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| | Title:
Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix 2
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System:
Xbox
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Genre:
Music/Dance
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Publisher:
Konami
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Developer:
Konami Corporation
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Release:
October 21, 2003
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Online:
Yes
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ESRB:
Everyone (E)
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 |
Konami has released yet another Dance Dance
Revolution (DDR) game for the Xbox console. DDR is a well known dancing
arcade game that you will often see in malls or in arcades. With tons of new
modes, music, and even Xbox Live support, Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix 2 is a
game worth looking into even if you are one of the few that have never heard of
the game before.
Gameplay
The gameplay of DDR is a very simple aspect, but it's extremely fun with the sheer amount of
songs and different game modes available. The point of the game is to match the dance
moves displayed on the screen. If a right arrow appears on the screen, then all
you have to do is press the button that coordinates with that direction. It
sounds quite simple, but DDR will take hours of practice before you will even be
able to consider yourself average. The arrows scroll from the bottom of the
screen to the top. At the top of the screen are four sets of arrows that are
outlined; left, down, up, and right. Once an arrow moves inside one of the outlines at the top of the screen, this is your queue to press that button or step
on that directional pad. The best part of the game is that each song is related
to the dance steps, so once you get the hang of what you are doing you will
pretty much be able to guess what is coming up next and will be prepared. As the
game increases in difficulty, the arrows will speed up and the songs will be
played much faster.
If you buy Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix 2 (DDRU2) in the default package, you will have to
play with the Xbox controller. It is highly recommended that you spend the
extra money for a dance pad, or some sort of package that includes both pad and game. The game
is meant to be danced to, and just pressing buttons to a song is not fun at all.
The dance pads have all the directional buttons as well as buttons such as A, B,
Start, and Back.
The number of songs that you can dance to is quite amazing. DDRU2 features over 65 songs which you can play on a number of different difficulties
which are beginner, light, standard, and heavy. Another neat thing is that each
difficulty has more and more arrows as it increases in difficulty, and not just
the same exact arrows sped up. The different
difficulty levels also allow you to get better at the game as quickly as possible. If
you just go to the arcade and start playing the game, you are not going to learn
much about playing.
After you complete a song it will give you a letter grade as a score, along with some
other information on how you did. The letters are recorded for each song and let
you know how well you are doing on each difficulty. If you find that you are
getting D's on a certain difficulty such as standard, the best thing to do would
be to take a step down to the light mode and practice a little more on that
level. Once you build up your skill--and enjoy the game while playin--you can go
to the arcades or the mall and show off to all your friends your real skill and
then laugh at them when they hardly know what they are doing!
Another great thing about DDR is that it can actually help you lose weight! Who
would have ever thought that people would be playing video games as exercise and as a way to take off a few pounds!? If you are the kind of person that just sits in
your room all day playing Xbox and eating potato chips, this is definitely the
game you should start playing to get some exercise. There is even a separate
mode in the game called Workout Mode that is designed just for these kinds of
people. In the Workout Mode you can add fitness goals and it will even calculate
how many calories you are burning while playing the game! On top of that, it will
even give you results on how you are doing over a long period of time. Who needs
to go to a gym to work on when you can be playing video games?
Gameplay Modes
Since there are over seven totally different gameplay modes, it can become
confusing quickly if you are new to the game. Here is a list of the different
gameplay modes, and what exactly they are used for.
Game Mode – The main mode of the game; most similar to the arcade
version of DDR. You can pick your own song, difficulty, and many other
options before dancing to a song.
Battle Mode – In this mode, players will duke it out in one of two
different battle modes. One of the modes being Score Battle where you can
compete for the highest score with two to four people, or you can go head-to-head
and have a competition based on step accuracy which is called a Point Battle.
Party Mode – Party mode allows you to compete
against other people in a variety of different gameplay modes. There are a total
of four party mode modes that are listed below.
Attack Mode - This is a head-to-head competition where each move is an
attack against your opponent. Combos are the key here, and the bigger the combo,
the bigger the attack is and the more likely you will be to win the match.
Bomb Mode - This mode supports up to four players, and the point of the
game is to avoid blowing up and make sure your opponent goes out before you do.
By doing combos you can pass the bomb off to another player, and if they are unable
to do just as well--or bette--they will be blown up, and the other player will win
the match.
Quad Mode - This is a single player mode where a single person attempts
to dance to songs on four (yes 4) DDR dance pads. This is nearly an impossible
mode unless you happen to train your pet octopus, or have some insane skills.
Sync Mode - supports two to four players, and the players have to work
together to make one huge combo. If anyone on the team breaks the combo, the
round ends.
Workout Mode - As stated previously, this mode allows you to play the game
and workout at the same time. It will help you achieve goals while telling you
how many calories you are burning while playing.
Challenge Mode - In this mode, players will have to complete specific
challenges while playing. There are a total of six different challenges on five
different difficulties.
Training Mode - This mode allows you to practice certain songs and get
better at them before playing them in a different mode.
Edit Mode - This mode allows players to make up their own dance routines
to any song in the game. These new dance steps can be played with other people
or even shared on Xbox Live.
Xbox Live - The main purpose of Xbox Live is to dance and compete against
other people. However, with DDRU2 you can also download new songs, challenges,
and even new characters. You can also compare your scores to other people, and
like most other Xbox Live enabled games, there is also a leaderboard where you can
compare your scores to others around the world.
Graphics
The graphics and visuals in the game are not that important, but do give a
nice feel to the experience. The background of the playing screen relates to the
song, and there are a number of different options you can change depending on
what you want displayed in the background. If you are playing on beginner, there
might be a person dancing on a pad in the middle of the screen to help you through the level. Since these kinds of things can easily become distracting
while you are trying to concentrate on your dance moves, it is possible to
turn everything off in the background and just have the arrows be the only thing
moving on the screen. You can customize pretty much every part of the
display before you begin dancing to a song. You can even change what the arrows
look like, and how they are displayed. Overall, the graphics are nothing
special in this game, but there is really no need for detailed environments or
fancy effects.
Audio
Of course the music is a major part of the game. It helps you get into the
rhythm of dancing, and makes the game so much better. There are
over 65 playable songs in DDRU2 that you can play on different speeds and
difficulties. There is also a large variety of music in the game featuring
everything from house, techno, drum 'n' bass, R&B, trance, and more.
Often you will hear people talking in the background cheering you on, or
just plainly tell you to stop showing off! If you are doing horribly they tend
to be nice and say encouraging words. If you are all over the dance pad and
hitting every arrow they will start saying things such as "Someone has played
this game before."
Overall
So is it really worth buying if you already own the first DDRU on Xbox? If you
play the game often, and love it, then by all means pick up this game as soon as
possible, or at least rent it to test it out. However, if you don't play it as
often it really is not worth buying the new game. There are many new game modes
and Xbox Live capabilities, but if you just plan on playing this game alone, it
might be best to stick with the game you currently have. DDRU2 has many of the
same songs, and is basically the same game with new features. If you have never
owned any of the games but have seen them in arcades or at a friend's house, it
is definitely worth picking up, even if you aren't the dancing type.
| The Core Score |
Overall
8.5 |
| Fun |
|
9 |
| Gameplay |
|
8.5 |
| Graphics |
|
7 |
| Audio |
|
9 |
| Replay |
|
8.5 |
|
| | | |
