Dance Dance Revolution Extreme

"DDR + Eye-Toy = Too much of a good thing"

After seeing the official songlist of the Japanese home version of DDR Extreme, many were awaiting the best DDR songlist to hit America. However, with major alterations including making space for old Euro-pop from the 80's, an unnecessary peripheral and a brand new interface, this is not the DDR that veterans remember.

The biggest gripe I have with this DDR title is the song selection that Bemani choose. They left out a lot of songs that are fan favorites among, well, fans. Such titles like “Love Love Shine”, “Stoic”, “Heaven is a '57 Metallic Grey”, “Cartoon Heroes (Speedy Mix)”, “Waka Laka”, “Colors (for EXTREME)”, “Dance Dance Revolution”, “MAX.(period)”, and many others that are catchy to listen to and fun to play. Some of the songs in the American version, specifically the licensed songs, are either not appealing to earlier generations that lack the interest toward 80's pop music. Seriously, who has heard of “GO WEST”? The remixes of good songs are surprisingly, not so good any more. Jennifer Lopez's “Waiting for Tonight” is one more my favorites from her; however, DDR's version has a slower tempo, losing it's dance vibe. Plus, I can't get into the groove 20 seconds after the start of Paul Oakenfold's remix of the hip hop classic “Planet Rock” by Afrika Bambatta and the Soul Sonic Force.

Don't get me wrong, there are songs that are present that remains from the Japanese counter-part. “V (for EXTREME)”, “A”, “321STARS”, as well as some returning favorites are back to grace the game. Along with some classic songs, classic characters can be chosen to dance in the backgrounds like they used to so long ago. It's a nostalgic effort that won my over from giving the game a lower score.

It's nice to choose your favorite DDR dancer in the beginning of the game. Akira, Rage, Emi, Evil-Zukin, Baby-lon, and 2 new characters grace the stages in a wonderful cell-shaded form. From there, we go into the new interface of the “select a song” screen. I miss the MAX version of it where the songs are on the side and the banner, foot rating, and groove meter on the other side. Now, they removed the feet and the meter and replacing the screen that looks similar to the first mixes with the CD. The only difference is, there isn't any CDs to be found; however, there are WORDS! WOW!

The songs with music videos aren't as good as DDRMAX2 because the only video that's not an old 80's pop hit is “HIGHS OFF U” and the Silent Hill theme songs.

Aside from the obvious challenges the game has been doing for a long time like playing on Heavy mode, Doubles mode, Endless mode, and other tasks, DDR Extreme introduces the new Mission Mode. Here, players play portions of the song while working on a main goal. The start out with 5 missions, and as they complete one mission or attempt a lot of times, other missions can be unlocked and played. There are 100 missions in all and the ones around the end are more of an annoyance than a challenge. How can anyone go 30 seconds into a song, score 0 points, and still pass the song?

Now, anyone who has played DDR knows that playing on a dance mat is fun. Anyone who has played the Eye-Toy mini-games could say that, that is fun too. However, since news of the Eye-Toy in DDR around January of 2004 was released, I immediately thought, “Oh no.” Nine months later, my premonition was right. The Eye-Toy has two some-what significant roles with DDR. “Watch me dance” is simply the ability to watch your spastic movements as you play on Heavy Mode and “Hands and Feet” adds arrows that can be activated with a wave of your hand and may cause some players to lose balance which is not very fun. Everything else is not needed, as they are mini-games that don't belong in DDR.

As DDR go beyond the MAX, the Extreme is blander than expected in the US. With the drop of fan favorite songs to make way with the edition to out-dated Euro-pop, bad remixes of good songs, and the unnecessary use of the Eye-Toy, the revolution is on it's last mix if Bemani can't do anything right for the States.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 10/20/04