Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix 3
Posted January 15, 2006
Disclaimer: This review was written solely after playing the game with the controller and not the dance mat. Rating may have been different if this game was played and reviewed the way it was meant to be played, with the optional mat.
If you've stepped foot into an arcade any time in the past few years, chances are very high that you've seen the rhythm game section, which gradually moved its way from the back of the room right up to the front entrance. Topping the charts are the "dance simulators" starring Dance Dance Revolution, here making its third appearance on the Xbox with Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix 3.
Those who aren't savvy with the basics of the DDR series, take notes as this can get complicated. A musical selection is chosen either by you or by the computer, and a sequence of arrows which correspond to either directions on the dance mat or on the controller scroll their way up the screen. Once they reach the top, they will overlay onto a static set of matching arrows, and when the arrows perfectly overlap one another, that is your cue to pressing/stepping on/in that direction. Doesn't sound too complex right? Well, not when you're playing on easy mode with a song that only has a BPM of near 100. Throw on some of the very high tempo electronica and the uninitiated will quickly find themselves flailing to keep up with the songs.
Gameplay:
The standard game mode is as I mentioned in the previous paragraph, choose a song and a difficulty level and arrow match your way to the end of the song, all while trying to obtain a personal best high score. Thankfully, many modes of play outside of the standard mode are included, and because they make up the majority of the game I'll describe them as best I can.
First up is Quest mode, where you take control of an avatar that you can move from city to city to compete in dance offs to earn a fan base, which earns you more moves to allow you to conquer the world and be the master DDR champ. Really, this is just an easy way to randomize the songs and keep you dancing and doesn't add too much in terms of additional story (which isn't surprising).
Party Mode consists of multiple mini-games that you compete against friends in. It's a fun way to pass some time, but really if you're playing this with friends you'll be more interested in dancing to complete songs rather than mini-games. Next up is Bomb Mode which is the typical hot potato mode, where you pass the bomb off to a buddy by performing a set number of moves without making a mistake, and when the bomb goes off on your side of the screen, you lose.
Quad mode allows you to daisy chain four mats together to get a ridiculous amount of arrows that you must content with. Amateurs need not apply. Sync mode required that the players keep in time while dancing the night away to the tunes. First one to make a mistake loses. Then there is a Point mode that is a countdown of mistakes, allowing each participant 16 faux-pas before losing, while Score mode is a straight up dance off like in the classic movies, except this time the high score wins.
Challenge mode mixes the game up a little imposing little challenge on you such as avoiding certain buttons or directions. Freestyle mode is pretty self explanatory allowing the player to improvise their moves without the pressure of matching the onscreen moves. A workout mode also exists which will track the calories that you work off as you sweat your way through songs, great for shut ins who get their exercise from DDR.
New players will want to check out the training mode, and players who'd rather listen to the music than play the game will enjoy the jukebox mode. Making an appearance from earlier revisions is the Oni difficulty level incase you really want the challenge. Those are pretty much all of the modes in a nutshell so if you're looking for enough stuff to keep you busy, you've got it.
Of course this game is playable online with Xbox Live, but be warned. Because the game is a niche title, unless you are arranging to meet some other DDR Freaks online for a dance off, chances are high that the game options will be very limited.
Graphics:
The rhythm game series hasn't really done much to improve the graphics from one release to another, but honestly when you're playing the game you have literally no chance to sit back and enjoy the animated characters grooving in the background. I did try to see what was going on during the video for the B52s "Rock Lobster" but I quickly lost track of where I was and where I needed to be. Lesson learned: it's not worth looking at the graphics.
Aside from some videos playing in the background and the aforementioned animated characters, you'll be treated to typical "Media Player" visuals which flash and swirl around the screen. So honestly, nothing to really write home about or worth showing off on your brand new HDTV.
Audio:
Wow, what a song list. DDRU3 features over 60 songs combining to give you over 100 minutes of J-pop, J-dance, and some American favorites. Aside from the heavily techno sided tunes you'll hear the B52s, Black-Eyed Peas and even the late great Ray Charles has a song on here.
Thanks to the wonders of subwoofers, all songs have a nice bass track that is sure to help get your head bobbing and your heart pumping.
Conclusion:
If you're not a DDR fanatic and already own a DDR game, I really can't recommend that you run out and pick up this title. But I do know that people who REALLY like to get on the mat and shake their groove thing like to have multiple copies to let them master a lot of songs, and to them this would likely be a good investment.
Because I only played it using a controller, I know that I did not get the full enjoyment out of the game, so for those who either already have a mat or intend on picking up the copy of the game which includes one, you'll be better off than those without one. As a non-DDR freak, I'm going to suggest that you rent this game, but for those who want the latest and greatest I'd have no problem suggesting you add this to your growing library of dance games.
If you've stepped foot into an arcade any time in the past few years, chances are very high that you've seen the rhythm game section, which gradually moved its way from the back of the room right up to the front entrance. Topping the charts are the "dance simulators" starring Dance Dance Revolution, here making its third appearance on the Xbox with Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix 3.
Those who aren't savvy with the basics of the DDR series, take notes as this can get complicated. A musical selection is chosen either by you or by the computer, and a sequence of arrows which correspond to either directions on the dance mat or on the controller scroll their way up the screen. Once they reach the top, they will overlay onto a static set of matching arrows, and when the arrows perfectly overlap one another, that is your cue to pressing/stepping on/in that direction. Doesn't sound too complex right? Well, not when you're playing on easy mode with a song that only has a BPM of near 100. Throw on some of the very high tempo electronica and the uninitiated will quickly find themselves flailing to keep up with the songs.
Gameplay:
The standard game mode is as I mentioned in the previous paragraph, choose a song and a difficulty level and arrow match your way to the end of the song, all while trying to obtain a personal best high score. Thankfully, many modes of play outside of the standard mode are included, and because they make up the majority of the game I'll describe them as best I can.
First up is Quest mode, where you take control of an avatar that you can move from city to city to compete in dance offs to earn a fan base, which earns you more moves to allow you to conquer the world and be the master DDR champ. Really, this is just an easy way to randomize the songs and keep you dancing and doesn't add too much in terms of additional story (which isn't surprising).
Party Mode consists of multiple mini-games that you compete against friends in. It's a fun way to pass some time, but really if you're playing this with friends you'll be more interested in dancing to complete songs rather than mini-games. Next up is Bomb Mode which is the typical hot potato mode, where you pass the bomb off to a buddy by performing a set number of moves without making a mistake, and when the bomb goes off on your side of the screen, you lose.
Quad mode allows you to daisy chain four mats together to get a ridiculous amount of arrows that you must content with. Amateurs need not apply. Sync mode required that the players keep in time while dancing the night away to the tunes. First one to make a mistake loses. Then there is a Point mode that is a countdown of mistakes, allowing each participant 16 faux-pas before losing, while Score mode is a straight up dance off like in the classic movies, except this time the high score wins.
Challenge mode mixes the game up a little imposing little challenge on you such as avoiding certain buttons or directions. Freestyle mode is pretty self explanatory allowing the player to improvise their moves without the pressure of matching the onscreen moves. A workout mode also exists which will track the calories that you work off as you sweat your way through songs, great for shut ins who get their exercise from DDR.
New players will want to check out the training mode, and players who'd rather listen to the music than play the game will enjoy the jukebox mode. Making an appearance from earlier revisions is the Oni difficulty level incase you really want the challenge. Those are pretty much all of the modes in a nutshell so if you're looking for enough stuff to keep you busy, you've got it.
Of course this game is playable online with Xbox Live, but be warned. Because the game is a niche title, unless you are arranging to meet some other DDR Freaks online for a dance off, chances are high that the game options will be very limited.
Graphics:
The rhythm game series hasn't really done much to improve the graphics from one release to another, but honestly when you're playing the game you have literally no chance to sit back and enjoy the animated characters grooving in the background. I did try to see what was going on during the video for the B52s "Rock Lobster" but I quickly lost track of where I was and where I needed to be. Lesson learned: it's not worth looking at the graphics.
Aside from some videos playing in the background and the aforementioned animated characters, you'll be treated to typical "Media Player" visuals which flash and swirl around the screen. So honestly, nothing to really write home about or worth showing off on your brand new HDTV.
Audio:
Wow, what a song list. DDRU3 features over 60 songs combining to give you over 100 minutes of J-pop, J-dance, and some American favorites. Aside from the heavily techno sided tunes you'll hear the B52s, Black-Eyed Peas and even the late great Ray Charles has a song on here.
Thanks to the wonders of subwoofers, all songs have a nice bass track that is sure to help get your head bobbing and your heart pumping.
Conclusion:
If you're not a DDR fanatic and already own a DDR game, I really can't recommend that you run out and pick up this title. But I do know that people who REALLY like to get on the mat and shake their groove thing like to have multiple copies to let them master a lot of songs, and to them this would likely be a good investment.
Because I only played it using a controller, I know that I did not get the full enjoyment out of the game, so for those who either already have a mat or intend on picking up the copy of the game which includes one, you'll be better off than those without one. As a non-DDR freak, I'm going to suggest that you rent this game, but for those who want the latest and greatest I'd have no problem suggesting you add this to your growing library of dance games.