- Title: DDR Universe
- Platform: Xbox 360
- Publisher: Konami
- Developer: Konami
- ESRB: “E” for Everyone
- Genre: Dancing; music/rhythm
- Pros: Lots of modes; nice setup for beginners; online play; easy achievements
- Cons: Song list isn’t stellar; backgrounds are distracting
Features and Modes
When you first start DDR Universe, it boots up in “Basic Edition” mode, which is designed to teach you to play the game. It gives you a bunch of tests and tutorials that ease you into the game without being too difficult. This mode is strictly for n00bs, though, and DDR veterans can switch over to the “Master Mode”, which is where the main game modes are.
Master Mode gives you access to all of the goodies that DDR Universe has to offer. A standard mode where you just pick your song and difficulty and dance away. Workout, party, and training modes are available as well as a couple of others. Quest mode sends you on a journey to become the best DDR player around, and you have to enter competitions and accept challenges in different cities to build up your fanbase. This is also the mode where you can unlock bonus songs. Challenge mode gives you specific objectives such as skipping certain steps or reaching different milestones. There is also an edit mode where you can create your own dance steps as well as make custom backgrounds. Rounding out the list of modes is a jukebox mode where you can listen to any of the songs in the game, and the online multiplayer Xbox Live mode. The game plays pretty smoothly over Live, so no complaints on that front.
Gameplay
Not everything comes up roses here, though. The soundtrack is a definite weak spot in DDRU. There are some gems here, certainly, but a lot of the songs just sort of blend together and you can barely tell them apart. I know, I know, you can download more tracks off of the Xbox Live Marketplace, but this review is for the game you get for your initial $80 (for the bundle) investment, not what you can spend another $80 on to make the game better.
I’m also not all that pleased with how busy and hectic some of the backgrounds on the songs can be. There is just too much stuff going on, and it can be very distracting, to the point that you miss steps because of it. Luckily, you can edit your own backgrounds, but on the default settings this game can be pretty hard to play. At least on some songs.
It is still certainly playable, and very fun, but I’d have to rate DDRU below Ultramix 2,3,4 on the Xbox because they have better soundtracks.
Graphics and Sound
Graphically, DDR Universe is a nice looking game that is very polished. Aside from some distracting backgrounds on some songs, the game is great to look at.The sound is also pretty good for the most part. I’m not crazy about a lot of the songs, but there are some really good ones here that almost make up for the bad ones.
Bottom Line
