For PS2 Made by Konami ESRB rating E For anyone who likes Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) this is a pretty good game. This is the sequel to DDR MAX and it has a very similar interface.

How do I play?

If you are new to DDR there are some helpful modes available in this game. Lesson Mode will teach you the basics and some helpful techniques. Training Mode will help you on a particular song or parts of a song. The basic game play is still the same. You have arrows coming up on the screen and you must press the dance pad arrow when the arrow lines up with the one on top. You are rated on your timing: Perfect, Great, Good, Almost, and Boo. There is a life bar and if that depletes, you fail the song. There’s an announcer to encourage you or taunt you if you fail. Most songs have multiple difficulty levels you can choose from: Beginner, Light, Standard, Heavy, and Challenge.

What are the different Game Modes?

Game mode: In this mode you can play solo using one or two pads (double), two player, or you can do a versus mode where you can play against the computer and complete the song under certain conditions to win. DDR is a great way to lose weight. If you enter your weight in the workout mode it will tell you how many calories you just burned after finishing a song. You can customize songs and steps using the Edit Mode. The defaults are fine for me.

Unlockables

This game has a generous helping of songs and many of them are from previous versions of DDR so they will sound familiar to veteran players. There’s a point system that tells you how many points to go until you unlock the next song. You have to unlock the E, AA, and AAA scores after your earn them.

Songs

Most of the songs in DDR are dance/techno. Many of the same DJ’s are back in this game like Captain Jack, Naoki, and RevenG. For those like me with many DDR games there are lots of recycled songs but there’s enough new ones to make things interesting.

Graphics

DDR doesn’t really require bleeding edge graphics but the 3D dance characters and animated movies in the backgrounds look nice.

Sound

This game is all about music and moving your feet. The music is great provided you like dance music, and the announcer (same as DDRMAX) is not annoying. No complaints here.

Controls

The menu system is easy to navigate and the dance controls are not too bad once you’re used to them.

Appropriateness

Even though this game is rated E I find a few things annoying. There are a few songs talking about sex. There’s the classic Get Down Tonight (Do a little Dance…) There’s another song about secret lovers called Secret Rendezvous. Finally there’s a song called The Whistle Song, even though it has whistle sounds in the song, if you listen to the lyrics it’s not talking about a whistle. (-3.5). Many of the female dancers wear daisy duke style shorts and I fail to see how they could be comfortable, especially for dancing. They often have bikini or tight tops too (-1.5).

Conclusion

DDR MAX 2 is a worthy addition to any DDR library. The plethora of unlockables is nice too. The songs collection is pretty good but there are a few trashy songs.

Final Ratings

Game Play 19/20 Graphics 8/10 Sound 10/10 Controls 5/5 Stability 5/5 Game Score 47/50 Appropriateness 42/50

Final Score 89%