HOW MUCH WEIGHT CAN THIS THING MAKE ME LOSE IN A YEAR?
The game could use ALOT of interface tweaking. I have a 32 inch television and many of the menu options were very difficult to see and understand. The fonts need to be increased a bit to make the game easier on the so-called "casual gamers" who would buy a system just for this game and the workout it offers. Similar to the above Gamespot Review, I feel the menus need much more explanation so the "casual gamer" can understand them. The manual isn't very informative and neither are the in-game instructions.
For example, there is a "timing" option in options menu which I have absolutely no idea of the purpose.
Also, the above gamespot review was the only thing that clarified the vagueness of the quest mode. I kept failing songs even when I danced perfectly to them - and now I understand why I failed whering the game's manual didn't inform me - you've gotta fill the dance meter with multiple songs. The problem is, the QUEST mode is a neccesity because you can't unlock all the unlockable songs in the game unless you play through it with near perfect performance. I'm also a bit dissapointed with thepad. The quality is good but I feel it would be better if it was slightly wider and had less sensitivity nearer to the center. For people with small feet, its no problem but for larger feet, it is too easy to misstep and be penalized. Also if you have wide hips, standing with feet side by side can be disorienting and you'll have trouble centering yourself when your feet return from steps.
And the steps are quite difficult - in most cases you'll be jumping, twisting and performing dance moves that are so tricky, you'll feel like a pro once you've mastered them.
To the game's credit, there is a workout mode which allows you to track burned calories on a daily basis and save your progress to the Hard Drive.
Play the game an hour or two and YOU WILL BE EXHAUSTED - and the workout mode option will show you how many calories you've burned. How the game decides this, I don't know but it has something to do with your personal body weight you've entered and the difficulty of each song. The game also features a Challenege mode which allows you to do dance in unorthodox methods as part of a mind-game and coordination challenge. For example, in one challenge, you must only dance to LEft and Right arrows and ignore the Ups and Downs. Very interesting and highly exciting if you actually win a level. I am a bit dissapointed with the music list. YEs there are 70 songs but most of them are techno and very few are American radio top hits. I'm looking forward to songs like "Umbrella", 50 Cent's club hits, and other top 10 joints from Hot 97.1. I would also like to be able to make MY OWN steps. if 360 has a Hard Drive and you can usually listen to custom soundtracks, there is no reason you shouldn't be able to make your own dance tracks... except for the fact that allowing you to make your own steps would probably prevent you from shelling out $50 for the next DDR game which you'd only buy to get MORE MUSIC.
Many of the tracks are pretty good but, if you do happen to hear a song from your favorite artist, most likely there will only be one. Sugar Hill Gang, Earth Wind & Fire and Cascada for example have just one song on the list. The songs have been chopped down to short versions rather than extended versions which would be better for your aerobic workout which means you'll be dancing in spurts - less than 3 minutes. Besides having to play the difficult "quest mode" to unlock new tracks, You can purchase some tracks off Xbox Live via gamer points, but they are still of the Techo genre and most people won't recognize them or probably appreciate them after spending the money. The graphics are typical. Bright animations that play at 60 FPS easily on Xbox 360 (these same graphics would run on Playstation 2 without probelm I think). There is support for 720p and 1080p but many people will end up playing on CRT televisions so they might not ever access the highest resolutions. Its really not very neccesary as you spend most of your time staring at the arrows trying figure out the next step. What is great is the backgrounds when they switch to music videos. Some of the Videos are quite cool. Getting Achievements for the 360 isn't too hard. you typicaly gain 20 points for completing any 10 songs with a high grade so if you go through each song you'll gain plenty of gamer points. You can also play the Challenge modes to unlock 50 or more Gamer points. (in just 2 play sessions I gained 70 points).
In conclusion, I feel the $80 is money well spent. I now am a novice at DDR and I could seriously see myself trying my luck in the pay-per-play arcade. Its a great workout that will have you sweating bullets in no-time flat. Definately a change from the typical couch potato game style.
I'm trying to have substantial weight loss in exactly one year with DDR's help. Wish me luck.