DDR Konamix Preview

While Konami's Dance Dance Revolution series has slowly faded from the mainstream popularity it once enjoyed in Japan, domestic dancers have seen only two versions of the game on home consoles and are still somewhat fanatical about the series. For these fans, Konami is releasing a new collection of songs for the North American market in a package called Dance Dance Revolution Konamix.

The front end for Konamix is based on the Japanese release of DDR 4th Mix, so the songs are broken up into various collections that are displayed when choosing a character. Also like 4th Mix, Konamix has lots of extra features, such as nonstop and double, as well as extra modes, such as six-panel solo, link, and workout. A lesson-based training mode similar to the one found in the US release of Dance Dance Revolution is also included.

The game will feature 52 songs in all. Thirty-two of these songs are immediately available, and a list of them can be found here. Two of the game's songs are entirely new to the series, and the remaining 50 have appeared in one of the game's many previous installments.

Anyone who has imported better DDR games won't get much out of this collection, because most of the songs have appeared elsewhere. In addition, this collection of music isn't nearly as good as those of previous Japanese installments in the series, and many of the classic songs from 3rd Mix that haven't appeared in a US game yet should have been included.

While the DDR series may inspire fanaticism, that fanaticism also inspired many hard-core players to get into the import scene instead of waiting for Konami to repackage the games for the US market. If you're a casual DDR fan looking to get more use out of your dance mats, then this will do the trick. If you're a hard-core fan of DDR, chances are you already have most of these songs, making this a collection for enthusiasts and those hoping that a little advocacy will encourage Konami to release more of its Bemani games in North America.