DDR Extreme for PS2 is on the shelves!

When you get it, post your reactions here.

I don't have it yet, but I did get a pretty cool music sampler CD for pre-ordering it at GameStop. It's got some of my favorite songs on it, such as 321 Stars, A and V. I'll pick the game up around noon tomorrow at the very latest.

No one in my neighborhood seems to have it yet. They're all expecting it tomorrow.

Same here, Electronics Botique said they are expecting it tomorrow.

The lady at my local GameStop told me today is the shipping date and that the game will be on sale tomorrow. (9/22)

Had me anxious all day...

Why do they do that? Movies, music and other media always is available on the release date, but video games always take an extra day to "ship." WTF?

Anyway, no matter. There's too much reality TV to watch tonight anyway (Big Brother and Amazing Race finales).

Den,

I looked today as well and didn't see it anywhere.

I just purchased a metal pad on ebay and can't wait to try out the new game on it. =:^)

-Sean

Sean,

You got a darn good deal on that pad from what you were telling me. I forgot to ask (or you told me and I wasn't paying attention) but who made your metal pad?

How's it been working for you so far?

-Tina

Well I got it, but I haven't played it much.

Somethings taken away/changed are:
1. New song selection screen.
2. No extra stage.
3. Random scrolls a lot faster and you can't get the Max song.
4. Random is added.
5. You can chose a dancer before going to the menu.
6. You can't change difficulty before going to the menu.
7. The game no longer tells you how many points until the next song.
8. Challenging and Nonstop mode are under the song selection menu.
9. Player 2 has the option of joining at anytime.
10. The life bar isn't the same.
11. When in 'Danger', it only shows up in the life bar, no more flashing background.

One bad thing, on the song selection screen, to chose to the right, you have to hit left. Overall, the game seems alright, but they moved away from the traditional play.
*** Edited 9/22/2004 9:09:13 PM UTC by Rich_Johnson***

Haven't played it much yet either, but so far I think this is actually a step down from previous versions. It's like they concentrated their efforts more towards EyeToy and minigames more than anything else.

The new interface is not good, at all, and I think most people will prefer the old songwheel. That's not to say that it doesn't do the same functions, it's just very ordinary looking.

Things I like so far:

*How Mission Mode functions.
*They didn't screw up Move Your Feet (thank God)
*Good variety in song selection even though the repeat songs weren't the pick of the litter.
*Some of the 'crossover' tunes from Karaoke Revolution aren't too bad (Ladies Night / Like A Virgin)
*Go West (I probably would've preferred the Captain Jack version, but the original is still very cool)
*Having dancing characters back, and the ability to turn them off.

Things I don't like:

*Personal issue, but I hate KOHs stepmakers with a passion.
*Setting default difficulty in the options menu instead of choosing it before songs are displayed.
*Song wheel. I want the old one back.
*Not enough Extreme songs at onset. I know a ton of them are locked, but only having a quarter of them, if that, at the beginning is kind of boring.
*Believe (:( - at least I can skip it...)

Oh well, there's still a lot to go thru yet.

Oh, BTW, there is Extra Stage, but your last song needs to be 'AA'ed on a level 8 Heavy song or higher to play Trip Machine Survivor. Pass that to permanently unlock TMS and open Legend Of Max for Extra Stage. Pass LOM to permanently unlock it (or unlock it by default after playing for hours on end).

I have no idea how long it takes to get Maximizer unlocked though. And if you haven't heard Maximizer, then http://www.aaroninjapan.com/taren/maximizer.mp3

Lastly, I've seen the list of most all of the unlocks and I'm pretty dissappointed. It seems as if there's very little 'Extreme' to Extreme.

Oh well. Time to mod the ol' PS2 and pick up JP Extreme while I'm there in January.

*** Edited 9/23/2004 4:33:56 AM UTC by Chris Rettig***

I played for about 4 hours last night. You CAN change the difficulty while songs are displayed... just push up or down.

Things I like:
-The song wheel... it's not bad at all. I like how the songs "woosh" in before you select one.
-Decent steps for new songs. They're much more challenging than the ones on MAX2. The steps for Music and You're Not Here are very nice, I think, especially the tricky freezes at the beginning of YNH. Even the crap from Karaoke Revolution has OK steps.
-Though there's not much music from the arcade Extreme, what they did pick is mostly good. Jet World, 321 Stars, Love Love Sugar, Mobo Moga, A, V... these are some of my favorite Extreme songs.
-Lots of old-school songs. There's stuff on here I thought would *never* make an American mix, like Theme from Enter the Dragon, Wonderland, Kick the Can, etc. And of course, CSFILSM, which probably has the best step chart of any song.
-I like having an "easier" Extra Stage song (Trip Machine Survivor). One that I actually have a chance of passing.
-Selecting dancers before each game instead of on the options screen.
-Although I don't have it unlocked yet, DDRFreak confirms the "trick" Oni is included, with the wave, brake and x.25 modifiers... cool.

Things I don't like:
-Once again: REPEATS. WTF? Tsugaru? Paranoia Dirty Mix? I Feel...? We *just* had these songs in the last mix!! I don't mind the repeats from Konamix (Absolute, Wild Rush, Drop Out, B4U), but the others infuriate me.
-Challenge songs. The songs like Tsugaru Apple Mix and Higher Next Morning Mix are fun, but since they have only one set of (heavy) steps, my wife can't play them. Lame.
-With the exception of Legend of Max and Trip Machine Survivor, none of the arcade Extreme's "trademark" songs are included. No Sakura, no Bag, no Paranoia Survivor, Cartoon Heroes, etc.
-The timing is incredibly loose compared to even the other home games. I played Jet World in my first game and got a full combo with 5 greats. I've never even AA'ed that song at the arcade. I also got 5 greats on Kick the Can, which I'd never even played before.

I'm sure I'll have more comments and complaints as I play more. For what it's worth, I'm glad I have it, even if there are the inevitable flaws.

I ordered it on the 19th from eBay, and it's supposed to ship within 72 hours of the release date. It was free because on my metal pad I ordered from there, it was all messed and up and they bribed me to take off my negative comment, so I did and they gave me 55 dollars. I cant wait to play it, but i've seen a lot of negative comments. Oh well, still cant wait.

I'm sick as a dog right now, so I watched Stephanie play a little tonight. Overall I find the interface is OK, and so far it appears to be a pretty good mix of music.

I noticed at EB that they're selling Red Octane pads for $110. Honestly, how are they any different from any other "made in China" soft pads with "dense foam inserts?"

I didn't get a music sampler when I pre-ordered at GameStop. Oh, well.

As for the game, I'm very pleased. The songlist is great (DO ME, Neverending Story, Enter the Dragon, V, CSFILSM, Frozen Ray, There You'll Be, etc.) and I really like the look of the new interface, gives the game a whole new feel. I'm VERY impressed with the stepcharts for the new songs. Like a Virgin and You're Not Here are SO MUCH FUN to play. Ladies Night and Move Your Feet are also great fun. The only new song I don't like is Planet Rock, and the steps are very uninteresting.

Also, Maximizer is an awesome song, really happy sounding and the steps are awesome. I LOVE that run at the end. And now I can practice Legend of Max at home.

And I'm glad to see I'm not the only one miffed about Tsugaru and I Feel being repeated. I've never liked I Feel and I'm sort of burnt out on Tsugaru now.

But overall I like the game very much, more than MAX2, but I'm not sure if I like it more than MAX, which is my favorite home version so far. And also, did anyone notice Do Me was knocked down to an 8? Why'd they do that? It's definitely not one of the most challenging catas, but still pretty difficult.

I just got it in the mail today, and I really like the new look of it. I like the song selection too. I've only unlocked like 4 songs so far, and i've been getting A's and B's on heavy. How many songs do you have to do to get all the good songs? But overall, I like the game alot, but not too much more than max2.

Interesting reviews. i still don't have a PS2 (waiting for the next one ;) ) so i can't really give a valid opinion about the game, but based on the info collected from you guys, i would say that, i would enjoy the game nonetheless, but i would be pissed that they have only 2 of the 7 or so "trademark songs" (as Den so eloquently put it. :D) from the arcade version of Extreme. Sakura, PS especially are songs i would miss.

I heard Maximizer and i thought the song was pretty ok. I thought it was supposed to be yet another remix in the MAX series. Seems real fast though. As far as repeats...well...i don't mind, but i'm happy they brought back Wonderland.

All we ned now is a new Arcade Mix...perhaps DDR USA 2?

^Maximizer is confirmed to be a part of the Max series. It doesn't have the same melody(does it even have one?), but it does have the fast beat of the Max's.

Maximizer is 190 bpm, so it's not quite as fast as the rest of the Max series, but it does have two runs of 16th notes on heavy, so I guess that sort of makes up the for the speed.

A few accomplishments on Extreme US. 1 great on Kick the Can. I think I know what my first heavy AAA is going to be. Also AA'ed Drop Out Oni and passed the Angels Oni course.

I've been playing Mission Mode. I'm only up to like 35 but some of them are insanely hard, and there's some really freaky mods in there. Like mixing up the arrows at the top of the screen, or lining all the arrows up in a column, etc.

A couple more things I like:
-Mission Mode
-Better, more creative Oni courses (like some with crazy mods)
-The awesome step charts for Simply Being Loved, Scorching Moon and Enter the Dragon (yes, that's an old song but I hadn't played it much)
-Hilarious video for Move Your Feet.

A couple more things I don't like:
-Only one combo point for jumps. I was used to 321 Stars having a 321 full combo, but now it's 308.
-Retarded new Highs Off U video.
-The songs Don't Clock Me, Planet Rock and Kids in America... terrible.
-The life meter in the Oni courses fills up completely after each song (on all other versions, you only get one or maybe two life bars back).
-There's some bugs with the announcer... he interrupts himself sometimes, and when you complete an Oni course, he still says, "You were doing all right til halfway!" as if you lost.

An interesting note: This game gets the "E" rating, despite one song clearly using the F-word, along with the semi-rude stuff said in Don't Clock Me and another song that I can't think of now (stuff like "pucker up and kiss my butt" and "I'll murder the style of... some other rapper)... not to mention the song Do Me. :)
*** Edited 9/27/2004 1:51:59 PM UTC by Den***

Whoa, I never realized, or heard them say the F-Word. Which song is it? So yeah, again, how do you get maximizer and The Legend of Max so I can try repeatedly and fail every time. Do you unlock just like all the other songs or do you have to like AAAAA a 9 footer?

Highs off U drops the F bomb.

To get maximizer, you play 180 songs. TLOM is 190, or you can get it as the extra stage after passing Trip Machine: Survivor as the extra stage with an A or better.