DDRMAX: Dance Dance Revolution PlayStation 2

Konami's distinct dance series shuffles its way from the arcades to living rooms as would-be dancers strut their stuff in five modes of play. Dance Dance Revolution, which originated in Japan as part of the Bemani style of interactive music games, involves pressing a series of directional buttons (or stepping on an optional dance mat accessory) to the beat of the music. By stringing together successful sequences, represented by multidirectional arrows, players can increase their onscreen dance meter and advance to more challenging routines. Fail to keep up with the arrows, however, and the meter will decrease and eventually end the game.

Modes of play include Game, Workout, Lesson, Training, and Edit. Game offers players the chance to compete alone, challenge friends, or to use both controllers simultaneously. Four difficulty levels are available and players can select from over 65 songs, each individually rated in stream (density in step patterns), chaos (complexity of step patterns), freeze (frequency of freeze arrows), air (number of jumps), and voltage (maximum density of step patterns). Difficulty modifiers, such as the appearance of dance steps and dance step patterns, can be altered, as well as their speed.

Workout Mode has players entering their weight and either the amount of calories they want to burn or the amount of time they want to play. Three workout programs are available, the results of which can be depicted on a graph over an extended period of time. Players can also see the dance routine's equivalent of jumping rope, swimming, or jogging based on their results. Lesson Mode is an interactive tutorial featuring 24 different exercises divided into three lessons, while Training Mode lets players practice a specific song until they get it right. Edit Mode gives players the chance to create their own dance routine to a song and save it to memory card. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide