Dance Dance Revolution GB

"'can't be too bad..."

One of the best Bemani games was on Gameboy Color, it even had a miniature dance pad that wrapped around the GBC! The concept seemed pretty cool, carrying a colored DDR hand-held where-ever you go. But once I played the actual game, it was kind of dissappointing. Here's what I thought of the the game's:

Gameplay ( 7/10 ): Not much variation in controls, the only buttons you would need are whatever coincided with the '' Left,Down,Up,Right'' arrows on the screen. You score max combos and rank up scores by hitting arrows that match with the arrows at the top according to the beats ( 1/4; 1/8; 1/16 ). Difficulty can be set between Basic, Trick, Maniac (SSR) modes. The only problem in this game is that arrows seem to look ''flat'' ( same color ) and get pretty hard to distinguish their beats. Oh yea, you have to keep the gauge on top of the screen off the red area on the left, too many '' Boos, Misses '' can fail you fast.

Audio ( 8/10 ): The good point of this game, Dancemania songs brought into 8-bit form! The game contains some songs off early mixes ( i.e Brilliant 2U, Butterfly, Paranoia, ect.)

Graphics ( 5/10 ): One thing about the early DDR games is that you have a character that dances while the song is playing- in the GB versions, the characters look really deformed and their movement is not smooth but rather choppy.
The screen is split: 1/2 where the arrows appear and the other 1/2 where you don't want to pay attention. Also, the arrows look rather small and too bright.

Replayability ( 6/10 ): It's a challenge to set As and above on SSR Maniac, good luck if you want to ace all the songs. The selection of songs is rather small, yet still a good variety (you've got to be thankful for that.)

Overall ( 7/10 ): It may be a good Bemani game, but DDR GB is rather crude and get annoying. The sequels on the GB offer similar visuals with different songs. But if you're a newbie at DDR and want to get better, get the PSX/PS2 versions, or play at the arcade. Gameboys don't offer that type of experience that the acutal dance pads give off.

Rent/Buy? : This game may be only available in Japan, but if you come across it by any chance in a transaction for about $20+, it's probably a good deal if you're a fanatic Bemaniac.
If you want some real DDR, just play at the arcades or PS1/2 ports. It's still a nice experience to hear what Naoki's songs would sound like with 8-bit-ish sound.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 01/06/03, Updated 01/06/03