Dance Dance Revolution Extreme 2

THE BAD:
The online mode has quirks; lots of old, outdated pop songs; spending a lot of time on the avatars seems like a waste of time

SUMMARY:
This DDR game is quite a lot of fun. I won't say much about the online mode because I can't get on that mode, I'll just tell you what I know. This game may be like every other DDR game out there, but it still seems to hold it's value with loads of new songs.

This game plays like an arcade game in which you use a floor controller with four buttons that you must press with your feet in sequence to the arrows on screen. Because of this style of gaming, you shouldn't expect very big changes to the gameplay of the DDR series from one game to the next. This game has incorporated the Eye Toy, again, so you can hit arrows with your arms as well as playing with your feet. The only problem with the Eye Toy is that if you own Dance Dance Revolution Extreme, the Eye Toy idea for this game seems outdated, because you probably have bored yourself out with the "Hands and Feet" mode. But for newcomers, this adds quite some fun to the experience.

To unlock all the songs and modes, you initially start off with "Dance Master Mode", a mode where you accomplish certain objectives to advance to the next mission. Doing these missions will earn you "Dance Points". These Dance Points will enable you to buy songs, characters, and other things at the shop. There's also Free Play, where you play an unlimited number of songs to earn Dance Points and set records. In previous games, Free Play mode would end after three songs, an arcade-like style, forcing you to start up Free Play mode all over again. But in this game, thankfully, the number of songs you can do are endless. Workout mode has the game tracking calories you burn, and keeps record of how longs you've played. Lesson mode is great for beginners, because it shows the tips and tricks to become an advanced player. Training mode is also helpful because you can take any song and practice any part of it on any difficulty. Then there's Advanced mode, a mode where you complete courses of songs, try aiming for the highest combo, or participate in an endless array of songs until you give up. This mode is very basic, though, and isn't above all very useful.

With select modes (Free Play, Workout, and Training), you can select a mode for playing. There's single player, where of course, only one person plays. There's versus mode, where two people play and can compete for the highest score. Then there's double mode, where one person uses two dance pads to complete songs. Then there's Hands and Feet (not available in training), something I have already talked about earlier.

There is one major change to the gameplay, however, and it is Online mode. You compete for standings by going head-to-head with other PS2 broadband players. You verse players that have played DDR just as long as you have. But elite players who have just started playing Online mode can dominate the Beginner ranking board. But since the DDR series isn't at all that popular, there is virtually nobody to verse.

Mostly the entire game relies on the soundtrack, which is mostly the case for rhythm games. For people who have already played a previous DDR game, it might seem a little tedious to unlock every song. Initially, you start off with twenty-three songs, and you must unlock the extra fifty-one. This takes a while to do. To unlock all of these songs, you must but them from the shop. You buy the songs with Dance Points you've earned, and collection a lot of these points take a while. Fortunately, in Dance Master mode, you can find hidden arrows in some missions. These arrows will not be shown, but the game will give you a clue where it is. Finding these arrows will boost up the amount of points you get by a lot.

The avatars seem to play a role that may be too big for a dancing game. First of all, you are forced to pick an avatar when you star a mode. Even though you can turn them off, the only way to complete the game is to play as avatars to unlock more avatars, so you can buy them for outrageously high prices. All the avatars do is while you are playing a song, behind the scrolling arrows and in front of the effects is a little character who does flips and dances around. Even if you do choose an avatar, it doesn't make much difference. For some songs, their corresponding music video will play in the background, which is a little nice for two reasons. First, it's nice to have a change of videos from the mostly sub-standard effects that usually play in the background. Second, the avatars don't appear in the background.
And speaking of specific songs, most of the old pop songs in this game are remixed, so it sounds worse then the actual song.

While were still talking about songs, many of them are outdated. Yes, I am talking about Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, and even Ricky Martin. Sure, there may be more recent hits, like Sean Paul's "Get Busy" and Beyonce's "Crazy in Love", but there are so few of the more recent one. Then there are the ones that are really good and have dominated radio charts, but sadly, are too old. Take, for example, "Pump up the Volume" by M/A/R/R/S. Then there are the good Konami created songs with recognizable names such as "Naoki" and Captain Jack. There are two really challenging "Boss Songs", and then there are classic songs that have come from other DDR ports. And all of these classic songs have a remix, so that the songs still seem fresh.

All in all, this game doesn't holds only minor updates. But that doesn't hold the game back from how fun it can be, and it's surprisingly long value. In the long run, I recommend this game.