DDR Ultramix: Dance Dance Revolution

THE GOOD:
Online play, get more songs, battle mode with only one person, voice over Xbox Live, exercise mode

THE BAD:
Online play isn't THAT good for the price (if you play DDR online, and nothing else, it's $50/yr), $1 per song for more (and you can't mix-and-match), only one really good Dance Pad available in stores, no Beginner mode, exercise mode doesn't give grades

SUMMARY:
OK, so the new DDR comes out for those without a PS2... After a year, I've got to say, I'm not all that impressed. While it does have SOME of the DDR staples, like Exercise Mode and Edit Mode, and it adds even more, like online and Point Battles (not to mention four-player madness), it screws up a few things, and leaves out some things that would be nice. First off, if you see the WalMart ad for this, it should warn: "Video taken from PS2 version." While that is an Xbox song ("Let the beat hit 'em!", I think), the interface, video for that song, and Beginner Mode...

THE GOOD:
Some nice graphical touches.
Online.

THE BAD:
Online!
NO CUSTOM SOUNDTRACKS????!!!!
Only two onscreen dancers.
Hard for beginners.
Signifigantly fewer songs.
No "classics".

SUMMARY:
I have to say, I really love DDR. Ever since I bought this game, I just got better and better, but when I bought the PS2 versions and went to the arcade, DDR Ultramix is so lacking in so many ways that the only fair reason for the 3 is the graphics. 99.9% of the world's gamers should know the classic DDR gameplay is, so I shouldn't have to explain it. The graphics are excellent. The menus are easy to navigate and the backgrounds are more vivid than ever, fueled by the power of the Xbox. The 2 onscreen dancers (only 2) dance in time with the music pretty well, and have a lot of pixels.

Well, that's it for the meatloaf, and now for the green beans.

When I saw this game, I immediatly thought of custom soundtracks. I imagined...

THE GOOD:
Classic arcade fun for all skill levels

THE BAD:
Price is high if you buy the dance mat.

SUMMARY:
Everyone knows the classic dance game that hit arcades a while ago. You step on arrows as they float across the screen. Before, fun like this was only available on PS2. Not anymore. The only bad thing is that the bundle costs $65 and each individual dance mat costs $20. So, if you're looking for multiplayer with more than one dance mat it's probably $85-90. Nothing is really wrong with the game. It has a lot of songs, and you can download even more with Xbox Live. Yes, you can play this game online, which makes it even better. I'm not that great of a dancer - I wouldn't dream of dancing on Normal or Heavy modes, but I still get a lot of hours of fun in this game. It's a great workout too. It makes me sweat.