Possible ranks for DDRMAX2 are AAA, AA, A, B, C, D, and E. To get a AAA, one must perfectly time and step to all steps in a song. To get a AA, a player must correctly step to all arrows in a song, but there is a slightly larger margin of error allowed. An E is given to players who bottom out.

Throughout each version, this central idea hasn't changed, but the music has, and this is what thousands of players were anticipating in DDRMAX2. Like in the previous versions, the gameplay is as addictive as the revolutionary new songs that make up the game.

Several challenging modes are included in DDRMAX2. Nonstop Mode, which sets a player up with 3-12 songs played immediately after the completion of one song makes its return from the original Dance Dance Revolution. DDRMAX2 introduces over 18 courses and the ability to create up to three custom courses. Also to unlock is Endless Mode, which, as its name implies, gives random songs to the player to pass until Game Over.

To make normal play interesting, a player can apply a number of modifiers to change the experience. A player can choose to have the steps hidden to one point, appear at a certain time, increase the speed of the arrows, hide the Step Zone, change the orientation of the patterns by changing all of one direction into another, reverse the arrow scroll so that the arrows scroll to the bottom instead of to the top, etc. These modes can make a song easier or more fun to play.

Also included for new players is Lesson mode, which teaches new players how to play in three lessons of eight sections each, and a Beginner difficulty, also returning from the original Dance Dance Revolution, which shows an easy to follow on-screen character dancing to each song with very simple arrow patterns. Experienced players having difficulty on certain songs can improve using Training Mode, which allows to practice an entire song or a portion of a song and the ability to slow it down to 1/2 normal speed.

Sound
Obviously this game is all about the music. A large variety of music from several different genres are provided in DDRMAX2, including house, R&B, trance, and remakes of popular songs from decades past. Several songs from previous versions of DDR are also included. The selection of ''licensed'' songs in this game as well as the other addictive tracks included is enough to make DDR players out of any inexperienced dancer. In DDRMAX, a predecessor to DDRMAX2, the licensed song selection was to some extent sub par, but many players agree that the new licensed songs in this game can make up for the mistakes in DDRMAX. ''Catered for the American audience,'' DDRMAX2 is sure to be a greatest hit for players of all tastes.

Graphics
In a game that primarily uses arrows, graphics would normally be the last thing to worry about. Nevertheless, many largely positive improvements have been made to the overall look. Like DDRMAX, the frame rate is restrained to a smooth 60 fps. However, the interface has been enhanced with a sleek black and orange look that's easier on the eyes than that of DDRMAX. Some songs have music videos that spectators can enjoy watching. Others have sequences of computer-generated animations that serves mostly as eye candy. A certain glitch that makes the dance gauge blocky as it increases in DDRMAX has been fixed. Overall, drastic (and possibly unnecessary) changes have been made to the graphics that make DDRMAX2 all the more worth the wait.

Replay Value
With several new and/or improved modes of play, four difficulty levels, 69 songs and the Edit Mode for making user-defined step sequences for any song, DDRMAX2 has nearly infinite replay value. Possible challenges to keep players occupied until the next sequel include:

''AAA'ing'' all songs and Nonstop courses
''AAA'ing'' all songs using difficulty-adding modifiers
Setting world records for the Endless Mode
Edit Mode
Workout Mode (a modified version of Game Mode that tracks calorie usage instead of points)
Double Play (a mode in which two 4-panel pads are used side-by-side by one player for an interesting twist)

Personal Opinion
I was surprised by how easy it is to unlock all 35 hidden songs and features. A good player can unlock everything in 24 hours by getting high grades during play. With the simplicity of the unlock system, patch codes are obsolete for DDRMAX2. After each game, a screen is displayed showing how many unlock points are needed for the next unlock. Unlock points are earned for completing songs, and extra points are awarded for doing good on those songs. With the little time it takes to unlock all 35 hidden items, a player can quickly unlock the hardest songs and become an Ultimate Dancer in no time.

The song selection of DDRMAX2 is by far the best I've seen in the series. Not just the songs themselves, but the step patterns for new songs are much better than I expected. Even the easier songs are fun to play, which to me, an experienced player who goes to the arcade and play for hard songs, is a factor that adds much more life into the game's replay value than with DDRMAX. After mastering the hardest songs on this version, I'll look for a copy of Dance Dance Revolution KONAMIX.

Conclusion
The many challenges and beginner-friendly features included in DDRMAX2 make it the most universally acceptable DDR available. While it has many songs not included in the previous versions, that doesn't mean that you shouldn't check out the last three versions. The previous versions have many excellent songs not in DDRMAX2. Also, the Edit modes of Dance Dance Revolution KONAMIX and DDRMAX have connectivity that allow songs included in both DDRMAX2 and another one of these games to share custom step sequences. In conclusion, if you're new to DDR, start with DDRMAX2. It is more customized for beginners than the previous version. If you want to hear what songs weren't included here, check out the previous versions.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 09/28/03