DDR Recommendation?

[blueshinra]

I'm currently playing DDR Extreme and have unlocked a sizable chunk of the game's extras. I'm starting to get a little sick of the song selection, and would like to pick up another PS2 DDR to vary things up a bit. Thing is, I don't know which one to get.

Any suggestions?

[primetime]

I'm currently playing DDR Extreme and have unlocked a sizable chunk of the game's extras. I'm starting to get a little sick of the song selection, and would like to pick up another PS2 DDR to vary things up a bit. Thing is, I don't know which one to get.

Any suggestions?

Well, it depends. Max and Max 2 are by far the easiest to unlock songs for and have great songlists to boot (Max 2 probably has harder stepcharts overall).

Supernova would have all new songs to you, so there's that. Many people consider Extreme 2 to be the best of the PS2 American DDRs.

Then there's Supernova 2, which Mana Knight could probably tell you more about.

So, look at the songlists and pros and cons of each to decide. I would suggest Max 2, since I like the songlist + it's the easiest to unlocks new songs for + it's got a good balance of challenge. Really though, you can't go wrong since any of them would be an improvement over Extreme :D

[crunchewy]

I have MAX2, Extreme 2 and Supernova (1) as well as In The Groove. My favorites are Supernova and Extreme 2. I especially love Supernova which has great music and a much better unlock system than Extreme 2, but I love Extreme 2 as well. My least favorite is In The Groove, but only because of long loading times. I don't really know about the songlist there as I was only able to take the long loading times for a short time before I found it infuriating and went back to DDR. Apparently many people really love In The Groove, though. MAX2 does have the easiest unlock system, but there's nothing special about the unlocking - just dance a lot in game mode and eventually everything gets unlocked. Extreme 2's unlock system is fun for a while, but then becomes ridiculously hard. However by then you have unlocked a lot of music and courses anyway. Supernova is actually pretty easy to unlock stuff and the unlock system is the most fun - the key thing to know about Supernova's unlocks is that to unlock all but the last 3 or so songs, you only have to complete the first "Showdown" at each planet. Also it will eventually pity unlock everything for you after a lot of general play. In terms of the music, my favorite is Supernova, then Extreme 2 pretty close behind, then MAX2, but of course that's a matter of taste. In general, though, the more DDR the better, so get them all! I plan to pick up all the DDR games eventually, or at least the ones I can find for a reasonable price.

[blueshinra]

Well, I'm mainly after a different songlist. Unlockables are nice, but not a huge priority; if they're on par with Extreme, I've no complaints.

Also probably should've mentioned this before, but Workout and/or Endless modes are a definate plus.

Thanks for the suggestions so far! I'll hunt around for some songlists and see what interests me.

[The Mana Knight]

I own ALL six PS2 DDRs and have unlocked pretty much every song in each one (except for SuperNOVA 2). Here's my ranking of all of them:

DDR Extreme 2 > DDR SuperNOVA > DDR Max 2 > DDR Max > DDR SuperNOVA 2 (Could be better when I play more, but it has way too much licensed music) > DDR Extreme (It has a few songs I really like, but too much mediocre stuff IMO). I'd also get In The Groove if I were you. The game really has awesome music. My only complaint is the load times. I like Pump It Up Exceed a lot too.

I still feel add PS2 DDRs in the U.S. are good. Extreme 2 has great music and songs can be unlocked by playing Game Mode forever or Dance Master Mode. SuperNOVA is great because pretty much all the music is new for a change.

[prmononoke]

Good ranking, TMK. I don't own either Supernova, so I can't judge those, but Extreme 2 is definitely my favorite. Great song list. It's as if they really wanted to please the hardcore fans, and finally gave us some of the stuff we'd been asking for (Butterfly, Boom Boom Dollar).

[crunchewy]

Also probably should've mentioned this before, but Workout and/or Endless modes are a definate plus.

Workout mode: MAX2, Extreme 2 and Superova do. Not sure about MAX1, but probably. I'm less sure about Endless mode as I've never played that mode, but if Extreme had it, it's probably safe to presume that at least the later games have it. As an aside, personally I like the workout "mode" in Mario Mix better than the Workout mode in any of the PS2 games, because it isn't really a mode, but kind of like a preference - it works in free mode and so you still get normal scores, which I like. The workout mode in the PS2 games has a lot more things it keeps track of, yes, but you don't get regular scores. I find that disappointing. Going for AA or AAA/high scores is a motivator for me. I don't understand why they don't provide such scores in the PS2 games.

[prmononoke]

Workout mode: MAX2, Extreme 2 and Superova do. Not sure about MAX1, but probably. I'm less sure about Endless mode as I've never played that mode, but if Extreme had it, it's probably safe to presume that at least the later games have it. As an aside, personally I like the workout "mode" in Mario Mix better than the Workout mode in any of the PS2 games, because it isn't really a mode, but kind of like a preference - it works in free mode and so you still get normal scores, which I like. The workout mode in the PS2 games has a lot more things it keeps track of, yes, but you don't get regular scores. I find that disappointing. Going for AA or AAA/high scores is a motivator for me. I don't understand why they don't provide such scores in the PS2 games.

All the PS2 DDRs have Workout Mode.

[blueshinra]

Thanks again for the suggestions! I'm going to try and get either DDRMAX2 or Supernova (depending on whichever I can find cheaper ;)). I am kind of leaning toward Supernova, though.