True innovation - the ones that can define new genres - does not occur too often these days in the gaming world, even though the quality of games have continued to improve. One of the major impacts in the last few years is undoubtedly Parappa, which sparked great interest among gamers as well as non-gamers. In other words, a game for the masses and not just the "geeks". This is evident from the fact that a large percentage of the total audience of the game in Japan consisted of females. Ever since then, other companies such as Enix and Konami have been creating their own rhythm games to catch the crowd. Konami's Beatmania series has been very well received in both the arcade - a market where most of people would agree has slowed down after the fighting games fever has died - and the home market. However, all the rhythm games had been limited to handsand finger coordination until Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) came along.
DDR is a natural evolvement from Beatmania - we have had a lot of fun with our hands and fingers, why not our feet? Even though the game does work well on a standard PS controller, Konami has released a floor pad to bring the true arcade experience home. Honestly, there is no other way to enjoy the game. The floor pad has four directional buttons, the X button, the O button, the select button, and the start button. It is a thin, soft, plastic pad of the size 2.75 ft x 3 ft (840 mm x 940mm to be exact). The pad functions like a normal PS controller, but with fewer buttons. It can actually be used for any other PlayStation game that only requires those two buttons. A gun game with directional control could work nicely with the floor pad. (hmm… Time Crisis 3?)
The way DDR works is similar to the other rhythm games. There are four directional markers on the top of the screen. The directional buttons you are supposed to step on scroll upward and you step on the appropriate directions when they reach the markers. For easier songs, the beats are slower and generally have only a single step at one time; For harder songs, double directions and quick steps flow throughout the songs. The performance of each step is rated as: Perfect, Great, Good, Boo, or Miss. Doing consecutive perfects and greats accumulate combo counts. Of course, the higher the combo count the higher grade you will receive.
The home version of DDR is more than just the original arcade version. It includes most of the new songs from the DDR 2nd Mix / Link Version plus a few new modes. The songs vary from hiphop and disco to house and techno for a total of 16 songs. Many songs in the game should be familiar to non-Japanese players, which includes Kung Fu Fighting, Let's Get Down, and Strictly Business. Every song is very suitable for dancing, especially since the programmed footsteps for each song fit the lyrics and beats perfectly.
DDR offers extensive replay ability. There are Arcade, Arranged, Training, and Edit modes. In Arcade and Arranged modes, there are three difficulty levels - each difficulty level has a slightly different set of songs and rules. The Edit mode allows you to create your own dancing steps. In addition, there are 9 secret modes: Mirror, Double, Mirror Double, Another, Mirror Another, Another Double, Maniac, Mirror Mania, and Mirror Another Double, all of which are accessible by using a few simple codes. Another mode is a whole new set of steps that are more difficult than the original set, and maniac mode is, as the name suggests, even harder than Another. Mirror mode swaps the footsteps. Lastly, Double mode allows you to use two floor pads at the same time for maximum enjoyments. Another feature of the game is the sharing of save data with the arcade version of DDR 2nd Mix. Using arcade/home save data, you can open up new songs and/or record tracking. Unfortunately, DDR 2nd Mix is only available in Japanese arcades.
Similar to Beatmania, graphics are not the main strength of this game. They are stylish but simple. For each song, there is a static background relative to that song with one or two light sourced, motion captured models dancing to the music. The graphics are clean and to the point, and do not interfere with the visibility of the steps being displayed on the screen.
I found DDR to be an excellent party game; my friends who usually do not play games really enjoyed it. Moreover, playing DDR for half hour or longer is probably equivalent to an aerobic workout. For those, like me, who usually get bored of doing normal workouts, this may be a great, fun alternative to daily exercises. One downside of DDR is the cost to purchase the game and two floor pads. Each costs 5,800 yen, for a total of 17,400 yen. That is not a price many would pay for a single game. However, the enjoyment and the daily workout I got out of it warranted my purchase. I genuinely hope that Konami will bring this game to the other regions of the world at a lower cost. With good marketing, this game has the potential to be a hit with the masses.
-- Andy Chien
