Playstation's Best

Playstation’s Best
Dance Dance Revolution
Konami Tokyo | Konami | 2001 | Music
MANY SYSTEMS HAVE A MUST-OWN import. Saturn
owners pay big for Radiant Silvergun. SNES fans talk glowingly
about Seiken Densetsu 3. From 1999 until Spring
2001, when Konami finally brought the game to American
shores, the import on every Playstation owner’s lips was
Dance Dance Revolution.
Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) was born from Konami
Tokyo’s Bemani, the series that popularized the music genre.
In each Bemani title, keys would rise to the top of the screen,
calling on the player to spin the turntable (Beatmania), beat
the bass drum (Drum Mania) or strum the guitar (Guitar
Freaks), among many other variations. DDR is the most
flamboyant title in this series – a dance pad is used as a
controller and the player must “dance” on each arrow in
tune with the beat. In the arcade, play takes two forms. In
one, perfect accuracy in timing and step location is the goal;
in the other, crowd-pleasing dance routines, called freestyles,
are performed while the player simultaneously taps the arrows
accurately enough to stay alive.
Arcade DDR never failed to draw a crowd, and the home
version replicated this feat in its role as a perfect party game.
DDR and its novel “controller” attracted many who were
reluctant to play more traditional videogames, including
many women. The Europop songs in the game, 30 in all,
were enough to release anyone’s inhibitions. The first American
Dance Dance Revolution was quickly followed by Dance
Dance Revolution: Disney’s Rave, which set Disney tracks
like “It’s a Small World” to an electronic beat, and Dance
Dance Revolution: Konamix, another collection of DDR
Europop. As the legion of DDR players continued to grow
(Konamix sold enough to make Greatest Hits status), thirdparty
accessories began to appear, the crown jewel being
the $200 Red Octane Afterburner dance pad.
Beyond performance, DDR brought another new concept
to videogames – exercise. At the height of the DDR craze,
numerous reports appeared about “DDR diets” and schoolchildren
assigned to play DDR during their gym classes.
The game even includes a built-in calorie counter. Who
said videogames were bad for you?