Customer Reviews

Dance Dance Revolution X with Dance Mat

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've been playing DDR for five years now. (I have Konamix, all versions for PS2, and I'm working on getting all the Xbox versions.) I can honestly say that even after playing for only two hours, X is one of my favorites. Tied with Supernova, beaten only by Extreme 2, and nothing like Supernova 2, which was boring, frustrating and irritating all at the same time. I felt challenged. It's not too hard or too easy. It's just right.

There is still a "Beginner" level, though I honestly haven't played any songs at that level so I can't give an honest opinion of it. I'd say that this would be a great game for Beginners though, if only for the simple fact that I feel the Basic/Trick/Expert are rated pretty accurately in comparison to previous games.

All the songs seem to have a good beat, even the slower ones. Usually there are a couple that I don't like, a couple that annoy me... But I liked all of them. (I played half of the them, and briefly listened to most of the others.) It's the complete opposite of Supernova 2, where I liked only about four or five songs.

I'm not sure if this goes for all unlockable items, but it seems you can unlock things by playing the traditional "Game" mode and not the weird "game-board-ish" type mode. I really, really, like this because I no longer need to start out at beginner levels, or do stupid "tasks" such as "Step on everything but arrows" or "Step on a secret arrow despite the fact that you have no idea what song it's in or where it's at" or "Get Marvelous on every single arrow on this insanely fast song on Expert mode despite the fact that four songs ago you only had to beat an insanely slow song on Beginner." There doesn't seem to be a shop--the items are actually unlocked. You don't unlock the right to purchase them with points you scrimp and save over the course of a couple weeks.

There is also a new "shock arrow", where you can't step on ANY arrows, where you have to jump into the middle of the pad. I thought I'd have a lot of trouble with this, and that I'd hate it, but it was actually a lot of fun. It felt like I was doing jumping jacks.

I also, surprisingly, really liked the whole urban theme. The character redesigns are great! (Disco, who I always found a little insulting--c'mon, a purple 'fro and snake-skin disco suit?--looks kinda hot.) The overall game feels refreshing and new, yet familiar enough that it doesn't freak me out.

I'd also like to give a quick note on the bundle: The pad that came with the bundle is the same as the one that came with Supernova. Very nice quality, and worth the extra $20. The top doesn't hurt my feet and the bottom has that no-slip rubbery stuff on it that keeps the pad from moving on both rug and tile.

I never had an interest in dance games, I assumed they weren't intense or competitive enough. Happily I was wrong, overall I really enjoy Dance Dance Revolution X. Its far from being just about dancing. It tests eye/feet coordination, challenges balance and pushes speed and endurance.

When the music starts north/south and east/west facing arrows scroll up the screen approaching a judgment panel. You step on the pad's appropriate directional just as the arrow passes its match on the panel. Accuracy of timing is described by the words: boo, almost, good, great, perfect and marvelous. If you step without mistake, 'great' or better, you accumulate combos. The higher the combo the higher your score, the better the accuracy the greater your achievement. After the song you receive a letter grade and if you complete without error you get a 'full combo'. Even after receiving AAA full combo I could not be satisfied until I had spent hours improving on the grade with all 'marvelous' accuracy ratings. Needless to say my competitive urge was thoroughly stimulated! Additionally, the game options are very deep, allowing you to tweek the difficulty in numerous ways.

When you start the game a menu greets you with several play options. There is 1 and 2 player and even an option for 1 player with two mats! (Yet another goal to strive for!)
You can choose Tutorial to get you started. You can play alone selecting one song at a time, or you can battle for points against the CPU. In Course mode, you dance to a set group of songs, a random collection, or you can create your own set. Once experienced, you can test your stamina by dancing to a continuous playlist in Endless mode.
If thats not enough you can go to Workout mode, where you tell the game to track your time or the calories burned. The game translates this energy into miles run and gives a cumulative total after each set. Here too, you can choose a preset group of songs or create your own playlist with up to 20 tunes playing one after the other. This definitely makes working out a breeze. There is a Practice mode, here you can get comfortable with songs sans the pressure of scoring points. On top of all this, there is Edit mode where you can design your own dance patterns for any song.

On the down side the game has some interface and design flaws:
-There is too much load time between songs.
-The narrator gets incredibly annoying and although I have turned off every voice selection offered in game options he will not shut up.
-When selecting tunes you can also choose either Roulette or Random, which isn't very random. From dozens of songs it chose one song 4 times and another 3 times without selecting others even once.
-After each song, or Stage, the wheel remains on your previous selection, but before the last Stage the wheel moves to a song of its own choosing forcing you to reset the song wheel to find your place in the list and continue where you were.
-In the middle of a set, while waiting for the next song to load, if you happen to mis-step- I stepped across the pad to reach for water- it will suddenly flash a warning against making "extreme moves" then end your session without offering a chance to save your progress.
-At the start of Workout mode the game defaults to the 'guest' file, rather than the last previous player file. In fact, it would be nice if the game was smart enough to default to last previous player settings on all modes so one does not have to select 1 or 2 player, re-select character and re-select game mode. They offer an opportunity to select the same character in the game options but this does not work.
-The game also has a Street Master Mode which is a lame, ridiculous attempt at a story mode. Your character 'travels' across town meeting other people, exchanging painful dialogue- where the game forces you to hit enter after every stupid comment- before moving on to a contrived dance-off with that person. I actually played one character to level 9 but a glitch would not allow me to move to final level 10.
There are a few more, but these are the most annoying.

As for the pad that comes with this game: I play on a rather new, low pile, plush carpet and it stays put better than I anticipated, but it does slowly inch across the floor. I find myself re-positioning it more than I would like. I think a wood surface would be more ideal, and eventually I will upgrade to the metal pad.

Whether the songs are good or bad is subjective. I certainly don't own any of them and at first, didn't like most of them. However, once I got into the game they stopped being songs and became a series of beats I had to master. Still, over time I find I have grown to like alot of the songs, especially when I achieve high scores on them!

This game has been a pleasant surprise; it was worth every dollar of the 30 I paid, it hasn't bored me yet and I've lost 14 pounds!

Ten years (yes, that's why the "X") of Dance Dance Revolution and a good reason to buy it.
If you buy the EyeToy Camera (not included), you got another single mode: dance with feet and hands. On the screen you will see two new columns appear (one at each side of the screen). Same as the 4-column feet step guide, when the symbol reach the top you got to move your hand and reach the right or left hand symbol. This is not specified on the manual and it's so fun!
I recommend you to buy the Eyetoy Camera as a bundle with a good game like this: Eye Toy Kinetic With Camera so you will have another workout game.
Enjoy!

This review is strictly for the dance mat. I was able to get the game and the mat cheaper then it is to get the game alone. My old mat would slide and i had to buy a sticky pad so it would not slide. This mat however is amazing had does not slip or slide. It is also more comfortable on the feet. Would definitely buy this mat again.

I actually got this game to see if it would help with restless leg syndrome I started experiencing as a result of some medicine. I recently went back to school and sit at a desk a lot. The game is a blast and is great for study breaks. Buy it for fun :)

I bought the game as an exercise aid, and it works very well for that. The main problems are (1) the dance pad slowly slips backwards on floor when in use, so arrows are not always where expected, (2) pad sensitivity issues, as I'll be standing in the center and the left arrow will register as being stepped on, (3) using exercise mode in the game limits other gameplay options.

Still, it's a fun and effective way of exercising, and I'm happy with the purchase overall.

This game is awesome for cardio, also has an excellent workout and story mode. Definitely a game to play if you want good cardio and legwork.

This bundle is well worth the price comes with dance pad and game and this dance pad is way more better than the other one sold on here. It doesnt move as much & looks a litte nicer the songs on here are okay not a big fan of all of them yet!! has alot more on them but it takes forever to unlock new ones.

Got this for my wife's b-day...big hit! Plus the mat works with other games so we can run races and other track and field events.

First DDR to own. You get a good amount of songs to play with. However you have to unlock other songs if you want more. The announcer is annoying in the game while trying to play, and I have voice turned off. He'll only speak after a dance is finished, though. The mat is fine.

Pro's:
-More updated version, including castlevania fighting game ddr before it's official release.
-Variety of songs to choose from
-Ability to make your own custom DDR from music downloaded

Con's:
-Annoying announcer ruins the play of the game. Must be turned "off"
-Setting up Playstation to get those "custom" ddr's require more equipment and no clear guideline.
-It's on a 2nd generation console that will be going out soon.