Topic: PREVIEWS: Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party

[Pale]

Dance Dance Revolution is coming to Wii with special new controls.  (Video Included)
 http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/previewArt.cfm?artid=14453

 Konami is bringing an installment of its world famous dancing simulator to Wii and it will include all new features that take full advantage of the Wii's capabilities.  Unlike Mario Mix, the last DDR game to appear on a Nintendo console, Hottest Party will follow the more standard popular music library of other games.  This DDR game will include "smash hits" from the last 40 years.    

For those that don't know, Dance Dance Revolution is a game based around a simple concept that is taken to extreme levels of difficulty.  Players use a dance mat game controller that features four arrows in a D-Pad-like layout.  On screen, these same four arrows are laid out across the top while individual arrows scroll up from the bottom.  At the precise moment that a scrolling arrow reaches the arrow at the top, the corresponding section of the dance mat must be pressed.  Hottest Party adds another layer to the mix, as sometimes the arrows will instead be icons representing either the Wii remote, nunchuk, or both.  When these icons reach the top, the player must shake the corresponding hand in rhythm instead of stepping on the mat.  These Wii specific features can be turned off for those who want a classic DDR experience.    

Hottest Party will also feature an all new "Groove Circuit" single player mode that lets players advance from venue to venue as they dance.  These venues make up more than 40 new dance environments and backgrounds that feature new animated dancers that have unique moves for every song.  All environments and songs can also be played in any of the multiplayer modes.  These modes allow for up to four players to compete in head-to-head and cooperative dancing.  In competitive modes, players can use the Wii remote to "toss" obstructions at opponents, making it harder for them to keep the rhythm.    

Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party will ship this week in North America with one Wii Dance Mat included.  A mat-free version will ship sometime in October for a lesser price.  Check out the official Trailer for the game below.    

[Kairon]

Hmm... I have this one pre-ordered and was afraid that the music would lack a lot of the magic from earlier DDRs... but I think that one in the video is pretty ok as far as DDR goes.

[DAaaMan64]

I like DDR games, i'm exited. :p


This week huh?! Sweet

[Smash_Brother]

Err...

This trailer has actually repulsed me a bit. I like the Rastafarian character, but all the other characters look...anorexic and disgusting.

[Kairon]

That... they do. Like chibi rejects from Little Shop of Horrors.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Yeah another low budget middle finger from Konami.

[DAaaMan64]

lol "Dance Adventure"

I am enjoying the Heil at the end too.

[TMW]

They had better not skimp on the jpop.

I will be so angry if I don't get bubbly, super kawaii techno to annoy my neighbors with.  

[Michael8983]

I love the character models. Cute and scary.
This looks like the most effort they've put into a DDR game in a LONG while.

[shammack]

Any idea whether the mat from Mario Mix can be used with this?

[that Baby guy]

I love you love you love you love you love sunshine!

[NWR_pap64]

Ironically, they claim the fact that DDR Hottest party has 50 ALL NEW songs yet the first song they show off is the English version of Love Love Shine which has been on other DDR games.

[darknight06]

Alright, got the game at home and have played it for about an hour and a half.  Let's break it down...

For the purists, in Free Mode you can turn off hands and gimmicks so that it's regular DDR.
The covers sound practically dead on to the originals with the exception of maybe 3 songs which were sorta remixed a bit.  Honestly so far I feel like this is the best songlist DDR has had since the 4th mix/ 5th mix era.  99 Red Ballons is the English version, not the German.
Freeze arrows are in, and the judgement window is back to typical home DDR instead of the massive window that Mario Mix had.  There are also Wii-Remote/Nunchuck freezes as well.
WIDESCREEN SUPPORT AND PROGRESSIVE SCAN!  THANK YOU KONAMI FOR NOT SCREWING THAT UP!!!
I had reservations about the dancers beforehand, and I know some of ya'll probably still won't like them, but they actually have a DANCE ROUTINE WITH EVERY SONG and looks better than the flailing arms and random pauses crap in Supernova.
This game has REAL 10 foot songs and holy DAMN did it initially catch me off guard cuz I didn't think they'd do it.
The Groove challenge mode is setup a bit like the way Guitar Hero with different venues that require you to pass songs under different conditions.  There's even boss stages here as well, the stages use songs that you unlock once you've beaten it.  Whether there will be pity unlocks or not, is still unknown.  (update: no pity unlocks at all, and the last song challenge is killer to have to unlock if you're not anywhere close to a veteran of the series)
50 songs total, all new.  Sound quality on the recordings is super high.  If you have a surround sound system, it is simply bliss. (especially if you're like me and came off of Stepmania)
Framerate from what I seen so far stays completely stable and doesn't fluctuate like the Ultramixes/Universe.
Will be back with more info in a little bit.  So far IMO, this game destroys Mario Mix by a long shot.  This is REAL DDR without a damn doubt.  It took years for this day to happen but it was entirely worth the wait.  
   

[Flames_of_chaos]

So dark is it worth the 69.99?

[Kairon]

Quote
Originally posted by: darknight06
Alright, got the game at home and have played it for about an hour and a half.  Let's break it down...

For the purists, in Free Mode you can turn off hands and gimmicks so that it's regular DDR.
The covers sound practically dead on to the originals with the exception of maybe 3 songs which were sorta remixed a bit.  Honestly so far I feel like this is the best songlist DDR has had since the 4th mix/ 5th mix era.  99 Red Ballons is the English version, not the German.
Freeze arrows are in, and the judgement window is back to typical home DDR instead of the massive window that Mario Mix had.  There are also Wii-Remote/Nunchuck freezes as well.
WIDESCREEN SUPPORT AND PROGRESSIVE SCAN!  THANK YOU KONAMI FOR NOT SCREWING THAT UP!!!
I had reservations about the dancers beforehand, and I know some of ya'll probably still won't like them, but they actually have a DANCE ROUTINE WITH EVERY SONG and looks better than the flailing arms and random pauses crap in Supernova.
This game has REAL 10 foot songs and holy DAMN did it initially catch me off guard cuz I didn't think they'd do it.
The Groove challenge mode is setup a bit like the way Guitar Hero with different venues that require you to pass songs under different conditions.  There's even boss stages here as well, the stages use songs that you unlock once you've beaten it.  Whether there will be pity unlocks or not, is still unknown.
50 songs total, all new.  Sound quality on the recordings is super high.  If you have a surround sound system, it is simply bliss. (especially if you're like me and came off of Stepmania)
Framerate from what I seen so far stays completely stable and doesn't fluctuate like the Ultramixes/Universe.
Will be back with more info in a little bit.  So far IMO, this game destroys Mario Mix by a long shot.  This is REAL DDR without a damn doubt.  It took years for this day to happen but it was entirely worth the wait.

Wow, awesome. Thanks drakknight, I'm feeling much better about my pre-order!

[darknight06]

More impressions:
I don't know if I mentioned this earlier, but there are NO speed modifiers in this game at all.
Hands and gimmicks can be turned off in ALL modes, not just Free.
One unfortunate thing about the Konami originals in this game is that about 5 or 6 of them sound eerily similar to each other.  It's not too much of a deal killer, but it sort of reaks of Naoki being Naoki in terms of his music.  (edit, just viewed the credits and yeah my suspicions were confirmed. I've venture to say 85% of them are Naoki Maeda songs)
If you're a huge fan of the original versions of Candy, Breakdown, and Love Shine, you're either gonna hate the English remixes or love them.  Me, I like em.  It's something different.
You don't have to full combo a song for a AA, however maybe it's just me but the requirements feel like they even more strict than DDR Supernova.  This coupled with the default 1x scroll rate and getting an AA feels like an uphill battle on some songs.
Unless you can get a good dance pad from somewhere, or you go through Groove Circuit Mode on nothing but Beginner and Light for as long as you can, you are gonna find yourself doing what we call CCR, (controller controller revolution)  With me playing on Heavy, I wouldn't DARE play the crowd challenges on foot with some of the songs that do come up.
I seem to do a little better with the system set at 4:3 aspect ratio, since for some reason in 16:9 the gray receptor arrows look a little funky (I got a feeling it has something to do with every other DDR on PS2 was 4:3).  That's just me being me though, probably won't bother the majority of people.

Overall my opinion is this, if you're coming off of Mario Mix and is looking for a new challenge by all means buy it.  If you bypassed Mario Mix and are thinking about buying your first DDR, get it.  It has a bit more of a difficulty curve if you're new to the series as opposed to Mario Mix, but you won't find yourself having to learn new gameplay methods if you start playing at the arcade.  

However, If you MUST have your bemani crossovers and hate the idea of playing to a songlist that half American covers (even though they're really high quality and have good to outstanding charts), get Supernova 2. If you need your speed mods and Oni courses get Supernova 2.  If you want really hard boss songs, get both.  If you don't know what I'm talking about here, completely disregard this paragraph and buy it.

I love this mix, it ain't perfect but the things it gets right it gets incredibly right.  It gets my overall seal of approval.

note: if you do get it, depending on your TV you may or may not have to adjust the timing window.  default is 0, I had to set mine on +8 to feel right.  

[Flames_of_chaos]

Dark thanks for the impressions I just ordered a copy  of Hottest Party on Amazon and knocked the price down to 44.99 due to my 25 dollar giftcard.