Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix 4 (Xbox)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 3.5 stars Very good
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 7.0 (3.5 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Jeff Gerstmann
• Reviewed on: 12/15/2006
• Released on: 11/14/2006
• Originally published on GameSpot: Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix 4 (Xbox) Review

The Ultramix subseries of Dance Dance Revolution was created for the Xbox, and it's set up to take advantage of a lot of what the Xbox has to offer, like downloadable content and online play. Ultramix 4 is Konami's compilation for 2006, and it contains much of what you'd expect from a DDR game, along with a few additional modes that change things up a bit. But regardless of the modes involved, DDR fans will either love or hate Ultramix 4, and which side of the fence you come down on depends almost entirely on what they think of the song list.

When DDR first started out, a lot of the music fell into a few specific dance-music subgenres. They were mostly superhigh-energy songs that had a sickly sweet sound and were fast enough to get your pulse pounding even before you set foot on a dance mat. But that was eight or nine years ago. Now, the DDR games that arrive in North America are attempting to cater to a slightly wider audience, so you'll find a few licensed songs on the soundtrack that you might recognize. DDR Ultramix 4 has licensed songs from known artists like Technotronic (yes, featuring Ya Kid K, did you even have to ask?), Pussycat Dolls, Oingo Boingo, The Jungle Brothers, Geri Halliwell, Natasha Bedingfield, Juno Reactor, and the Prodigy. You'll also find songs from DDR standards like Naoki, dj. Taka, Jenny Rom, and more. The variety of the soundtrack waters it down a bit and leaves you less likely to enjoy the whole thing if you've been playing DDR for a long time.

You'll get the now-standard array of modes in Ultramix 4, including a basic arcade mode, a practice mode, a workout mode that lets you know how many calories you're burning, and a selection of party-game-style modes. The game also has a fairly robust online mode that has chat rooms, leaderboards, a message system, and, of course, the ability to play DDR with up to three other players. As you might expect from an Xbox game released in late 2006, there doesn't appear to be very many people playing this one online. The game also has the ability to download content, and Konami has released song packs for the previous DDR games on the Xbox, but there aren't any additional songs available as of this writing.

Continue reading