Reviews: DDR Hottest Party

[MirandaMW87]

I know no one cares about this game, but as a recovering DDR addict this makes the withdrawls just a little easier

Originally Posted by 1up.com

Reviews: DDR Hottest Party
If this is the hottest party, we're staying home.

By Torrey Walker 12/14/2007



Ever been to a party where the DJ plays one song that you almost like for every seven or eight that you don't, but you try to amuse yourself dancing to some of the crap songs anyway? This is kind of like that.
To say that the dancepad-based Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party features Wii Remote and Nunchuk integration is an overstatement. The only way you'll use the Remote and Nunchuk is by "swinging" them. The game doesn't even tell you how to swing, and there's no tutorial or practice mode either (we found that a quick shake of either gets the job done). So Hottest Party ultimately has Up, Down, Left, and Right arrows for the dance mat like every other DDR game plus two hand markers that scroll over the Left and Right arrows; it's DDR with six inputs instead of four.

The lack of deeper Wii Remote and Nunchuk functionality initially seems like a letdown since the game requires both (unless you disable hand markers in the options). But after diving into the game's Groove Circuit Mode -- the main quest mode where you'll complete audience requests at a variety of venues and unlock new songs, dancers, and stages -- you might find yourself actually having fun when you can stand the music. Shaking the controllers while stepping around is a blast.




In addition to new controls, each song in the game has a prominently featured "gimmick" that artificially increases its difficulty. Foot confusers are tricky step arrows that spin constantly; foot destructors decrease your dance meter if you step on them as they cross the timing arrow at the top of the screen. Dance battles against venue bosses sometimes employ hand and foot missiles that you swing at or step on to attack your opponent. These gimmicks are modestly fun when the going is easy but serve as a nuisance on tougher songs. Regardless of how you feel about them, they can be disabled without penalty.

Hottest Party wouldn't be a party without multiplayer. Most of the game's modes can be played cooperatively or competitively with up to four players. For co-op play, the Friendship Style judges only the highest member of a group for every step, allowing people new to the game to play alongside veterans without fear of failure. On the other hand, for veteran players Sync Style judges the lowest and fails the song after a single "Boo" or "N.G." (not good). The threadbare Battle Mode and Workout Mode also support multiplayer, though the latter mode disappoints even in single-player due to a forced maximum of six consecutive songs per course all at the same difficulty. Moreover, given how much space it takes to lay out four dance mats, the lack of online multiplayer borders on inexcusable.

The visuals in each stage consist of your cartoony lead dancer performing choreographed routines with generic backup dancers on a floating stage. Though the choreography can be fun to watch when arrows and gimmicks don't fill the screen, the character models and gaudy dance stages are jagged and low-res even for the Wii. It's puzzling that Konami didn't opt for a more stylized background like the house-rocking end-credit "club visuals." The announcer's voice work is also laughable, with classic lines like, "Your skills are unbelievable," "This groove is almighty," and "I looove watching you dance." Depending on your attitude, you'll either groan in disgust or simply laugh.





However, the real staying power of any rhythm game rests with its music, which makes or breaks the game. It broke this one. Though you'll have a ball dancing to a handful of the better tracks, roughly two-fifths of the 50-odd songs are composed by in-house generic club music maestro extraordinaire Naoki Maeda, aka Naoki, aka NM, aka J-RAVERS, aka The Lonely Hearts, aka ... you get the idea. Some are bearable, but most of those tracks stink. And so do most of the others.

Even by simply adding a little waggle to the dancepad, DDR: Hottest Party could have been a great game. Unfortunately, thanks to the god-awful setlist and generally poor presentation, it makes us want to take our dancing shoes elsewhere.

[Momma Bear]

My neice will want this. I am gonna have to get it for her. She is a DDR addict.