Dance Dance Revolution X
Score: 88% ESRB: Everyone 10+ Publisher: Konami Developer: Bemani Media: DVD/1 Players: 1 - 8 Genre: Rhythm/ Party
Graphics & Sound: Dance Dance Revolution has been around for ten full years now, at least if you count Japan only releases in the beginning. To celebrate the world revolution that they started a decade ago to create addicts out of many of us, Konami has released Dance Dance Revolution X (X of course as in the Roman numeral for ten). The characters you can choose to play as have gotten quite a makeover. They look much more anime than they used to. The clothes, hair, and names are still the same, but the features and animations are quite different. The dancing simulation they do behind the arrows has gotten considerably better. It still doesn't really match the arrows that you are hitting, but they also no longer look as if they're having a seizure on the faster songs. As I've said in previous reviews, the real reason that we keep buying new versions of DDR is to get new songs. There are over 70 songs on this release, over 40 of them unlocked when you start the game. Most of these are remixes and covers, though. The most exciting to me was the remix of "Boys" by Smile.dk, just because it hasn't been on an American console release before (it was in an arcade version). Anyway, there's not that many major artist songs on this one like there have been on some of the others. There is a cover of Fergie's "Big Girls Don't Cry" and the original MC Hammer's "U Can't Touch This". There are a few more licensed songs, but nothing I would write home about.
Gameplay: There's a new mode in DDR X. I must admit that I like it better than the previous "Master" modes in the other games. This time they decided that each of the characters needs their own story. Story mode takes each of the character through the town. Each time they run into someone, they have to dance with them for various reasons. They might be slightly long to go through (there's about 7 stages per story), but given that you can choose between Normal and Advanced, you should be able to complete them all. When you beat one person's story, it'll unlock someone else's. Keep on going until you've beaten all the characters' stories. You'll find all the major modes that you're used to under Game Mode. After you select Game Mode, you can choose to play Single (one dance pad or the controller), Versus (2 people against each other on the dance pads or using controllers), or Double (2 dance pads for one person to play across both). Then you'll choose a character. After that, you'll get to pick from the modes that you're used to. There's still Tutorial, Standard, Battle, Course, and Endless. Tutorial is a great place to start if you've never played before. Standard is the mode where you just select a song and play. In Battle, you play against an opponent. Each time either of you does well enough, it will throw an attack at your opponent. At the end of the song, one of you will be declared the winner. In Course Mode, you can play a set list of songs through. If you choose to play it on Normal, then it is just like the regular game and you simply have to keep your dance meter high enough to survive. If you choose Challenge though, you'll be given 4 or 8 arrows you can miss. Any more than that and you lose. Finally there's my favorite, Endless Mode. It is exactly what it sounds like. You keep playing through all the songs until you fail. There are also most of the other modes of play you're used to and one new one. Workout Mode is still around for you to burn off some calories. You can also still use Edit Mode to make your own step charts. There is no online play anymore, but instead there is a Party Zone. You can use it for up to 8 players on up to four different PS2's to play against each other across the network.
Difficulty: For the last ten years, we've been used to counting feet, for difficulty measuring that is. Previously the feet were anywhere from 1 as the lowest to 10 as the highest. Dance Dance Revolution X has widened that range somewhat. That's not to say that there is really any higher than 10 feet, though. Really, 15 feet is what 10 feet used to be. It feels to me like they added more of the easier feet steps. I will admit that in some of the previous releases, it was hard to get a newcomer into the game since there weren't really a lot of truly beginner songs. With the expanded feet, it seems like there are more songs available for beginners to learn how to play on. Well, to give us all a little more of a challenge, or headache depending on your point of view, they have added shock arrows. Basically, these arrows are there for you to NOT step on them. Unfortunately, they just took the normal step charts and replaced some of the arrows with shocks. So if you're one of those people who have all the steps memorized, you're going to trip over your own feet trying to avoid arrows that your brain is telling you to hit. The shock arrows are only in the challenge charts though, so if you don't want to play with shock arrows there, just avoid those charts. All of the challenge charts have shock arrows. There are still the options too. So if you want to make the song just a little bit more difficult, you can use the options to increase the speed of the arrows, boost them so they gradually accelerate, change the appearance of the arrows, and many more. These can be used to make it a little more of a challenge if you want.
Game Mechanics: If you haven't seen how to play Dance Dance Revolution before, then I have no clue where you've been hiding. Dance Dance Revolution X plays the same way as you're used to with the one major exception of the shock arrows that I just mentioned. As is the same in all the previous DDR releases, you first choose a mode and then a song to play. Once the song starts, you'll see pretty colored arrows scrolling up the screen. You simply tap the arrow on your dance pad (or the corresponding button on the controller if you play that way) when the colored arrow hits the target at the top of the screen. If it is a shock arrow, you need to not step on that arrow. Sounds easy, huh? While DDR X is probably not the greatest release ever, at a starting price of only $29.99, I think it's worth adding to your collection. You might really like the new shock arrows too. So I recommend giving it a shot.
-Cyn, GameVortex Communications AKA Sara Earl
Igor Hoyle Card Games 2009