I bought this game 4 days ago and my girlfriends have been coming over every night to play! Let me just say that I had never played this game before. I bought the Xbox360 because i wanted the hd dvd player (the attachment is only 200 dollars and does wonders for my 50 inch hdtv). I figured that one day i may play a game on the machine, but i am not by any stretch a "gamer." Basically, the xbox and hd dvd attachment were less expensive than a stand alone hd dvd player, so i ended up with the xbox360...ANYWAY...Dance Dance Revolution has changed the purpose of my XBOX360, and it is the probably one of the best games i have ever played! It is so much fun and so user friendly! Also-it is a fantastic workout. Seriously. I have never written a review on Amazon before, however I had to take the time to give some feedback here because I think everyone needs one!!!
If you have played DDR on other platforms, you will probably be disappointed with this version. In particular:
The music selection was less varied than in past editions. There are licensed songs, but mostly older songs or "hip-hop" - there are not many current dance songs. There are reconizable artists doing songs for this mix (Midihead, Echo Image and Neuropa to name a few), as well as remakes of older songs (like Ecstasy, Insertion and Candy).
The doubles charts seem like they were designed at random. There is a progression of moves you expect to see based on difficulty, and they are very different from singles. The doubles steps don't follow that progression, and are not very new-player friendly. A 6-foot doubles looks like a singles song randomly tossed over 2 mats. This makes many of the doubles songs more difficult than you would expect from the foot-rating. Another problem with doubles is that you must select the pad layout EVERY TIME you pick a song. It would be nice if it would default to the last layout you picked.
The "improved graphics" do not enhance the game, but rather detract from it. DDR is a simple game - watch the arrows and step. The graphics and flashing tend to make it harder to see the arrows (although the movies are not harmful).
Lastly, the load times are significant - about 12 seconds per song. While not terrible, other platforms load faster.
The game includes "downloadable content" - there are 10 songs on the game that can only be unlocked through X-box live by paying $10.
There are also songs unlockable through "quest" mode. This is the worst type of unlocking system I have ever played on a DDR platform. In previous versions, there were finite tasks to do, which if you did, gave you the ability to unlock songs. This version is fluky - you travel around from site to site, and mainly compete to get your "fan base" up. A problem with this system though is even if yuo do a song perfectly (full combo it), you may not meet the objective. Another fluke you may see is being assigned to do 15 Freeze steps, and the song doesn't have 15 Freeze steps, so you fail again. The quest mode is more designed to waste time than add enjoyment to the game.
To the game's credit, it is very new-player friendly. It has a lesson based tutorial, and the quest mode will never kick you out mid-song (there is no life meter in quest mode).
Another good part of the game is there is a nice variety of difficulty levels for singles, right from the start. Some older versions had "gaps" where there might be only a few songs at a certain level (especially 8+). The challenge levels of the songs are nicely dispersed. One odd thing though - there are a lot more jumps here than other versions. This is good if you play for exercise.
If you are considering buying this, realize that your old dance pads will not work with this. The Konami pad included is pretty good for a thin pad, but you'll want to buy foam pads if you play the game a lot. If you are going to shell out $[...] for 2 "Beat pad pro" foam pads, you are better off giving up on the X360, and playing DDR on either the PS2 or Xbox. Both have better games, and a single set of Red Octane foam pads will work on both the PS2 and the old Xbox. There are much better games on the other platforms; on old Xbox, take a closer look at Ultramix 2 & 3. On PS2, look at DDR Supernova and Extreme 2, or "In the Groove" if you are a skilled player.
DDR Universe is definitely a very fun game that can be used to keep you moving. The only gripe I may have is sometimes the background images are kind of distracting to the actual game play and may cause you to miss an arrow. Other than that I would definitely recommend this game to everyone who likes this type of game and it's even more fun if you have a second pad where the competition just increases the fun factor and replay value.
"My wife loves this game, shes dancing on it every chance she gets. I can hardly play the 360 anymore!"
"Never tried a ddr game before. Had lots of fun with this one."
