Customer Reviews

Dance Dance Revolution X

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

 

 

I haven't yet played through this exhaustively, but I have a couple hours in, so here are my first impressions.

The Bad:
- The difficulty levels have been artificially inflated by 2 feet. And now they go to 13. ("Ours goes to eleven!") Huh?!? I should not be able to barely pass a 9-footer while sight-reading a song for the first time. I'm presently a barely 7-footer skill level on all of the older games I have. I have to pick songs 2 feet harder than I normally play to get the same intensity workout with this game, and this is going to limit my skill improvement in this version.
- The new "hip urban" announcer voice is really quite irritating. I have the voices turned off during the songs, but you still get them at every intro and exit screen. At least they've left in a lot of the Japanese announcer bits; I don't wince if I don't understand.
- Like Supernova2, the load time between songs is really long. When I'm trying to keep my heart rate up, a minimum of 30 seconds between songs in game mode or exercise free play is killer. The older games are a lot better about this, and better about allowing you to skip to the next screen before the current screen is fully displayed.
- Exercise mode continues to be separate from game mode. I don't understand why only one edition of this game has gotten it right by allowing calorie counting _with_ grading. Why wouldn't you want both together?

The Good:
- The song selection seems pretty good, and has considerably fewer slow songs than Supernova2's list. I especially love that they included OK Go's treadmill video as background for their "Here We Go Again".
- The game pops up a notice box every time you unlock a new character or song. It adds to the long load time sometimes, but in general I think this is a good feature.
- The main menu idle demo now explains how to play the game, which could be useful for new players.
- The challenge level on regular game-list songs now includes actual challenges instead of just harder steps. The one I've played so far included a "don't step on any arrows" step, which definitely added a challenge in trying to make sure my weight was only on the center pad when it hit.

Overall, I'm glad I have DDR X, as DDR is my primary cardio exercise, so having a variety of music on hand is good. It's going to get more play than Supernova2 due to the better song list, but it's still not going to get as much as the older games (especially Extreme) that have much shorter load times and other desirable features like calorie counting in game mode.

DDRX is NOTHING like any of the previous DDR releases
But I mean that in the BEST WAY POSSIBLE!!


I own every single DDR for the ps2 and I own konamix for ps1, and with crisp, clean graphics, a fresh "urban" themed interface, and extra features galore this game ranks up there as one of the better DDR's in my book.




At the core of every DDR game is the songlist, and it seems that konami finally got smart and decide to give us some of the old dancemania classics we know and love! Smile d.k.'s "Butterfly", and "Boys" are BOTH featured on this game, as well as Me And MY's "Dub-I-Dub" along with a few other older favorites only they have been reworked as "2008 X-edits". Don't let that last part fool you, as they all sound amazing!!! The other licensed music isn't that bad either. Even the cover of Fergie's Big Girls Don't Cry sounded pretty good and had some pretty good steps to it! The new music sounds great combined with some of the older songs that were brought over from the arcade version of SuperNOVA 2 (yes the planetary songs are on this game).
The default song list is huge -about 45 songs more or less. The rest of the music must be unlocked either by playing through songs, OR by complete missions in the games street master mode. The songs themselves are all very catchy fun, even a lot of the slower songs seem to have excellent step charts!

About street master mode.
The process may be slightly tedious for those who just want to unlock everything in an hour. I've played for at least 7 hours altogether and I'm not even close to unlocking all of the games content!
Street Master Mode is similar to Dance Master Mode from DDR EXTREME 2, Stellar Master Mode from SuperNOVA, and Hyper Master Mode from SuperNOVA 2, except that in this instance, you get to play as the characters from the game (Yuni, Rage, Emi, Zukin, etc) and you get to follow them as they venture throughout the city on their various little affairs- example: for Emi's story in Street Master Mode, she has been invited to a party, and you must follow her as she goes to each location on a map, and every time you visit a location, one of the other characters may challenge you to a dance-off or simply ask you to dance with them. Along with this there will be certain objectives like "play two songs", or "beat your opponent's score to progress".
This is all a welcome change to all of the previous master modes...

All in all, this game is definately an improvement, and I recommend it to everyone, whether you've been a hardcore player since 1998, or your just beginning explore the world of DDR, you will LOVE this game!

6/5 stars!!!

:D

I just got the game a week ago, so i have yet to unlock everything but i think i have seen enough to write a decent review. for good measure. I have been playing ddr for about 6 years now and own all but 2 of the ps games (i'm missing supernova and disney mix for the ps1) and i have the short-lived In The Groove for ps2 as well.

the good:

- big initial songlist (around 40)
- no more shop (that's my opinion anyway)
- Classic songs like "butterfly" and "hero" are in this version with updated steps (the songs are not remixed but the songs do have different step patterns)

The bad:

- The announcer! OMG the announcer! I've never had to disable an announcer's voice in the previous versions but there's a first for everything i guess
- The theme: The "urban" theme is quite possibly the worse move konami could've made (it's the main reason the announcer is so horrible) especially when you have an urban theme on a song list still comprised of mostly j-pop and trance.
- the new step levels: Changing the levels of the songs this late in the series is another bad move. I only hope someone who starts off with this game doesn't go to the arcade and think he/she can do a 9 or 10-footer song cause they can do it on this game
- Shock arrows: i know they are based on the mines from ITG but those mines are only one or two arrows at the same time. in ddr x, shock arrows always seem to be on all four arrows at the same time and placed in between beat steps so you have to either jump or put both feet in the center to avoid them ( the latter is harder because of two things: one, feet-in-the-center is something you DON'T do at harder levels and two, most basic pads still hit an arrow on accident when you put your feet in the center and it can't be helped. i've hit the shock arrows almost everytime i placed my feet in the center.



I know that's a lot of bad things but the songs are still fun to play (which is why this got 3-stars instead of 2) so if you want new songs or classic songs that you haven't heard in a while that have been made a bit more difficult. get this game. personally, once i unlock everything, i'm going back to supernova 2 cause i like the songs better there ( i love angelus but i did miss butterfly)

How many DDR games can they make? DDRX brings a new, urban video-based look to the DDR game, but in the end it really comes down to if you enjoy the songs and dancing to them.

I have five DDR games and I have an area of my basement set up with the PS2, the pile of games and the dance pad. I don't tend to play "one game" (in terms of DDR). If I head downstairs to dance, I play a few songs on one game, swap games, play a few songs on the next one and so on. I get a lot of chances to compare them all against each other, the benefits and downsides of each one.

DDR X is certainly shinier than the other games. They are pushing the PS2 to its limits with the graphics here. Really, though, who is watching the graphics when they are dancing? Yes, I love having the treadmill-dancing video running for OK Go (and missed half the steps the first time I danced it because I was having so much fun watching the video). Which sort of proves my point - if you are watching or paying attention to anything other than the arrows, you'll be in trouble :)

Since the arrows really don't change from game to game, all that really matters is the song list. This is a VERY subjective judgment. We all have quite different musical tastes. For example, in DDR X there are four songs I really like - and I'm not really fond of the others. I'm sure other players will have a completely separate list of songs in this game they adore. That's why it's nice to have so many options in the game, so that you can pick out the ones you like and ignore the ones you don't like.

I'm really glad they continue to come out with games for the PS2 to continue out the DDR game line. I like the steps and songs in my various DDR games and am always glad to be able to add more games into my workout mix. I'm sure at some point with the PS3 they'll come out with a DDR that lets you download songs and old step sets from the old DDR games, and at that point I might convert up to the PS3. In the meantime, though, this is a great option. I definitely recommend anyone who wants to get a good balance and cardio workout to look into DDR, look at the song set list for each one and choose a few that you enjoy. DDR isn't about just having one and playing only it all the time. It's about having a few, with songs you like, and enjoying the songs.

DDRX is definitely a great addition to the library. Well recommended.

Allow me to start with the good news: This game is better than Supernova 2. That in itself is cause for celebration.

In terms of gameplay, X towers over its predecessor. The problems with the terrible step charts in Supernova 2 have been remedied in X: all the step charts in this game flow beautifully. The gallops in the song Horatio are a great example of what I mean. In this respect, veterans will be pleased. Of course, if you're the casual player who doesn't care about DDR jargon like "gallop" and "crossover", there's not much that this game can do wrong as long as the up arrow still means up.

Another issue corrected from Supernova 2 is the difficulty scale. Traditionally, each song is rated on difficulty from 1 to 10. Lately, however, these ratings have been a poor indicator of the song's true difficulty. To fix this, X increases the grading scale to make the difficulty of songs more specific. This may work against you, though, when you try to play a previous installment, but I thing the change is welcome.

Also, I've found this game's transition between the three difficulty modes (in this game called Basic, Difficult, and Expert) is smoother than in any of the previous games. It's easier to go from Basic to Difficult because many Basic songs include the eighth notes common to Difficult mode. Likewise, you'll find some Expert-style steps (crossovers, gallops) sprinkled in a few Difficult songs. The differences between the modes aren't as jarring and ultimately discouraging. If your goal is to become a DDR master from the ground up, this might be the game to try.

Others have complained about Challenge mode, and I must agree. Instead of giving us a new difficulty level that, as the name would suggest, challenges expert players, Konami spits one of the three regular difficulties of a song with us but with a twist: Shock Arrows. When the Shock Arrows show up, you have to jump out of the way, usually by jumping to the middle. I found this lazy and also unfair because it teaches players the fatal habit of returning to the center of the mat. Shame on you, DDR X. Shame on you.

I don't know whether even to mention the story mode since it's a bit unfair to judge a dance game on an element that a dance game doesn't truly need. Basically, you pick a character and go through a storyline that includes 10 missions of dance. The storylines are a little forced (A story about takoyaki? Seriously?) but they get the job done. There's actually no real reason to play story mode anyway, since I think you can unlock everything through game mode. All the other favorite modes are present: course, endless, workout, party, battle, training. It's all there.

As others have noticed, the announcer is atrocious. I don't know who told Konami it was a good idea to have the announcer sing a completely different song while you're trying to dance. The good news is that you can turn him off in-game, but you can't turn him off on the menus, and I hate to turn off the announcer because I like to be told when I have a 100 combo. I just have to do without, though, because the announcer truly is intolerable.



Finally, we get to the game's one pitfall: Song selection. Don't get me wrong, it's a great selection, and you have tons of songs to choose from right from the start. There are a great proportion of medium-high energy songs, which seem to be everyone's favorite; this is very refreshing after Supernova 2's snoozefest. There's a lot of instrumental techno/trance songs that remind you that this is, after all, a dance game. The licensed tracks aren't bad, either. It seems to have everything... or does it? The veteran player will quickly notice the absence of old DDR staples: Naoki, DJ Taka, and other favorites are sorely missed. The game tries to redeem itself with older songs like Butterfly, Boys, and the planet songs, but it's just not enough.

All in all, this is a solid DDR title. I imagine that new players will be thrilled with this game's huge music selection. Older players, on the other hand, will sigh with relief over the step chart improvements, only to realize there was nothing wrong with them in Extreme 2 and go back to Dynamite Rave without a second thought.

I'm thrilled with this latest DDR game. I own all the PS2 Dance Dance Revolution games and I love to work out a few times a week with DDR. The last few games before this one required you to go through some kind of stupid dance master mode or something to unlock songs- so I was thrilled to find that you can unlock songs, dancers, etc just by playing normally in game mode.

Two annoying things in this one:

You can't shut off the dancers

The announcer is dire - really, really bad. Luckily you can shut him up in options.

I do love that there is at least one good rap song in here, and quite a few oldies like Dub-i-Dub and Butterfly (a new remix). There's also just generally a good variety of songs. There's an interesting clubhouse reggae song that I was particularly happy to see.

I have played four nights now with a person with very different musical taste than I have, and we both enjoyed it a lot and found songs we wanted to replay each night.

I'm giving it five stars because of the simplified unlock process and the fun variety of songs. Yay for X!

I can think of almost nothing good to say about this lousy game. I've been playing DDR for about 7 years, at home & at arcades, and have probably played at least 8 different editions of this game. This one is by far the worst. The lag time at every point in the game is absurd- how can this have gotten so much WORSE than in previous games? It's a huge step backward that I just don't understand. Also, as others have mentioned, the announcer's voice is another giant un-improvement. His "I'm so hip" attitude (Good song choice, dawg) is ridiculous. But if you turn the voice off during songs (as I did), you miss the fun comments, like notifications when you hit 100/200/300 steps in a row. The Street Master mode is, again, a step in the wrong direction: what's with having to slog through the silly, silly story lines to get to the challenges? And the step ratings inflation- why? For me to be able to AA an 8 footer the first time through is crazy. I'd like to be that good, but for "normal" DDR games, I'm not. Apart from all these bad game changes, I thought the backgrounds were boring and unmemorable, as were many (most) of the songs. I really can't understand why Konami changed so many things about the DDR format, and NONE of them for the better. Are they really that out of touch with what players want? I have but one good thing to say about this game: it was cheap. So cheap that it's not worth the postage to return it. I will likely try to sell it to a used game store.

After first receiving this game I rushed to the TV to play it, only to be disappointed.
Let me explain:

1)The song choice is poor as it excludes or changes many classic songs, such as Butterfly, that I have become accustomed to on my favorite DDR, Extreme 2. I notice also that the songs in this game are easy to forget as they're in a foreign language, have no lyrics, or sound like a slight variation of the previous songs. Some exceptions would include Dub-I-Dub, Flourish, and a few others.

2)The step patterns are, for the most part, on the beat, though it may take a while to single it out on some songs. To complicate the play, several songs such as Saber Wing interject tempo changes without adequate warning. Though this provides a greater challenge for the dancer, it can also be frustrating. Additionally, when a player is challenging the computer to a dance, the arrows will randomly speed up, slow down, crunch together or switch around, which can be confusing when dancing to an already difficult song.

3)Characters are dressed in typical DDR fashion: girls occasionally sport tight pants and revealing tops with an infrequent short skirt or dress. The guy's costumes are also generally tight with a periodic tank top to expose muscle. Based on my personal experience with DDR costumes, this one is more conservative, with infrequent cleavage, little mid-section, and about average exposure of legs and arms.

4)Backgrounds are, in my opinion, more bland and uninteresting than in other DDR's. Although I love the challenge of bright colors exploding behind the arrows, in this DDR many of the songs merely depict multiple angles of the character(s) performing movements that don't always appear to be a dance. Also a few of the backdrops for the songs focus on women garbed in tight, sometimes unacceptable clothing, such as 30 Lives and Put 'Em Up. Granted, the player will probably not be watching the background, but spectators almost certainly will. These songs are easy to avoid when dancing freestyle, but are harder to evade in the other dancing options, such as "Endless", available in the "Game Mode" selection accessible at the main menu.

5)The "Street Master Mode" available at the main menu is fun for a little while, but becomes a bit bizarre as characters find different ways to get the others to dance.

6)The announcer is the worst that I have experienced. Besides the fact that he talks almost constantly throughout the whole song, he will also chant over the top of the song you are trying to dance to. His voice overpowers the music, so as the player increases the TV volume to hear the music, the DJ's overbearing voice fills the entire room.

Two of the main reasons I play DDRs are the memorable songs and the easy-to-follow rhythms, which, in my opinion, were clearly absent from this game, and the motive for my 3 star rating. I don't believe that this is a good sample of DDR games. If you are looking for a good aerobics dance game, or even just a game to play with your friends, this would not be one of my first recommendations. Instead I would point you to my favorite DDR game (so far), Dance Dance Revolution Extreme 2.

I recently got back into DDR, and started by getting a metal pad that can be used on XBox 360, PS3, PS2, PC, and GameCube. On all 5 systems it works fine, and while playing Dance Dance Revolution X on the PS2, it was great. Probably one of the best mixes for the PS2.

My only word of warning is for people like me, who have a backwards compatible PS3. Do NOT try to play this on the PS3. While the timing is fine visually (hit the arrow when it is over the top row and it'll be fine), the actual sync'ing with the song is wrong on the PS3. The arrows are delayed approximately 5-6 seconds from when they should be playing on the PS3. It can't be fixed with any amount of options tweaking.

So if you're getting it for PS2, or still have a PS2 you can use, get this game, it is one of the best releases in the US for PS2. However, don't bother if you use your PS3 to play PS2 releases. It is simply not any fun when you're on a 5 second delay of what the music is doing compared to what the steps are.

The gameplay is pretty good, the product is in great condition, and it is one of my favorite DDR games!