8/10: Good step forward for the DDR series, but still short of the greatest modern rhythm games

User Rating: 8 | Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party WII
Note: My previous rhythm game experience includes arcade DDR, DDR: Mario Mix, DDR Universe (XBox 360); Guitar Heros 1, 2, 3 (demo), Elite Beat Agents, Boom Boom Rocket, Karaoke Revolutions 1, 2, 3, Party, American Idol. I.e., I know my rhythm games. On DDR, I'm typically a 5 step player (between basic and difficult)

Pros - Generally good song selection, with a few really fun covers (99 Red Balloons, Karma Chameleon, and Hot Stuff are all great choices for this game). The hand shaking adds an interesting twist, and makes the game slightly less Riverdance-ish. Single player campaign mode is reasonable and fun, and the difficulty levels are well-calibrated. Navigating menus with the Wiimote control pad is more pleasant than navigation by stomping. Compatible with Gamecube dance pads, and with previous Gamecube DDR and DDR-related games (i.e., Karaoke Revolution Party).

Cons - Still all techno (OK, I'm probably the only one who feels this way, but any chance we could see a DDR: Classic Rock? DDR: American Bandstand Edition?). Hand-shaking controls awkwardly relative to timing (those who have played Rayman Raving Rabbids know exactly what's happening here). During sight-reads on faster songs, difficult to distinguish arrow from hand-shake cue. No Mii support. Graphics compare unfavorably to what I'd expect from an N64 version.

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The last two DDR versions that had something unusual were DDR: Mario Mix and DDR Universe. The former was poorly calibrated for difficulty, as I found it to be fairly boring and easy on any but the highest difficulty. Since I usually play in the 3-5 step range on normal DDR games, this says a lot. The campaign mode was cute and interesting, but filled with stupid, waste of time minigames that couldn't be skipped.

The latter, DDR Universe, kept the traditional techno songs and good top difficulty, but introduced the most nonsensical travesty of a single player campaign mode ever to appear in a rhythm game. Many stages, even in the beginning, couldn't be completed at the beginning of the game with anything short of an 8 step song. The difficulty in general was messed up in DDR Universe, where despite using 5 difficulty tiers rather than the usual 4, the jump from Basic to Normal was ridiculously hard. Many songs in DDR Universe were, for me, boring on Basic and impossible on Normal. Many songs in DDR Universe also sucked, and were worse techno than usual.

DDR Hottest Party solves most of those two previous titles' problems and introduces a new twist. This brings it up to being one of the best DDR games out, but faults in the details leave it short of its best rhythm game cousins, Guitar Hero 1/2 and Elite Beat Agents. On the rhythm game calibration scale:

Guitar Hero 2: 10
Elite Beat Agents: 9.5
Guitar Hero 1: 9
DDR: Hottest Party: 8
DDR: Mario Mix: 7
Boom Boom Rocket: 6
Mad Maestro: 5
DDR Universe: 4
Boogie: 3

(This meter will probably, and appropriately, go to 11 when Rock Band comes out. I wonder how many game review sites will make that joke in late November? Guitar Hero 3 is expected to score either 9.5 or 10, depending on how cool the campaign story turns out to be)

The game has 3 main modes: Groove Circuit, Free Play, and Workout. Under each of those are various multiplayer modes; the game supports up to 4 players simultaneously, but finding enough space and cash for 4 Wiimotes, 4 Nunchucks, and 4 dance pads is hard. Both Groove Circuit and Free Play modes support:

Single Style: 1 player. In Groove Circuit, includes various gimmicks (spike steps, double arrows, etc.)
Friendship Style: 2-4 player coop. The group gets the highest judgment on the step. The DDR version of the Scramble golf format.
Multi Style: 2-4 player competitive, without gimmicks
Sync Style: 2-4 player coop. The group gets the lowest judgment on the step. A "Boo" or "NG" score will fail the game. For experts only.

Additionally, Free Play has Battle Style, which is a 1-2 player competitive mode (1 player is vs. computer) which contains gimmicks such as Hand Missiles; missiles that you have to shake at the right time to throw at the opponent. Groove Circuit single player will also have battles vs. the computer from time to time.

The single player campaign mode is more sensible here than in DDR Universe (not a hard challenge). Go from venue to venue, playing 3 songs of your choice. After passing a venue, you'll generally get a new song challenge and a new song dance battle challenge, both of which unlock the new song for all modes. There's no need to keep the same difficulty throughout the campaign. I'd prefer a DDR campaign to have some sort of song progression of rising difficulty as in pretty much every other major rhythm franchise, but this'll do for now.

The game's best improvement and greatest fault are both in the hand cues. Adding hands into the routines really does make them more fun. Unfortunately, there are implementation problems. The biggest: When the required action is "shake", it's tough to get the timing right enough for a rhythm game. This same problem was in Rayman Raving Rabbids' drumming sections, and has a similar effect. The best way to handle them appears to be trying to hold the controller perfectly still prior to the cue, and then make a quick swing on the cue. This can be done if the foot section allows, but where the two are intermixed, it's overly tricky. The other, smaller problem with the hand cues is that they're in the same place as the left and right arrows, just represented with a different graphic. If you're playing a fast enough song that you're barely keeping up, it can be difficult to figure out whether you're supposed to step or shake at times.

Meanwhile, I realize the Wii isn't in the next-gen graphics class, but I shouldn't be seeing pixel artifacts all over the place. The background graphics are really terrible. If graphics weren't the least important part of any rhythm game, it would have been a real problem; as it is, you'd rather be watching your friends make asses of themselves than watching the screen anyways. And if the graphics are going to be second-rate and cartoony, why not throw in Mii support? Mii support really should have been an easy call here for Konami.

Basically, if you enjoy DDR and you have a Wii, get the game. It's the first real advance in the franchise in a while, and tough parts inspire determination rather than frustration (an important quality in any video game). But it's not a good enough rhythm game given current technology to drive platform purchases, unlike the Guitar Hero titles or Elite Beat Agents.