Xbox

  News 
  Reviews
  Previews
  Hardware
  Interviews
  All Features

Areas

  3DS
  Android
  iPad
  iPhone
  Mac
  PC
  PlayStation 3
  PlayStation 4
  Switch
  Vita
  Wii U
  Xbox 360
  Xbox One
  Media
  Archives
  Search
  Contests

 

Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix 4

Score: 90%
ESRB: Everyone 10+
Publisher: Konami
Developer: Konami
Media: DVD/1
Players: 1 - 4
Genre: Rhythm/ Party

Graphics & Sound:

Just in case you’ve been hiding under a rock for the last several years and have never heard of the Dance Dance Revolution series, Konami has now released yet another edition to introduce you to. DDR Ultramix 4 is the latest in the series. For me, it’s the first one I’ve played on the Xbox, so I was pleasantly surprised at how much better the graphics are compared to the PS2 versions. The characters still look animated, but instead of looking slightly robotic as they do in the PS2 versions, they move fluidly and look much more like they’re dancing. The backgrounds are pretty much the same as they’ve always been, simplistic animated images that are sometimes distracting from the arrows, but overall you really don’t notice them. There are also a few songs that have a music video instead of the normal backgrounds.

Let’s face it, the real reason we buy new versions of DDR are the songs. DDR Ultramix provides several of the classic DDR songs that we’ve come to expect on every DDR release like Paranoia. And it provides many new songs from current pop artists such as The Pussycat Dolls. There are also songs available for download on Xbox Live, for a price of course.


Gameplay:

DDR Ultramix 4 provides several different play modes. Game mode is the normal mode you’re used to if you’ve been playing DDR for years now. You simply choose the song you want and play it. Party Mode allows up to four players to choose from a variety of competition and cooperative modes. In Quest Mode, you start out dancing on the streets to build up a fan base and eventually compete against the dance master at the top of the tower. Along the way to the top, you unlock more and more songs to play in the game. My only complaint with Quest Mode is that you don’t get a score on any of the songs, so you really have no way to figure out if you’re getting any better or worse.

If you want to use DDR Ultramix to keep track of calories and fitness goals, then Workout Mode is for you. Challenge Mode provides you a list of songs and specific challenges for them. To compete against your friends when they’re not at your house with you or compete against players from around the world, you can choose Xbox Live. New to DDR? If so, then you should run through the Training Mode to learn how to play. If you’re an expert and want to create your own dance steps, you can use Edit Mode to create them. And last but not least, if you just want to listen to the songs, then simply choose Jukebox Mode.


Difficulty:

As always in DDR, the game can be as easy or as hard as you want it to be. If you’re just beginning, you can play on beginner for as long as you like and move to harder difficulties at your own pace, or never if you don’t want to. The real question of difficulty to me in the most recent versions of DDR is how hard is it to unlock all of the songs to play. DDR Supernova made it damn near impossible for non-expert players to unlock everything. DDR Ultramix 4, however, is much better. It might take you several hours, but even medium-skilled players should be able to beat the Quest Mode.

Game Mechanics:

Well, unless you’ve been under that rock I mentioned earlier, you probably know how to play DDR by now. All you have to do is hit the arrow corresponding to the one scrolling up the screen when it hits the top. I make it sound easy, huh? It’s not quite as simple as that, but you get the hang of it pretty quickly. DDR is also a very different game depending on whether you decide to be lazy and play with the controller, or decide to be energetic and play on the dance pad. One thing new to me is the ability to play on four pads at once. I believe it was introduced in DDR Ultramix 3. Now that’s a really difficult trick!

Overall, I found DDR Ultramix 4 to be a nice addition to the DDR family.


-Cyn, GameVortex Communications
AKA Sara Earl

Sony PlayStation 2 Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron Nintendo DS Digimon World DS

 
Game Vortex :: PSIllustrated