tommy_lop's Full Review: DDRMax 2: Dance Dance Revolution for PlayStation 2
Ok I got this game in order to get some exercise. I got it after last years Christmas holiday in order to get some exercise. I was also curios about how the game played, since then I have also gotten another Dance Dance game called Dance Dance revolution Extreme, so which is better last year model or this years model. Well it depends on what your going to play the game for.
What you need to play.
In order to play the game probably your going to need a dance pad, it is sold with a dance pad in a bundle for 60 dollars, for just the game it's 40 dollars. And while you can play it with a regular duel shock controller by using the control pad for the arrows. And the duel shock is a good way of playing the game-if your looking for a good cure of insomnia. The game is a dancing game so there fore you need a dance pad in order to play.
Graphics.
The graphics in the game aren't exactly what's going to move the game. Most songs have flashy backgrounds that rapidly change to give a disco feeling to the game. In front you have an option of having an anime style dance partner dance in front of these scenes. And then you can add some flashy looking arrows that move in front of all these, definitely not pushing the PS2 to the limit on the graphics.
Of course there are some songs that have actual music video's, the video quality of these are ok but I wouldn’t call them perfect, some of them come in just a bit fuzzy.
Sound.
The sound is of course the best part of the game and it's really where DDRMax2 falls flat on it's face. Is it embarrassing to say that the only song I knew on this disc was the theme from the Konami game Gradius? There's just not a lot of great songs in this game, especially since I got a taste of DDR Extreme which has a lot better mix of songs and dances. However there where a few ones like Break Down ( a Japanese Pop song) and In the Navy (unfortunately not sung by the village people but an all right remake by a group called Captain Jack).
Gameplay
Ok the basic gameplay in the main game mode is easy to grasp but can be hard to master, one of the more addictive themes of the DDR games, I won't lie and say I am a great player at this, in fact I get a rank of E (which unfortunately doesn’t stand for excellent) more then any other rating. To put it in other terms I have two left feet.
Basically a group of arrows will appear at the bottom and scroll up. At the top of the screen there are also arrows, when an arrow matches up with the arrow at the top of the screen hit the arrow direction on the dance pad, the closer it matches the more points you get, and the more energy is added to your life bar. If you miss arrows though you get booed and energy is subtracted from your life bar, if your life bar drops to zero it's game over. That's the basics of the game different songs will have different speeds and different steps, and there are also different levels of difficulty that you can set on it. 3 dances per game are played and your rated on how well you do if you survive. Every 5 songs played completely through will unlock a new song. Along with different challenge modes there is a non stop mode has well, where you pick a certain non stop dance routine filled with selected song and dance to them. The hitch though is that the only time you get to stop and take a break is the time it takes the PS2 to load the next dance (be glad it's the PS2 and not the Gamecube) before the next dance starts. It's a fun mode to play through if your looking for a challenge.
There are different modes in the game has well. There is a training and a practice mode. In the training mode you learn the basics of the game which aren't that hard to understand in the first place but if your new to the game you might want to go through them. Then in the practice one you pick a song and no flashing characters or backgrounds will appear through it, and there is no power bar to worry about. It's a good way to practice a dance your having trouble on it.
Another mode is workout mode which is what I use the most. There is no game over in this mode but you still have the power bar to judge how well your doing. In this mode you enter how much you weigh and then you choose what your goal is in time or calories burned. Or if you want choose to do a pre arranged work out program. If you choose time or calories you pick your song and dance to them and then they subtract that amount of time and calories that was used in the game to the total you have left. In the programs mode you have 3 regular programs which contain 12 songs that play simpler to non stop mode. Has well has different arrangements of songs you have done the best in. And then there are 3 slots to create your own dance program, you can have up to 20 songs that play through non stop in this dance program. In the workout mode the dance steps are also a bit different they are easier to follow and come in a better pattern then they do in the regular dance mode.
Finally there is an unlockable endless dance mode. Simpler to nonstop mode except rather then dancing 3 or 4 songs and then having it end, endless mode is well endless. The game keeps going in till you get a game over song, it's kind of like your own dance marathon. Every couple of songs though it does give you a break stage where you can stop and take a breather before continuing.
Menus.
Next to not having a lot of great songs compared to DDExtreme another thing I hate about DDRMax2 is the menus. They can be downright confusing and frustrating. Your pretty much stuck on the same difficulty of play that you get to pick at the beginning of the game mode throughout your 3 dances. Unless you know that you can change it my holding down the X button to get the option menu, which doesn’t always work. Also in order to change your animated dance you have to go clear into option mode and then pick your character, the only solution to this and have a different character for every game is to have it set to random. Oh well in DDRMax2 defense DDRExtreme doesn’t have the workout program mode in it though.
final recommendation.
I like DDRExtreme a bit better it has better songs, better menu's, and overall better presentation. However one of the reasons I play the DDR games is the workout mode, and it's what I spent the most time on it, and I have to admit DDRMax2 has the best workout mode of the two games. With the dance program mode I can create quick easy to do workout modes with my favorite songs (or in this case songs that I can tolerate the most) without stopping. If your into the DDR games you've probably all ready taken a look into it, if you haven't then you'll enjoy it. But if your new I suggest getting DDRExtreme first.
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