Dance Dance Revolution Extreme 2

"What The Hardcore Have Been Waiting For"

DDR Extreme 2 is an absolute masterpiece. Every song that we've all been waiting for is finally here, and all of the annoying missions from the first Extreme are replaced by coherent and challenging ones.

MUSIC:10
There's a little bit of everything here, from Trance to Japanese Rock to Mexican Music. There are many licenced songs here as well, including many songs that had potential to be horrible but were saved by their stepcharts (cough*GetBusy*cough). This mix also includes songs we've all wanted from the arcade version of extreme, as well as many new exclusives that we've never seen before and Beatmania crossovers.

GRAPHICS: 10
The dull backgrounds of yesteryear are finally gone! No more flying toasters and ninja stars! Now we have Roku shuffling across a blood red background and flattened rabbits gyrating! Pure genius!

STEPCHARTS: 10
Wow. This caught me off guard. Seven footers now require you to actually look at the screen! No more staring into space thinking about pudding while going through to get those Dance Master Awards. A small taste of the brilliance in these new charts is in the default list (try Get Busy, As The Rush Comes, and Spin Spin Sugar), but the real prize to be had is the new challenge charts added to many old and well-loved songs of past mixes.

DANCE MASTER MODE: 9
My only real complaint here is the fact that you mus slog through Beginner songs for about an hour before getting anywhere. The start of this escapade takes forever, and will almost have you asleep by area B. However, things start to pick up once you hit the Standard and Heavy trees, where you start unlocking the songs that you've been waiting for. The final tree is a ridiculously challenging feat to accomplish, but the end result is definitely worth it.

UNLOCK SYSTEM: 10
Songs are unlocked by completing certain objectives in Dance Master Mode, as are costumes, hints, courses, and other useless things that at first seem like a good idea but were clearly the by-product of a Konami keg-party (arrow skins...*shudders*).

CONCLUSION:
Easily the best US mix so far. Pick it up immediately.

BUY IT!!!

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