Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party

"There's something here from somewhere else"

Admittedly, I enjoyed some of the Dance Dance Revolution titles on the PlayStation 2, despite their tendency to be ridiculous hard and tiring (and no, I'm not fat). While they could only be played for small bursts of fun, they were at least a little entertaining with a respectable soundtrack and a nice set of unlockable content that only true mat masters were able to obtain. That was last generation, and while the Dance Dance Revolution games have always been about innovating gaming since their conception, the seventh generation demands even MORE innovation from its titles, especially with the Wii, that uses motion-sensing controllers for the first time in gaming history. Unfortunately, Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party would have been better off if it completely ignored the Wii's unique features and just followed the older DDR formula.

Its poor utilization of the remote and nunchuck are what indefinitely kills any fun to be had with Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party. Not only must you now focus on hitting all of the arrows on the mat, but you also have to pay attention to certain sections where you have to swing the remote and nunchuck in different directions in an attempt to recreate an actual dancing experience. While this is potentially a good idea, it fails miserably as the game can barely read when you swing the remote or nunchuck, causing nothing but heartbreak and annoyance.

All of this remote nonsense can be turned off in the option menu though, which is an absolute godsend, meaning you can get back to your normal DDR rhythm action. The developers even manage to muck this up though by adding little mines that sometimes shows up instead of arrows which, while they are easily avoidable, seem absolutely pointless as they never become too frequent to be a problem.

The dance pad remains largely unchanged and while some of the cycling through the menus now demands the use of the remote, which is also unnecessary, this is definitely a good thing. If you've been playing the other Dance Dance Revolution game, then jumping onto this mat shouldn't be a problem at all. Oddly enough, instead of using the Wii remote in order to provide a wireless experience, the dance pad requires the use of the GameCube controller ports in order to be plugged in. A minor inconvenience, but it's still an inconvenience.

If you have two dance pads, you can play some of the game modes in multiplayer, but I don't really see why you'd want your friend to suffer through this garbage. Since the dance pads are pretty big, it's also an inconvenience just to do multiplayer, let alone try to play through the songs with the added control mechanics.

On the bright side, there is definitely a bevy of modes, as lackluster as the actual gameplay may be, so the DDR enthusiast will definitely be able to take a lot from this game. There are multiple different forms of multiplayer, a Groove Circuit to play through, plus Free Mode. However, the most interesting mode out of all these is Workout Mode which, as the name implies, will definitely get you sweating. I haven't played Wii Fit yet, but I'm sure that if you weren't able to shed the pounds with that title then Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party will definitely do the trick. Is it really fun? No, but it's kind of funny to watch someone suffer through it.

Do uninspired visuals taken directly from the last generation sound good to you? Probably not, and we all know that the Wii gets a bad rap for having graphics that belong in the sixth generation, but anyone who has played Super Mario Galaxy or Super Smash Bros. Brawl knows this not to be true. Those games are both gorgeous, especially Super Mario Galaxy, which provides breathtaking visuals around every corner that can definitely go toe to toe with the most elite Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 game. With Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party, the developers decided to take the easy way out and decided to give us graphics that could have been done on the PlayStation 2—hell, even the PlayStation 1. The character models are horrendously goofy and have no charm or feeling to them at all, which is a must for a niche title such as this. The actual music videos are cool to have, but the stages that the onscreen dancers dance in are unimaginative and hard on the eyes.

In any rhythm game, succeeding in the audio department is practically a given and Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party definitely doesn't stray from the trend. Hottest Party has some popular modern songs like Lips of an Angel; 1, 2, Step; Far Away; Too Little, Too Late; and my absolute favorite, 99 Red Balloons. Sure, the songs have been bastardized as the original artists do not sing them, but they're still catchy and fun to listen to. 99 Red Balloons itself makes sure Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party doesn't go below a four—that's how good the song is.

With multiple difficulty modes, a challenging control scheme to master, plenty of different modes to play through, and an overwhelming amount of unlockable content, Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party is a completist's dream. While most gamers won't have the patience to put up with the ludicrously poor gameplay and the shameful representation of the series, newcomers may be able to suck some fun out of it, and if the complicated motion controls are turned off, you may get a few of your friends into it, but don't expect this to provide nearly as much entertainment as Brawl or Mario Galaxy or other rhythm games like Guitar Hero or Rock Band for that matter.

Will fans of the previous Dance Dance Revolution games like Hottest Party? Quite possibly. Will most gamers? Probably not. The wired dance pad is annoying, the motion controls are horrendous, there is absolutely no soul, the graphics will make you want to vomit, but at least there are a ton of modes for you to try out and the soundtrack is brilliant laced with even more brilliance. Maybe the developers will smarten up and instead of tacking on crappy motion controls to what could have been a decent party game, they just play it safe in order to provide at the very least, a mediocre experience.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 11/13/08

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