POSTED 24/4/11


DANCEDANCEREVOLUTION NEW MOVES

Konami
PS3/Move

We’ve never understood the point of dancing. You flail and stomp, aiming to maintain synch with whatever beat happens to be pulsating, and generally look pillock-like. Well, we do.

This is why we’ve never made DanceDanceRevolution’s acquaintance, especially arcade flavour. We feel dorky enough being Tina Turnertastic dancing privately; the concept of embarrassing ourselves publicly in such a way’s just non-contemplatable.

A glance through our previous reviews will indicate we’ve tackled several dance games though, so it’s refreshing to encounter something different, even if we did it arse-about – as DDR’s the originator. It amused us greatly despite our coordinational deficiencies – because of the controller.

Like a steamrolled DualShock that’s shagged a Twister mat, you plop it floorwards and jump on directional arrows when told to. It could be better – it’s alarmingly sticky underfoot (we assume to simulate the arcade experience – eww!) so tends to wander about, leading to potential missteps for the non-vigilant. But, unlike waggle-based or even Kinect dance games, it provides something definite to aim at.

As DDR unfamiliar as we were? Edits of several well-known ditties plus J-pop choons are selectable to groove to. You can stick (literally) to the footsy thang, use a controller whilst lolling sur votre graisse derrière, or take part in a new mode whereby you wave a Move at circles in any of the screen’s four corners whilst also matting it. There’re four difficulties; two sane, plus two for those to which coordination comes naturally.

Arcade roots shine through, with Ridge Racer-ish guy barking constant encouragement. We were informed “nobody dances like you” – we scanned for sarcasm, but it was clean!

If you reckon DDR’s too old school then you're the class clown, as for us it’s the funnerest console dance experience. Hmm... fun, maybe THAT’s the point?

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