Official DDRMAX2 reaction thread

KCET definitely should be an 8, though I never played it in the arcade so I don't know if it's changed. I also think Conga Feeling should be an 8; those 16th-note runs are VERY difficult and hard to read.

I unlocked the last song last night, Kakumei. Love that song, one of my favorites, though I don't know why the "challenge" steps are 8 feett when the heavy steps are 9 feet. Some of the later songs, like that, Xenon and Bad Routine, really make this mix great.

More on the repeats - I, for one, was happy to see the few repeats from Konamix, like Super Star, Don't Stop and End of the Century - because I hate playing at the low frame rate. I think, however, that the repeats from DDRMAX are lame and I'll probably never play them. I would have taken any number of songs from Konamix again instead - in fact, I would've been *really* happy about Salamander Beat Crush Mix, Absolute, .59, Drop Out, Dead End, Luv to Me, Wild Rush, Paranoia Rebirth, B4U, etc.

I also think this game is a lot less challenging than DDRMAX. I've been playing MAX for almost a year, and there are many songs on there that still give me a challenge - Exotic Ethnic, HVAM, R&P, Orion 78 Civ Mix, etc. The *only* songs on MAX2 that challenged me in the least are So Deep (which I passed) and Maxx Unlimited standard and heavy (I passed the former and will NEVER be able to pass the latter).

Still though, awesome game. :)

EDIT: I forgot to mention, the "information" for Kakumei explains that the song is based on Chopin's "Revolutionary." Then it says, "Coincidentally, 'Kakumei' means 'revolution' in Japanese." LOL! I hardly think it was a coincidence!

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A day is a drop of water in the ocean of eternity. A week is seven drops.
*** This post was edited by Den 9/29/2003 4:06:03 PM ***

I'm trying really hard not to like this game. I really am.

But I have to confess, this game is so good! Just unlocked Endless mode, so I thought now was a good time to post some random thoughts...

First off, I was extremely disappointed with US Max, so much so, that I just knew that US Max 2 was going to blow. My expectations were lower than low. Even after seeing the initial song list, I was still very skeptical about how Konami was going to pull this off. After playing through the game, I can say with confidence that they have given more thought to this release and it shows.

Overall, the game is just more fun than Max. I'm not sure why or what exactly it is (song list, step charts, nonstop mode, etc) but the game has a "lighter" feel to it. It doesn't take it self so seriously. While some die hard DDR fanatics have blasted this game because of the lack of 10 foot cata's and intense step patterns, I find it a welcome change of pace. Max was too much work and not enough play.

The default song list is very nicely stocked, even more so with all the new licenses. Several songs that I would have never imagined playing, i.e. Busy Child, Heaven and Love At First Sight, were done very nicely. Other current favs include A Little Bit of Ecstacy, Take Me Away and Tomorrow Perfume. However, I could have done without all the repeats from Max. I don't mind seeing repeats provided they are justified; to me that means (almost) anything from DDR US and Konamix is up for grabs. Heck, anything (Jap DDR 1-4) that runs at less than 60 fps is fine with me. The addition of Conga Feeling and Dream a Dream was nice. Noticed I said almost, my ears still bleed when I hear Put Your Faith In Me. (And to give it position for an unlocked song, that's not very nice). At least we were not "blessed" with another version of Let The Beat Him 'Em :) Konami has plenty of other songs for filler, would have been nice to see .59, Burnin' The Floor and Wild Rush make the repeat list. And we get CSFIL, but not the speed version? Konami, don't be so mean!...I guess I still have a reason to keep 5th mix around afterall...maybe there's always hope for US EX...(I also import, so I can't complain about the amount of repeats from Jap Max 2.)

When first announced, the videos were another aspect of the game that I thought was less than exciting. Distracting as they may seem, the videos do add something extra to the game; if you haven't already, play a song you like with a video and then play it in beginner mode. It's not quite the same. Has anyone (except me) made step edits with no steps just to watch the videos? And what exactly is going on during the Dream a Dream video?...

Oni mode is gone. Big deal. Again, going back to my initial theory that Max 2 is more fun. I'm sure that they could have given us both oni and nonstop (and I'm not quite sure why they didn't,) but given a choice I'd pick nonstop over oni any day. Random nonstop is quite the good time

DDR characters are back. I didn't know how much I missed 'em until I had 3 Baby-Lons breakdancing on the screen to Maxx Unlimited :)

Overall for beginners, this is an excellent mix to get started with. For seasoned veterans wanting the arcade experience, go import Jap Max 2. Even with EX arriving on my doorstep in 10 days, I've got a feeling Max 2 won't be collecting dust anytime soon.

(On a side note for those that were unaware; challenge steps can be made signifigantly easier by selecting little mode in the options menu.)

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"This mode is difficult!"
*** This post was edited by pokeyron 9/30/2003 1:19:23 AM ***

I've never understood how people judge one version to be better than another for any reason other than the song collection. I mean, DDR is DDR, regardless of the menu system or which game engine is running it (though I admit I like the newer one much better).

So when it comes down to song selection, I never found the first Max to be terrible at all. Yeah, a few songs I would've liked to have seen in there, but the variety was adequate. This one I like even better, even though I would've liked to have seen certain songs in there (agreed about .59, and perhaps DXY).

I really don't think anyone will be happy with a home version until it has 300 songs.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com - My Blog
Blogs, photo albums - CampusFish
What time does the water show start?

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Jeff said:

I really don't think anyone will be happy with a home version until it has 300 songs.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com

May be possible when Ultramix comes out. 300 songs + is probably reserved for Stepmania, but I don't think 150 or so would be out of the question on the XBox version (on the provision that about 60 are on the disc with more songs as downloadable packs).

-Chris

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I'd be happy with 50 songs if they were all good.

I just don't understand some of the choices they made on the new game. The one that really baffles me is including a repeat from Konamix that no one plays (Can't Stop Fallin' In Love) instead of its extremely popular remix. And why include repeats that virtually no one likes (Put Your Faith in Me, Think Ya Better D) and leave off great non-repeat songs that EVERYONE (especially n00bs) likes? I'm talking about Dam Dariram, Butterfly, Saint Goes Marching.

I'm not saying this mix isn't awesome, because it is. I just see a lot of potential going to waste.

At any rate, I unlocked Endless Mode last night, and made it to song 17 on the default order (heavy) before I died. I had a 785 combo at one point. Cool mode.

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A day is a drop of water in the ocean of eternity. A week is seven drops.

That's OK, if they did end up including Butterfly we'd all hear about how lame it is, so they can't really win either way.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com - My Blog
Blogs, photo albums - CampusFish
What time does the water show start?

Unlocked everything now. Haven't tired Endless yet, because I'd probably DIE in the middle of it.

Passed everything on Heavy except Maxx Unlimited though! :) One of my new favorite songs would have to be Afronova. I *love* all the jumps, especially at the end! Those are insane!
*** This post was edited by Alligator Boots 10/5/2003 4:49:31 PM ***

Well I'll prolly piss off all the regulars by saying this, but I think this mix is awesome! I just got the game tonite and I've been playing for about 2 hours. All the new songs are awesome, and the one that Den said sucked, Think Ya Better D in heavy mode is one of the most fun things I've played in the game yet - the entire song can be done spinning around and I got so dizzy I practically fell down the stairs! So, I think its a great mix, and not only are the songs great, but tonite I reached the point that I can actually pass 6 and 7 foot Heavy songs!! Woohoo!

And on another note, on Everybody Loves Raymond tonite, Ray and his son were playing DDR at the end of the show!

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Brett
Resident Launch Whore
*** This post was edited by Impulse-ive 10/6/2003 10:23:08 PM ***

Since I unlocked Maxx Unlimited, I figured I'd give it a shot. Ouch. Not difficult to follow at all, but it's one of those damn jumping songs that I'm too out of shape to really hit. It's funny how much I'm hurting right now. I can do 7-footers no problem, provided they're not big jump songs.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com - My Blog
Blogs, photo albums - CampusFish
What time does the water show start?

The fact that Maxx Unlimited standard is an 8-footer is probably the most laughable mis-rating in all of DDR.... the jumps at the end are IN-FREAKING-SANE.

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A day is a drop of water in the ocean of eternity. A week is seven drops.

Yeah, that's the part that killed me. They aren't hard to see at all, they're just hard to keep the legs moving (and I'm talking about light mode). I looked at the step chart and just realized I only missed it by the last three jumps. Crap!

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com - My Blog
Blogs, photo albums - CampusFish
What time does the water show start?

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Den said:
The fact that Maxx Unlimited standard is an 8-footer is probably the most laughable mis-rating in all of DDR.... the jumps at the end are IN-FREAKING-SANE.

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A day is a drop of water in the ocean of eternity. A week is seven drops.

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Not to go completely off track.... (well, I'm trying :) )

I know most of you hate PIU, and that's ok.... but you haven't even begun to touch the surface of insanity until you've played Pink's 'Get The Party Started' on Crazy. Try a string of 16 steps for the first half, then 32nds (!) for the last half.... now keep that up for nearly 2 minutes. (GTPS is on the new PREX3 machine. We just got one today, and I witnessed the insanity myself. It's truly evil and annoying all at the same time.)

I cannot wait for the supposed 9th mix coming around Feb/March.

-Chris

I don't hate PIU, it's just that the only one in my city is 30 minutes away. And I know it's harder; I've seen step charts that look like Bag, only they're 150bpm instead of 65. And it seems like half the charts have you hitting 3-5 arrows at once.

But I'd definitely like to play it more.

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A day is a drop of water in the ocean of eternity. A week is seven drops.

I've discovered something really annoying about DDRMAX2...

If you get an AA on a song, and then later, you beat that score, it replaces your AA with whatever grade you got. For example, I had an AA on the AM-3P Oni remix, but then I beat my score, and now the menu shows an A there. (I had gotten more perfects, but perhaps one boo or 2-3 goods).

LAME!

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A day is a drop of water in the ocean of eternity. A week is seven drops.

Den, That happens on all home DDR's...Even on both my JP Max2 and Extreme, so just get a really good score and an AA.

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www.greatamericanthrills.com

OK, I just discovered something else annoying.

When you play a song on Little (i.e. remove all arrows except for quarter notes, to make it easier for beginners), it grades you as if you had MISSED all the arrows that you can't see!

My wife got a full combo on Tsugaru Heavy Little and it gave her a D.

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A day is a drop of water in the ocean of eternity. A week is seven drops.

I don't have the game, Im renting it online, but yesterday I went to the mall to check some things out and I found a demo disk for the ps2(16 demos). It thought it was kinda werid because If you buy a demo disk then you usually don't have the pad which won't tell you how fun it is(thats if your not a ddr fan). I played it and It had 4 songs which I thought was very low and I know it had (light, standard, heavy, nonstop) not sure if there were any more. Ill reply later on to tell more because my bro is using the ps2.

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Family Guy: "Oh no,Oh no, Oh no, Oh no, Oh yeah"

Well I finally got a hold of it and here are the songs and modes

Players: 1,2, doubles

modes: Beginner, Light(standard), standard, heavy and non stop

Songs: D2R, I Feel, STILL IN MY HEART, TSUGARU

There is also a time limit but did not see it and only 2 rounds so you have to wait until they give the promo and start the game again(not the system).

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Family Guy: "Oh no,Oh no, Oh no, Oh no, Oh yeah"

They were giving out that disc at GameStop and other places if you reserved the full game in advance.

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A day is a drop of water in the ocean of eternity. A week is seven drops.

I tried out the game out last week but here is my report:

I was surprised at the songs that I was familar with, the dancing characters are cool too. I only got up to burming heat, but is a very cool song cause it reminds of a super nintendo game. Overall, Im happy with it and may buy it.
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Family Guy: "Oh no,Oh no, Oh no, Oh no, Oh yeah"