Hands-on with DDR Hottest Party

by Andrew Yoon { Jul 12th 2007 at 1:00PM }

If there's one series in desperate need of a revolution, it's DDR. Unfortunately, adding Wii waggle is not our definition of a revolution. In many ways, Hottest Party feels like a spiritual successor to the last Nintendo DDR game, Mario DDR. The game reintroduces many gimmick arrows, such as bomb arrows that must be avoided, and other arrows that must be stepped on twice. Of course, the most significant addition are the waggle arrows, which have the player shaking the Wii Nunchuck or Wii Remote, depending on whether or not the left or right waggle arrow appears.

The new arrows don't feel like worthwhile additions. After extended play, it's clear that they're simply gimmicks. In addition, the waggle functionality doesn't feel precise enough for a rhythm game. We were also disappointed by the poor construction of the default pads, but that should come as no surprise for long-time DDR connoisseurs.

For dance fans that only have a Wii, it doesn't look like there'll be too many alternatives. The game will have a variety of music from the last four decades. One surprising omission from the game has to be the lack of Mii support: why can't we have the avatars we've created dance dance in the game? At least those will have a bit more personality than the generic anime characters that Konami has been using in the franchise. Do it Konami -- the fans want it.

Gallery: DDR Hottest Party

Tags: dance dance revolution, DanceDanceRevolution, ddr, e3, e307, hands-on, hottest party, HottestParty, impressions, konami

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Jonathan Tran @ Jul 12th 2007 1:46PM

This blows. I was really looking forward to this, but I won't dump $70 on it if it sucks.

Tacoman @ Jul 12th 2007 3:18PM

I think Para Para Paradise would be a good fit for the Wii actually. Here's hoping.

michael Sliczniak @ Jul 12th 2007 6:17PM

Do the mats plug into the game cube controller ports on the wii? Can I use my pads from Mario DDR?

Mattmatt @ Jul 12th 2007 6:56PM

They work with mario ddr.

I hope this turns out good :\

katoh @ Jul 16th 2007 11:12PM

Has, anyone ever played a game called In The Groove?(for PS2, PC, Mac & Arcade) It was a very similar dance game made using the Stepmania engine by a company called Roxor games in which it happened to have bomb arrows and rolls (arrows that require being stepped on two or more times) coincidentally were sued by Konami due to an issue with upgrade kits for arcade machines... the result was that Konami had obtained all rights to the game... This makes me think of where the (not special but) new features in our DDR game came from...