I haven’t played DDR in ages.
Part of that is because, for me, DDR was more of a social experience than just an arcade
game; that circle of friends having dispersed after graduating college, I’m left being
the occasional lanky white guy tearing up Kakumei or Jet World on a long-neglected MAX2
machine in an otherwise deserted mall arcade.
Part of that is because said mall arcades are becoming scarce, and a machine in poor
repair can and will mangle your ankles or frustrate you with a nonresponsive pad.
And while there are plenty of home versions these days - emphasis on “these days”
- it takes a concerted effort to find a working pad, tape it down (if you know what’s good
for you), and actively try to enjoy a game that’s been designed not for the long-time
player, but for the passer-by with some cash.
Universe 2, though, challenges some of these preconceptions.
And it completely reinforces others.
First off, the song list.
This isn’t the barely-disguised Dancemania vehicle that started the series, with the
ridiculously endearing cheeseball tracks like Bye Bye Baby Balloon or Cartoon Heroes.
There are actual, recognizable songs on here, like the Safety Dance and Rockit and that
one song you’ve heard a million times but only now learned is “Apache” by The Incredible
Bongo Band.
Every DDR game has had licensed songs, though, but these...
these are actually difficult.
It used to be that if Sandstorm or I Like To Move It got jammed into a US DDR release,
it’d max out at maybe seven feet and be, in reality, a lot easier than that.
But... honestly, Take Me Out is really, really good.
It’s this kind of thing that got my hopes up a bit...
only to find out that to unlock Spin the Disc - one of my standbys a decade ago - I’d
have to smash my way through a lengthy, grindy Quest mode, where I’d have to beat opponents
into submission or get a certain combo count and, ostensibly, earn cash to trick out the
dancer I prefer not to have in the background.
In reality, this usually boils down to playing the fastest, highest-density songs you can
find (Walk Like an Egyptian and Dead End are fine for this purpose), and hope you can read
it when the top quarter of the screen is taken up by a meaningless picture, the bottom quarter
has an info bar splashed across it, and the larger-than-necessary report of your combo
and accuracy obscures most of the center.
Fortunately, you can leave the song any time after completing the goal, so you don’t
have to actually finish anything.
Since it’s a home release of a DDR game, there’s the requisite training mode some
people use and the workout mode no one uses, as well as stepchart editor if you really
think Jungle Boogie needs Butterfly spins.
(Please tell me you know what Butterfly spins are.)
Also, since this is the 7th generation and you can’t really release a game without
DLC, you can tack on a 10-song bonus pack for ten bucks that’ll let you actually play
Dynamite Rave and Graduistic Cyber.
But aside from my frustrations with the interface - why they got rid of double-tapping up or
down to change difficulty is beyond me, since I’ve accidentally switched from Heavy (erm,
Expert) to Beginner more times than I can count - at least the new songs they’ve jammed
in are worth playing.
Sure, this batch might sound a little more techno and altogether samey, but the stepfiles
are the important part, and they’re quite sound.
Even that clown song.