Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party

"This party takes a while to get loose, but its worth attending"

The once PlayStation exclusive series receives its first proper North American release on a Nintendo console with Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party. While the Gamecube did receive Dance Dance Revolution MarioMix, it was as far away from a "standard" DDR title as you could get. With Hottest Party, Konami is looking to build upon concepts and ideas introduced in MarioMix while slightly modifying the standard DDR formula. The question is how well did they succeed in doing so?

DDR Hottest Party takes the standard DDR play scheme (step on arrows in-time with the music) and tacks on Wii controls. Some steps are replaced with hand motions that must be completed using the Nunchuck (left hand) and Wii Remote (right hand). While entertaining at first, the fun quickly dissipates once you discover how imprecise the Wii controllers are for a game that is based purely on timing. It'll be interesting to see how well casual players react to the Wii controls as correctly dancing on the DDR pad (which plugs into the Gamecube ports on the Wii) while waving the Wii Remotes around in the air takes a good deal of concentration. As a seasoned DDR player, I found myself having difficulty with these new controls. However they're not all bad, as there are songs that incorporate them quite well. Occasionally you'll actually feel like you're dancing.

The other area that DDR Hottest Party trips a little is the "gimmicks" that are introduced during game play. Some arrows will spin around randomly, others require multiple stomps before the game registers them, while others will actually cause you to lose points if you step on them. While this mode of play was somewhat fun in DDR MarioMix's "mush mode," when combined with the motion controls and the regular dancing, not only is there too much going on the screen at once, but all of this requires so much concentration that the game becomes more of a chore than vehicle for entertainment.

Thankfully both "Hand Motions" and "Gimmicks" can be turned OFF. Afterwards you're left with a highly enjoyable Dance Dance Revolution game. Once the game is stripped down to its DDR-core, its positives start to shine through. Hottest Party's song selection is one of the best in the series as it picks a theme and follows it through brilliantly. As the title says, this is the "hottest party" and the track listing is full of party hits from the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s with a few hits from the past few years sprinkled in for good measure. This is definitely a plus as the songs should appeal to people of all ages. One second your mom can be sweating to oldies like "Hot Stuff" and "Disco Inferno," only to have your older brother come in and dance to 80s favorites "Blue Monday," "Karma Chameleon," and "You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)." While Konami made solid choices on the songs for the game, they deserve a gold star for their selections from the 90s. You haven't had fun until you've danced to "Rhythm Is A Dancer" or "Gonna Make You Sweat." Kudos also need to be given to Konami for including 20 or so BEMANI Originals in the game for long-time DDR players. Its a nice nod to the fanbase to let them know that they were not forgotten.

Unfortunately while this is the Hottest Party, its not quite a party where everyone is wearing their best clothes. The graphics in the game have experienced quite an overhaul from its first showing, where it appeared to run off of variation of the PlayStation 2's DDR SuperNova engine. Early screens showed familiar characters and settings with the look of the aforementioned PS2 game. In their place are super deformed "new" characters and locales which have an aura of familiarity about them, but are definitely different form the DDR norm. However, on any other system this would be a detraction, but on the Wii this graphical choice works well. The new characters bare a strong resemblance in design to the Mii characters, so Hottest Party winds up (intentionally or unintentionally) seamlessly blending into the Wii motif. With that being said, its a shame that you're unable to select your Mii as a dancer. That little bit of customization would go a long way in making a lasting impression.

After spending considerable time with this game over the weekend, I have to say I'd recommend it to all Wii owners, even with its flaws. Wii owners who love the system for games like Wii Sports, Wii Play, and Mario Party 8 will be entertained by Hottest Party's interesting use of motion controls and gimmicks. And even if they aren't, the song list and multiplayer aspect will win a lot of people over in the end. Wii owners who consider themselves more experienced will enjoy the title once they figure out they don't have to do all the extracurricular activities and can just work on mastering "B4U (Acolyte Mix)" on expert. Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party takes a while get going, but once it loosens up you know that you're going to be dancing all night.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 04/17/08

Game Release: Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party (w/ Dance Pad) (US, 09/25/07)