What can I say? Classic DDR, with some small updates.
This is classic DDR. Dancing, fast songs, lots of fun. There are a few added gimmicks that most will find annoying, but experts will find a challenge. You can turn these off of course. The soundtrack is nice, and to me seems a bit different from the regular DDR songs. I like it. If you are going to get one version of DDR, you will probably want this one. The menus are a bit simplified so it's easier just to get right in.
LONG VERSION:
DDR games are always the same. You dance to the arrows shown on screen, in rythm. It's a bit like Guitar Hero for dancing. After its release many years ago, DanceDanceRevolution dominated the arcades, and for the last few years, your living rooms.
When you buy the game, you get an unfoldable and refoldable mat to dance on. There are four arrows; left, right, up, down. Pretty much every DDR game is expected to be the same basic formula; hyper songs, flashy graphics, an announcer cheering you on and random dancers. And Hottest Party 2 doesn't let you down.
In the Hottest Party 2 line, they have added left and right Wii remote shake as a dance move. They have also added Gimmicks, such as a fast arrow that will pop up unexpectedly. These can be a good addition when you need an extra challenge, but until you are a super amazing DDR dancer, you might want to turn these off. Unlike in Hottest Party 1, your options will save so you don't have to change them each time you play.
Aside from some added stuff, the game is what you'd expect. There is a free dance mode, where you choose your favorite song and dance. There is a mode where you dance in various arenas and unlock new songs, and face the occasional boss. And there is a workout mode, where you enter your weight, calorie burning goal, and it tells you how many calories you have burned. Very simple, and it all adds up to dancing.
So, there really isn't much to say. The game is what you expect, pure dancing and pure DDR. They could have added more characters, but as for the gameplay there is nothing to change. This version has a few added tricks to make it more interesting for an experience player. I however can't imagine ever getting to Expert mode, it's so damn hard! For a newbie, I'd suggest you do a couple of beginner then stick to standard until you get faster.
One thing that cought me a bit by surprise in this version of DDR was the music. As usual, it mainly consists of sugar coated remixes of popular songs, but I found they used slightly more popular songs. There also weren't many Japanese style songs. It's a nice break from the usual soundtracks. But maybe I just don't know the other soundtracks well enough, this is the only DDR I have OWNED so far.