DDRMAX2 Dance Dance Revolution

"Interesting new set of songs, but should've kept the old out."

I don't think I need to explain what DDR is. If you don't know, you need to get out more.

Graphics - 9/10

Graphics are very nice, although a few of the music videos could have been more sharp with detail. Graphics aren't the main point of the game, but in any case the graphics are nice but don't let that you get distracted.

Music - 8/10 / Sound Effects - 1/10

I only have two major gripes about the music - Why include so many older songs? I mean, if we really wanted to play those, we can just get the mix with that song instead. I was anticipating several songs to be in this mix, and sources even said these were the songs in the mix, yet songs like Waka Laka were absent from the scene. Which leads to my second gripe, the song choices. Aside from not having some of the songs that should've been there, I felt there were too many ''love'' songs. Ah, most of them are bland and the singers obviously don't know what they're singing about :-P

As for sound effects, there are little to talk about, but what there is is major disapointment. The announcer. I HATE the announcer. No one defines stupid as much as the announcer. The worst part is you can only turn him off during a song, and that's a relief since you can concentrate, but if you fail or after you beat a song, and even before you start, his pathetic comments and annoying tones and voice itself is there. Believe me, you do NOT want to hear him after you fail a song, especially when you're not in a good mood. The biggest problem with DDR is the announcer.

Story - N/A

Story? There really isn't any story here. Just dance, that's all there is to it!

Gameplay - Depends (me, 7/10)

Here, it all depends. For good gameplay you need some very important factors to be with you - equipment, coordination, determination, music taste. If you have one of those crappy 'paper' pads as I like to call them, playing this game will be frustrating and no fun. This game is worth getting an expensive metal/arcade pad. If you get one of those, gameplay takes a very healthy leap up for you. As for coordination and determination, DDR will demand a lot of physical energy, depending on the skill level you play so it's important you can match the arrows and have the desire to play this game. Most people won't have this, so it's important that you can dedicate yourself to this game. And of course, you have to like the music. This game boasts some great songs along with a few bland ones, so hopefully you will like some of them. Again, gameplay is all depending on the factors mentioned. I only have a cruddy 'paper' pad so I can't enjoy it as much as I would love to.

Overall - 25/40 - A-

Fix the sound effect department and add better music, and this game is DDR Haven!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/08/04