Dance Dance Revolution Universe Review

Dance Dance Revolution really is a revolution. It gets children off the couch and onto the dance pad. Not only has Dance Dance Revolution revolutionized healthy entertainment, it is a fun game to play and hard to stop playing. It’s no wonder West Virginia school corporations called on the aid of Konami when they wanted to shed a few pounds off of their potbelly students. The Xbox 360 gets a piece of the action with Dance Dance Revolution Universe. PlayStation 2, GameCube and Xbox aren’t big enough to hold this Universe.

In its first next-gen entry, Dance Dance Revolution Universe does not change the long-running concept of DDR. If you enjoy stomping on arrows, you will likely enjoy it just as much, if not more on the Xbox 360. Just a couple perks of being a Xbox 360 title: Marketplace and Xbox Live. In the past you would be stuck with whatever songs came on the disc. Not anymore. While it would be awesome to use your own music, you can download additional songs from Marketplace. As for multi-player options, if you don’t have a second dance pad, you can take things online on Xbox Live.

Those are the two main distinctions that Universe makes from the rest of the crowded field of Dance Dance Revolution titles. One of the good things about Universe is that it starts you off on training wheels. Not only is there a tutorial, but you will individually unlock songs. If you pass a song, you move on to the next until you complete them all and move on to the main game. The modes to choose from are pretty impressive: Quest, Party, Challenge, Training, Xbox Live and more.

Most of what you come to expect from Dance Dance Revolution is found in Universe. You have four arrows (left, right, up and down), the face buttons of the Xbox 360 on the diagonals, etc. The game plays with arrows scrolling from the bottom of the screen corresponding to the arrows on the dance pad that you need to press. This includes some jumps and some freezes (you hold an arrow) mixed in to give the game a little variety, as well as an option for diagonal play. There are four difficulty levels to choose from at the start of every soundtrack: Beginner, Basic, Difficult and Expert. The Foot Meter shows you the difficulty of the song from one to ten.

The single-player mainly takes place in the Quest mode. Here you will try to earn cash and gain fans. Traveling all of North America, you will go from each of the fifty states and Canadian provinces to test your skills in different cities. At each city there will be various events, including challenges that may include specific tasks like a seventy-five combo or twenty-five freezes. You earn money from events, whether you succeed or not, and it costs to travel from one state to the next. The concept is good enough, but the difficulty is unbalanced. The difficulty can get a bit ridiculous at times, while other times, such as a freeze or jump challenge, all you have to do is perform the specific task while ignoring the rest of the song entirely.

All of the offline multi-player modes are in the Party mode. I would say that one of the few downsides to Universe is that it requires multiple dance pads for multi-player gameplay. There are a few game modes that simply shouldn’t require more than one dance pad, yet it is still mandatory. Regardless, in a few of the modes you can simply remember your score and challenge a friend to beat it, but such a feature should have already been included. The modes vary from whoever clears all of the arrows first, an Attack mode, Bomb mode and Sync mode where you have to be in-sync with your friends’ moves.

Dance Dance Revolution Universe has quickly become one of my favorite games to play on the Xbox 360. I never had much experience with Dance Dance Revolution in the past, so it’s mostly new to me. Perhaps that’s why it seems more exciting, but I at least can say that it gives you a good workout. The song selection is relatively weak, although on the bright side the game does include a few music videos with some of the songs, instead of watching repeating backgrounds. Overall, whether you are new or a veteran to DDR, Universe is a fine game that is worth your time and energy.