Dance Dance Revolution Extreme

THE BAD:
Not quite arcade-perfect graphics. Repetitive announcer & crowd voices. A few songs repeat from prior games.

SUMMARY:
The home port of one of the most recent arcade versions of the franchise, DDR Extreme continues the PS2's DDR series with over 60 songs and 100 minutes of music. This version includes several hit arcade & J-Pop songs from all the DDR games as well as other J-Pop & english songs to dance to.

The graphics are excellent but not quite arcade-perfect. The music videos remain generally intact for the arcade songs and are high quality but when you have the dancer on screen it makes the videos appear a little blurry and not as good as the arcade's videos were. The dancers are OK but look too polygonal and rushed through, but they don't affect the arcade-perfect frame rate. Sounds are arcade-perfect, both good and bad. The music is extremely high quality and sounds just like the arcade's, as do the announcer & crowd sounds, but they quickly get repetitive and cut in way too much while you're playing. Thankfully there is an option to turn them off. Controls are very responsive, even when using the regular PS2 controller, although using just one controller for Double play makes for rather awkward setups despite several different configuration options. They're also very simple to learn, making it easy to pick up and play. Gameplay is simple and very addictive, you simply time your step or button press when a flashing arrow passes over the corresponding step zone and the game grades you on your timing. One very cool addition for the PS2 version is compatibility with the Eyetoy camera accessory-this adds a brand new gameplay mode where you use your hands to play as well as your feet, which adds to the challenge & replay value in addition to letting you watch as you make a fool of yourself playing by waving your hands too. There is lots of unlockable content, mostly consisting of new songs and dancers but also new groups of songs for the two new gameplay modes: Nonstop & Challenge. Both of these add new challenges for advanced players by making you complete so many songs in a row without stopping or doing up to 20 songs in a row while making no more than a couple mistakes. These both appeared in the arcade and having them here helps increase the challenge and replay value. The only complaint about the songs is that most are new but a few do repeat, having been included in prior versions of the game. If you don't have the older ones this isn't a problem, but if you do then you might feel a little cheated at this but there aren't enough repeats to make it a big deal.

Despite a few shortcomings and obviously not being able to include every song from the arcade original, this is an excellent port with a few nice extras thrown in to add to the replay value. Pick it up if you like the series even if you don't have a dance pad, as it's still enjoyable either way...and you might actually do better with just the PS2 controller.

THE BAD:
The bad part is that a lot of cool songs in the arcade version didn't make it to the PS2 version.

SUMMARY:
Overall, the game is awesome.It has 8 modes:
GAME MODE:Basic mode in DDR. This is like the arcade mode of the game. Here you play like if you were playing at the arcade.Has Nonstop and Challenge mode.
PARTY MODE:Contains minigames that you can play with or without the EyeToy.
MISSION MODE:This is the mode that you have to complete in order to unlock everything.Contains 100 objectives for you to complete.
ENDLESS MODE:The name says it all.Play all the songs without the possibility of parole,scratch that, without ever stopping to chose the songs.
LESSON MODE:Learn the basics of DDR.For newbies only.
TRAINING MODE:Here,you can practice songs you have problems with.
EDIT MODE:Here you can edit the steps of your fav songs.
WORKOUT MODE:This mode tells you how many calories you burn in game mode.Lose that fat bubba!!(no offense)

Then you have your records,options,credits,and info.

I think DDR EXTREME rocks!!
The only thing it lacks is more cool songs and the ability to face-map your face with the EyeToy in order to make your own character(Or maybe the face-map ability is just a cool-but-unecessary feature I want to see in the game).Throw in some new cool features and a cooler mission mode and we have perfection.But I still give it 2 thumbs up.

P.S.I want to see more monkeys in the game.
(Just Kidding!!!)

THE BAD:
Some superb songs are not here!
No Groove Radar???
Short time to unlock every song.
A big disapointment.
What happens next?

SUMMARY:
I, in my opinion, think that DDR is one of the most innovative and fun games out there. It combines great music with exercise. No other game is unique as DDR. As you may know, DDR Extreme originally debuted in Japan as an arcade game. It is my favorite version because it has over 100 songs! When I heard that DDR Extreme was coming here to US PS2s, I was both excited and concerned. What if it was more innovative but also disappointing?
It was a mixed reaction. (Review contains song spoilers!)
On one hand, I really enjoy the Eyetoy games. They are probably DDR's next big step. All of them are fun, except for the Magical Ball. I also like the bigger screen. It makes the visuals look better.
But you know, DDR Extreme for USA has a few, big positives, but it has multiple small, but massive, negatives.
The first thing that made me mad was the lack of the helpful Groove Radar. I have no idea why they destroyed the Groove Radar. The Groove Radar is a helpful device that measures voltage, stream, chaos, freeze, and air in a song. I think having no Groove Radar is really stupid.
But what really made me blow my top was the lack of the arcade songs. DDR Extreme Arcade has a lot of excellent, beautiful songs that, for some idiotic reason, are not in here!
These are the songs that I wanted to be included in the home version of DDR Extreme but did not make it for some silly reason!
I wanted these songs.

1998
Cartoon Heroes
Crash!
bag
Dance Dance Revolution
PARANOiA Survivor
PARANOiA Survivor Max
Dynamite Rave
Candy Heart
Kakumei
exotic ethnic
Daikenkai
Jam Jam Reggae
Jam Jam Reggae AMD Swing Mix
R3
Kind Lady
Across the Nightmare
Mikeneko Rock
The Least 100 Seconds
L'amour et la Liberte
Leading Cyber
Sakura
stoic
sync
Max 300
Max. Period

I also would have liked a

Remix of A
Remix of 321 Stars
A song by Moby
A song by Shpongle

But some amazing and superb songs actually made it here.

321 Stars
Drop Out
Drop Out FNM
A
Firefly
B4U
B4U B4 ZA Beat Mix
A Stupid Barber
Can't Stop Falling in Love Speed Mix
La Senorita
Pink Rose
Trip Machine Survivor
Trip Machine
Tsugaru
Tsugaru Apple Mix
Wild Rush
Wild Rush FNM
The Reflex

I also love Maximizer! It is a very nice song.

These are the songs that are in DDR Extreme USA that I don't like.

Don't Clock Me (I don't like the tone of this song.)
I'm for Real (The song is boring! But it does have 2 wacky effects at the near-end.)
Never Ending Story (Repetitive lyrics and music.)
Keep on Movin' (The song is not very exciting.)
So in Love (Heard it so many other times!)

DDR Extreme USA is one of the hardest games I have had to review. You've got the better screen and the Eyetoy functions, but the lack of much better songs and no Groove Radar really ruins the game. If the DDR home versions keep getting worse and worse, no one is going to buy them! You might as well just keep going to the arcade.

THE BAD:
Some songs are not included from the DDR Extreme that you will see at you local arcade and the song select system is a little bit different then the usual, but otherwise you will get used to it and you will soon grow to like it more.

SUMMARY:
Heres a list of the different modes and what they are used for.
GAME MODE: This is the main mode for DDR Extreme and is identical to the style of gameplay and difficulty found in other versions of DDR. Use Game Mode to also access NONSTOP MODE and CHALLENGE MODE play.
PARTY MODE: Play different minigames using the DDR Controller. Some games use the EYETOY USB camera for the PS2, and involve you hands-only as well as you hands and feet. There are some games that do not require the EYETOY.
MISSION MODE: Embark on a quest to become the most extreme dancer. The missions each have a seperate challenge that you must pass in order to move on.
ENDLESS MODE: Allows players to dance every song in DDR Extreme as one long continuous nonstop game.
LESSON Mode: This mode is for those who are new to DDR and this is where you can learn the basics.
TRAINING MODE: This mode allows players to practice and master difficult songs.
EDIT MODE: This mode allows players to create their own dance steps to their favorite songs.
WORKOUT MODE: This mode allows players to keep track of the number of calories they burn in game mode.
RECORDS: This mode displays the High Scores
OPTIONS: Allows players to configure various settings to their individual tastes.
CREDITS: The list of the people who worked hard to bring this game to your home.
INFORMATION: This mode displays the things you have accomplished, unlocked, and acheived information on.

THE BAD:
If you are used to playing at the arcade you'll notice a few arcade favorites aren't included alot of my favorites weren't there but I have ddrmax and max2 for that. O yeah and its all in japanese!

SUMMARY:
Overall its a really good game! It seems as if its alot harder to make a AA on this game than the others but thats only if your pad sucks if you get a good ignition pad from redoctane then this is a good game for you. Theres lots of songs to unlock too but also another problem is only training mode and game mode are helpful if you dont know japanese! Its mixed with alot of english though so you shouldn't have a problem knowing what do to although it would have been benefitial to know what songs you unlocked by looking at information mode