The Dance Dance Revolution series as found a place amongst gamers interested in the arcade based music genre. The series made its debut on the American shores on the Playstation in 2001. The peripheral based dance game required gamers to match their dance steps according to the arrows that floated up the screen. The game garnered its own fan based, who obviously numbered enough to warrant Konami bringing over a sequel in the form of Dance Dance Revolution Konamix for the Playstation. DDR Max brings the series to the Playstation 2, hopefully to utilize the significant amount of disc space available to the console. Well, that would be the ideal situation. While this isn’t at all true, the game that we do get is quite a bit of fun. But is it worth the money? The game requires a purchase of a dance pad, which allows players to simulate the arcade experience. This proves to be actually quite enjoyable. Experienced players will want to jump straight into the main game mode, which requires players to dance along with the onscreen arrows in an attempt to reach a high score. Each attempt has players selecting a few songs, and trying to successfully clear each one. Players can also play against a friend in this mode, allowing some very entertaining dance sessions. Game mode is where seasoned players will note the game’s one addition to the series, the freeze step. The freeze step requires players to freeze one foot in place while continuing to hit arrows with the other foot. Unfortunately, this only adds a minor change to the standard gameplay of the previous games. The game’s workout mode places the focus on an aerobic workout, instead of trying to obtain the highest score possible. After setting up your weight, desired calories to burn, difficulty level, and the date, players are then left to choose from the game’s large list of songs. After making their way through the song, players are given statistics on well they performed and how many calories they burned during the song. Fortunately, Konami did not forget that some gamers have yet to experience the series yet, and have included lessons and training modes. Lesson mode gives three sets of eight increasingly advanced dance lessons, which serve to introduce players with the mechanics of the game. The game does an excellent job in these lessons of walking players through the ropes. Training mode allows player to practice and learn the dances to each of the games songs. This mode proves to be a little more challenging than the lessons, but just as effective in introducing players to the game. While experienced players will surely find these modes useless, they definitely serve their purpose effectively. The final mode in the game is the edit mode, which allows player to create dances to the game’s song. Once again, this is a mode that experienced players have seen before, and it remains unchanged in the game. However, newcomers may find the process a bit overwhelming at first. But once they get accustomed, the mode does offer enough options to add to the longevity of the songs. One thing that Dance Dance Revolution games are not known for are their graphics. While most music inspired games are not known for this, DDR Max makes no real effort to give the game any style by creating unique visuals. Fortunately, the game has stepped away from the polygonal dancers of the past and replaced them with a colorful slideshow of various backdrops. But nevertheless, DDR Max certainly does not leave you with any positive feelings from a graphical standpoint. However, the game’s songs do a nice job, offering over sixty songs to groove to. Some of the songs are simply remixes of their Konamix counterparts, but there are enough club songs to keep anyone busy for quite some time. I only wish that there was some more variety in the songs, offering maybe some rap or pop inspired songs to get down to. DDR Max has a lot to offer newcomers. The game is a blast to play and with lesson and training modes, it certainly doesn’t leave new players out of the mix. Unfortunately, if you own any other Dance Dance Revolution game, there is little reason to purchase the newest installment. There just isn’t anything new that is worth the experience. But if you don’t own another version, this is probably the best version to buy.
Since the last time I played this, I can't remember a single flaw. The game itself has LOTS of unlockables, most of which are unlocked by playing a certain number of songs (but to a reasonable amount), which just gives... Read Full Review
This game is ok, but not the best. The gameplay on this game is pretty good. The music is techno which i don't really like but it fits good into this game. I think they could have probably put atleast a few that wer... Read Full Review
