Let It Die

Konami, unless you make some radical changes to the DDR franchise, it's pretty ridiculous to keep asking $60 for new installments when nothing new is offered. Even the Madden series throws in a couple of new things each year, but DDR only seems to change the soundtrack within each installment. It doesn't matter if this is the first or the fifth game in the series for the Xbox 360 (though it is the first), this is nothing more than a game of stepping on arrows in sequence, just like you would have in the past 10 years. It's hard to justify a reason to ask a gamer who already has a previous installment of a DDR title to pick up this one, other than a new setlist and achievements.

If you've never played or heard of Dance Dance Revolution, and it's hard not to, it's really just a game of timing steps on screen by "dancing" on a pad. Dancing is a loose term of what you actually do on the game pad, which is more or less stomping on a direction or jumping up and down. It's more of a humiliation simulator than anything, but at least you're not in public. Trouble is, the game is better in arcade form, since the dancing platform is sturdier than a cheap mat that moves and curls up during gameplay. Unless you spend $100 on a quality mat from Red Octane, you really get more of a watered down arcade experience at home. It's like playing a racing game with a really crappy wheel. Sure, it's potentially functional, but you won't be playing the game that much in that manner.

The gameplay modes includes options such as freeplay, workout, quest and challenge. While there are a good number of modes, it doesn't exactly mean they're implemented well. Quest mode really just tries to make an actual carrer mode for DDR, but it seems rather pointless to do so in a game like this. DDR just isn't suited for a career mode. Challenge mode offers some interesting ways to play DDR, such as not stepping on certain directions or performing certain moves. It's a distraction, but the further you progress, it becomes frustrating and repetitious. You can play stages individually, which is perhaps what most players do anyway, but again, everything is repetitive. Then there's online play, which robs the fun of multiplayer since you don't have someone along side you to compete against.

The game features only a handful of notable artists such as Kylie Minogue and Goldfrapp, while a good 80% of the remaining game is filled of Japanese dance music that would really only appeal to a small few. What's unfortunate is that almost all licensed artists in the game feature NO videos to accompy them. There were only one or two actual live action videos, while everything else seemed like a glorified, high-definition visualizer. I know there were videos for "Slow" and "Twist", so why weren't they here? Not only that, there isn't an option to dance the whole song, you really only play through 90 seconds of it. Imagine playing Guitar Hero or Rock Band that way. It really doesn't make much sense.

The only real reason I could see getting DDR Universe is if you NEVER owned a DDR title in the past, or REALLY wanted a DDR for the Xbox 360. You could also rent the game to farm achievements by simply using the controller, but even that to a point becomes very monotonous. Seeing as there really aren't any games to compete against Konami's DDR series, there really is no point to evolve. The game will keep being the same thing over and over until something new comes up. DDR was something fun when it started hitting U.S. consoles six or so years ago, but the lack of true improvements or evolutions has made the franchise irrelevant.