Save your money, and Dance-Dance your way to a Red-Octane pad.
Written: Dec 31 '03 (Updated Jan 08 '04)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Looks cool, it’s still better than a controller for dance games, only $19.
Cons: Slides VERY easily on carpet, not accurate, lack of padding leads to sore feet.
The Bottom Line: A poorly designed pad that falls on it's face (and sometime so does the user) during actual gameplay. Avoid if you can possibly purchase a better quality pad.
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| openroad's Full Review: Dance Dance Revolution: Dance Pads for Playstation... |
System compatibility: Playstation 2 and PS-One
----- Introduction -----
First off, the Naki dance pad is only for use with dancing games such as Dance Dance Revolution MAX2 (DDRMAX2), Britney's Dance Beat, and Dance Dance Konamix. You don’t even want to try using this with any PS2 games that require a normal controller. To truly enjoy any of the many dancing games available for both Playstation systems, you need an arcade-style dance pad. This gives you a much more enjoyable playing experience, and also burns quite a few calories as you move to the groove!
There are at least 15 different dance pads available for this series of games, ranging from $19 pads like this model all the way up to $250 arcade metal pads made by MyMyBox and Red Octane. While most players will never need an arcade pad, something in the middle is a great compromise. As I’ll explain below, the Naki DPR2 pad is definitely on the cheap end of the product line, and as such should be avoided.
----- Dance-Plant Revelation -----
My main dance pad is a Red Octane Ignition 2.0 soft pad, which retails for $99. I picked it up for $89 at a Gamestop store, and you can find similar pricing online if you look around. I only bought this cheaper pad in order to have 2-player dance competition, which is a vital part of the game. Since I don’t have 2 players all that often, I didn’t see the need to invest in another expensive pad.
Over the Christmas holiday, I played roughly 15 hours of Dance Dance MAX2 using both the Red Octane pad and the Naki pad. There is no comparison between the two, and I was forced to use the cheaper pad almost exclusively since new players were having a very hard time learning on the cheaper Naki. Several claims made on the box are blatantly untrue or misleading. The box brags that the pad “lights up to your dance steps” and shows light streaming up from the buttons, which is very misleading. All the latest arcade Dance Dance units have lighted arrow pads, which flash when you step on them. The Naki pad has red LEDs in the front control box that flash every time a button is pushed. This is purely annoying, as the lights tend to catch my peripheral vision and distract me. Another advertised claim is “new and improved non-slip floor grip” that will make sure “you are the only thing moving”. I can only say I wouldn’t want to see their old version if this one is improved. After one song, the Red Octane pad would be exactly where it started, but the Naki pad would be about 12” further from the TV, 24” to the side, and twisted at an angle. Not only does it move, but it also bunches up horribly. This bunching effect is what causes the phenomenon I have since dubbed the Dance Plant Revelation. One of my good friends was attempting to survive the Standard mode version of the song Conga Feeling from DDRMAX2, when he made the mistake of stepping back to hit the rearmost arrow. He managed to run into 8 inches of vertically stacked dance pad, and crashed backwards onto a couch. This was solely due to the pad sliding and bunching up as he played. After this happened we would yell warnings to the player when the pad became tangled up, and for the most part we were able to prevent any more Dance-Plants.
The backing on the Naki pad seems to be a felt-type material, and feels like it would offer decent traction. As my Christmas group found out, this was an erroneous assumption. The surfaces I’ve used the Naki pad on have been everything from thick pile carpeting to short, stiff, office style carpet. I would never consider using the Naki pad on a hard surface such as linoleum, tile, or wood floors. After playing on both pads extensively I can’t help but recommend the Red Octane Ignition pad. If you’re a VERY casual DDR player and won’t ever advance beyond light mode, maybe you would be happy with the Naki pad. Beginners can play fairly well since the pad presses are slower and farther apart. It’s when you begin to pick up the pace and string combos together a la light and standard mode that the deficiencies of inferior pads begin to show. Also noticeable are the less than perfect switchgear inside this pad, which lead to frustrating missteps that aren’t you’re fault. Lastly, the lack of padding makes this pad hard on your feet after 30 minutes or so. I can dance on the Red Octane pad for 2 or 3 hours and my feet don’t become sore, just my lungs and muscles…. but that’s another problem.
----- Bottom Line -----
In closing, I would stay away from bottom end pads like the Konami and Naki models. They are money wasted that could be spent on a better dance pad which will give you more enjoyment and comfort while you play. For a hugely addictive game such as DDRMAX, you'll be using whatever pad you purchase for quite some time to come. If money is the deciding factor, I’d go with the cheaper Red Octane basic dance pad at only $49. If you plan to get better at the game and go for the harder modes and non-stop competitions, break the bank and get a quality pad, you won’t regret it.
http://www.redoctane.com/ddr.html
Another popular dance pad brand is MyMyBox. Below is the link to a guide for choosing the right pad.
http://shop.store.yahoo.net/mcpmall/whatddr4u.html
Thanks for reading, and feel free to comment!
Openroad
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