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Developer: KCET
Publisher: Konami
Genre: Music
Region: NTSC
Format:
Release Date: 21 Sep 04
User Rating
9.3 (22 votes) -
- Konami's at it again with more songs, fun Party mode and EyeToy functionality. Can't go wrong with this one.
Overview
Never in my lifetime have I seen a game do as well in the arcades as I have seen the Dance Dance Revolution series. The game has really caused a mass phenomenon that has spread from Japan, to now here in the United States. You cannot go into an arcade without at least seeing one or two of these Dance Dance machines. Lately Konami has also been trying to take their Arcade series to the home consoles, and now is back at it again in Dance Dance Revolution Extreme for the PS2.
Gameplay
For those of you who have been hidden away in your Aunt's basement for the past ten years and don't know what Dance Dance Revolution is, here you go. To put it quite simply, Dance Dance Revolution is a rhythm based dancing game that allows gamers to jump on a pad and see how much rhythm and dancing skills they really have. What I really believe made the game catch on as much as it did is how simple the idea is but how much room for improvement the game gives you.
One of the key points I have to let all of you know before you go run out and buy this game, and that is if you don't have a mat you're going to need one to have fun with this game. This game doesn't get even relatively close to being entertaining without the mat, so if you want to get your groove on not only do you have to buy the game but you also have to buy the dance mat.
The game has a total of eight different game modes to choose from, most of which are all pretty standard. The modes include: Game Mode, Mission Mode, Lesson Mode, Training Mode, Edit Mode, Workout Mode, Endless Mode and Party Mode. For the most part the game's different modes are pretty standard to the series. Some of the more interesting modes include the training mode, which will give newcomers a little taste of what they are getting themselves into. And the workout mode for all of you trying to lose weight, counts your calories.
One of the most welcomes additions to the series is the library of songs in DDR: Extreme, which has a total of fifty songs. That's a pretty huge library that consists of some pretty good music. The game puts different difficulty levels to each song, which allows you to work your way up to some of the tougher dancing songs.
By far the most interesting and novel idea behind DDR: Extreme is the new party mode. There are quite a few different mini-games you will have the option to choose from in this mode. By far my favorite one of these games was Hyper Dash which was a side scrolling racing car that you would use the right and left arrows on the pad and occasionally the top and bottom arrows. All of the mini games are very simple and not complex what so ever, but they do a great job of giving gamers so action away from the game.
For those of you who have also invested in an eye toy, you may be happy to know that DDR: Extreme makes great use of you little camera. There are a few mini games direction specifically for the eye toy some of which are actually quite entertaining. They also have a mode for those of you who like to watch yourself dance; you can now do so thanks to the Eye Toy.
Overall DDR: Extreme that plays just like you would expect a DDR game to play. There wasn't as much new as some would have liked but in my eyes Konami did a great job of keeping a respectable game onto the PS2.
Graphics
The one thing that everyone who has ever reviewed a DDR game has known is that the graphics have always taken a back seat. So did Konami do anything different with this version of DDR? Not really.
The visuals behind DDR: Extreme are exactly what you would expect from the game. All the songs are joined up with some patterns that look pretty good for the game. There are also some very nice cel-shaded dancers that come along as you unlock them throughout the game. But to be quite blunt the game doesn't use the graphics in anyway shape or form to help or hurt the game. They are just there as a nice friendly reminded of exactly what you are supposed to be doing.
Fun Factor
Anyone who enjoys the DDR games is going to have fun with this game. But then again on the same token any of you who think this series isn't fun then you're not going to think DDR: Extreme is entertaining. The one thing I did notice about DDR: Extreme is that it wasn't attempting to try and change peoples minds about it - it was made for the fans of the genre. The addition of the party mode in my eyes was a very welcome one that were fun and light hearted, and proved to be a nice diversion from the normal gameplay.
Overall
If you are wondering if you should make the jump to DDR: Extreme, I would say that it would be worth it. The game now has a total of 50 songs, plenty of different modes to choose from in the same old DDR Style. Any fan of the series couldn't go wrong with this one.
- Gameplay
8.0 - Graphics
8.0 - Fun Factor
8.0 - Overall
8.0
