Best DDR games for j-pop music selections?

[kenshin-dono]

I never did get very into DDR back in the day. I thought it was kinda fun but never felt like investing in it for a home version. Well im trying to find stuff to get my 4 year old niece into gaming and she loves dancing and music so i figured a DDR game might be a good bet. She likes fast music. Both techno, j-pop, and even some metal songs =)

I personaly like J-pop and eurobeat style techno a lot and liked some of the earlier crazy Japanese styled games. Both for their visuals and song selection. I didn't really pay attention to the American releases much though because i heard they started really changing up the songs and dumping a lot of the j-pop

SO now im looking at amazon for a decent starter kit to buy and i really dont know what to get! theres such a selection. I was looking at DDR Universe 3 with Dance Mat since its 20 bucks, but it got pretty bad reviews. Plus I think its strayed the furthest from the j-pop roots. Im thinking maybe something from the ps2 era. I see a DDR SuperNova 2 or DDR X bundle for 16 bucks, but i dont know much about that. I tried doing some google searching and found a few track lists for some of the games but have no idea what any of that music really is =P

So im wondering if there are any DDR fans that can suggest what i should pick up. Should i go for something from the PS2 or 360? I need something with a mat for my main purchase, and then a lot of the games are pretty cheap, so i can pick them up to go with it. I.E. DDR Universe is only 10 bucks. Im not sure if i should shag the ps2 games or 360 games. I really want something with a lot of J-pop and techno, and with the fun flashy anime looking visuals. Nothing with stupid avatars, realistic visuals, or really heavy on the American music anything


any suggestions? I have a ps2, xbox, xbox360, and ps3. Im guessing one of the ps2 or 360 versinos is the best bet, hopefully someone can give me some ideas. Oh, and do the matts stay put on carpet? There will be a 4 year old jumping around on them. Im also pretty tall but not particularly heavy ( 6'3" 175lbs) so i dont want it sliding all around

tnx guys. This coupled with the Wii/DS will probably help ease the little one into gaming. She already played FFXIII and liked it =P I guess its a testimant to that game that she played through most of the first area by herself just mashing the x button and moving around, lol. With max star ratings for most battles o_O

[Quiet Flight]

i'd prob not expose poor children to the horrors of ddr.

[CRTGAMER]

Actually its another fun era as in 80s music!

Sure a little silly, but what would gamers of the day thought of Kinect?

Only DDRs I have are on PSX and Dreamcast. The Import PS1 DDRs are really good. There are songs that didn't get to the U.S. version. This brings back memories of Captain Jack, Butterfly and doing jumping jacks with the track Vol 4.

Here is a sound Track list of one of the better discs of the day.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dance_Dance_Revolution_3rdMix#Music



Damn I should have dragged this over to the relatives house today for the thanksgiving get together. Lot of the younger crowd have not tried this. Well, there is always Christmas for this Retro type of get off the couch motion game play.

The mats do tend to slide a little, no shoes a must if you want the pad to last. I built a custom one for car shows. Instead of chair carpet protector, I use smooth bottom wood floor protector to keep shoes from tearing up the pad. I still make the shoes come off to save on scuffing. Mounted with a backer board and held in place with scrap wood flooring. Even through the matting the pads work pretty well.

Scroll down for a DDR Guide

[Betamax001]

I think with the series, the earlier you go the more J pop techno there is. I have Extreme 2 for PS2 and SuperNova. SuperNova is when it started I think with more American music trying to break off into the more mainstream, though there is some pretty good Jpop techno in there.

[CRTGAMER]

Dance Dance Revolution Guide



DDR, a Retro motion control waiting to be rediscovered. A great workout, if one doesn't mind the embarrassment. You can always close the blinds.

I have DDR games for PSX and Dreamcast versions, owned since this dance craze was popular. I just recently purchased the first two PS2 Dance Revolution Discs DDR Max and DDR Max 2. A good starting point to get a few DDR games in the PS2 HDAdvance/HDLoader hard drive. Disappointed the original PSX Announcer was changed in these newer versions. A lot of great songs such as VOL 4 didn't get rereleased either. There are a lot of DDRs that came out for the PS1 and PS2!

Be sure not to fold the fragile dance pads. Store flat under the couch or bed.



Arcade and Game Console list:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Dance_Dance_Revolution_video_games

Complete song list for all the various systems:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Dance_Dance_Revolution_songs

Some song tracks even include close captioning. You can Karoke while jumping on the pad.




My all around favorite disc is the Import PSX Dance Dance Revolution 3rd Mix. Any DDR nut will recognize a lot of these tracks. There are so many great songs in this famous J-Pop collection of the day. The best way to describe is old school up to 80s songs with a Japanese-Euro influenced techno feel. Tracks in Bold face are the good ones, a shame some didn't get released again.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dance_Dance_Revolution_3rdMix

Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMix:
Song Title --- Artist

AFRONOVA ... Re-Venge
AFTER THE GAME OF LOVE NPD3
BA KKWO ... Lee Jung Hyun
BOOM BOOM DOLLAR (K.O.G G3 MIX) ... King Kong & D. Jungle Girls
BU DAM ... Baek Ji-Young
BUMBLE BEE ... Bambee
BUTTERFLY (UPSWING MIX) ... smile.dk
BYUL TEAM
CAPTAIN JACK (GRANDALE REMIX) ... Captain Jack
CUTIE CHASER ... Club Spice
DAM DARIRAM ... Joga
DEAD END N&S
DO IT ALL NIGHT ... E-Rotic
DROP THE BOMB ... Scotty D.
DYNAMITE RAVE ... Naoki
END OF THE CENTURY ... No. 9
FACE N.R.G
FLASHDANCE (WHAT A FEELING) ... Magika
FOLLOW THE SUN (90 IN THE SHADE MIX) ... Triple J
GENTLE STRESS (AMD SEXUAL MIX) ... Mr. Dog feat. DJ Swan
GET UP (BEFORE THE NIGHT IS OVER) ... Technotronic feat. Ya Kid K
GET UP AND DANCE ... Freedom
GIMME GIMME GIMME ... E-Rotic
GRADIUSIC CYBER (AMD G5 MIX) ... Big-O feat. Taka
HERO (KCP DISCOTIQUE MIX) ... Papaya
HOLIDAY ... Who's That Girl!
IF YOU CAN SAY GOODBYE ... Kate Project
IN THE NAVY '99 (XXL Disaster Remix) ... Captain Jack
IT ONLY TAKES A MINUTE (Extended Remix) ... Tavares
JAM JAM REGGAE (AMD SWING MIX) ... Rice. C feat. Jam master '73
LA SENORITA ... Captain. T
LOVE THIS FEELING ... Chang Ma
LUV TO ME (AMD MIX) ... DJ Kazu feat. Yamato
MR. WONDERFUL ... smile.dk
OH NICK PLEASE NOT SO QUICK ... E-Rotic
OPERATOR (Two Gees Mix) ... Papaya
PARANOiA Rebirth ... 190'
ROCK BEAT ... Loud Force
SILENT HILL ... Thomas Howard
SO MANY MEN ... Me & My
SUNG SUK ... Space A
THE RACE ... Captain Jack
TELL ME TELL ME ... S#ARP
TRIP MACHINE ... ~luv mix~
TURN ME ON (HEAVENLY MIX) ... E-Rotic
UPSIDE DOWN ... Coo Coo
VOL. 4 ... Ravers Choice
WA ... Lee Jung Hyun
WONDERLAND (UKS MIX) ... X-Treme
XANADU ... The Olivia Project

I would love a Captain Jack only DDR game, so many great tracks!

CAPTAIN JACK (GRANDALE MIX)


Play your own music CD




Dreamcast has Feet of Fury, a bit of programming conversion method your songs. Custom CD pics can also be included into your custom made Feet of Fury music data CD. There is also has an interesting Typing of the Fury mode.

http://feetoffury.com/swapcds.php
http://dcemulation.org/?title=Feet_of_Fury





A very good disc to get is PS2 Dance Factory.



You can implement your favorite Music CD! Each CD takes around 10 minutes to set up. Customize Disc Title, Music and Artist names. You can save the routines to the Memory card so all the work is not lost. DF recognizes a selected music CD and loads up your saved file automatically off the memory card. All the sync routines, Cd name, Artist and Track titles stored. Note that you can change music CDs without having to reboot. Choose songs that have a clear beat so the arrows will synchronize better. I recaptured PSX 2nd and 3rd mix from the import music CD soundtrack. Both Disc 2 megamixes has the original announcer, adding to the feel of the original upped to the PS2 resolution. Kung Fu Fighting!



A minor complaint, the Up and Down Arrows are reversed compared to Konami DDR games. If Dance Factory is installed in the hard drive, it will not read music CDs. HDAdvance/HDLoader only installs to 30%. DF runs but won't play any music tracks. I'll try a PC hard drive ethernet crossover cable transfer method and see if that will open up Music CD reads. Meh not critical, music CD has to be popped in after the game loads anyways. Probably good to get a spare since they are plentiful and cheap right now.



My Dance Pads; Konami Pad with custom shell and a hard pad.





My DDR PC, PSX, DC, PS2 collection, including 2nd and 3rd Mix Import music soundtracks. The Rare Disney Mix has a few 50s tracks. Now where are those Bust A Groove/Move games and soundtracks!

[CRTGAMER]

Added info above about Dreamcast Feet of Fury.

[Erik_Twice]

MUSIC GAMES?!?! WHERE?!

EDIT: You won't find "fun flashy anime visuals" in DDR. It has very few videos and most tend to be abstract or feature no characters. It has some but don't count on it. In the end, you won't be looking them much so it doesnt' really matter.

First of all, I don't recommend those pads at all: They are only decent if encased in wood and plastic as CRTGAMER shows in his picture. Without a mod you will never get further than a 4 or 5 and with a mod you are either damaging the pad or your feet once you get to a high difficulty.

Cut the middleman and look for this kind of pads: Ignition deluxe or equivalent:

http://www.hardcore-gamer.net/tienda/pr ... ts_id/7886

They have a foam base and the sensors are more resistent. They are cheap and will take an awful lot of abuse. Unlike soft pads you can play anything, no matter the difficulty with them. I have played keyboard songs and stuff like The Flight of the Bumblebee at 160% the speed on them and they still work.

These mats will not move on carpet (In fact I roll mine if I want to play, they will slip on the floor)

When it comes to games, it's undeniable that 3rd is a very good mix. Supernova is less memorable but it has quite a bit of J-Pop. Probably Extreme has techno but don't quote me on that.

EDIT: 3rd doesn't have any J-Pop or techno but it's a good mix.

However, in the end, you will want to download Stepmania. Stepmania is a DDR/ITG/PIU simulator and a very good one. You can download the original DDR simfiles and play them in your computer giving you access to all DDR mixes and tons of fanmade songs.


Don't waste your time with Dance Factory or any "play your own music" game, they won't generate good stepcharts: They will be boring.

[CRTGAMER]

Agree, Dance Pads are on the fragile side. The good arcade quality pads with hard plastic/metal shelled have better responsive real switches. Price and storage are the drawback. Maybe try a basic inexpensive pad before going the full plunge. If pads are shoe off/non fold they will last a lot longer.



I have three of the traditional Konami "Stay Cool" pads and two larger Mad Catz pads. Two Konami and one Mad Katz pad lost some of the button use. I cut open the back of one of the dead pads. There is a "Saran Wrap" with electrical traces embossed. I spotted where the right arrow trace broke from the inside wrap being pushed around. Cannot be soldered so tried taping a piece of aluminum foil where the trace broke. Temporary fix, after stepping a few times lost contact again. Ideally regular wire attached to thin brass plates added would fix this.

True switches protected by some sort of frame would be the perfect solution. The upgraded assembly mounted inside a sealed frame such as the one pictured in my earlier Reply.

PSX 3rd mix is one of the best, click that YouTube link in the Guide above for an idea. It is the pinnacle of the Dance Craze era with the culmination of JPop/Techno inspired music and 80s MTV style animation background. A few songs made it to later releases but spread out too thin. The work around is either get the original import with a modded PS1 or use the import soundtrack with Dreamcast Feet of Fury or PS2 Dance Factory instead.

The concerns of arrows not syncing is a valid point. Try DDR 3rd Mix song Vol 4 in an original PS1, arrows line up perfect to the beat. But Dance Factory works fine with some songs. I love 80s but DDR seems to coincide best with a techno beat, goes hand in hand with each other. I just added VengaBoys Greatest, saved the 500kb file to the PS2 memory card. Track one was iffy sync, but track two Boom Boom actually synced in well. Whenever the heavy beat kicked in, the extended step arrows would pop up. I love how DF recognizes a selected music CD and loads up your saved file automatically off the memory card. All the sync routines, Cd name, Artist and Track titles stored.

Dreamcast Feet of Fury has a less intuitive programming to get a custom music data DC made. Perhaps the sync has been perfected here, I should give it a try.

As in PC Stepmania, the uniqueness is an unlimited supply of songs. A "step up" being able to play on a huge TV screen vs the computer monitor. You can even burn a custom favorite music CDR and add it to your jumping jack repertorial. Just look for songs that have a clear beat for the arrows to sync to.