The game that I have to say is the best would have to be Dance Dance Revolution. I originally thought that the game concept was retarded. I owe it to my girlfriend to get me stuck on the game. It really is a fun game. I'll be sure to include lots of screenshots so you get a good sense of the game. 
Plot Dance Dance Revolution Summery
So youre walking into an arcade, seeing if anything interests you. Youre passing by all the old favorites of yours, then you hear music in the distance. A crowd has developed around the source of the music, and youre wondering whats going on. Youre moving into the crowd, now seeing what the big deal is about. Dance Dance Revolutions the name of the game, and some dorky guys jumping up and down to the music...so whats the big deal?
The games simple. Four panels on the floor, representing the four main directions: up, down, left, and right. Youve gotta step on whatever arrow the screen in front of you tells you to step on, while stepping on beat. Most steps are hit with one foot, and others are performed by using both on two different panels. The better you stay on beat, hit the correct arrows, and hit more steps in a row, the more points you get and the more stages you clear. Sounds easy, so youre going to give it a try. Youre thinking, I was forced to go to dance classes when I was little, I was an alright dancer at school dances, I used to be into breakdancing, and now Im a full-blown raver, this cant be that hard, right? And that guy who was just up was pretty good, and he looked like a dork, why cant I do it?
So you give it a go, and depending on your machine, youll go through three to five songs, that is, if you get that far. This machine only has three, so youre thinking thisll be nothing. Youve picked the easiest song, Have You Never Been Mellow, and after stumbling a little, youve gotten used to it, and youve passed that song, with a D. Its alright, its your first time, so youre not worried. Just to be safe, youve picked the next easiest song, Butterfly. Its a lot faster than the first song, with a few new jumps mixed in, so after a lot of messing up, youve barely passed with an E grade. Last song, and the games put Paranoia in front of you as the first choice for your last song. Youre thinking, thats a sick beat, Im into techno music, but thats a hard song...you figure it couldnt hurt, since its your last song. Youve pressed start. Ok, its started, still sounds pretty tight...Im liking this song, starts out pretty fast, but Im ok...what the fucking goddamn hell?!? No one can step that fast! And whats with all these jumps every other beat? Crap, youve lost to the games hardest song.
Youll be alright, thats what makes this game so appealing to people. Theres always something harder than what youre able to do, and its almost impossible to master every song. Just think, youve only played three songs, barely got past the first two songs, and theres still like 10 different songs you still havent tried yet. Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, theres also two higher difficulties above what youve just tried. They add even more arrows. You can also change some of the ways the arrows face, play with arrows that disappear before youre really supposed to hit them, or make the game even easier for you, with a few codes, of course. You can also play with Double sets of arrows: your four arrows, and the four on the opposite side.
In fact, while you were recovering from your loss, someones playing that Double mode without looking at the screen...damn, this games pretty scary. There are also different styles to playing the game. After you get better, you can become a score player: someone who tries to get the best score they can by always being perfectly on beat and never missing a step on the harder difficulty levels. If you can move your feet pretty fast and understand the arrows quickly as they rise to the top of the screen, then youll be one of these players. If it turns out youre no good at those really hard songs and theres no way youll catch on to those steps, you can become a freestyle/performance player. This is where you play in Basic mode, the easiest mode, and make it look like youre actually dancing to the song while still hitting all the steps you need to hit. If youre an old school b-boy or just wanna look cool and show off with some stunts, then youll probably turn out to be one of these players. Handstands, flares, 180° turns, 360° spins, the crab spin, the running man...nothings impossible to perform with this game.
The music is another major part about enjoying this game. After getting better, youll get to decide which songs you really like, and dance to those more frequently than the others. Those songs will make up your dancing routine. With choices between techno, house, rave, jungle, rap/hip-hop, disco, old-school, and rock, its hard to find a song thatll stick in your head for a while. Some of those styles might not be on the arcade machine that youre playing on right now, but what if I told you there were three different versions of Dance Dance Revolution to play with? What if I told you that each version had different songs in each of them? Remixes for some of the older songs? And even harder versions of Paranoia in each one? Youre in for it now...
Still not convinced that this game is any good, despite the little simulation of the game youve gone through above? Then Ill stop writing here and let you go out and try a game for yourself, even though I could write even more. One game cant be as bad as Im saying above, right? And theres no way you can get addicted, its just a stupid game, right? I played my first game in August in a Newport beach arcade and have been playing since. Ive gotta say that a game that convinces me to import all three PSX versions, two dance pads, memorize whole songs (lyrics and steps), and choreograph couple routines with my other friend, has got to be a worthwhile game. Try it for yourself, and well see if you become a DDR freak, just like the rest of us...=;-)
Aaron |
