When it comes to Konami's series of music-themed games, song selection is the make-or-break factor for each installment. As previously stated, the US release of DDRMAX2 contains songs that have never appeared in any other version of the game, as well as some songs from previous installments. The series has always been focused on European club music and a wide array of Japanese music. Konami has licensed some more familiar artists and tracks for this release, though don't expect any painfully out-of-place indie rock or other mainstream genres. The new songs stick to the dance genre and generally fit well with the other tracks. The roster includes songs from The Crystal Method, Kylie Minogue, DJ Sammy, Dirty Vegas, and Jocelyn Enriquez. In addition to these, you'll also find songs from DDR favorites, like Be 4 U, Captain Jack, and Thomas Howard. All in all, this is a well-rounded collection of dance music, though some purists will still come away from this game feeling that the Japanese release of DDR 3rd Mix is still the high-water mark for the series.
You'll likely know a number of the songs in the selection, and they all fit in well with the theme.
Graphically, DDRMAX2 looks roughly the same as the original DDRMAX, but improvements have been made. The random video that plays in the background of most tracks looks a little better. Additionally, some of the more popular songs, like Kylie Minogue's "Love At First Sight" and DJ Aligator Project's "The Whistle Song," to name a couple, actually play portions of the song's music video in the background. However, these video clips have been encoded at pretty low bit rates, so don't expect DVD-quality playback here. You'll see some pretty noticeable blur and compression artifacts. Considering that when you're actually playing the game, you need to keep a Tetris-like focus on the scrolling arrows, you never really notice anything about the game's background graphics. Pre-MAX installments of DDR didn't contain full-motion video, instead opting to show polygonal dancers stepping to the rhythms. At the outset, you dance without any polygonal companions, but you eventually unlock a dancer options screen that lets you enable them for any song that doesn't have an official music video. The dancers look better than ever, with each one receiving a substantial cel-shaded makeover. As you might imagine, the dance animation is much smoother now as well.
The Dance Dance Revolution series has always been a great game to play in groups, and it's also appealing to dance music fans who might not play many other video games. With its varied difficulty settings and a collection of music that is slightly less likely to cause culture shock to those unfamiliar with the series, DDRMAX2 is the most accessible version of the game to make its way to the US. Even series veterans will find something to like here, since, unlike most of the previous US releases, it contains enough exclusive tracks to make it worthwhile for the hardcore fan who may have already imported all the Japanese versions of the game. In short, if you own dance mats and a PlayStation 2, DDRMAX2 is worth owning. If you don't own any dance mats...well, Konami is selling a version of the game that comes packaged with a dance mat, giving potential hotsteppers no excuse to not get started.
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