SeanH reviews DDR Extreme US.

[SeanH]

Songlist:

By far the best one released in the US. There's something here for everybody. Older licenses such as Like A Virgin, YMCA, and Believe for the older fans who grew up on such music. There's retro DDR songs for those who already have imports. Do Me and Theme From Enter the Dragon come to mind instantly. For those who want a taste of Extreme Arcade, there's 321 Stars, Janejana, Jet World, and others, along with favorites like A and V. For those who want difficulty, well, there's The Legend of MAX, and also a new shot at difficulty. (Keep reading)

Interface:

There's some kinks, but overall, it's very polished, smooth, and a nice break from the songwheel we've been getting for countless mixes now. I don't really like the course selection screen, and not being able to see my grades for all the songs at one time. But I DO like being able to get into Nonstop or Oni and back out again mid-game, and I like being able to switch difficulties easily.

Content:

Konami really stuffed this game. There's the normal game mode, along with Oni and Nonstop. And the courses are actually WELL-MADE this time, unlike that monstrosity of an Oni mode that was MAX1US. Endless mode returns.

Mission Mode:
Looking for a challenge? Look no further. Want harder edits of songs, including Drop the Bomb, Keep on Movin', and the brand-new Maximizer? Mission Mode has it. Or if you want just plain HARD. Try passing a song on sudden, without stepping on the down arrow at all, or hitting only jumps? How about full-comboing Frozen Ray with the Left and Right arrows SWAPPING POSITIONS on the screen? Try Drop Out and Full-Comboing the jumps on Sudden. Songs on 5x. Songs on .5x flat. And The Legend of MAX. On 8x Shuffle. And these are some of the easier ones. This mode will keep you busy, and frustrated, for a while.

Party Mode:
Good for a party, really. Less fun when you're by yourself. But there's nothing like making yourself look like even more of an idiot playing Hands and Feet more. And Hyper Dash is just plain fun. I still hate Clean the Screen, though. Whoever thought THAT one up?

General Mechanics:

I don't know what the testing department was doing, but someone dropped the ball. Biggest complaint? No Dance Play setting. Well, there is, but only for official pads. On a sort of brighter side, if you don't have large feet, you're fine, and there's fixes out there for most major pads. Still, there's no reason why this option is not present. Complaint two: Apparently, a song got pulled last minute, and along with it the possibility of getting DANCE MASTER on difficulties except CHALLENGE and a "You've Unlocked All the Songs!" message on the Information screen. Other than these, everything works fine and as it should.

Difficulty:

Beginner friendly, mostly. Though Mission Mode will appeal to the hardcore crowd, and there are 12 9-foot and above songs in this mix. And the new material actually has GOOD STEPS this time! *gasp*

Overall:

A solid mix, with songs appealing to everybody's tastes, from the mainstream newer DDR players to the small group of DDR Hardcore players. Konami is obviously taking the US mixes in their own direction, and it's working very well. They just need to work on fixing some of those bugs as mentioned above. Final score: 8/10

[Chromer]

Who the hell are you? No seriously, who are you? I have read your review and I do not think you qualify to actually review this game. Every single DDR USA game that has ever came out has sucked(except DDR MAX) and DDR Extreme is no different. 8/10? Pffftt. I give this a 5/10 and it should be grateful for even getting that. You want my opinion? Import. Import this game hard and fast. And I hope you brought a condom. Cause when you play this game, you're gonna get screwed!

[SeanH]

Originally Posted by Chromer

Who the hell are you? No seriously, who are you? I have read your review and I do not think you qualify to actually review this game. Every single DDR USA game that has ever came out has sucked(except DDR MAX) and DDR Extreme is no different. 8/10? Pffftt. I give this a 5/10 and it should be grateful for even getting that. You want my opinion? Import. Import this game hard and fast. And I hope you brought a condom. Cause when you play this game, you're gonna get screwed!

Wow. Thank you for your opinion, with no valid reasons to back it up whatsoever, and think that your opinion is thus valid and everyone who doesn't agree with you sucks. And I don't "qualify" to write a review? I'm sorry, what makes me "qualified" to express my opinion on a game, then? I've been playing DDR for a while now, and have played every home mix except the first one and the earlier JP mixes.

I'm sorry if YOU don't like every song on the songlist, but that's not gonna happen anytime soon. Konami makes the game to appeal to everyone, and they reached that goal. If you want to import, go ahead. But to me, EX US > EX JP. EX JP may have 111 songs, but how many of them are actually fun to play? Or dance to, for that matter? I play and enjoy most of the US mixes OVER the JP mixes, in fact.

[CypherToorima]

Chromer, good job at blowing up for no reason. Calm down before you decide to post.
I played extreme a bit. I agree with 8/10.

[flypie743]

Chromer, good job at blowing up for no reason.

Agreed.


I haven't played it yet, nor do I have a PS2, but one of my friends might get it.

[Krym]

Thats...uh...some good reviewing Sean

...keep up the good work??

[Spazzbite]

For those of you who don't know SeanH, he's one of the oldest active members, and was definitely one of the best FFR players back in the day (first to break 1 million on FF7 i believe). I wasn't even going to play this, but now that I've seen that SeanH, a very trustworthy source, give a review on it, I think I might actually get this one. Thanks a bunch for giving the review Sean.

[Snapps]

I also agree With SeanH.

And some of the lisence songs are pretty fun. Its steps are actually harder than Max2's Lisence steps.

[NirvanaFreak0872]

sean makes some very good points in his review: the game was designed for everyone and many of the steps are very fun to play. i just wanted to throw in that the timing of the arrows is almost dead on when you set it to +2 timing (at least on a CF pad). the only serious problem i have with this mix is the inability to disable the X,O,square,and triangle buttons in dance play settings like you could with max1 and max2. this leads me to a lot of random almosts and goods because i have pretty big feet. it's also a very easy mix, consisting of mostly 7 footers, but by doing this konami does appeal to the largest possible fan base, so it makes sense at least. there's always edit mode if you want harder steps.

all in all, if you're a hardcore player and you want to enjoy this game, you'll really need to mod your pad so the corner buttons don't register easily. i have a mod at http://www.xanga.com/item.aspx?user=...&uid=136643162 for anyone who might need it. without this mod, the game scores maybe a 6/10, but with the mod it easily earns the 8/10, possibly an 8.5/10.

good review, sean.

[lightdarkness]

Here is the thing.

Konami released this game in the US for one reason, to make money.

They can't just have songs that JUST appeal to the hard core bemani people, or else they wouldn't hook anyone else into the game. They are trying to get new people hooked onto DDR, and to do that, they have to have some songs that people recognize!!!

And seriously, if you hate DDR Ex USA THAT much, go mod your ps2, and shut the fuck up.

[tnyhwk900]

LD speaks the truth.

At least the last statement.

[Chromer]

¬_¬ I can't believe you people actually took that post seriously. Everyone who knows me, knows that I kid around. Anyway I understand the fact that Konami is using songs that people grew up on to hook more people to the franchise, but DDR Extreme USA just doesn't appeal to me. I like how they have some Bemani Originals in the game but some things just shouldn't have changed.

For example: the song selection screen. For all of those who remember the old DDR mixes, the turntable style skin was used in the 90's which I will applaud for the retro look. But It would have been cool if they had an option where you could turn the Arcade screen on. Another thing is the lack of 10 foot songs. Maximizer is cool, I'll admit but no Max 300 or Maxx Unlimited? I know its asking for much but damn, give the people who have been loyal to the series a break. But as you've said many times, Konami is trying to make money so the'l put thier 80's, 70's music in and try to get more people to play. I agree with Party Mode and Oni Mode's return as being a great addition so after hearing all the bitching and complaining about my blasphemy, I'll up my score to a 7.5/10. Now please stop flaming me.

[Chromer]

¬_¬ I can't believe you people actually took that post seriously. Everyone who knows me, knows that I kid around. Anyway I understand the fact that Konami is using songs that people grew up on to hook more people to the franchise, but DDR Extreme USA just doesn't appeal to me. I like how they have some Bemani Originals in the game but some things just shouldn't have changed.

For example: the song selection screen. For all of those who remember the old DDR mixes, the turntable style skin was used in the 90's which I will applaud for the retro look. But It would have been cool if they had an option where you could turn the Arcade screen on. Another thing is the lack of 10 foot songs. Maximizer is cool, I'll admit but no Max 300 or Maxx Unlimited? I know its asking for much but damn, give the people who have been loyal to the series a break. But as you've said many times, Konami is trying to make money so the'l put thier 80's, 70's music in and try to get more people to play. I agree with Party Mode and Oni Mode's return as being a great addition so after hearing all the bitching and complaining about my blasphemy, I'll up my score to a 7.5/10. Now please stop flaming me.

[flypie743]

omg double post lolololo

And you sounded serious. Plus, it added nothing to the topic, besides flaming SeanH, so what was the point?

I really want to get some DDR games, but no PS2. I am really hoping one of my friends will get it and I can play it .

[Chromer]

Screw you guys....I'm going home. =(

[alextrebek]

So far, I'm pretty happy with it. Except that fucking challenge with absolute and the changing music speeds, which really pissed me off. Oh well, I suppose I fail at DDR :O

[ImEric12]

I ordered my copy a week ago and it still hasn't come