It's been a while since I posted a blog on here, so I thought I would post two of them today :)
DDR X, the 8th DDR game to hit the PS2, arrives at a cheap price of $29.99. Is it worth the money? Read on to find out.
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Platform: PS2
Developer: Konami
Genre: Dance, Music/Rhythm
MSRP: $29.99 without dance mat
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Another DDR game hits the PS2. You will either have 2 reactions to that: Yay or Augh. My reaction is somewhat in the middle, after having played this game for about 30 hours in total over the last few days.
The main problem this game has is mainly due to the fact that I mainly play the Ultramix/Universe games on the Xbox consoles. DDR X is not as graphically advanced as it’s other counterparts, however, it’s a solid release on the aging PS2.
One of the main components I was looking forward to was online play. Makes sense, since Supernova 2 had it. Unfortunately, X does not have online play, and instead Party Mode tries to substitute for it - a mode where you can link multiple PS2’s for multiplayer LAN games. Fair trade? Nope. I don’t see myself using this mode ever. If you do, please notify me and tell me how the experience went.
So what is new to DDR X? Well besides the song list, there is a Street Master Mode which is a hit or miss depending on who you ask. For me, this is a silly attempt on trying to copy Universe’s Quest Mode, which is becoming much better as the series progress. There is 14 characters to play through, each of them with roughly 10 episodes - most of them being “Hey, I’m going to a party, but I have 2 hours to dance, so let’s battle!”
The mode is not that bad, but I felt it recycled the songs over and over again. You can only choose one or two songs to play when doing an event, which is annoying, since the Universe series allows you to pick any song you like. Luckily, most of the songs that are repeated through Street Master Mode are enjoyable to dance to, such as Wine Red and Put ‘Em Up, perhaps my favorite two songs in the game.
If you are looking for a challenge, there is certainly a few tough songs and difficult challenges to complete. DDR X tries to balance out the difficulty, and mainly succeeds. The only issue is the shock arrows, which I am not quite sure what was the point of them to begin with. They don’t really add anything great to the DDR formula.
Ultimately, the game is awesome if the only console you own is a PS2. The song list is so-so in my opinion, as I don’t really care for the R&B hip hop songs. It’s nice too see some old songs like Dub-I-Dub and Butterfly return, but ultimately, the majority of the songs are not really my taste. The Xmixes are pretty cool, which is new to PS2 but not really Xbox DDR’s. Take a look at the entire song list here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNo209u9lLI
Presentation: An urban themed interface with easy to navigate menu’s. Besides color scheme, not much has changed here from previous DDR’s. The layout is getting boring though. [7.0]
Gameplay: Fun for beginners, tough enough for hardcore DDR gamers. There’s enough modes and songs to last a bit, but I just wish it would inform the gamer how to get 100 percentage complete in the game. The new Street Master Mode is okay, but I did not find it very appealing, Xmixes and shock arrows are new to PS2, and the mixes are a welcomed addition… while the shock arrows are shockingly dull. [7.5]
Graphics/Sound: The arenas are really boring to look at in this game. There’s only maybe 5 in the game. Konami should have added more, or just took out arenas completely in favor of more video backgrounds. [Which is why I enjoy Ultramix/Universe series so much] The music in this game is okay - you can decide for yourself with the song list video posted above. [7.0]
Value Factor: For only $29.99, it’s definitely worth a purchase, especially if you only have a PS2. For those with an Xbox 360, it will be a bit strange playing a watered-down PS2 mix. For the price, one can’t really complain, but I just wish the song list was not too urban, and that there was an online mode. I am sure some people out there will love this mix completely though. [8.0]
Bottom Line: Buy this game if you only have a PS2. If you own a 360 or Wii, take a look at the song list and see if it’s worthy of a purchase. But for $29.99, there’s not too much harm done either way.
+ Xmixes.
- Shock arrows, Street Master Mode, Song list is not exactly my style.
? What happened to the online mode? Is this the last PS2 DDR?
Overall: [7.5]
