Dance Dance Revolution: SuperNOVA2 | Sony PlayStation 2 | PS2
Slightly varied in technology and musical content from the Japanese arcade game and home port of the same name as well as the parallel European release Dancing Stage SuperNova 2, this game delivers rhythmic play that has become well-established over the course of the series' dynasty -- to gloss generally, players are rated on how effectively they deliver input in response to a continuously-scrolling list of controller direction instructions. When the screen tells players that they're about to be called upon to hit the "left" button as its corresponding glyph ascends up the screen, they must try to match it precisely at the moment of the glyph's overlap with a target area at the top of the screen. DDR games being what they are, this is all synchronized to player-selected electro-pop music with music video or animated dancing avatar sideshows, and of course is intended for play with the series' trademark control device, a giant four-way directional pad laid on the floor to be rhythmically walked upon. (Two can be used simultaneously for two players or one who boasts some simply spectacular dance moves.)
After the attainment of various in-game achievements have granted the players sufficient points to "buy" an initially-locked handful in the in-game "store", this game offers up 72 different songs (some in a fragmentary form) in a variety of styles from Konami's J-pop stable as well as regionalized tunes from recognized Western artists.
In addition to the standard "pick three songs and see how high a cumulative score you can rack up, supposing you don't get prematurely booted due to low performance" game mode, the game offers variant play types: "hyper master" mode (taking on extra tasks in order to earn achievements such as Supportive Modules to make things easier and Challenge Modules to make them tougher), workout mode (to help calculate calories burned and long-term exercise routines), advanced modes (initial options include battle -- competitive vs. the computer or a human player -- or course, running through a selected playlist... and eventually unlocking survival mode, endless mode, and the combo challenge mode), training mode (to help learn the steps to a particular song), and edit mode (for custom programming of your own choreographed dance steps!)
- Vendor: PlayStation
- Type: PlayStation Games
