Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party
Score: 87% ESRB: Everyone 10+ Publisher: Konami Developer: Konami Media: DVD/1 Players: 1 - 4 Genre: Party/ Rhythm
Graphics & Sound: Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Dance Party is the first DDR to be released for the Wii. Being on the Wii allows it to take advantage of the Wii-motes and add hand movements to go along with the feet, making a game that already requires a decent amount of coordination challenging in a totally different way. Graphically, it seems like a step or two backwards. The characters and graphics are just not as good as the more recent DDR releases for either the PS2 or the Xbox, and I know it's not that the Wii graphics card can't handle it. There are eight players that you can choose from when you first start the game, all of them new to the DDR series. They each have at least 2 changes of clothing. Honestly though, they're just not as detailed as I've gotten used to in the last few releases. Hottest Dance Party does not have any of the music videos that we've come to love lately. As I've said in every DDR, the music is what really matters, and Hottest Dance Party does provide a wonderful musical selection. There's over 50 songs total after you've unlocked them, about half of those are available without unlocking anything. Granted, most of them are not the latest pop songs. If you're looking for those, you should probably go buy Dance Dance Revolution: Supernova 2. There are however some covers and quite a few remixes of those pop songs and songs from all genres. Songs like Caught Up (originally by Usher), Hot Stuff (originally by Donna Summer), Karma Chameleon (originally by Culture Club), and many more have been given a completely new feel and sound. There's also plenty of the Konami Originals that we're all gotten used to seeing.
Gameplay: Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Dance Party has most of the same options as the newer DDR releases, but not quite all of them. The Groove Circuit is where you start at if you want to unlock more songs. Each node has different requirements for completing it. When you do complete the circuit, you'll unlock a new song and a new outfit for the boss character that you beat. If you want to just play the songs that you've unlocked, choose Free Mode. It'll then give you the option of five different ways to play: Single Mode, Battle Mode, Multi Mode, Sync Mode, and Friendship Mode. Single Mode is the normal DDR mode that you're accustomed to. Battle Mode allows you to play against someone. If you're without a friend to play against, you take on a computer character. Just remember that you have to play at the same difficulty as your opponent. Multi Mode allows 2 - 4 players to compete against each other on whatever difficulty they want. Sync Mode and Friendship Mode are new, both are 2 -4 players. In Sync Mode, you're playing together to try and be as perfect as possible, since the least accurate arrow is the one that is scored. If anyone gets a Boo or N.G., you all fail the song. Everyone ends up with the same final score. Friendship Mode is exactly the same as Sync mode except instead of the least accurate arrow, it's the most accurate arrow that gets counted. Otherwise, everyone still ends up with the same score, and everyone still shares arrows on the screen. Workout Mode is very much like it has always been. It will count the calories that you burn while playing through either a list of songs or random ordered songs. You keep playing until you've either burned the calories you told it that you wanted to, or you've played for as long as you set it for. It will keep track of your calories burned from session to session. You can also view your Records or change Options from the Main Menu. You'll notice that there is no "Advanced Mode" in Hottest Dance Party. There's no endless mode or courses to be unlocked and played in it. You'll also notice that there are no dance modifier options either. If you're looking to speed the arrows up with a 2x or make them suddenly appear or disappear, stop looking because those options just aren't available here. But you'll also notice that there is no shop. When you unlock things, they're automatically available. You don't have to then purchase them.
Difficulty: Well, Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Dance Party is both easier and yet harder than the other DDR's that I've played. If you turn off the hand arrows, there aren't as many 10 foot songs or as many 300+ BPM songs as you're used to. Overall though, there are still a large number of 6-8 foot songs to keep you busy. Now when you throw in the hand motions, personally I found it to be a lot harder. Maybe it is because they don't have their own column to run up, they're just a different looking arrow on the left or right column, but it made it much harder for me to keep up. Also in the Groove Circuit, you run across some new challenges and Gimmicks, especially when facing off against the bosses. Some of them, like having the arrows all move at different speeds so that you really can't tell which one you're supposed to hit first, I found to be really quite hard!
Game Mechanics: I'm sure you've seen how to play DDR by now, but if not, we'll review it. Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Dance Party works exactly like all the previous versions before it, with a few new additions. You'll see arrows scrolling up the screen. You hit the button on the pad (or controller) that corresponds to the arrow at the precise moment that the arrow hits the target arrow on the top on the screen. In this version though, there are some different looking arrows. In addition to the normal arrows, there are also Hand Markers and Gimmicks. Hand Markers are diamond-shaped and reddish with a vertical bar on either the left or right of them. When they're located on the left arrow column, you shake the Nunchuk. When they're in the right column, you shake the Wii-mote. Gimmicks look like normal arrows, but with a 3D circle around it. Sometimes when you hit them right, they throw attacks at your opponent. Other times they throw a handicap on your screen if you miss them. Overall, they make it quite a bit more difficult to clear levels. You can turn off the Hand Markers under the Options that appear with the song selections. The pad that comes bundled with the game works pretty well. It's very accurate, just a little hard to keep still on the floor during faster songs. To me, it feels like Hottest Dance Party is geared more towards playing with others and lighter gaming than some of the other versions. Granted you can turn off the Hand Markers if you really just want to play on the dance pad. But without the usual Modifiers to customize your gameplay, it's just not as robust game as I was hoping for. Still though, it's quite fun to play. The hand motions alone are a nice addition. Definitely worth buying!
-Cyn, GameVortex Communications AKA Sara Earl
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