Dance Dance Revolution Dance Party does not deliver

Disappointment for this DDR fan

I was a huge fan of DDR Ultramix and couldn't wait for Wii DDR. But whereas I would play Ultramix for hours every day, I just can't get into Dance Party because of:

* THE MUSIC: The song list is extremely limited, both in number and in musical styles. The mere dozen or so songs are mostly slow soul or whiny pop...and very few have a driving, discernible beat. Where is the japanese techno that made Konami famous? Where is the high-energy (I mean, seriously people!)? Where are the licensed songs (typically redone in such an awkward way that it no longer resembles the popular original)?

* The emphasis on graphics and environments instead of actual game play: there are so many menus and intros to wade (and WAIT!) through that it's really difficult to maintain a decent heart rate. It's laden down with extraneous crap instead of a focus on what has made DDR so popular...great music and addicting game play.

* The poorly scaled skill levels: There are 4 skill levels, none of which aimed at the experienced, but not madly Skillzed, DDR player. 'Intro' and 'beginner' have like one step every 4 measures, and 'difficult' and 'expert' have like 47. Where's the middle ground? Also, grading is more difficult...you need near-perfect scores to get a B or higher, and get boo'ed (and fail) after just a couple missteps....more fodder for feeling less motivated to actually play.

* Unintuitive menus: the options you'd want most are surprisingly difficult to find. Do I really care which avatar I play or what my environment looks like? Do I really need to tell you for the 15th time that I'm in single-player mode? And yet, what if I want to 'turn off' the hand gestures, or skip past the same menus over and over again, or save defaults, etc. Sure, the double stomps, blockers, and obstacles are kinda creative, but can't I just turn all that off and concentrate on dancing?

* The gear towards team play: Granted it's called 'Hottest Dance Party', but since this is the only DDR game available, those of us who like to play for exercise and fun (by themselves) are sacrificing wayyy too much for options we'll never use.

* The hand gestures: I agree with others that this could have been done better. Hands are only used at the same time as the feet, very infrequently, and only left and right (not even up or down). Great idea, but not used anywhere near the potential.

So in summation, I would say, DO NOT buy this game UNLESS you really do plan to use it for parties (and even then, you might be better off with Rock Band or Wii Play). They've missed the mark on this one...let's hope they come out with a better version that puts it's emphasis on where it belongs...THE MUSIC!
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Source / Author / Credit: Anonymous