Games 1/2/08: Dance Dance Revolution Universe 2, Atari Classics Evolved
Dance Dance Revolution Universe 2
For: Xbox 360
From: Bemani/Konami
ESRB Rating: Everyone 10+ (lyrics, mild suggestive themes)
If it wasn’t possible for one game to be both the absolute best of its kind and a disappointment, it is now. “Dance Dance Revolution Universe 2″ proves it.
As “DDR” games go, “DDRU2″ rules all. The backing of the Xbox 360 gives it a visual edge over its PS2 and Wii counterparts, and that’s to say nothing of the online capabilities (four players and leaderboards now, downloadable content possible later) brought forth by Xbox Live functionality.
More importantly, though, “DDRU2″ features a ridiculous array of ways to play. Listing and describing them all in this short space would be impossible, but there’s a reason a game that involves little more than stepping on a dance pad in time with music ships with a 42-page instruction manual. Bemani also allows gamers to tinker settings large and small in order to cater the game to just about any level of dance style and ability. Games in every genre should strive to be this accommodating.
Thing is, everything you just read applies to the previous “DDRU” game as well, and if you played that game last year, you’re about to experience some serious déjà vu. “DDRU2″ ships with a new soundtrack, of course, and it refines a few modes and adds some new ones, including a freestyle mode for people too hopeless to play the game as intended.
But for gamers who do play “DDRU2″ as intended, the changes aren’t terribly exciting. The quest mode is better organized than last time, but it’s still clumsy and confusingly presented. It also remains the one mode in which Bemani forces harder difficulty settings on unfit players — a real problem given the cliff dive between basic and even moderate difficulty settings.
Meanwhile, secondary modes such as the Workout mode haven’t matured beyond their peripheral status. (Given how much improvement the Wii version’s Workout mode showed, it’s surprising to see none of that carry over here.) Also speaking of peripherals, the solid but unspectacular dance mat returns unchanged. Unless you want a second mat, you’re fine buying just the game disc.
The incremental growth is a product of a game that already was doing so much. While “DDRU2″ is easy to recommend to anyone who loves the series, if only because it presents new songs to conquer, it’d still be nice to see “DDR” blow our minds again. (Translation: It’s time for custom soundtrack support. Bite the bullet, Konami.)
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Atari Classics Evolved
For: Playstation Portable
From: Stainless Games/Atari
ESRB Rating: Everyone (mild violence, simulated gambling)
Massive compilations of Atari games on a single disc aren’t the novelty they once were, and Atari has responded by going back to the well in as many fresh and inventive ways as possible.
In “Atari Classics Evolved,” developer Stainless Games plays it safe by offering 11 games — Asteroids, Asteroids Deluxe, Battlezone, Centipede, Lunar Lander, Millipede, Missile Command, Pong, Super Breakout, Tempest and Warlords — in both their original and “evolved” form. Both forms play identically, with the evolved form offering a prettier coat of graphical paint and a few bonus perks such as achievements, online leaderboards and wireless multiplayer for Battlezone and Warlords.
While the graphical overhauls definitely look nice, the achievements should stand as “Evolved’s” greatest contribution to the retro compilation racket. Each evolved game features four distinctive goals to conquer, and knocking out all 44 of them unlocks a library of more than 50 Atari 2600 games. Reaching these goals likely will fall beyond the means of all but the most skilled and dedicated of players, but it’s nice to see a retro compilation offer something beyond nostalgia as a reason to pick it up. Having something to work for does wonders for longevity.
It’s merely a shame “Evolved” only is available for the PSP, which proves once again why it’s the most incapable system on the shelf to handle compilations of this sort. The analog nub isn’t precise enough to replicate the experience of playing with a trackball or arcade stick, and fiddling with the sensitivity settings doesn’t help much. The system’s heavy widescreen orientation also clashes with vertically-oriented games like Centipede and Tempst, which force you to turn the PSP sideways and hold it awkwardly while negotiating with the aforementioned shoddy control inputs.
Atari certainly isn’t shy about porting its catalog to as many systems as will have it, so there’s hope that “Evolved” eventually will make its way to a system with a better controller. (The Xbox 360′s Live Arcade has downloadable versions of some of the games, but that’s not quite the same thing.)
At no point is “Evolved” unplayable on the PSP, though. The games are emulated expertly, and if you can find a soft touch with the analog nub, the control issues may pose less of an issue. If nothing else, the inviting $20 price makes it easy to take a gamble if the concept has your attention.