Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix 3

Metachronos overall score = 7.9 / 10

Positive
- Cool new modes like "quad" and "point"
- A ton of new songs to choose from, and some old favorites
- Another solid game in the franchise
- Great sound

Negative
- New modes don't surpass classic DDR gameplay
- Game never changes significantly for better and for worse

Dance Dance Revolution, the arcade rhythm dancing game that made its way to home consoles more than five years ago, has the distinction of being approachable and entertaining to gamers of all types, but deep for only a select few. Though jumping in for a few rounds on the easier settings will entertain most people from time to time, it is the DDR fanatics who will master the most difficult modes by perfecting every step. This task is not easy, but it seems like the only reason anyone would need to pick up more than one version of the game. DDR Ultramix 3, the third version of Dance Dance Revolution for the Xbox introduces a slew of modes and options that will offer a new challenge for expert players (if that's even what they're interested in), but doesn't change fundamentally enough to make it valuable for everyone else.



Dance Dance Revolution is a dancing game in which players must step on four directional arrows on a floor mat in conjunction with scrolling arrows on the game screen. Though the game can be played with a regular controller, the challenge and fun is had when players are forced to dance their way through the game instead. You can purchase DDR with or without the mat, and although the plastic one that is typically packaged with it is adequate for casual playing, there are a number of more responsive and durable mats on the market. The main dance mode features four arrow slots at the top of the screen, which scrolling arrows pass through from the bottom of the screen. As an arrow moves into the slot, you must step on the corresponding direction on the mat. Each step is measured on a scale from a total miss ("boo") to exact timing ("perfect"), and you're graded at the end of the song based on how well you did. The goal of the game, if there is one, is to get a perfect rating on all songs in the higher difficulty modes, unlocking additional music as you play. Like all DDR games, the soundtrack covers the span of danceable genres (and a few not-so-danceable genres), but consists primarily of catchy Japanese pop songs like the DDR classic "Butterfly" and licensed tracks from a wide range of artists. The licensed songs are some of the best on this particular version, from the speedy punk riffs in "Bath of Least Resistance" by NOFX, to the pacing roller coaster of "Alphabet Aerobics" by Blackalicious. Most modes let you pick the song that you'll be dancing along with, but for others, you'll need to suffer through the randomly selected music. There are a fair number of classic DDR hits in the mix, but not enough Captain Jack, if for no other reason than to pay tribute to the classic DDR artist who just recently passed away. Ultramix is a flashy-looking game, although admittedly the graphics don't really enhance the straightforward gameplay. You'll be able to pick from a few dancing avatars and view music videos of some of the licensed artists, but for the most part, the graphics serve to better assist your dancing and nothing else.



Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix 3 does give the gameplay variety with all of the new modes, but none of them are necessarily better than playing the regular game on challenging difficulty levels. DDR Ultramix 3 does offer a solid DDR experience, so if you're new to the series, or a collector of it, then you'll find that Ultramix offers what you're looking for: a DDR game with more than 70 songs. In this way, DDR Ultramix 3 is not significantly better than previous games in the series, but it is a solid addition to the franchise that will be fun to dance to for quite some time.





cover = http://www.tothegame.com/boxshot.asp?picnum=us&id=4438

omg stop it!

its getting annoying now NO MORE DANCE DANCE GAMES! lol

i was finished anyway

finally